[Cognitive functions, emotional status, MRI measurements in treatment-naïve middle-aged patients with uncomplicated essential arterial hypertension]. / Kognitivnye funktsii, émotsional'nyi status i pokazateli magnitno-rezonansnoi tomografii u nelechenykh patsientov srednego vozrasta s neoslozhnennoi arterial'noi gipertenziei.

AIM: To study cognitive functions, anxiety and depression levels, 24-hour blood pressure (BP) profile, cerebral blood flow (CBF) perfusion in treatment-naive middle-aged patients with uncomplicated essential arterial hypertension (EAH) depending on the white matter hyperintensities (WMH) burden. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Forty-one hypertensive patients (mean age 46.2±4.6 years) and 41 healthy volunteers (mean age 50.3±6.7 years) were enrolled to the study. All subjects underwent brain MRI (MAGNETOM Skyra 3.0T, T1, T2 FSE, T2 FLAIR, T1 MPRAGE, ASL), Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCa), 10-word learning task, verbal fluency test, trail making test, Stroop color and word test, anxiety and depression assessment with Hamilton rating scales, 24-hour blood pressure monitoring (ABPM). RESULTS: WMH were found in 22 (53.7%) hypertensive patients and in 3 (7.3%) healthy volunteers (p=0.0002). Hypertensive patients had the significantly lower CBF compared to controls (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: WMH were identified in treatment-naive middle-aged patients with uncomplicated mild to moderate EAH. There was an association between WMH and lower CBF in the cortical plate of frontal lobes, SBP variability and worse cognition. Cerebral hypoperfusion can cause cognitive impairment even in the earliest stages of EAH, which increases due to emotional disorders.

[Angiogenesis mechanisms in the formation of structural changes of brain tissue in patients with progressive cerebrovascular disease]. / Mekhanizmy angiogeneza v formirovanii strukturnykh izmenenii tkani golovnogo mozga u bol'nykh s progressiruiushchimi formami tserebovaskuliarnykh zabolevanii.

AIM: To study the correlation between expressiveness of focal changes of brain tissue and VEGF and MCP-1 levels in plasma and blood serum of patients with chronic cerebral ischemia (CCI). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Markers of inflammation (MCP-1, CRP) and angiogenesis (VEGF) in serum and blood plasma of 35 patients with CCI depending on expressiveness of structural changes of brain substance according to MRI were investigated. RESULTS: The increase in MCP-1 and CRP content in blood serum and simultaneous decrease in VEGF level in serum and blood plasma were correlated with the increase in the number of focal changes of substance of the brain in patients with CCI.

[Magnetic resonance characteristics of minor focal cortical dysplasia in children]. / Magnitno-rezonansnaia kharakteristika malykh fokal'nykh korkovykh displazii u detei.

The paper presents data on rare "obscure" forms of cortical dysplasias that play, nevertheless, an important role in the genesis of epilepsy in children. Pseudoschizencephalic phenomena of cortical organization (the straightened sulcus) and two dismigration defects (annular convolution and local simplifications of the pattern of sulci) are characterized. General information on the essence of this problem in Russian and foreign publications is presented.

[Neurovisualization in diagnosis of mesial temporal sclerosis in children]. / Znachenie neurovizualizatsii v diagnostike mezial'nogo temporal'nogo skleroza u detei.

We present specific magnetic resonance characteristics of mesial temporal sclerosis (MTS) represented by hypoxic-ischemic, dysplastic and mixed clinical variants. Temporal size decrease, irregular grey-white differentiation and ipsilateral dilatation of inferior horn of lateral ventricle were identified as specific MTS markers.

[3D FSPGR (fast spoiled gradient echo) magnetic resonance imaging in the diagnosis of focal cortical dysplasia in children]. / Ispol'zovanie rezhima 3D FSPGR v magnitno-rezonansnoi diagnostike kortikal'nykh displazii u detei.

Small dysplastic lesions of the cerebral cortex are often missed by conventional MRI methods. The identification of subtle structural abnormalities by traditional multiplanar rectilinear slices is often limited by the complex convolutional pattern of the brain. We used a method of FSPGR (fast spoiled gradient-echo) of three-dimensional MRI data that improves the anatomical display of the sulcal structure of the hemispheric convexities. It also reduces the asymmetric sampling of gray-white matter that may lead to false-positive results. We present 5 from 12 patients with dysplastic cortical lesions in whom conventional two-dimensional and three-dimensional MRI with multiplanar reformatting was initially considered normal. Subsequent studies using 3D FSPGR identified various types of focal cortical dysplasia in all. These results indicate that an increase in the detection of subtle focal dysplastic lesions may be accomplished when one improves the anatomical display of the brain sulcal structure by performing 3D FSPGR.

[Echography of the thyroid gland in the diagnosis of endemic goiter]. / Rol' ékhografii shchitovidnoi zhelezy v diagnostike éndemicheskogo zoba.

Screening of 1520 children living in the Khvalynsk district of the Saratov region, including assessment of urinary excretion of iodine and ultrasonic examinations of the thyroid in children and adults, revealed endemic goiter in the region. Special attention was paid to echographic examination of the thyroid; this method was used in examinations of 161 children aged 2 to 14 with thyroid enlargement of the I-III degree. 103 (64.0%) of there children had enlarged thyroid, in some children with diffusely enlarged thyroid of the I-II degree ultrasonic examination showed no enlargement, and in some children the gland was found even reduced in size. The greatest discrepancy between the data of palpation and ultrasonography was observed in first-degree thyroid enlargement, the least so in second-degree enlargement; in third-degree enlargement there was no such a discrepancy. Assessment of thyroid structure revealed various disorders of the organ in 29 of the 161 examined children, these disorders present both in enlarged glands and in those of normal or reduced size. Nodes that could not be palpated were detected in 2 children. Ultrasonic examinations of 56 adults aged 20 to 60 revealed changed structure of the thyroid in 35, with nodes of various sizes and localization detected in 15 of these.