Category Archives: Letters to the Editor

Published online before print December 8, 2011, doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A2937
AJNR 2012 33: E13-E14

Basar Sarikaya^a and Alexander M. McKinney^a
aDepartment of Radiology/Neuroradiology
University of Minnesota and Hennepin County Medical Centers
Minneapolis, Minnesota

We read the article recently published on-line in the American Journal of Neuroradiology by Marquering et al¹ with great interest, and we appreciate the authors’ efforts to test the hypothesis suggested in one of the articles published by our group in 2005,² by reproducing the same methods, albeit on a different subject population. In that particular regard, we would like to note several … Continue reading >>

Published online before print November 17, 2011, doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A2888
AJNR 2011 32: E209

R.S. Borges^a, N. Ventura^a, E.L. Gasparetto^a and M.V.R. Pinto^b
aDepartment of Radiology
^bDepartment of Neurology
University Federal of Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

We read with special interest the article of Zuccoli et al¹ entitled “MR Imaging Findings in 56 Patients with Wernicke Encephalopathy: Nonalcoholics May Differ from Alcoholics.” The authors reported the imaging features of Wernicke encephalopathy (WE), which include symmetric alterations in the thalami, mammillary bodies, tectal plate, and periaqueductal area, and other less … Continue reading >>

Published online before print November 17, 2011, doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A2919
AJNR 2011 32: E214

S.A. Chaudhry^a, M. Watanabe^a and A.I. Qureshi^a
aZeenat Qureshi Stroke Research Center
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and stent placement (PTAS) has become a treatment option for selected patients with symptomatic intracranial arterial stenosis.¹The Stent Placement versus Aggressive Medical Management for Preventing Recurrent Stroke in Intracranial Stenosis (SAMMPRIS) trial was initiated in October of 2008² to compare PTAS with aggressive medical managements. The intent of the PTAS treatment was to prevent the primary end point (any … Continue reading >>

Published online before print November 3, 2011, doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A2901
AJNR 2011 32: E213

J. Gossner^a
aDepartment of Clinical Radiology
Weende Hospital
Göttingen, Germany

Low back pain is a major health problem. Like any structure of the spine and its adjacent musculature, the facet joints can be a source of pain. It has been proposed that in 15%–52% of patients with chronic low back pain, the facet joints are involved, but isolated facet joint pain is exceedingly rare.¹ This is in accordance with the proposed biomechanical pathophysiology of facet joint syndrome. In the course of degenerative disk disease, … Continue reading >>

Published online before print November 17, 2011, doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A2900
AJNR 2011 32: E211

M. Bergui^a
aNeuroradiology
University of Turin
Turin, Italy

In the August issue of the American Journal of Neuroradiology, Al-Ali et al¹ compared the results of percutaneous angioplasty (PTA), balloon-mounted stent (BMS), and the Wingspan system (Boston Scientific, Natick, Massachusetts) in the treatment of intracranial stenoses.¹ Both short- and long-term results strongly favored PTA over BMS and Wingspan. The latter, in particular, compared unfavorably with the natural history of the disease in the first year after intervention. The choice of the intervention was … Continue reading >>

Published online before print October 13, 2011, doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A2875
AJNR 2011 32: E196-E197

J. Hodel^a, S. Gerber^a and M. Zins^a
aDepartment of Radiology
Fondation Hôpital Saint Joseph
Paris, France

M. Rodallec^b
bDepartment of Radiology
Centre Cardiologique du Nord
Saint Denis, France

X. Leclerc^c
cDepartment of Neuroradiology
Hôpital Roger Salengro
Lille, France

R. Blanc^d
dFondation Ophtalmologique Adolphe de Rothschild
Paris, France

A. Rahmouni^e
eDepartment of Radiology
Hôpital Henri Mondor
Créteil, France

We read with special interest the article of Noguchi et al entitled “Intracranial Dural Arteriovenous Fistula with … Continue reading >>

doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A2850
AJNR 2011 32: E195

L. Murphy^a, L. Lawler^a and E.C. Kavanagh^a
aDepartment of Radiology
Mater Misericordiae University Hospital
Dublin, Ireland

The direct thrombin inhibitor dabigatran etexilate (Pradaxa) was licensed in Ireland in March 2008 for the primary prevention of venous thromboembolic events (VTE) in adult patients who have undergone elective total hip replacement surgery or total knee replacement surgery.¹ It is administered as a standard oral dose of 220 mg once daily, for a total of 10 days post-knee replacement surgery, and for 29–35 days, post-hip replacement surgery. Dabigitran replaces the use … Continue reading >>

doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A2816
AJNR 2011 32: E194

J.-F. Bonneville^a and F. Cattin^a
aJean Minjoz Hospital
Department of Neuroradiology
Besançon, France

F. Bonneville^b
bRangueil Hospital
Department of Neuroradiology
Toulouse, France

We read with interest the recent article entitled “MR Imaging of the Optic Nerve Sheath in Patients with Craniospinal Hypotension” by Rohr et al.¹ In patients with craniospinal hypotension, apart from engorged venous sinuses, enlarged pituitary gland, subdural effusions, and sagging of the brain, the authors have observed a partially or fully collapsed intersheath space of the optic nerves. Such a demonstration is particularly clear in … Continue reading >>

Published online before print September 8, 2011, doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A2763
AJNR 2011 32: E182-E183

J. Lempel^a and S. Bernstein^a
aNorwalk Hospital
Yale University Medical School
Norwalk, Connecticut

P. Kalina^b
bMayo Clinic
Rochester, Minnesota

Cerebral vasculitis is a known cause of ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes and has been described as one of the rare but important causes of corpus callosum infarction. Biopsy-proved giant cell arteritis causing callosal infarction is an exceedingly rare finding because a tissue specimen is usually not obtained and conclusions are drawn on the basis of clinical and radiologic findings alone. We present a … Continue reading >>

Published online before print September 22, 2011, doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A2755
AJNR 2011 32: E180

A. Laakso^a, M. Niemelä^a and J. Hernesniemi^a
aDepartment of Neurosurgery
Helsinki University Central Hospital
Helsinki, Finland

In the May 2011 issue of the American Journal of Neuroradiology, Raymond et al¹scrutinized at length the methodologic weaknesses of 2 recent articles about the natural history and risk of hemorrhage in brain arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), one from our department² and the other from Toronto Western Hospital.³ While part of their criticism is undeniable—such as inevitable patient selection bias in any … Continue reading >>