Volume 49, Number 1
January 2014
Letter From the Guest Editor: Brain Imaging
I
t was a pleasure to be the guest editor for the current issue of Seminars in Roentgenology titled Brain Imaging. I have practiced neuroradiology for 20 years and could have written a whole book on what I consider interesting issues in neuroradiology. I gathered experts from all over the world who helped me pick 9 important topics that I think would be of great interest to trainees, neuroradiologists, and general radiologists alike. Five chapters are devoted to imaging acutely ill patients seen across the world in emergency rooms every day. Three chapters focus on acute intracranial hemorrhage. One chapter focuses on the additional information provided by MRI over CT in some patients with traumatic brain injury. One chapter provides a practical algorithm for imaging patients with acute nontraumatic intraparenchymal hemorrhage and stresses the importance of the “spot sign.” A third focuses more specifically on patients with aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations, and arteriovenous fistulae. A fourth chapter focuses on a patternbased approach for differentiating acute stroke from stroke mimics and a fifth reviews key neuroimaging findings in intracranial infections. The remaining four chapters are devoted to specific topics in neuroradiology for which the imaging evaluation and clinical understanding have evolved rapidly over the last 5 years. One
0037-198X/12/$ - see front matter & 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1053/j.ro.2013.11.003
chapter reviews the evolution in our understanding and imaging of multiple sclerosis and other demyelinating diseases. One addresses advanced imaging of brain tumors and its correlation with genomic markers and patient prognosis. A third addresses the use of emerging techniques, including 7-T MRI, diffusion tensor imaging, BOLD fMRI, and positron emission tomography, for evaluating dementia. A final chapter addresses advanced imaging of children with epilepsy. I am indebted to all the contributing authors who provided excellent content and beautiful images. I learned a tremendous amount of practical information by reading and editing their articles. I hope the readers will have the same experience. I would like to thank Jannette Collins for inviting me to oversee this exciting project. The editorial staff of the Seminars in Roentgenology were terrific. I would like to thank my neuroradiology attending and fellow colleagues at Massachusetts General Hospital for their continual intellectual curiosity, collaboration, hard work, and support. Finally, I would like to thank the people who count most—my husband, Doug, and my daughter, Sarah, for their continual love, understanding, and encouragement. Guest Editor
Pamela W. Schaefer
3
January 2014
Letter From the Guest Editor: Brain Imaging
I
t was a pleasure to be the guest editor for the current issue of Seminars in Roentgenology titled Brain Imaging. I have practiced neuroradiology for 20 years and could have written a whole book on what I consider interesting issues in neuroradiology. I gathered experts from all over the world who helped me pick 9 important topics that I think would be of great interest to trainees, neuroradiologists, and general radiologists alike. Five chapters are devoted to imaging acutely ill patients seen across the world in emergency rooms every day. Three chapters focus on acute intracranial hemorrhage. One chapter focuses on the additional information provided by MRI over CT in some patients with traumatic brain injury. One chapter provides a practical algorithm for imaging patients with acute nontraumatic intraparenchymal hemorrhage and stresses the importance of the “spot sign.” A third focuses more specifically on patients with aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations, and arteriovenous fistulae. A fourth chapter focuses on a patternbased approach for differentiating acute stroke from stroke mimics and a fifth reviews key neuroimaging findings in intracranial infections. The remaining four chapters are devoted to specific topics in neuroradiology for which the imaging evaluation and clinical understanding have evolved rapidly over the last 5 years. One
0037-198X/12/$ - see front matter & 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1053/j.ro.2013.11.003
chapter reviews the evolution in our understanding and imaging of multiple sclerosis and other demyelinating diseases. One addresses advanced imaging of brain tumors and its correlation with genomic markers and patient prognosis. A third addresses the use of emerging techniques, including 7-T MRI, diffusion tensor imaging, BOLD fMRI, and positron emission tomography, for evaluating dementia. A final chapter addresses advanced imaging of children with epilepsy. I am indebted to all the contributing authors who provided excellent content and beautiful images. I learned a tremendous amount of practical information by reading and editing their articles. I hope the readers will have the same experience. I would like to thank Jannette Collins for inviting me to oversee this exciting project. The editorial staff of the Seminars in Roentgenology were terrific. I would like to thank my neuroradiology attending and fellow colleagues at Massachusetts General Hospital for their continual intellectual curiosity, collaboration, hard work, and support. Finally, I would like to thank the people who count most—my husband, Doug, and my daughter, Sarah, for their continual love, understanding, and encouragement. Guest Editor
Pamela W. Schaefer
3
