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Biomedical subjects

G Dal Pozzo

Publications and source records attributed to G Dal Pozzo.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Multiple lesions in cerebral white matter in two young adults with thoracic extramedullary tumours.

Cranial MRI showed multiple lesions in white matter that were thought to be consistent with multiple sclerosis in two young adults presenting with symptoms of progressive myelopathy. MRI of the cervicothoracic spine around one and two years after onset showed the myelopathy to be due to mid-thoracic tumours. The tumours (an extradural meningioma and intradural neuroma) were resected with complete resolution of myelopathy in one patient but no recovery in the other. Spinal MRI (or myelography) should be performed in young patients presenting with signs of progressive myelopathy even when cranial MRI shows a picture typical of multiple sclerosis.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Magnetic resonance imaging of degenerative diseases of the central nervous system.

MRI enables a better assessment than CT of the bulk loss, i.e. atrophy, which is a characteristic feature of all the degenerative diseases of CNS, at least in their advanced phases. Moreover, in several of these disorders, proton density, balanced and T2 weighted MR images can show symmetric areas of abnormally low or high signal intensity in the deep gray nuclei or white matter. Since these signal abnormalities are not specific of degenerative diseases of the CNS, their shape and distribution have to match those of the histopathological changes characteristic of each disease, before they could represent useful ancillary signs. Combination of the above MRI findings with appropriate clinical and laboratory features will however be crucial to the diagnosis in any single case.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Rhabdomyosarcoma of the petrous ridge. CT and MR imaging in an atypical case with multiple cranial nerve palsy.

The CT and MR findings are reported in a case of biopsy proven rhabdomyosarcoma of the skull base. The tumor presumably originated in a pneumatized petrous ridge and had an atypical presentation of multiple cranial nerve palsy. The lesion exhibited a soft tissue density and a nonexpansile bone destruction on unenhanced CT. On MR imaging the lesion showed homogeneous intermediate signal intensity on T1 weighted images and a high signal intensity on proton density and T2 weighted images. The scanty literature on CT and MR features of rhabdomyosarcoma of the head and neck is reviewed.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1991

Intrathecal synthesis of free immunoglobulin light chains and IgM in initial multiple sclerosis.

We studied the intrathecal synthesis of free kappa, free lambda immunoglobulin light chains and of IgM in 33 consecutive patients with possible or probable MS at the time of their first diagnosis. Nineteen patients presented free kappa or lambda light chain bands in CSF after agarose isoelectric focusing, protein transfer to nitrocellulose and immunostaining with specific antisera. Nineteen patients had increased CSF levels of free kappa light chains as measured with a competitive ELISA. Fourteen had an increased IgM index, as evaluated with a sandwich ELISA. Twenty-six patients displayed CSF oligoclonal IgG bands in CSF and 25 had cerebral magnetic resonance imaging lesions suggestive of MS. The local production of free immunoglobulin light chains and IgM is often detected in the CSF of patients with early MS.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

[Congenital toxoplasmosis. Report of a case treated with spiramycin in the 24th week of pregnancy].

The Authors present one case of congenital toxoplasmosis; it was sustained by a primary maternal infection, contracted at the XXIII week of gestation. Even if we started the treatment with spiramycin at the XXIV week of gestation, both the prenatal ultrasound examination of the fetus, and the postnatal investigation of the newborn, showed that the young patient was affected by a severe form of congenital toxoplasmosis.

Female↗
PubMed1991

[The incidence of disk changes in volleyball players. The magnetic resonance findings].

In order to evaluate the to potential hazards related to athletic functional overload on the intervertebral disk we studied with MRI the incidence of intervertebral disk abnormalities in a group of 45 volunteers who had been playing professional volleyball for 3-7 years. As a control group we examined with MRI 30 professional swimmers as well. Among the volley-ball players the incidence of intervertebral disk alterations was 44.4%; they were represented by 8 cases of disk degeneration, 11 cases of bulging and 9 disk herniations (in 8 patients the simultaneous presence of more than one lesion was observed). In the control group the incidence of such lesions was 20%. The obtained results were correlated with the clinical findings and the age of the athletes. Among the 26 athletes with back pain only 13 had positive findings at MRI, while among the 19 asymptomatic athletes 7 showed lesions detectable with MRI. As for age, we observed that the younger athletes (17-19 years) had positive MRI findings in 38.5% of cases, while the players in the age group ranging from 23 to 26 years, had positive MRI findings in 56.2% of cases. The analysis of the different types of training of the volley-ball players and the control group, showed that 19 volley-ball players who followed appropriate training procedures had positive MRI findings in 21.1% of cases (in the control group the percentage was 20%). Among the 26 athletes who were trained with exercises that caused significant functional overload, 16 had intervertebral disk lesions at MRI (61.5%). Moreover, our data showed that the correlation of the incidence of disk lesions with the type of training (and relative varying degree of overload) is definitely more important than the one existing with the age of volley-ball players and the overall period of their athletic activity. MRI proved to be a useful technique for the early assessment of the intervertebral disk damage caused by an incorrect training in young athletes, even when asymptomatic.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Sacrococcygeal chordoma: clinicoradiological study.

A case of sacrococcygeal chordoma is presented. We review the literature and we discuss the problems related to the etiology, the symptoms, the diagnosis and the treatment of this rare neoplasm. We present and discuss here the importance and the different possibilities of new diagnostic techniques, such as the CT and the MRI in the diagnosis and management of sacrococcygeal chordoma.

Chordoma↗
PubMed1990

Fast multiphase MR imaging of aqueductal CSF flow: 1. Study of healthy subjects.

Gradient-echo MR sequences are more sensitive to flow phenomena than spin-echo sequences are. We investigated aqueductal CSF flow by fast multiphase imaging. Fast multiphase imaging offers the opportunity to perform a dynamic study of fluid motion that is synchronous with the cardiac cycle. A section perpendicular to the cerebral aqueduct was imaged in 18 healthy volunteers. Serial, gated (every 50 msec from the ECG R wave), flow-compensated modulus images with 70 degrees-flip-angle excitation pulses were obtained with a single acquisition. The behavior vs time of CSF signal in the aqueduct was compared with that in the lateral ventricles. The former showed a peak at 0.47 +/- 0.1 fractions of a heart cycle after the R wave. No periodicity with the heart rate was observed for the ventricular CSF signal intensity. The mean CSF signal intensity in the aqueduct was found to range from about twice to three times that in the lateral ventricles over a cardiac cycle. Fast multiphase imaging is a sensitive and practical sequence for the MR investigation of aqueductal CSF flow. Its potential in patients with hydrocephalus is studied in a companion article.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Fast multiphase MR imaging of aqueductal CSF flow: 2. Study in patients with hydrocephalus.

The signal intensity in the region corresponding to the cerebral aqueduct was evaluated in three patients with noncommunicating tension hydrocephalus (caused by aqueductal obstruction in two and type I Arnold-Chiari malformation in the other), seven patients with suspected normal-pressure hydrocephalus (three of whom subsequently underwent successful shunting), and 10 patients with ex vacuo (atrophic) hydrocephalus. A gradient-echo MR sequence, called fast multiphase imaging, was used. Serial images corresponding to different phases of the cardiac cycle were acquired. No flow-related enhancement was observed over the entire cardiac cycle in the patients with noncommunicating hydrocephalus. Patients with normal-pressure hydrocephalus showed a higher aqueductal CSF signal intensity, consistent with increased systolic flow rates, than patients with ex vacuo hydrocephalus. When comparing the above two groups of patients with a control group of healthy volunteers, significantly higher and lower values of the (mean) maximum aqueductal signal intensity were found in the normal-pressure hydrocephalus patients and the ex vacuo hydrocephalus patients, respectively. Fast multiphase MR evaluation of aqueductal CSF flow may help to differentiate patients with different types of hydrocephalus.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Subcortical arteriosclerotic encephalopathy: single photon emission computed tomography-magnetic resonance imaging correlation.

Regional cerebral blood flow was studied using 99mTc-HM-PAO and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) in five healthy subjects and in eight patients with clinical and computed tomography (CT) features of subcortical arteriosclerotic encephalopathy. All the patients and controls underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Circumscribed cortical hypoperfusion was observed in three patients, and in one case there was no evidence of cortical or sulcal alterations on MRI. In all the patients, a reduction of the white matter perfusion was found in periventricular and/or supraventricular regions. This pattern was substantially correlated with the typical white matter hyperintensities shown by MRI scans. These findings support the hypothesis that white matter hypoperfusion is the most prominent functional abnormality in subcortical arteriosclerotic encephalopathy.

Aged↗
PubMed1989

Computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and pathological correlations in a case of Binswanger's disease.

The results of 3 computed tomography (CT) examinations carried out over a 7 year period and of a post-mortem magnetic resonance (MR) study showed aspects of a white matter disease in a hypertensive patient suffering from vascular dementia. Histopathology revealed the primary cause of dementia to be a white matter degeneration sparing the U fibers. Rarefaction of both the myelin sheaths and the axons was present together with severe thickening of the medullary arteries. These findings support the existence of Binswanger's disease (BD) as a distinct variety of arteriosclerotic dementia. CT and MR imaging are valuable aids for diagnosis. However, since there are many other causes of CT and MR demonstrated diffuse white matter degeneration in the elderly, a conclusive diagnosis of BD requires pathological confirmation.

Dementia, Vascular↗
PubMed1989

[Magnetic resonance in the study of spondylodiscitis].

Spondylodiscitis is an uncommon pathologic condition whose diagnosis can be difficult due to its aspecific clinical and radiological signs, especially in its early phase. Seventeen patients were examined in order to evaluate MR diagnostic capabilities. They had cervical (2 cases), thoracic (3 cases) and lumbosacral (12 cases) spondylodiscitis. All patients previously underwent conventional X-ray examination and CT; bone scintigraphy was performed in 9 cases. The final diagnosis was reached by needle aspiration (10 cases), by blood culture (2 cases), or according to clinical evolution (5 cases). MR was highly sensitive in identifying the disease, also in its early stages. Moreover, MR allowed the definition of phlogistic process extent and its relationship with intersomatic disk: signal alterations were limited to the vertebral bodies and to the disk in 3 cases; endocanalar spread of phlogistic process was observed in 8 cases; extravertebral soft tissues were involved in 1 patient; involvement of both canal and paravertebral soft tissue was found in 5 patients. Signal alterations in vertebral bodies and disks, together with the good topographic evaluation obtained with MR imaging, allowed a reliable diagnosis of spondyloscitis to be reached.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

[Gadolinium DTPA in a MR study of expansive lesions of the cranial base].

Twenty-five patients were investigated by MR imaging in order to evaluate the diagnostic value of Gadolinium (Gd)-DTPA in skull-base tumors. The patients were studied with standard acquisition techniques (T1, mixed and T2-weighted images) without contrast medium. The images obtained were then compared with the T1-weighted images obtained after intravenous injection of Gd-DTPA. The contrastographic results in the different types of acquisition were evaluated. Thanks to the extraordinary increase in contrast resolution it provides, Gd-DTPA allowed the precise evaluation of the lesion and of its perfect spatial definition in all cases. Our experience demonstrated that Gd-DTPA considerably increases the sensitivity of the technique in this anatomical region. On the contrary, as regards the nature of the lesion, the signal did not significantly vary after the iv injection of Gd-DTPA in the various kinds of lesion. In addition to the important diagnostic advantages of Gd-DTPA, its excellent tolerability and the absence of side-effects must be stressed.

Adenoma↗
PubMed1988

[Magnetic resonance imaging in the study of brain changes due to carbon monoxide poisoning].

Five cases of carbon monoxide intoxication were studied with MR imaging. The main MR findings were discussed and compared with CT results. MR imaging demonstrated SNC lesions sooner and better than CT--its images corresponding to the anatomic-pathological patterns described in literature. However, severe MR limitations--i.e., the very long execution time and the difficult monitoring of the patients--prevent this methodology from being more extensively employed in this kind of pathology.

Accidents, Home↗
PubMed1986

Divergence pseudoparalysis: a case report.

Divergence paralysis is a clinical syndrome that is characterized by esotropia and diplopia at distance fixation and fusion at near fixation. This syndrome is thought to result from a lesion in the brain stem, probably in the midbrain or in the pontine region. This paper reports a case in which ocular motility disturbances, simulating divergence paralysis, were caused by a bilateral and symmetrical restrictive syndrome involving the medial rectus muscles.

Esotropia↗
PubMed1985

[Magnetic resonance and computerized tomography in the study of hypophyseal adenomas. Comparative results].

Magnetic resonance evaluation of 28 cases of pituitary adenomas has shown remarkable accuracy. Compared with HR-CT, MR gives comparable results in tumour identification. MR better demonstrates the suprasellar extension of macroadenomas and their relationship to the visual pathway and is more effective in showing direct and indirect signs of microadenomas. HR-CT however better recognized bone abnormalities of the sella turcica, due to adenomas. A typical increased signal intensity has been demonstrated in most of the adenomas studied.

Adenoma↗
PubMed1985

CT identification of coeliac ganglia.

The authors achieved the "in vivo" identification of the coeliac ganglia (C.G.), using computerised tomography (CT). This result was confirmed by autopsies and by CT scans of an anatomical specimen in which the coeliac ganglia had been previously marked. CT allows an exact location of the coeliac ganglia and can be very useful for a precise alcoholic neurolysis of the coeliac plexus.

Ganglia, Sympathetic↗