Non-invasive Investigations (non-invasive + investigation)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Brain GABA editing by localized in vivo1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy

NMR IN BIOMEDICINE, Issue 2 2004
G. Bielicki
Abstract Editing of GABA by 1H MRS in a specific brain area is a unique tool for in vivo non-invasive investigation of neurotransmission disorders. Selective GABA detection is achieved using sequences based on double quantum coherence (DQC). Our pulse sequence makes accurate measurements without artefacts due to spatial localization. The sequence was tested on a phantom solution. The effect of vigabatrin, a specific inhibitor of GABA transaminase, was measured in rat brain and GABA detection was performed in vivo in monkey brain using this procedure. Rats were spilt into two groups. In the control group, the rats had access to water and, in the other group (vigabatrin, VGB, rats), animals were allowed free access to drinking water containing vigabatrin. After 3 weeks of treatment, rats were anesthetized for in vivo NMR spectroscopy investigation. At the end of the experiment, brains were quickly removed, freeze-clamped and extracted with 4% perchloric acid. One part of the acid extract was used for GABA concentrations assessment by ion exchange chromatography with ninhydrin detection. The second was used for high-resolution NMR analysis. By chromatography measurements, the GABA concentration was 1.23±0.06,,mol/g for controls, while for vigabatrin-treated rats the GABA concentration was 4.89±1.60,,mol/g. The NMR in vivo results were closely correlated with the NMR ex vivo (r=0.99, p<0.01) and chromatography results (r=0.98, p<0.01). The correlation between ex vivo results and chromatography results was also high (r=0.99, p<0.001). This pulse sequence performed GABA editing from a 376,,l voxel located on the right basal ganglia area in a non-human primate brain. This in vivo GABA editing scheme can thus be proposed for accurate measurement of brain GABA concentrations. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Diagnosis of vocal cord dysfunction in asthma with high resolution dynamic volume computerized tomography of the larynx

RESPIROLOGY, Issue 8 2009
Peter W. HOLMES
ABSTRACT Background and objective: Vocal cord dysfunction (VCD) often masquerades as asthma and reports have suggested that up to 30% of patients with asthma may have coexistent VCD. Diagnosis of VCD is difficult, in part because it involves laryngoscopy which has practical constraints, and there is need for rapid non-invasive diagnosis. High speed 320-slice volume CT demonstrates laryngeal function during inspiration and expiration and may be useful in suspected VCD. Methods: Endoscopy and high resolution 320-slice dynamic volume CT were used to examine and compare laryngeal anatomy and movement in a case of subglottic stenosis and in a patient with confirmed VCD. Nine asthmatics with ongoing symptoms and suspected VCD also underwent 320-slice dynamic volume CT. Tracheal and laryngeal anatomy and movement were evaluated and luminal areas were measured. Reductions in vocal cord luminal area >40%, lasting for >70% duration of inspiration/expiration, were judged to be consistent with VCD. Results: Studies of subglottic tracheal stenosis validated anatomical similarities between endoscopy and CT images. Endoscopy and 320-slice volume CT also provided comparable dynamic images in a patient with confirmed VCD. A further nine patients with a history of severe asthma and suspected VCD were studied using CT. Four patients had evidence of VCD and the median reduction of luminal area during expiration was 78.2% (range 48.2,92.5%) compared with 10.4% (range 4.7,30%) in the five patients without VCD. Patients with VCD had no distinguishing clinical characteristics. Conclusions: Dynamic volume CT provided explicit images of the larynx, distinguished function of the vocal cords during the respiratory cycle and could identify putative VCD. The technique will potentially provide a simple, non-invasive investigation to identify laryngeal dysfunction, permitting improved management of asthma. [source]


Review article: strategies to determine whether hypergastrinaemia is due to Zollinger,Ellison syndrome rather than a more common benign cause

ALIMENTARY PHARMACOLOGY & THERAPEUTICS, Issue 10 2009
S. V. M. MURUGESAN
Summary Background, As there is considerable overlap between the fasting serum gastrin concentrations found in Zollinger,Ellison syndrome and various common conditions such as Helicobacter pylori infection and acid suppressing medication use, establishing the cause of hypergastrinaemia in individual cases can sometimes be difficult. Aim, To review the causes of hypergastrinaemia and the role of additional non-invasive investigations in hypergastrinaemic patients. Methods, Review of articles following a Pubmed search. Results, As gastrinomas may cause serious complications and be potentially life threatening, investigation of hypergastrinaemic patients should particularly focus on confirming or refuting the diagnosis of Zollinger,Ellison syndrome. Establishing the cause of hypergastrinaemia may be difficult when there is only a mild-to-moderate elevation of fasting serum gastrin concentration and concurrent treatment with proton pump inhibitor drugs and the presence of H. pylori infection can both confuse the clinical picture. A variety of provocative tests are therefore useful for establishing whether a hypergastrinaemic patient has a gastrinoma and current evidence suggests that the secretin test should be used first line. Conclusions, We suggest an algorithm for the investigation of patients found to have an elevated fasting serum gastrin concentration and address the roles of gastrin stimulation tests in current clinical practice. [source]


Proton MRS of early post-natal mouse brain modifications in vivo

NMR IN BIOMEDICINE, Issue 2 2006
Pierre Larvaron
Abstract NMR provides a non-invasive tool for the phenotypic characterisation of mouse models. The aim of the present study was to apply reliable in vivo MRS techniques for non-invasive investigations of brain development in normal and transgenic mice, by monitoring metabolite concentrations in different brain regions. The conditions of anaesthesia, immobilisation and respiratory monitoring were optimized to carry out in vivo MRS studies in young mice. All the experiments were performed in normal mice, at 9.4,T, applying a point-resolved spectroscopy (PRESS) sequence (TR,=,2000,ms; TE,=,130,ms). We obtained reproducible in vivo1H NMR spectra of wild-type mouse brains as early as post-natal day 5, which allowed us to follow brain maturation variations from post-natal days 5 to 21. The survival rate of animals was between 66 and 90% at post-natal days 5 and 21, respectively. Developmental changes of metabolite concentrations were measured in three brain regions: the thalamus, a region rich in cell bodies, the olfactory bulb, rich in fibre tracts actively myelinated during brain maturation, and the cerebellum. The voxel size varied from 2 to 8 µL according to the size of the brain structure analysed. The absolute concentrations of the total creatine, taurine, total choline, N -acetylaspartate and of the glutamate/glutamine pool were determined from 1H NMR spectra obtained in the different brain regions at post-natal day 5, 10, 15 and 21. Variations observed during brain development were in accordance with those previously reported in mice using ex vivo MRS studies, and also in rats and humans in vivo. Possibilities of longitudinal MRS analysis in maturing mice brains provide new perspectives to characterise better the tremendous number of transgenic mutant mice generated with the aim of decrypting the complexity of brain development and neurodegenerative diseases but also to follow the impact of environmental and therapeutic factors. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


The pathophysiology of peri-operative myocardial infarction

ANAESTHESIA, Issue 7 2010
B. M. Biccard
Summary It is generally believed that plaque rupture and myocardial oxygen supply-demand imbalance contribute approximately equally to the burden of peri-operative myocardial infarction. This review critically analyses data of post-mortem, pre-operative coronary angiography, troponin surveillance, other pre-operative non-invasive investigations, and peri-operative haemodynamic predictors of myocardial ischaemia and/or myocardial infarction. The current evidence suggests that myocardial oxygen supply-demand imbalance predominates in the early postoperative period. It is likely that flow stagnation and thrombus formation is an important pathway in the development of a peri-operative myocardial infarction, in addition to the more commonly recognised role of peri-operative tachycardia. Research and therapeutic interventions should be focused on the prediction and therapy of flow stagnation and thrombus formation. Plaque rupture appears to be a more random event, distributed over the entire peri-operative admission. [source]