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Lapidaire W, Forkert ND, Williamson W, Huckstep O, Tan CM, Alsharqi M, Mohamed A, Kitt J, Burchert H, Mouches P, Dawes H, Foster C, Okell TW, Lewandowski AJ, Leeson P. Aerobic exercise increases brain vessel lumen size and blood flow in young adults with elevated blood pressure. Secondary analysis of the TEPHRA randomized clinical trial. Neuroimage Clin 2023; 37:103337. [PMID: 36709637 PMCID: PMC9900452 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2023.103337] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2022] [Revised: 01/18/2023] [Accepted: 01/23/2023] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
IMPORTANCE Cerebrovascular changes are already evident in young adults with hypertension and exercise is recommended to reduce cardiovascular risk. To what extent exercise benefits the cerebrovasculature at an early stage of the disease remains unclear. OBJECTIVE To investigate whether structured aerobic exercise increases brain vessel lumen diameter or cerebral blood flow (CBF) and whether lumen diameter is associated with CBF. DESIGN Open, parallel, two-arm superiority randomized controlled (1:1) trial in the TEPHRA study on an intention-to-treat basis. The MRI sub-study was an optional part of the protocol. The outcome assessors remained blinded until the data lock. SETTING Single-centre trial in Oxford, UK. PARTICIPANTS Participants were physically inactive (<150 min/week moderate to vigorous physical activity), 18 to 35 years old, 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure 115/75 mmHg-159/99 mmHg, body mass index below 35 kg/m2 and never been on prescribed hypertension medications. Out of 203 randomized participants, 135 participated in the MRI sub-study. Randomisation was stratified for sex, age (<24, 24-29, 30-35 years) and gestational age at birth (<32, 32-37, >37 weeks). INTERVENTION Study participants were randomised to a 16 week aerobic exercise intervention targeting 3×60 min sessions per week at 60 to 80 % peak heart rate. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES cerebral blood flow (CBF) maps from ASL MRI scans, internal carotid artery (ICA), middle cerebral artery (MCA) M1 and M2 segments, anterior cerebral artery (ACA), basilar artery (BA), and posterior cerebral artery (PCA) diameters extracted from TOF MRI scans. RESULTS Of the 135 randomized participants (median age 28 years, 58 % women) who had high quality baseline MRI data available, 93 participants also had high quality follow-up data available. The exercise group showed an increase in ICA (0.1 cm, 95 % CI 0.01 to 0.18, p =.03) and MCA M1 (0.05 cm, 95 % CI 0.01 to 0.10, p =.03) vessel diameter compared to the control group. Differences in the MCA M2 (0.03 cm, 95 % CI 0.0 to 0.06, p =.08), ACA (0.04 cm, 95 % CI 0.0 to 0.08, p =.06), BA (0.02 cm, 95 % CI -0.04 to 0.09, p =.48), and PCA (0.03 cm, 95 % CI -0.01 to 0.06, p =.17) diameters or CBF were not statistically significant. The increase in ICA vessel diameter in the exercise group was associated with local increases in CBF. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Aerobic exercise induces positive cerebrovascular remodelling in young people with early hypertension, independent of blood pressure. The long-term benefit of these changes requires further study. TRIAL REGISTRATION Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02723552, 30 March 2016.
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Affiliation(s)
- Winok Lapidaire
- Oxford Cardiovascular Clinical Research Facility, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
| | - Nils D Forkert
- Department of Radiology and Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
| | - Wilby Williamson
- Oxford Cardiovascular Clinical Research Facility, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
| | - Odaro Huckstep
- Oxford Cardiovascular Clinical Research Facility, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; Life Sciences Research Center, Department of Biology, United States Air Force Academy, United States.
| | - Cheryl Mj Tan
- Oxford Cardiovascular Clinical Research Facility, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7DQ, UK.
| | - Maryam Alsharqi
- Oxford Cardiovascular Clinical Research Facility, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; Department of Cardiac Technology, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
| | - Afifah Mohamed
- Oxford Cardiovascular Clinical Research Facility, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; Department of Diagnostic Imaging and Radiotherapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia.
| | - Jamie Kitt
- Oxford Cardiovascular Clinical Research Facility, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
| | - Holger Burchert
- Oxford Cardiovascular Clinical Research Facility, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; Department of Sport, Exercise and Health, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
| | - Pauline Mouches
- Department of Radiology and Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Helen Dawes
- NIHR Exeter BRC, Medical School, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom.
| | - Charlie Foster
- Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom.
| | - Thomas W Okell
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging (FMRIB), Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
| | - Adam J Lewandowski
- Oxford Cardiovascular Clinical Research Facility, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
| | - Paul Leeson
- Oxford Cardiovascular Clinical Research Facility, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
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Zhang J, Bekkers E, Chen D, Berendschot TTJM, Schouten J, Pluim JPW, Shi Y, Dashtbozorg B, Romeny BMTH. Reconnection of Interrupted Curvilinear Structures via Cortically Inspired Completion for Ophthalmologic Images. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng 2019; 65:1151-1165. [PMID: 29683430 DOI: 10.1109/tbme.2017.2787025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE In this paper, we propose a robust, efficient, and automatic reconnection algorithm for bridging interrupted curvilinear skeletons in ophthalmologic images. METHODS This method employs the contour completion process, i.e., mathematical modeling of the direction process in the roto-translation group to achieve line propagation/completion. The completion process can be used to reconstruct interrupted curves by considering their local consistency. An explicit scheme with finite-difference approximation is used to construct the three-dimensional (3-D) completion kernel, where we choose the Gamma distribution for time integration. To process structures in , the orientation score framework is exploited to lift the 2-D curvilinear segments into the 3-D space. The propagation and reconnection of interrupted segments are achieved by convolving the completion kernel with orientation scores via iterative group convolutions. To overcome the problem of incorrect skeletonization of 2-D structures at junctions, a 3-D segment-wise thinning technique is proposed to process each segment separately in orientation scores. RESULTS Validations on 4 datasets with different image modalities show that our method achieves an average success rate of in reconnecting gaps of sizes from to , including challenging junction structures. CONCLUSION The reconnection approach can be a useful and reliable technique for bridging complex curvilinear interruptions. SIGNIFICANCE The presented method is a critical work to obtain more complete curvilinear structures in ophthalmologic images. It provides better topological and geometric connectivities for further analysis.
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Williamson W, Huckstep OJ, Frangou E, Mohamed A, Tan C, Alsharqi M, Bertagnolli M, Lapidaire W, Newton J, Hanssen H, McManus R, Dawes H, Foster C, Lewandowski AJ, Leeson P. Trial of exercise to prevent HypeRtension in young adults (TEPHRA) a randomized controlled trial: study protocol. BMC Cardiovasc Disord 2018; 18:208. [PMID: 30400774 PMCID: PMC6220491 DOI: 10.1186/s12872-018-0944-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2018] [Accepted: 10/22/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Hypertension prevalence in young adults has increased and is associated with increased incidence of cerebrovascular and cardiovascular events in middle age. However, there is significant debate regards how to effectively manage young adult hypertension with recommendation to target lifestyle intervention. Surprisingly, no trials have investigated whether lifestyle advice developed for blood pressure control in older adults is effective in these younger populations. Methods/Design TEPHRA is an open label, parallel arm, randomised controlled trial in young adults with high normal and elevated blood pressure. The study will compare a supervised physical activity intervention consisting of 16 weeks structured exercise, physical activity self-monitoring and motivational coaching with a control group receiving usual care/minimal intervention. Two hundred young adults aged 18–35 years, including a subgroup of preterm born participants will be recruited through open recruitment and direct invitation. Participants will be randomised in a ratio of 1:1 to either the exercise intervention group or control group. Primary outcome will be ambulatory blood pressure monitoring at 16 weeks with measure of sustained effect at 12 months. Study measures include multimodal cardiovascular assessments; peripheral vascular measures, blood sampling, microvascular assessment, echocardiography, objective physical activity monitoring and a subgroup will complete multi-organ magnetic resonance imaging. Discussion The results of this trial will deliver a novel, randomised control trial that reports the effect of physical activity intervention on blood pressure integrated with detailed cardiovascular phenotyping in young adults. The results will support the development of future research and expand the evidence-based management of blood pressure in young adult populations. Trial Registration Clinicaltrials.gov registration number NCT02723552, registered on 30 March, 2016.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wilby Williamson
- Oxford Cardiovascular Clinical Research Facility, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK.
| | - Odaro J Huckstep
- Oxford Cardiovascular Clinical Research Facility, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK
| | - Eleni Frangou
- Centre for Statistics in Medicine, Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Afifah Mohamed
- Oxford Cardiovascular Clinical Research Facility, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK
| | - Cheryl Tan
- Oxford Cardiovascular Clinical Research Facility, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK
| | - Maryam Alsharqi
- Oxford Cardiovascular Clinical Research Facility, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK
| | - Mariane Bertagnolli
- Oxford Cardiovascular Clinical Research Facility, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK.,Centre Integré Universitaire de Santé et de Services Sociaux du Nord-de-l'Île-de-Montréal, Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal Research Center, Montréal, Canada
| | - Winok Lapidaire
- Oxford Cardiovascular Clinical Research Facility, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK
| | - Julia Newton
- Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Henner Hanssen
- Department of Sport, Exercise and Health, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Richard McManus
- Nuffield Department of Primary Health Care Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Helen Dawes
- Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK
| | - Charlie Foster
- School of Policy Studies, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Adam J Lewandowski
- Oxford Cardiovascular Clinical Research Facility, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK.,Oxford Centre for Clinical Magnetic Resonance Research, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Paul Leeson
- Oxford Cardiovascular Clinical Research Facility, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK
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Williamson W, Lewandowski AJ, Forkert ND, Griffanti L, Okell TW, Betts J, Boardman H, Siepmann T, McKean D, Huckstep O, Francis JM, Neubauer S, Phellan R, Jenkinson M, Doherty A, Dawes H, Frangou E, Malamateniou C, Foster C, Leeson P. Association of Cardiovascular Risk Factors With MRI Indices of Cerebrovascular Structure and Function and White Matter Hyperintensities in Young Adults. JAMA 2018; 320:665-673. [PMID: 30140877 PMCID: PMC6142949 DOI: 10.1001/jama.2018.11498] [Citation(s) in RCA: 91] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2017] [Accepted: 07/22/2018] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Importance Risk of stroke and brain atrophy in later life relate to levels of cardiovascular risk in early adulthood. However, it is unknown whether cerebrovascular changes are present in young adults. Objective To examine relationships between modifiable cardiovascular risk factors and cerebrovascular structure, function, and white matter integrity in young adults. Design, Setting, and Participants A cross-sectional observational study of 125 young adults (aged 18-40 years) without clinical evidence of cerebrovascular disease. Data collection was completed between August 2014 and May 2016 at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom. Final data collection was completed on May 31, 2016. Exposures The number of modifiable cardiovascular risk factors at recommended levels, based on the following criteria: body mass index (BMI) <25; highest tertile of cardiovascular fitness and/or physical activity; alcohol consumption <8 drinks/week; nonsmoker for >6 months; blood pressure on awake ambulatory monitoring <130/80 mm Hg; a nonhypertensive diastolic response to exercise (peak diastolic blood pressure <90 mm Hg); total cholesterol <200 mg/dL; and fasting glucose <100mg/dL. Each risk factor at the recommended level was assigned a value of 1, and participants were categorized from 0-8, according to the number of risk factors at recommended levels, with higher numbers indicating healthier risk categories. Main Outcomes and Measures Cerebral vessel density, caliber and tortuosity, brain white matter hyperintensity lesion count. In a subgroup (n = 52), brain blood arrival time and cerebral blood flow assessed by brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Results A total of 125 participants, mean (SD) age 25 (5) years, 49% women, with a mean (SD) score of 6.0 (1.4) modifiable cardiovascular risk factors at recommended levels, completed the cardiovascular risk assessment and brain MRI protocol. Cardiovascular risk factors were correlated with cerebrovascular morphology and white matter hyperintensity count in multivariable models. For each additional modifiable risk factor categorized as healthy, vessel density was greater by 0.3 vessels/cm3 (95% CI, 0.1-0.5; P = .003), vessel caliber was greater by 8 μm (95% CI, 3-13; P = .01), and white matter hyperintensity lesions were fewer by 1.6 lesions (95% CI, -3.0 to -0.5; P = .006). Among the 52 participants with available data, cerebral blood flow varied with vessel density and was 2.5 mL/100 g/min higher for each healthier category of a modifiable risk factor (95% CI, 0.16-4.89; P = .03). Conclusions and Relevance In this preliminary study involving young adults without clinical evidence of cerebrovascular disease, a greater number of modifiable cardiovascular risk factors at recommended levels was associated with higher cerebral vessel density and caliber, higher cerebral blood flow, and fewer white matter hyperintensities. Further research is needed to verify these findings and determine their clinical importance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wilby Williamson
- Oxford Cardiovascular Clinical Research Facility, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Adam J. Lewandowski
- Oxford Cardiovascular Clinical Research Facility, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Oxford Centre for Clinical Magnetic Resonance Research, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Nils D. Forkert
- Department of Radiology and Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Ludovica Griffanti
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, FMRIB Division, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Thomas W. Okell
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, FMRIB Division, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Jill Betts
- Oxford Cardiovascular Clinical Research Facility, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Henry Boardman
- Oxford Cardiovascular Clinical Research Facility, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Timo Siepmann
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - David McKean
- Department of Radiology, Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Buckinghamshire NHS Trust, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom
| | - Odaro Huckstep
- Oxford Cardiovascular Clinical Research Facility, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Jane M. Francis
- Oxford Centre for Clinical Magnetic Resonance Research, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Stefan Neubauer
- Oxford Centre for Clinical Magnetic Resonance Research, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Renzo Phellan
- Department of Radiology and Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Mark Jenkinson
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, FMRIB Division, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Aiden Doherty
- Nuffield Department of Population Health, BHF Centre of Research Excellence and Big Data Institute, Li Ka Shing Centre for Health Information and Discovery, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Helen Dawes
- Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Eleni Frangou
- Centre for Statistics in Medicine, Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Christina Malamateniou
- School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King's College London, United Kingdom
- Department of Family Care and Mental Health, University of Greenwich, London, United Kingdom
| | - Charlie Foster
- School of Policy Studies, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Paul Leeson
- Oxford Cardiovascular Clinical Research Facility, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
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Phellan R, Lindner T, Helle M, Falcao AX, Forkert ND. Automatic Temporal Segmentation of Vessels of the Brain Using 4D ASL MRA Images. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng 2017; 65:1486-1494. [PMID: 28991731 DOI: 10.1109/tbme.2017.2759730] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Automatic vessel segmentation can be used to process the considerable amount of data generated by four-dimensional arterial spin labeling magnetic resonance angiography (4D ASL MRA) images. Previous segmentation approaches for dynamic series of images propose either reducing the series to a temporal average (tAIP) or maximum intensity projection (tMIP) prior to vessel segmentation, or a separate segmentation of each image. This paper introduces a method that combines both approaches to overcome the specific drawbacks of each technique. METHODS Vessels in the tAIP are enhanced by using the ranking orientation responses of path operators and multiscale vesselness enhancement filters. Then, tAIP segmentation is performed using a seed-based algorithm. In parallel, this algorithm is also used to segment each frame of the series and identify small vessels, which might have been lost in the tAIP segmentation. The results of each individual time frame segmentation are fused using an or boolean operation. Finally, small vessels found only in the fused segmentation are added to the tAIP segmentation. RESULTS In a quantitative analysis using ten 4D ASL MRA image series from healthy volunteers, the proposed combined approach reached an average Dice coefficient of 0.931, being more accurate than the corresponding tMIP, tAIP, and single time frame segmentation methods with statistical significance. CONCLUSION The novel combined vessel segmentation strategy can be used to obtain improved vessel segmentation results from 4D ASL MRA and other dynamic series of images. SIGNIFICANCE Improved vessel segmentation of 4D ASL MRA allows a fast and accurate assessment of cerebrovascular structures.
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Rätsep MT, Paolozza A, Hickman AF, Maser B, Kay VR, Mohammad S, Pudwell J, Smith GN, Brien D, Stroman PW, Adams MA, Reynolds JN, Croy BA, Forkert ND. Brain Structural and Vascular Anatomy Is Altered in Offspring of Pre-Eclamptic Pregnancies: A Pilot Study. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol 2015; 37:939-45. [PMID: 26721772 DOI: 10.3174/ajnr.a4640] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2015] [Accepted: 11/05/2015] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Pre-eclampsia is a serious clinical gestational disorder occurring in 3%-5% of all human pregnancies and characterized by endothelial dysfunction and vascular complications. Offspring born of pre-eclamptic pregnancies are reported to exhibit deficits in cognitive function, higher incidence of depression, and increased susceptibility to stroke. However, no brain imaging reports exist on these offspring. We aimed to assess brain structural and vascular anatomy in 7- to 10-year-old offspring of pre-eclamptic pregnancies compared with matched controls. MATERIALS AND METHODS Offspring of pre-eclamptic pregnancies and matched controls (n = 10 per group) were recruited from an established longitudinal cohort examining the effects of pre-eclampsia. Children underwent MR imaging to identify brain structural and vascular anatomic differences. Maternal plasma samples collected at birth were assayed for angiogenic factors by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS Offspring of pre-eclamptic pregnancies exhibited enlarged brain regional volumes of the cerebellum, temporal lobe, brain stem, and right and left amygdalae. These offspring displayed reduced cerebral vessel radii in the occipital and parietal lobes. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay analysis revealed underexpression of the placental growth factor among the maternal plasma samples from women who experienced pre-eclampsia. CONCLUSIONS This study is the first to report brain structural and vascular anatomic alterations in the population of offspring of pre-eclamptic pregnancies. Brain structural alterations shared similarities with those seen in autism. Vascular alterations may have preceded these structural alterations. This pilot study requires further validation with a larger population to provide stronger estimates of brain structural and vascular outcomes among the offspring of pre-eclamptic pregnancies.
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Affiliation(s)
- M T Rätsep
- From the Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences (M.T.R., A.F.H., B.M., V.R.K., S.M., G.N.S., J.N.R., B.A.C.)
| | - A Paolozza
- Centre for Neuroscience Studies (A.P., D.B., P.W.S., M.A.A., J.N.R.), Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
| | - A F Hickman
- From the Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences (M.T.R., A.F.H., B.M., V.R.K., S.M., G.N.S., J.N.R., B.A.C.)
| | - B Maser
- From the Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences (M.T.R., A.F.H., B.M., V.R.K., S.M., G.N.S., J.N.R., B.A.C.)
| | - V R Kay
- From the Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences (M.T.R., A.F.H., B.M., V.R.K., S.M., G.N.S., J.N.R., B.A.C.)
| | - S Mohammad
- From the Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences (M.T.R., A.F.H., B.M., V.R.K., S.M., G.N.S., J.N.R., B.A.C.)
| | - J Pudwell
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (J.P., G.N.S.), Kingston General Hospital, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
| | - G N Smith
- From the Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences (M.T.R., A.F.H., B.M., V.R.K., S.M., G.N.S., J.N.R., B.A.C.) Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (J.P., G.N.S.), Kingston General Hospital, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
| | - D Brien
- Centre for Neuroscience Studies (A.P., D.B., P.W.S., M.A.A., J.N.R.), Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
| | - P W Stroman
- Centre for Neuroscience Studies (A.P., D.B., P.W.S., M.A.A., J.N.R.), Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
| | - M A Adams
- Centre for Neuroscience Studies (A.P., D.B., P.W.S., M.A.A., J.N.R.), Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
| | - J N Reynolds
- From the Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences (M.T.R., A.F.H., B.M., V.R.K., S.M., G.N.S., J.N.R., B.A.C.) Centre for Neuroscience Studies (A.P., D.B., P.W.S., M.A.A., J.N.R.), Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
| | - B A Croy
- From the Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences (M.T.R., A.F.H., B.M., V.R.K., S.M., G.N.S., J.N.R., B.A.C.)
| | - N D Forkert
- Department of Radiology and Hotchkiss Brain Institute (N.D.F.), University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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Haux R, Lehmann CU. From bed to bench: bridging from informatics practice to theory: an exploratory analysis. Appl Clin Inform 2015; 5:907-15. [PMID: 25589906 DOI: 10.4338/aci-2014-10-ra-0095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2014] [Accepted: 10/22/2014] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND In 2009, Applied Clinical Informatics (ACI)--focused on applications in clinical informatics--was launched as a companion journal to Methods of Information in Medicine (MIM). Both journals are official journals of the International Medical Informatics Association. OBJECTIVES To explore which congruencies and interdependencies exist in publications from theory to practice and from practice to theory and to determine existing gaps. Major topics discussed in ACI and MIM were analyzed. We explored if the intention of publishing companion journals to provide an information bridge from informatics theory to informatics practice and vice versa could be supported by this model. In this manuscript we will report on congruencies and interdependences from practice to theory and on major topics in MIM. METHODS Retrospective, prolective observational study on recent publications of ACI and MIM. All publications of the years 2012 and 2013 were indexed and analyzed. RESULTS Hundred and ninety-six publications were analyzed (ACI 87, MIM 109). In MIM publications, modelling aspects as well as methodological and evaluation approaches for the analysis of data, information, and knowledge in biomedicine and health care were frequently raised - and often discussed from an interdisciplinary point of view. Important themes were ambient-assisted living, anatomic spatial relations, biomedical informatics as scientific discipline, boosting, coding, computerized physician order entry, data analysis, grid and cloud computing, health care systems and services, health-enabling technologies, health information search, health information systems, imaging, knowledge-based decision support, patient records, signal analysis, and web science. Congruencies between journals could be found in themes, but with a different focus on content. Interdependencies from practice to theory, found in these publications, were only limited. CONCLUSIONS Bridging from informatics theory to practice and vice versa remains a major component of successful research and practice as well as a major challenge.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Haux
- Peter L. Reichertz Institute for Medical Informatics, University of Braunschweig and Hannover Medical School , Germany
| | - C U Lehmann
- Departments of Pediatrics and Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University , Nashville, TN, USA
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Lehmann CU, Haux R. From bench to bed: bridging from informatics theory to practice. An exploratory analysis. Methods Inf Med 2014; 53:511-5. [PMID: 25377761 DOI: 10.3414/me14-01-0098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/21/2014] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND In 2009, the journal Applied Clinical Informatics (ACI) commenced publication. Focused on applications in clinical informatics, ACI was intended to be a companion journal to METHODS of Information in Medicine (MIM). Both journals are official journals of IMIA, the International Medical Informatics Association. OBJECTIVES To explore, after five years, which congruencies and interdependencies exist in publications of these journals and to determine if gaps exist. To achieve this goal, major topics discussed in ACI and in MIM had to be analysed. Finally, we wanted to explore, whether the intention of publishing these companion journals to provide an information bridge from informatics theory to informatics practice and from practice to theory could be supported by this model. In this manuscript we will report on congruencies and interdependencies from practise to theory and on major topis in ACI. Further results will be reported in a second paper. METHODS Retrospective, prolective observational study on recent publications of ACI and MIM. All publications of the years 2012 and 2013 from these journals were indexed and analysed. RESULTS Hundred and ninety-six publications have been analysed (87 ACI, 109 MIM). In ACI publications addressed care coordination, shared decision support, and provider communication in its importance for complex patient care and safety and quality. Other major themes included improving clinical documentation quality and efficiency, effectiveness of clinical decision support and alerts, implementation of health information technology systems including discussion of failures and succeses. An emerging topic in the years analyzed was a focus on health information technology to predict and prevent hospital admissions and managing population health including the application of mobile health technology. Congruencies between journals could be found in themes, but with different focus in its contents. Interdependencies from practise to theory found in these publications, were only limited. CONCLUSIONS Bridging from informatics theory to practise and vice versa remains a major component of successful research and practise as well as a major challenge.
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Affiliation(s)
- C U Lehmann
- Prof. Dr. Christoph U. Lehmann, Pediatrics and Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University, 2200 Children's Way, 11111 Doctors' Office Tower, Nashville, TN 37232-9544, USA, E-mail:
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Forkert ND, Fiehler J, Suniaga S, Wersching H, Knecht S, Kemmling A. A statistical cerebroarterial atlas derived from 700 MRA datasets. Methods Inf Med 2013; 52:467-74. [PMID: 24190179 DOI: 10.3414/me13-02-0001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2013] [Accepted: 04/30/2013] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The cerebroarterial system is a complex network of arteries that supply the brain cells with vitally important nutrients and oxygen. The inter-individual differences of the cerebral arteries, especially at a finer level, are still not understood sufficiently. The aim of this work is to present a statistical cerebroarterial atlas that can be used to overcome this problem. METHODS Overall, 700 Time-of-Flight (TOF) magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) datasets of healthy subjects were used for atlas generation. Therefore, the cerebral arteries were automatically segmented in each dataset and used for a quantification of the vessel diameters. After this, each TOF MRA dataset as well as the corresponding vessel segmentation and vessel diameter dataset were registered to the MNI brain atlas. Finally, the registered datasets were used to calculate a statistical cerebroarterial atlas that incorporates information about the average TOF intensity, probability for a vessel occurrence and mean vessel diameter for each voxel. RESULTS Visual analysis revealed that arteries with a diameter as small as 0.5 mm are well represented in the atlas with quantitative values that are within range of anatomical reference values. Moreover, a highly significant strong positive correlation between the vessel diameter and occurrence probability was found. Furthermore, it was shown that an intensity-based automatic segmentation of cerebral vessels can be considerable improved by incorporating the atlas information leading to results within the range of the inter-observer agreement. CONCLUSION The presented cerebroarterial atlas seems useful for improving the understanding about normal variations of cerebral arteries, initialization of cerebrovascular segmentation methods and may even lay the foundation for a reliable quantification of subtle morphological vascular changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- N D Forkert
- Nils Daniel Forkert, Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Bldg. W36, Martinistraße 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany, E-mail:
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