Forty-five consecutive patients with an acute IS were included in the prospective study during an 18-month period. All patients underwent CTA and TCCS within the first 3 hours of symptom onset. A high rate of pathologic findings in the intracranial circulation was found (70.9% in CTA and 77.4% in TCCS examinations). The

CTA and TCCS findings with respect to the intracranial arteries were consistent in 87.1% of cases (Cohen’s κ, .797). The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values achieved with TCCS in patients with middle cerebral artery main Ferrostatin-1 stem occlusion were 92.3%, 94.4%, and 92.3% and 94.4%, respectively. There was no correlation between the patient’s clinical status on admission and 3 months after the onset of the IS and the CTA or the TCCS findings Lumacaftor research buy (P > .1 in all cases). A substantial agreement was found between TCCS and CTA in the detection of pathologic findings in intracranial vessels in acute stroke patients. Both methods can be used for this purpose. “
“Currently, the presence of persistent primitive trigeminal artery (PPTA) is detected by digital subtraction angiography (DSA); most publications on this cerebrovascular variation have been individual case reports. This study is to evaluate the efficacy of 3-dimensional time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiography (3D-TOF MRA) at 3.0 T for the detection and

classification of PPTA based on a large case series. Between June 2007 and October 2008, 4,650 patients underwent magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) examination at 3.0 T in our hospital. MRA was performed using 3D-TOF with volume rendering (VR) and maximum intensity projection (MIP) Benzatropine technique. The PPTA was classified according to the Saltzman classification system. The occurrence of cerebral vascular diseases accompanying PPTA was studied. Among the 4,650 patients with MRA examined, 25 were identified as having PPTA; the prevalence of PPTA was .54%. The Saltzman classification

of PPTAs was as follows: type I, 24%; type II, 16%; type III, 60%. Sixteen percent of the cases with PPTA were accompanied with intracranial aneurysm. A 3D-TOF MRA at 3.0 T can be used for the detection of PPTA and making a classification of PPTA indirectly. The incidence of PPTA with type III was greater than that of other types of PPTA. Intracranial aneurysm appeared to be associated with PPTA. “
“Cerebral vasomotor reserve (VMR) is the capability of cerebral arterioles to change their diameter in response to various stimuli, such hypercapnia. Changes of VMR due to transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) have been poorly studied. Twenty-five healthy subjects underwent anodal/cathodal and sham tDCS on right primary motor area. Before and after tDCS, we assessed VMR by Transcranial Color-Coded Sonography (TCCS) calculating trought Breath Holding Index (BHI) and Heart Rate Variability (HRV), in particular after Valsalva manouver.