Neurology Image Library | Internet Stroke Center

Neurology Image Library

View CT, MRI, and Angiogram case studies by diagnosis

This library illustrates a variety of stroke related diagnoses through deidentified case studies. Use keyword searches to narrow down to specific cases of interest and select a diagnosis to view images.

Goto —> Neurology Image Library

Source: Neurology Image Library | Internet Stroke Center

[WEB SITE] Blood Test for Traumatic Brain Injury Could Reduce Unnecessary CT Scans

Looking for GFAP protein with CT and MRI could predict injury severity

May 19, 2015 — New study results show a simple blood test to measure brain-specific proteins released after a person suffers a traumatic brain injury (TBI) can reliably predict both evidence of TBI on radiographic imaging and injury severity. The potential benefit of adding detection of glial fibrillary acidic protein breakdown products (GFAP-BDP) to clinical screening with computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is described in an article published in Journal of Neurotrauma.

Paul McMahon of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and a team of international researchers, including TRACK-TBI investigators, analyzed blood levels of GFAP-BDP from patients ages 16-93 years treated at multiple trauma centers for suspected TBI. They evaluated the ability of the blood-based biomarker to predict intracranial injury as compared to the findings on an admission CT and a delayed MRI scan. The authors reported a net benefit for the use of GFAP-BDP above imaging-based screening alone and a net reduction in unnecessary scans by 12-30 percent in the article “Measurement of the Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein and Its Breakdown Products GFAP-BDP Biomarker for the Detection of Traumatic Brain Injury Compared to Computed Tomography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging.”

John T. Povlishock, Ph.D., editor-in-chief of Journal of Neurotrauma and professor, Medical College of Virginia Campus of Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, noted that “this impressive multi-center study joins with other streams of emerging evidence supporting the use of biomarkers as an important tool in the clinical decision making and prediction process.

“Importantly, this study significantly expands upon other studies that speak to the usefulness of GFAP and, specifically, serum-derived GFAP-BDP in identifying those traumatically brain injured patients whose clinical course is complicated by intracranial injury, demonstrating that GFAP-BDP offers good predictive ability, significant discrimination of injury severity, and net benefit in reducing the need for unnecessary scans, all of which have significant implications for the brain injured patient,” said Povlishock.

For more information: http://www.nationalneurotraumasociety.org

via Blood Test for Traumatic Brain Injury Could Reduce Unnecessary CT Scans | ITN Online.

[WEB SITE] How Accurate Is An MRI Report?

…Unless it is of considerable volume, a mass detected on an x-ray, MRI, or CT scan is often a dot requiring a judgment call. Determining whether a dot is an anomaly depends upon the skill, experience and alertness of the technician. Add these variables to the need for properly tuned equipment and you can see there is a margin for error. Therefore, if a radiologist reports back with positive results, get a second opinion. When results are negative, a second opinion is still advised.

If a doctor reports that an MRI reveals no tumor or more alarmingly, no cancer when there other symptoms or tests contradicting the claim, be wary. Malignancy is determined by biopsy not radiology. Don’t let your life be cut short by a douche bag who cannot tell the difference between a tampon and a tumor…

more –> How Accurate Is An MRI Report?.

[Wikipedia] Cognitive behavioral therapy.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a psychotherapeutic approach that addresses dysfunctional emotions, maladaptive behaviors and cognitive processes and contents through a number of goal-oriented, explicit systematic procedures. The name refers to behavior therapy, cognitive therapy, and therapy based upon a combination of basic behavioral and cognitive principles and research. Most therapists working with patients dealing with anxiety and depression use a blend of cognitive and behavioral therapy. This technique acknowledges that there may be behaviors that cannot be controlled through rational thought. CBT is “problem focused” (undertaken for specific problems) and “action oriented” (therapist tries to assist the client in selecting specific strategies to help address those problems).[1]

CBT has been demonstrated to be effective for the treatment of a variety of conditions, including mood, anxiety, personality, eating, substance abuse, tic, and psychotic disorders. Many CBT treatment programs for specific disorders have been evaluated for efficacy; the health-care trend of evidence-based treatment, where specific treatments for symptom-based diagnoses are recommended, has favored CBT over other approaches such as psychodynamic treatments.[2]

CBT was primarily developed through an integration of behavior therapy (the term “behavior modification” appears to have been first used by Edward Thorndike) with cognitive psychology research, first by Donald Meichenbaum and several other authors with the label of cognitive behavior modification in the late 1970s. This tradition thereafter merged with earlier work of a few clinicians, labeled as Cognitive Therapy (CT), developed first by Albert Ellis as Rational Emotive Therapy (RET) and later Aaron Beck. While rooted in rather different theories, these two traditions have been characterised by a constant reference to experimental research to test hypotheses, both at clinical and basic level. Common features of CBT procedures are the focus on the “here and now”, a directive or guidance role of the therapist, a structuring of the psychotherapy sessions and path, and on alleviating both symptoms and patients’ vulnerability.[3]

more–> Cognitive behavioral therapy – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.