Purpose: We investigated whether corticomedullary differentiation (CMD) increased to a pseudonormal appearance on T₁-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) images in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) with cirrhosis compared with patients with CKD without chronic liver disease.
Methods: We assessed CMD on T₁-weighted MR images of 32 patients with CKD with liver cirrhosis and 32 age-matched patients with CKD without liver cirrhosis, grading CMD visualization as good, moderate, or poor. We calculated quantitative CMD by the ratio of the signal intensity of the cortex to that of the medulla.
Results: The proportions of patients in each of the good, moderate, and poor groups differed significantly between those with and without liver cirrhosis (P = 0.048). In patients with CKD with liver cirrhosis, the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) differed between those with poor CMD and those with good or moderate CMD (P < 0.01) but not between those with good and those with moderate CMD. In patients with CKD without cirrhosis, the eGFR differed significantly among the good, moderate, and poor CMD groups (P < 0.05). We observed no significant correlation between CMD and eGFR in patients with and without cirrhosis (P < 0.05, r = 0.62).
Conclusion: CMD of the kidney had a pseudonormal appearance on T₁-weighted MR imaging in patients with CKD with cirrhosis.

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Purpose: We evaluated trunk muscle recruitment in abdominal and back exercises with magnetic resonance (MR) diffusion-weighted imaging.
Methods: Twelve men performed bent-knee sit-up, crunch, trunk lateral flexion, and trunk extension exercises. We obtained axial diffusion-weighted images of the trunk before and after each exercise using a 1.5-tesla MR system, calculated apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values from the right and left rectus abdominis, lateral abdominal, psoas major, quadratus lumborum, and intrinsic back muscles to evaluate the activity of these muscles during each exercise, and compared ADC values before and after exercise using a paired t-test.
Results: The ADCs of the rectus abdominis (right, +19.1%; left, +11.7%), lateral abdominal (right, +15.5%; left, +14.1%), and psoas major (right, +14.8%; left, +15.9%) muscles on both sides increased after the bent-knee sit-up (P < 0.01). The ADCs of the rectus abdominis (right, +16.8%; left, +10.2%) and lateral abdominal (right, +8.4%; left, +7.0%) muscles on both sides increased after the crunch exercise (P < 0.01). Trunk lateral flexion resulted in increased ADC on only the right side of all of the muscles (rectus abdominis, +12.3%; lateral abdominal muscles, +20.3%; quadratus lumborum, +17.1%; intrinsic back muscles, +12.0%; psoas major, +15.4%) (P < 0.01). The ADCs of the lateral abdominal (right, +5.2%; left, +5.6%), quadratus lumborum (right, +6.0%; left, +3.0%), and intrinsic back (right, +13.2%; left, +14.6%) muscles on both sides were elevated after trunk extension (right lateral abdominal muscles and left quadratus lumborum, P < 0.05; other muscles, P < 0.01).
Conclusion: Diffusion-weighted imaging reveals the recruitment patterns of superficial and deep trunk muscles in abdominal and back exercises through exercise-induced activation in intramuscular water movement.

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Purpose: We developed a new and convenient method that employs voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to evaluate regional reduction in the volume of white matter after diffuse axonal injury (DAI).
Methods: We studied 29 patients with moderate cognitive disability after DAI. Each subject underwent 3-dimensional volumetric magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Images were preprocessed automatically using stand-alone software running on a Windows PC for VBM of volumetric MR imaging utilizing a statistical parametric mapping (SPM) version 8 software engine and an algorithm for diffeomorphic anatomic registration through exponentiated lie algebra (DARTEL). We then computed a Z-score for all coordinates on the white matter, which represented the relative reduction in white matter volume. Finally, we used voxel-based stereotactic extraction estimation (vbSEE) to compute the extent of regional reduction in the volume of white matter (rWMVR) for each region of interest (ROI), defined as the rate of coordinates with Z-scores exceeding 2.0 in the ROI. For each ROI, we used Pearson’s correlation analysis to examine the correlation between the extent of regional volume reduction and patient scores on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale III (WAIS-III).
Results: We detected marked rWMVR in several ROIs, including the corpus callosum, and rWMVR correlated significantly with performance IQ and processing speed index in the splenium of the corpus callosum.
Conclusions: The results indicate the utility of our applications for the daily clinical evaluation of DAI. That they can be used on a PC and allow acquisition of volumetric data from standard MR images are their advantages.

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Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) is widely used to diagnose cancer and monitor therapy. The maximum enhancement ratio (ER_max) obtained from the curve of signal intensity over time could be a biomarker to distinguish cancer from normal tissue or benign tumors. We evaluated the impact of flip angle (FA) and repetition time (TR) on the ER_max values of dynamic gadobutrol-enhanced MR imaging, obtaining T₁-weighted (T₁W) MR imaging of VX2 tumors using 2-dimensional fast spoiled gradient echo (2D FSPGR) with various FAs (30°, 60° and 90°) at 1.5 tesla before and after injection of 0.1 mmol/kg gadobutrol. In vivo study indicated significant differences between ER_max values and area under the ER-time curve (AUC₁₀₀) of VX2 tumors and muscle tissue, with the highest ER_max and AUC₁₀₀ at FA 90°. Computer simulation also demonstrated the ER as a strictly increasing monotonic function in the closed interval [0°, 90°] for a given TR when using T₁W FSPGR, and the highest ER value always occurred at FA 90°. The FA for the highest ER differed from that for the highest signal-to-noise or contrast-to-noise ratio. For long TR, the ER value increases gradually. However, for short TR, the ER value increases rapidly and plateaus so that the ER value changes little beyond a certain FA value. Therefore, we suggest use of a higher FA, near 90°, to obtain a higher ER_max for long TR in 2D SPGR or FSPGR and a smaller FA, much less than 90°, to reach an appropriate ER_max for short TR in 3D SPGR or FSPGR. This information could be helpful in setting the optimal parameters for DCE-MRI.

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Purpose: Isolated vestibular-lateral semicircular canal dysplasia (LSCCD) is one of the most common anomalies of the inner ear. However, endolymphatic size in LSCCD is unknown. We measured the size of the endolymph in the vestibule of patients with LSCCD and compared it with that measured in patients without LSCCD.
Methods: We extracted 1102 magnetic resonance (MR) studies for the evaluation of endolymphatic hydrops (EH) from our database of radiology reports. Among these, we found 15 ears from 11 patients with LSCCD; 4 patients had bilateral abnormalities. Seven of the 15 ears demonstrated aplasia and 8 ears, hypoplasia of the lateral semicircular canal (LSCC). The control group consisted of 26 ears from 13 randomly selected patients without LSCCD. We measured the area of endolymph in the vestibule (ELA), total area of vestibular lymph fluid (TLA), and area of the central bony island (CBI) of the LSCC from axial MR images obtained after intratympanic or intravenous administration of gadolinium-based contrast material. The ratio of endolymphatic area to total lymphatic area (%EL) was defined as %EL = ELA/TLA × 100.
We evaluated the correlation between %EL and the area of the CBI and compared age, %EL, degree of cochlear EH, hearing level, and presence of rotating vertigo among the 3 groups (aplasia, hypoplasia, control).
Results: The mean %EL was 76.7% in the aplasia group, 50.0% in the hypoplasia group, and 27.8% in the control group (P < 0.001). There was a relatively strong linear correlation between the area of the CBI and %EL (r = −0.767). Patient age, mean hearing level, degree of cochlear EH, or presence of vertigo attacks did not differ significantly among the groups (P > 0.05).
Conclusion: The size of vestibular endolymph was larger in the groups with aplasia or hypoplasia than the control group. Thus, the current diagnostic cut-off value for significant vestibular EH (>50%) might not be appropriate for ears with LSCCD.

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Purpose: We evaluated the validity and reliability of magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) for staging hepatic fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B.
Methods: The study included 73 patients with chronic hepatitis B and confirmed stages of pathological fibrosis. Two radiologists measured liver stiffness using MRE in all cases. We compared the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (Az) for distinguishing stages of fibrosis compared with MRE liver stiffness measurements and serum fibrosis markers. We used intraclass correlation coefficients to analyze interobserver agreement for measurements of liver stiffness and 2 one-sided t-tests to test the equivalence of the measurements by the 2 observers.
Results: ROC analyses revealed the significantly superior discrimination abilities of MRE for liver fibrosis staging (Az = 0.945 to 0.978 [Observer 1] and 0.936 to 0.967 [Observer 2]) to those of serum fibrosis markers (0.491 to 0.742) for both observers (P < 0.0004). The intraclass correlation coefficient between the 2 observers was excellent (ρ = 0.971), and the measurements of liver stiffness by the 2 observers were statistically equivalent within a 0.1-kPa difference (P = 0.0157)
Conclusion: MRE is a valid and reliable technique for discriminating the stage of hepatic fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B.

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Type IV collagen α1 (COL4A1) forms a sheet-like network beneath the endothelium and surrounding smooth muscle cells. Associations of mutations in COL4A1 with porencephaly, schizencephaly, and intracranial hemorrhages are known. We report susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) findings showing hemorrhages in the peripheral portion of the region of schizencephaly, intraparenchymal hemorrhages, and tortuosity of the intracranial veins in a child with a COL4A1 mutation. SWI findings may be helpful for understanding the possible relationship between schizencephaly and COL4A1 mutations.

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We report the intersite scan reliability of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) parameters using identical 3T scanners and acquisition protocols at 2 sites. Voxel-based analysis revealed several regions with significant intersite differences. The intersite reliability of DTI measures showed coefficients of variation below 4% in tract-specific analysis (TSA) and below 6% in atlas-based analysis. Given the excellent reliability of TSA, our results suggest it as a promising and useful tool for multicenter DTI studies.

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The noise power spectrum (NPS), an index for noise evaluation, represents the frequency characteristics of image noise. We measured the NPS in PROPELLER (Periodically Rotated Overlapping ParallEL Lines with Enhanced Reconstruction) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, a nonuniform data sampling technique, as an initial study for practical MR image evaluation using the NPS. The 2-dimensional (2D) NPS reflected the k-space sampling density and showed agreement with the shape of the k-space trajectory as expected theoretically. Additionally, the 2D NPS allowed visualization of a part of the image reconstruction process, such as filtering and motion correction.

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The use of compact magnetic resonance (MR) systems for the neuroimaging of small animals is spreading. We investigated the potential of such systems in functional MR imaging (fMRI) of somatosensory cortex activity elicited by forepaw stimulation in medetomidine-sedated rats. Using a 1.5-tesla compact imager, we detected maximum activity with an electrophysiologically optimized frequency of 9 Hz in 3 appropriately sedated rats. With this compact system, we successfully mapped neural activity by combining optimum stimulation for a large hemodynamic response with appropriate anesthesia, thus demonstrating the utility of such systems in hemodynamic-based fMRI in preclinical and translational research.

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