Category Archives: Letters to the Editor

Published online before print January 26, 2012, doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A3007
AJNR 2012 33: E38

F. Xu^a and D. Song^a
aDepartment of Neurosurgery
Huashan Hospital
Fudan University
Shanghai, China

We read the article of Kim et al entitled “Stenting from the Vertebral Artery to the Posterior Inferior Cerebellar Artery” with special interest.¹ In their series, 2 patients had vertebral artery (VA) dissecting aneurysms involving the posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) origin. The authors used VA-to-PICA stent placement with occlusion of the VA by coil embolization. They provided a new treatment option for VA dissecting aneurysms involving the origin of PICA. In this … Continue reading >>

Published online before print January 26, 2012, doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A2991
AJNR 2012 33: E30

K. Dolic^a and K. Marr^a
aBuffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center
State University of New York

R. Zivadinov^b,c
bBuffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center
State University of New York
^cThe Jacobs Neurological Institute, Department of Neurology
University at Buffalo, State University of New York
Buffalo, New York

We read with interest the article entitled “Positional Venous MR Angiography: An Operator-Independent Tool to Evaluate Cerebral Venous Outflow Hemodynamics,” originally published in the American Journal of Neuroradiology on-line on November 3, 2011.¹

We believe that the … Continue reading >>

Published online before print January 26, 2012, doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A2989
AJNR 2012 33: E28

F. Xu^a and D. Song^a
aDepartment of Neurosurgery
Huashan Hospital
Fudan University
Shanghai, China

We read with interest the recent article entitled “Stent-Assisted Coiling in Acutely Ruptured Intracranial Aneurysms: A Qualitative, Systematic Review of the Literature” by Bodily et al.¹ The authors reviewed the literature to evaluate the safety and efficacy of stent-assisted coil embolization of acutely ruptured intracranial aneurysms. They collected 17 articles that included at least 5 patients each with ruptured aneurysms who were treated acutely with stents or stent-assisted coiling. … Continue reading >>

Published online before print January 26, 2012, doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A2988
AJNR 2012 33: E26

R.R. Batista^a
aCDPI and Multi-Imagem Clinics
Santa Casa da Misericóirdia do Rio de Janeiro and
University Federal of Rio de Janeiro

E.L. Gasparetto^b
bCDPI and Multi-Imagem Clinics and
University of Rio de Janeiro
Brazil

We read with special interest the article by Saigal et al,¹ who described unusual brain MR imaging findings in an immunocompetent patient with cryptococcosis. The authors emphasized that the imaging findings of cryptococcosis affecting the brain in immunocompetent patients can be different from the more commonly described findings in immunocompromised patients.

We present … Continue reading >>

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 >>