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Brainstem anatomy with 7-T MRI: in vivo assessment and ex vivo comparison

BACKGROUND: The brainstem contains grey matter nuclei and white matter tracts to be identified in clinical practice. The small size and the low contrast among them make their in vivo visualisation challenging using conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences at high magnetic field streng...

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Autores principales: Donatelli, Graziella, Emmi, Aron, Costagli, Mauro, Cecchi, Paolo, Macchi, Veronica, Biagi, Laura, Lancione, Marta, Tosetti, Michela, Porzionato, Andrea, De Caro, Raffaele, Cosottini, Mirco
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer Vienna 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10651583/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37968363
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s41747-023-00389-y
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author Donatelli, Graziella
Emmi, Aron
Costagli, Mauro
Cecchi, Paolo
Macchi, Veronica
Biagi, Laura
Lancione, Marta
Tosetti, Michela
Porzionato, Andrea
De Caro, Raffaele
Cosottini, Mirco
author_facet Donatelli, Graziella
Emmi, Aron
Costagli, Mauro
Cecchi, Paolo
Macchi, Veronica
Biagi, Laura
Lancione, Marta
Tosetti, Michela
Porzionato, Andrea
De Caro, Raffaele
Cosottini, Mirco
author_sort Donatelli, Graziella
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: The brainstem contains grey matter nuclei and white matter tracts to be identified in clinical practice. The small size and the low contrast among them make their in vivo visualisation challenging using conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences at high magnetic field strengths. Combining higher spatial resolution, signal- and contrast-to-noise ratio and sensitivity to magnetic susceptibility (χ), susceptibility-weighted 7-T imaging could improve the assessment of brainstem anatomy. METHODS: We acquired high-resolution 7-T MRI of the brainstem in a 46-year-old female healthy volunteer (using a three-dimensional multi-echo gradient-recalled-echo sequence; spatial resolution 0.3 × 0.3 × 1.2 mm(3)) and in a brainstem sample from a 48-year-old female body donor that was sectioned and stained. Images were visually assessed; nuclei and tracts were labelled and named according to the official nomenclature. RESULTS: This in vivo imaging revealed structures usually evaluated through light microscopy, such as the accessory olivary nuclei, oculomotor nucleus and the medial longitudinal fasciculus. Some fibre tracts, such as the medial lemniscus, were visible for most of their course. Overall, in in vivo acquisitions, χ and frequency maps performed better than T2*-weighted imaging and allowed for the evaluation of a greater number of anatomical structures. All the structures identified in vivo were confirmed by the ex vivo imaging and histology. CONCLUSIONS: The use of multi-echo GRE sequences at 7 T allowed the visualisation of brainstem structures that are not visible in detail at conventional magnetic field and opens new perspectives in the diagnostic and therapeutical approach to brain disorders. RELEVANCE STATEMENT: In vivo MR imaging at UHF provides detailed anatomy of CNS substructures comparable to that obtained with histology. Anatomical details are fundamentals for diagnostic purposes but also to plan a direct targeting for a minimally invasive brain stimulation or ablation. KEY POINTS: • The in vivo brainstem anatomy was explored with ultrahigh field MRI (7 T). • In vivo T2*-weighted magnitude, χ, and frequency images revealed many brainstem structures. • Ex vivo imaging and histology confirmed all the structures identified in vivo. • χ and frequency imaging revealed more brainstem structures than magnitude imaging. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: [Image: see text] SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s41747-023-00389-y.
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spelling pubmed-106515832023-11-16 Brainstem anatomy with 7-T MRI: in vivo assessment and ex vivo comparison Donatelli, Graziella Emmi, Aron Costagli, Mauro Cecchi, Paolo Macchi, Veronica Biagi, Laura Lancione, Marta Tosetti, Michela Porzionato, Andrea De Caro, Raffaele Cosottini, Mirco Eur Radiol Exp Original Article BACKGROUND: The brainstem contains grey matter nuclei and white matter tracts to be identified in clinical practice. The small size and the low contrast among them make their in vivo visualisation challenging using conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences at high magnetic field strengths. Combining higher spatial resolution, signal- and contrast-to-noise ratio and sensitivity to magnetic susceptibility (χ), susceptibility-weighted 7-T imaging could improve the assessment of brainstem anatomy. METHODS: We acquired high-resolution 7-T MRI of the brainstem in a 46-year-old female healthy volunteer (using a three-dimensional multi-echo gradient-recalled-echo sequence; spatial resolution 0.3 × 0.3 × 1.2 mm(3)) and in a brainstem sample from a 48-year-old female body donor that was sectioned and stained. Images were visually assessed; nuclei and tracts were labelled and named according to the official nomenclature. RESULTS: This in vivo imaging revealed structures usually evaluated through light microscopy, such as the accessory olivary nuclei, oculomotor nucleus and the medial longitudinal fasciculus. Some fibre tracts, such as the medial lemniscus, were visible for most of their course. Overall, in in vivo acquisitions, χ and frequency maps performed better than T2*-weighted imaging and allowed for the evaluation of a greater number of anatomical structures. All the structures identified in vivo were confirmed by the ex vivo imaging and histology. CONCLUSIONS: The use of multi-echo GRE sequences at 7 T allowed the visualisation of brainstem structures that are not visible in detail at conventional magnetic field and opens new perspectives in the diagnostic and therapeutical approach to brain disorders. RELEVANCE STATEMENT: In vivo MR imaging at UHF provides detailed anatomy of CNS substructures comparable to that obtained with histology. Anatomical details are fundamentals for diagnostic purposes but also to plan a direct targeting for a minimally invasive brain stimulation or ablation. KEY POINTS: • The in vivo brainstem anatomy was explored with ultrahigh field MRI (7 T). • In vivo T2*-weighted magnitude, χ, and frequency images revealed many brainstem structures. • Ex vivo imaging and histology confirmed all the structures identified in vivo. • χ and frequency imaging revealed more brainstem structures than magnitude imaging. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: [Image: see text] SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s41747-023-00389-y. Springer Vienna 2023-11-16 /pmc/articles/PMC10651583/ /pubmed/37968363 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s41747-023-00389-y Text en © The Author(s) 2023 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) .
spellingShingle Original Article
Donatelli, Graziella
Emmi, Aron
Costagli, Mauro
Cecchi, Paolo
Macchi, Veronica
Biagi, Laura
Lancione, Marta
Tosetti, Michela
Porzionato, Andrea
De Caro, Raffaele
Cosottini, Mirco
Brainstem anatomy with 7-T MRI: in vivo assessment and ex vivo comparison
title Brainstem anatomy with 7-T MRI: in vivo assessment and ex vivo comparison
title_full Brainstem anatomy with 7-T MRI: in vivo assessment and ex vivo comparison
title_fullStr Brainstem anatomy with 7-T MRI: in vivo assessment and ex vivo comparison
title_full_unstemmed Brainstem anatomy with 7-T MRI: in vivo assessment and ex vivo comparison
title_short Brainstem anatomy with 7-T MRI: in vivo assessment and ex vivo comparison
title_sort brainstem anatomy with 7-t mri: in vivo assessment and ex vivo comparison
topic Original Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10651583/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37968363
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s41747-023-00389-y
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