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Certainly, availability of PET/MRI device is limited to few centers, in addition, this imaging technique is burdened by longer imaging acquisition time and higher costs with respect to PET/CT or WB-DWI-MRI. Therefore, patients achieving both PET/CT and WB-DWI-MRI negativity after treatment showed improved PFS as compared to patients with residual disease by PET or MRI [[9]]. Regarding baseline PET/MRI evaluation, FLs were detected in 23 patients, with mean SUVmax of 4.4 ± 2.78 and mean ADC of 963 ± 264.6 mm SP 2 sp /s. At the end of treatment PET/MRI showed a PET negativity (DS <= 3) in 23/27 (85.2%) patients, a MRI negativity (RAC = 1) in 18/27 (66.7%) cases and a concomitant PET and MRI negativity (DS <= 3 and RAC = 1) in 18/27 (66.7%) cases. [Extracted from the article]

Objective: Craniectomy, used to relieve refractory intracranial pressure in traumatic brain injury (TBI), may cause cognitive deficits which could be improved by skull breach repair. This paper studied whether late cranioplasty improves a specific pattern of cognitive functions. Design: A case series of five TBI patients with craniectomy undergoing late cranioplasty (median interval time: 14 months, range: 12-36). Methods: Longitudinal neuropsychological and brain MRI assessments 1 week before cranioplasty and 3 months later. Results: After cranioplasty, mean score of the verbal fluency test improved compared to pre-cranioplasty ( p = 0.02). Similarly, significant improvements after cranioplasty were observed in other tests scores exploring executive functions, such as working memory ( p = 0.03) and speed of attention ( p = 0.04), independently from the size and site of cranioplasty. Conclusions: The cognitive improvement induced by cranioplasty, even when performed after a long interval from craniectomy, may be due to the restoration of physiological cerebrospinal fluid circulation which, in turn, allows an efficient brain volume transmission signal circulation. The restoration of this essential way of signal communication seems to affect large-scale neuronal networks responsible for the executive functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pelvic-ureteric junction obstruction (PUJO) is rare in adults and may be seen when the diagnosis has been missed in childhood. Hypertension may be a feature of PUJO but limited data are currently available in literature to support its association. We report a case of a 29-year-old woman who presented with severe hypertension. Work-up to exclude secondary hypertension showed high plasma renin activity, and imaging by ultrasound and computerized tomography a hydronephrosis and PUJO with impairment of kidney drainage at the renal scintigraphy. After double-J ureteric stenting, blood pressure decreased, antihypertensive medication tapered and the patients was normotensive with no antihypertensive medications after 6 months. We provide an update of the pathophysiology of hypertension in PUJO and a review of the available literature in order better to define the available treatments for these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Owing to the frequent observation of poverty of movements, facial hypomimia and balance impairment, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) variant with predominance of upper motor neuron involvement (UMN-ALS) is prone to be diagnosed with Parkinsonism. A clinical assessment, including the velocity-dependent stretch response test to differentiate between pyramidal and extrapyramidal stiffness; the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale and the Berg Balance Scale to assess degree of bradykinesia and postural instability; and 123I-FP-CIT scintigraphy evaluation to investigate the nigrostriatal circuit involvement, were carried out to characterize Parkinson-like features in UMN-ALS patients. Sixteen UMN-ALS patients were included in the study. The velocity-dependent stretch response indicated spasticity in all the muscles tested. The degree of stiffness was found to be related to bradykinesia and postural instability. Eleven patients (70%) showed a reduction in striatal 123I-FP-CIT uptake found to be related to disease duration and patients' ages but not to scores of the functional scales. Slowness of movements and postural instability noted in our patients could be mostly attributed to spasticity. The lack of any correlation between UPDRS or BBS scores and the degree of nigrostriatal impairment on DaTSCAN seems to disprove nigrostriatal circuit involvement in these extrapyramidal-like features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a letter to the editor discussing a rare manifestation of a VCP mutation. The case report describes a 58-year-old woman who experienced focal epilepsy followed by rapidly progressive frontotemporal dementia. The woman had a family history of dementia and behavioral changes. Neurological examination revealed frontal lobe syndrome, and brain imaging showed frontal lobe atrophy and hypometabolism. Genetic testing confirmed a mutation in the VCP gene. The authors emphasize the importance of genetic testing and imaging in diagnosing neurological disorders and highlight the heterogeneity of VCP-related disorders. [Extracted from the article]