ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of electrical stimulation (ES) on the recovery of motor skill and neuronal cell proliferation.MethodsThe male Sprague-Dawley rats were implanted with an epidural electrode over the peri-ischemic area after photothrombotic stroke in the dominant sensorimotor cortex. All rats were randomly assigned into the ES group and control group. The behavioral test of a single pellet reaching task (SPRT) and neurological examinations including the Schabitz's photothrombotic neurological score and the Menzies test were conducted for 2 weeks. After 14 days, coronal sections were obtained and immunostained for neuronal cell differentiation markers including bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), neuron-specific nuclear protein (NeuN), and doublecortin (DCX).ResultsOn the SPRT, the motor function in paralytic forelimbs of the ES group was significantly improved. There were no significant differences in neurological examinations and neuronal cell differentiation markers except for the significantly increased number of DCX+ cells in the corpus callosum of the ES group (p<0.05). But in the ES group, the number of NeuN+ cells in the ischemic cortex and the number of NeuN+ cells and DCX+ cells in the ischemic striatum tended to increase. In the ES group, NeuN+ cells in the ischemic hemisphere and DCX+ cells and BrdU+ cells in the opposite hemisphere tended to increase compared to those in the contralateral.ConclusionThe continuous epidural ES of the ischemic sensorimotor cortex induced a significant improvement in the motor function and tended to increase neural cell proliferation in the ischemic hemisphere and the neural regeneration in the opposite hemisphere.

Dual time point FDG PET imaging (DTPI) has been considered helpful for discrimination of benign and malignant disease, and staging lymph node status in patients with pulmonary malignancy. However, DTPI for benign disease has been rarely reported, and it may show a better description of metabolic status and extent of benign infectious disease than early imaging only. The authors report on the use F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) imaging with additional delayed imaging on a 52-year-old man with sparganosis and a 70-year-old man with tuberculous meningitis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on dual time point PET/CT imaging in patients with cerebral sparganosis and tuberculous meningitis.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the recovery of gross motor function and cerebrovascular reserve (CVR) capacity measured by brain perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) in patients with first-ever supratentorial infarction. Gross motor function was assessed according to the locomotor and mobility subset of the functional independence measure. The CVR was measured as the difference in the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) after acetazolamide (ACZ)-challenged 99m Tc-ECD perfusion SPECT from baseline rCBF. All 22 hemiplegic patients (mean age, 60.97 years) enrolled were admitted at a mean of 20.86 days from onset and received rehabilitation care for an average of 38.82 days. The recovery of gross motor function was significantly correlated with baseline rCBF and CVR of ACZ-SPECT in the areas of affected supratentorial hemisphere (r = 0.447 and r = 0.444, respectively, p < 0.05). Analysis of the linear regression model, adjusted for time to SPECT testing, revealed that the CVR in the affected supratentorial hemisphere was a significant predictor of the gross motor outcome (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the CVR of the affected supratentorial hemisphere may be employed along with other parameters to predict the gross motor recovery of patients with subacute infarction.

A 73-year-old man underwent 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography ( 18 F-FDG PET/CT) for the staging of colon cancer. The 18 F-FDG PET/CT revealed three colonic lesions. The histopathologic examination of the postoperative gross specimen revealed a tubular adenoma, a tubulovillous adenoma and an adenocarinoma. The maximal standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of a tubulovillous adenoma was much higher than that of adenocarcinoma. This patient could be considered as a representative case highlighting that SUVmax is not a reliable indicator for discriminating colon cancer from colonic adenomas.

F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake by a mesh implant might be caused by a foreign body granulomatous reaction with inflammation and fibrosis, which can be demonstrated by positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT). A 71-year-old man underwent F-18 FDG PET/CT for the follow-up evaluation after an operation for colonic adenocarcinoma. On PET/CT imaging, there was a rectangular-shaped FDG uptake (maximal standardized uptake value, maxSUV: 3.4) in the anterior abdominal wall. On the review of the medical records, the patient had a history of herniorrhapy for the reinforcement of the abdominal wall 2 months previously, using a mesh implant consisting of polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon). We report a case of FDG uptake associated with surgical procedures including mesh implant on F-18 FDG PET/CT.