Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease of the central nervous system characterized by widespread demyelination, axonal loss and gliosis, and neurodegeneration; susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI), through the use of phase information to enhance local susceptibility or T2* contrast, is a relatively-new and simple MRI application that can directly image cerebral veins by exploiting venous blood oxygenation. Here, we use high-field SWI at 3.0 T to image fifteen patients with clinically definite relapsing-remitting (RR) MS and to assess cerebral venous oxygen level changes. We demonstrate significantly reduced visibility of periventricular white matter venous vasculature as compared to control subjects, supporting the concept of a widespread hypometabolic MS disease process. SWI may afford a noninvasive and relatively simple method to assess venous oxygen saturation in order to closely monitor disease severity, progression, and response to therapy.

Purpose: Challenges for radiation therapy in developing countries include unreliable infrastructure and high patient load. We propose a system to treat whole breast in the prone position without computed tomography and/or planning software. Methods: Six parameters are measured using calipers and levels with the patient prone in the treatment position. (1) The largest separation; (2) the angle that separation makes with the horizontal; (3) the separation 2 cm posterior to the nipple; (4) the vertical distance between these two separations; (5) the sup/inf length and (6) angle of the desired posterior field edge. The data in (5) (6) and (2) provide field length, collimator and gantry angles. Isocenter is set to the midpoint of (1), anterior jaw setting is 20cm (half‐beam setup), and the dose is prescribed to a point 1.5 cm anterior to isocenter. MUs and wedge angles are calculated using an MU calculator and by requiring 100% dose at that point and 100‐105% at the midpoint of (3). Measurements on 30 CT scans were taken to obtain the data 1‐6. To test the resulting MU/wedge combinations, they were entered into Eclipse (Varian) and dose distributions were calculated. The MU/wedge combinations were recorded and tabulated. Results: Performing a dose volume histogram analysis, the contoured breast V95 was 90.5%, and the average V90 was 94.1%. The maximum dose never exceeded 114.5%, (average 108%). The lung V20 was <5% for 96.7%, and the heart V5 was <10% for 93.3% of our sample. Conclusion: A method to provide prone whole breast treatment without CT‐planning was developed. The method provides reasonable coverage and normal tissue sparing. This approach is not recommended if imaging and planning capabilities are available; it was designed to specifically avoid the need for CT planning and should be reserved to clinics that need to avoid that step.

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