Index by author

To shed light on brain complications occurring after heart surgery, the authors assessed BBB disruption and DWI findings in half of their patients by imaging at 24 hours after surgery and 24–48 hours later. Additionally, postcontrast T1 images were obtained postoperatively at 2–4 days in the other half of the patients. Almost half the patients undergoing cardiac surgery had evidence of BBB abnormalities and three-quarters showed acute lesions on DWI after surgery. BBB disruption is more prevalent in the first 24 hours after surgery. These findings suggest that MR can be used as an imaging biomarker to assess therapies that may protect the BBB in patients undergoing heart surgery.

Extra- and subligamentous lumbar disk herniations are treated differently. These authors utilized 10 criteria in an attempt to establish the exact location of disk herniations with respect to the posterior longitudinal ligament. Extraligamentous herniations showed: 1) spinal canal compromise of more than half its diameter, 2) internal signal difference in the disk, 3) ill-defined disk margins, 4) disruption of the continuous low-signal-intensity line covering the disk, and 5) presence of an internal dark line in the herniated disk. When combined these 5 yield sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and an odds ratio of 77.3%, 74.5%, 76.1%, and 9.93, respectively.