MY CONTENT

The authors evaluated whether, in acute ischemic stroke, iodine concentration within contrast-stained parenchyma compared with an internal reference in the superior sagittal sinus on dual-energy CT could predict subsequent intracerebral hemorrhage in 71 patients. Forty-three of 71 patients had parenchymal hyperdensity on initial dual-energy CT. The median relative iodine concentration compared with the superior sagittal sinus was significantly higher in those with subsequent intracerebral hemorrhage (137.9% versus 109.2%). They conclude that in dual-energy CT performed within 1 hour following thrombectomy that the relative iodine concentration within contrast-stained brain parenchyma compared with that in the superior sagittal sinus was a more reliable predictor of ICH compared with the absolute maximum iodine concentration.

Between 2013 and 2019, the authors performed a standardized 7T MR imaging protocol in patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy. They focused on 12 patients in whom postsurgical histopathology revealed focal cortical dysplasia and explored the diagnostic yield of preoperative 7T versus 1.5/3T MR imaging and the correlations of imaging findings with histopathology. They observed clear abnormalities in 10/12 patients using 7T versus 9/12 revealed by 1.5/3T MR imaging. In patients with focal cortical dysplasia I, 7T MR imaging did not disclose morphologic abnormalities (n= 0/2). In patients with focal cortical dysplasia II, 7T uncovered morphologic signs that were not visible on clinical imaging in 1 patient with focal cortical dysplasia IIa (n= 1/4) and in all those with focal cortical dysplasia IIb (n= 6/6). T2*WI provided the highest added value. The authors conclude that the high sensitivity of 7T T2*-weighted images provides an additional tool in defining potential morphologic markers of high epileptogenicity within the dysplastic tissue of focal cortical dysplasia IIb and will likely help to more precisely plan epilepsy surgery.