Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36060587›Full record

ArticleQuantitative imaging in medicine and surgery2022

Magnetic resonance tractography of the brachial plexus: step-by-step.

Ibrahim Ibrahim, Antonín Škoch, Vít Herynek, Ivan Humhej, Jan Beran, Vlasta Flusserová, Eva Rolencová, Martina Juhaňáková, Michal Brzák, Markéta Nagy and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Quantitative imaging in medicine and surgery, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Ibrahim IbrahimDepartment of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic.
Antonín ŠkochDepartment of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic.
Vít HerynekCenter for Advanced Preclinical Imaging, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.
Ivan HumhejDepartment of Neurosurgery, J. E. Purkyně University, Masaryk Hospital, Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic.
Jan BeranDepartment of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic.
Vlasta FlusserováDepartment of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic.
Eva RolencováDepartment of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic.
Martina JuhaňákováDepartment of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic.
Michal BrzákDepartment of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic.
Markéta NagyDepartment of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic.
Jaroslav TintěraDepartment of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Magnetic resonance (MR) tractography of the brachial plexus (BP) is challenging due to different factors such as motion artifacts, pulsation artifacts, signal-to-noise ratio, spatial resolution; eddy currents induced geometric distortions, sequence parameters and choice of used coils. Notably challenging is the separation of the peripheral nerve bundles and skeletal muscles as both structures have similar fractional anisotropy values. We proposed an algorithm for robust visualization and assessment of BP root bundles using the segmentation of the spinal cord (SSC, C4-T1) as seed points for the initial starting area for the fibre tracking algorithm. Methods: Twenty-seven healthy volunteers and four patients with root avulsions underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations on a 3T MR scanner with optimized measurement protocols for diffusion-weighted images and coronal T2 weighted 3D short-term inversion recovery sampling perfection with application optimized contrast using varying flip angle evaluation sequences used for BP fibre reconstruction and MR neurography (MRN). The fibre bundles reconstruction was optimized in terms of eliminating the skeletal muscle fibres contamination using the SSC and the tracking threshold of the normalized quantitative anisotropy (NQA) on reconstruction of the BP. In our study, the NQA parameter has been used for fiber tracking instead of fractional anisotropy (FA). The diffusion data were processed in individual C4-T1 root bundles using the generalized q-sampling imaging (GQI) algorithm. Calculated diffusion parameters were statistically analysed using the two-sample Results: In control subjects, no significant effect of laterality in diffusion parameters was found (P>0.05) in the BP. In the central part of the BP, a significant difference between control subjects and patients at P=0.02 was found in the NQA values. Other diffusion parameters were not significantly different. Conclusions: Using NQA instead of FA in the proposed algorithm allowed for a better separation of muscle and root nerve bundles. The presented algorithm yields a high quality reconstruction of the BP bundles that may be helpful both in research and clinical practice.

Indexed as

brachial plexusDiffusion tensor imaging (DTI)generalized q-sampling imaging algorithm (GQI algorithm)magnetic resonance neurography (MRN)magnetic resonance tractography (MRT)

Identifiers

PMID36060587
PMCPMC9403600

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.