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Purpose: To evaluate the role of computed tomography angiography (CTA) and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) in the quantification of atherosclerotic stenosis of carotid artery bifurcation in comparison with digital substraction angiography (DSA) and Doppler sonography (DS). Materials and Methods: Twenty-five patients with atherosclerotic disease of the carotid arteries with proven stenosis by DSA, had spiral CTA, MRA using two- and three-dimensional time-of-flight gradient echo techniques, and DS using Doppler flow signal recording (total 47 carotid artery bifurcations). The degree of stenosis was measured according to the North American Symptomatic Carotid Endarterectomy Trial criteria: total occlusion (100%), severe (70–99%), moderate (30–69%) and mild (0–29%). The degree of stenosis measured by CTA, MRA and DS was compared to DSA, used as the gold standard. Results: Ninety-seven percent of MRA measures were equivalent to DSA, and 3% were underestimated; 96% of CTA measures were equivalent to DSA, and 4% were underestimated; 77% of DS measures were equivalent to DSA, 21% were overestimated and 2% were underestimated. Conclusions: CTA and MRA are equally accurate methods in quantifying the degree of carotid bifurcation stenosis.Copyright © 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented which is concerned with a patient who had a complete washout of a colloid cyst on a magnetic resonance imaging test after partial removal by endoscopic approach.

The article presents the answer to the quiz concerning the unusual cerebral computed tomography image of a 28-year-old prison inmate with recurrent frontal headaches. It states that the weighted magnetic resonance images have shown a focal enhancing lesion with diffuse surrounding edema towards the frontal white matter. It confirms the diagnosis of cerebral toxoplasmosis through histology and polymerase chain reaction on a stereotaxic frontal biopsy.

A quiz concerning the unusual cerebral computed tomography image of a 28-year-old prison inmate with recurrent frontal headaches is presented.

The article presents the case of a 77-year-old man who was doubted to have a giant cell arteritis after developing headaches, jaw claudication and diplopia. The man underwent a computed tomography (CT) angiography of the extracranial arteries and has revealed luminal narrowing and mural thickening with skip lesions inflammation along his right superficial temporal artery. It notes that the diagnosis of giant cell arteritis was proven after he had biopsy.

Right hemispheric stroke aphasia (RHSA) rarely occurs in right- or left-handed patients with their language representation in right hemisphere (RH). For right-handers, the term crossed aphasia is used. Single cases, multiple cases reports, and reviews suggest more variable anatomo-clinical correlations. We included retrospectively from our stroke data bank 16 patients (right- and left-handed, and ambidextrous) with aphasia after a single first-ever ischemic RH stroke. A control group was composed of 25 successive patients with left hemispheric stroke and aphasia (LHSA). For each patient, we analyzed four modalities of language (spontaneous fluency, naming, repetition, and comprehension) and recorded eventual impairment: (1) on admission (hyperacute) and (2) between day 3 and 14 (acute). Lesion volume and location as measured on computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were transformed into Talairach stereotaxic space. Nonparametric statistics were used to compare impaired/nonimpaired patients. Comprehension and repetition were less frequently impaired after RHSA (respectively, 56% and 50%) than after LHSA (respectively, 84% and 80%, P = 0.05 and 0.04) only at hyperacute phase. Among RHSA, fewer left-handers/ambidextrous than right-handers had comprehension disorders at second evaluation ( P = 0.013). Mean infarct size was similar in RHSA and LHSA with less posterior RHSA lesions (caudal to the posterior commissure). Comprehension and repetition impairments were more often associated with anterior lesions in RHSA (Fisher’s exact test, P < 0.05). Despite the small size of the cohort, our findings suggest increased atypical anatomo-functional correlations of RH language representation, particularly in non-right-handed patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]