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The purpose of this study is to observe the changes of cortical morphological characteristics and their potential contribution to cognitive function in ALL survivors by using surface-based morphometry (SBM). Using SBM analysis, we calculated and compared group differences in cortical thickness, sulcal depth, gyrification, and fractal dimension of the cerebral cortex between 18 pediatric ALL survivors treated on chemotherapy-only protocols and off treatment within 2 years, and 18 healthy controls (HCs) with two-sample t-tests [P < 0.05, family-wise error (FWE) corrected]. Relationships between abnormal cortical characteristic values and cognitive function parameters were investigated with partial correlation analysis, taking age as a covariate. We found decreased cortical thickness mainly located in the prefrontal and temporal region, and increased sulcal depth in left rostral middle frontal cortex and left pars orbitalis in the ALL survivors compared to HCs. There were no statistically significant differences in the gyrification and fractal dimension between the two groups. In ALL survivors, cortical thickness and sulcal depth of above areas values revealed no significant correlation with the cognitive function parameters. In conclusion, pediatric ALL survivors show decreased cortical thickness in prefrontal and temporal regions, and increased sulcal depth in prefrontal region. These results suggest that SBM-based approach can be used to assess changes of cortical morphological characteristics in pediatric ALL survivors., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

A cyst with mural nodule(s) (CMN) is a rare imaging finding of cerebellar metastasis (CMET). It is a great challenge to differentiate it from cerebellar hemangioblastoma (CHB). In the present study, we explore the differences in the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) characteristics of the 2 tumors. Patients with pathologically confirmed CMET or CHB at our hospital from July 2009 to September 2021 were enrolled in the present study. All the patients underwent conventional head MRI (before and after contrast administration) before surgery and had ≥1 lesion in the cerebellum that presented as CMN on MRI. The clinical and MRI features were compared between the 2 groups. A total of 33 patients (10 with CMET and 23 with CHB) met the study criteria. The CMET patients were significantly older than were the CHB patients (median age, 59.5 years vs. 37 years; P = 0.002). Compared with the CHB group, the CMET group showed significantly higher occurrence rates of multiple mural nodules (72.7% vs. 8.7%), lack of vascular flow voids (100% vs. 65.2%), isointense or hypointense mural nodules on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery imaging (100.0% vs. 22.7%), restricted diffusion of mural nodules (22.2% vs. 0.0%), mildly enhanced mural nodules (90.9% vs. 4.3%), and a ring-enhanced pattern of the cyst wall (100% vs. 8.7%; P < 0.05 for all). When CMN is detected in the cerebellum on MRI, older age, multiple mural nodules, absence of vascular flow voids, isointense or hypointense mural nodule on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery sequence, restricted diffusion of the mural nodule, mildly enhanced mural nodules, and a ring-enhanced pattern of the cyst wall are the clinical and imaging features that strongly indicate the likelihood of metastasis, rather than CHB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To describe and evaluate the application of a new 3‐D printing‐assisted personalized macular buckle for patients with myopic foveoschisis (MFS). Methods: Twelve eyes of 12 patients with MFS were included in this study. Preoperative MRI images were subsequently measured after marker implantation and imported into the MIMICS software for the 3‐D reconstruction of a virtual model of an eyeball and a marker. The virtual eyeball model was designed according to the degree of retinoschisis, which was measured using optical coherence tomography preoperatively. A macular buckle was designed using a titanium stent, assisted by 3‐D printing; furthermore, it was surgically placed in combination with pars plana vitrectomy. Visual acuity, axial length and anatomic outcomes were analysed pre‐ and postoperatively. Results: Macular schisis in all patients was completely resolved after the surgery without any postoperative complications. The mean postoperative best corrected visual acuity (LogMAR) improved significantly from 1.21 to 0.92 during the 6‐month follow‐up period (p < 0.001) and reached 0.9 (p < 0.001) after 2 years. The axial length was significantly shortened during the 2 years postoperatively follow‐up period (p < 0.01). The average axial lengths in all patients decreased from 30.62 mm preoperatively to 29.81 mm 1 month postoperatively and remained around 30.16 mm from 1 year after the surgery. Conclusion: The 3‐D printing technique is useful to predict the indentation height and position of the macular buckle. The 3D‐printing‐assisted macular buckle, in combination with vitrectomy, is an effective, safe and accurate treatment modality for MFS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]