Posts Tagged ‘white matter’
Ahead of Print: High-Definition Fiber Tractography of the Human Brain
Background: High Definition Fiber Tracking (HDFT) is a novel combination of processing, reconstruction, and tractography methods that can track white matter fibers from cortex, through complex fiber crossings, to cortical and subcortical targets with sub-voxel resolution.
Objective: To perform neuroanatomical validation of HDFT and investigate its neurosurgical applications.
Methods: Six neurologically healthy adults and 36 patients with brain lesions were studied. Diffusion Spectrum Imaging (DSI) data were reconstructed using a Generalized Q-Ball Imaging (GQI) approach. Fiber dissection studies were performed in 20 human brains and selected dissection results were compared with tractography.
Ahead of Print: Foville’s Atlas of Brain Anatomy
Achille Louis Foville’s Atlas of Brain Anatomy (1844) is one of the most artistic and detailed works on neuroanatomy in the medical literature. The outstanding drawings by the two artists, Emile Beau and Frederic-Michel Bion, highlight all the philosophy, ability and sensibility of A. L. Foville in carefully dissecting the superficial and deep structures of the brain and spinal cord. Several plates show true brain fiber dissections of high artistic and academic value.
Due to an early misrecognition in the medical literature, “Inferior Foville’s syndrome” has been wrongly attributed to Achille Louis Foville rather than his son, Achille Louis Francois Foville (1832-1887), also called Defoville. Therefore, we suggest that Defoville, who actually described the pontine syndrome for the first time in the neurological literature, deserves to be credited for this syndrome called “Defoville’s syndrome.”
Through analysis of the political and scientific events in France in the 19th century, we highlight the invaluable contributions of A. L. Foville and his son to the history of neuroanatomy and neurology.
From: Achille Louis Foville’s Atlas of Brain Anatomy and Defoville’s Syndrome by Brogna et al
Full article access for Neurosurgery subscribers at Neurosurgery-Online.com.
Editor Choice: Microsurgical Anatomy of the Anterior Commissure: Correlations With Diffusion Tensor Imaging Fiber Tracking and Clinical Relevance
Full article access for Neurosurgery subscribers at Neurosurgery-Online.com.
BACKGROUND: Detailed anatomy of the anterior commissure is unknown in the literature.
OBJECTIVE: To describe the anterior commissure with the use of a fiber dissection technique by focusing on the morphology (length and breadth of the 2 portions), the course, and the relations with neighboring fasciculi, particularly in the temporal stem.
METHODS: We dissected 8 previously frozen, formalin-fixed human brains under the operating microscope using the fiber dissection described by Klingler. Lateral, inferior, and medial approaches were made.
Ahead of Print: Visual Pathway Study Using in vivo DTI Tractography to Complement Classical Anatomy
Full article access for Neurosurgery subscribers at Neurosurgery-Online.com.
BACKGROUND: Knowledge of the individual course of the optic radiations (OR) is important to avoid post-operative visual deficits. Cadaveric studies of the visual pathways are limited because it has not been possible to accurately separate the OR from neighboring tracts and results may not apply to individual patients. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies may be able to demonstrate the relationships between the OR and neighboring fibers in vivo in individual subjects.
OBJECTIVE: To use DTI tractography to study the OR and Meyer’s loop (ML) anatomy in vivo.
METHODS: Ten healthy subjects underwent magnetic resonance imaging with diffusion imaging at 3T. Using a fiducial-based DTI tractography tool (Slicer 3.3), seeds were placed near the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) to reconstruct individual visual pathways and neighboring tracts. Projections of the optic radiations onto 3D brain models were shown individually in order to quantify relationships to key landmarks.
