BACKGROUND Chronic intermittent hypoxia, platelet activation and inflammation all play roles in the pathogenesis of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), which may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship of the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) as a new biomarker showing systemic inflammation and platelet distribution width (...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE MRI may be used for noninvasive assessment of atherosclerotic lesions; however, MRI evaluation of plaque composition requires validation against an accepted reference standard, such as the American Heart Association (AHA) lesion grade, defined by histopathological examination. METHODS Forty-eight carotid endarterectomy specimen cross-sections had AHA lesion grade determ...

BACKGROUND Platelets play a key role in the development and progression of cardiovascular disease. The degree of platelet activation may be assessed by platelet indices such as platelet count, mean platelet volume (MPV) and platelet distribution width (PDW). AIM To evaluate the relationship between platelet indices and clinical features of coronary artery disease (CAD). METHODS Our populati...

Purpose Designing a new T2-preparation (T2-Prep) module to simultaneously provide robust fat suppression and efficient T2 preparation without requiring an additional fat-suppression for T2-weighted imaging at 3T. Methods The tip-down radiofrequency (RF) pulse of adiabatic T2-Prep was replaced by custom-designed RF-excitation that induces phase difference between water fat, resulting in simultan...

OBJECTIVE To compare the iterative decomposition of water and fat with echo asymmetry and the least-squares estimation (IDEAL) method with a fat-saturated T2-weighted (T2W) fast recovery fast spin-echo (FRFSE) imaging of the spine. MATERIALS AND METHODS Images acquired at 3.0 Tesla (T) in 35 patients with different spine lesions using fat-saturated T2W FRFSE imaging were compared with T2W IDE...

The aim of this study was to assess the prognostic value of combined use of white blood cell (WBC), hemoglobin (Hb), and platelet distribution width (PDW) in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). This study included 1,332 consecutive patients with AMI. Patients were categorized into complete blood cell (CBC) group 0 (n=346, 26.0%), 1 (n=622, 46.7%), 2 (n=324, 24.3%), and 3 (n=40, 3.0...

Stimulation of cholecystokinin and glucagon-like peptide-1 secretion by fat is mediated by the products of fat digestion. Ghrelin, peptide YY (PYY), and pancreatic polypeptide (PP) appear to play an important role in appetite regulation, and their release is modulated by food ingestion, including fat. It is unknown whether fat digestion is a prerequisite for their suppression (ghrelin) or relea...

INTRODUCTION Iterative Decomposition of Water and Fat with Echo Asymmetry and Least-Squares Estimation (IDEAL) is a promising MRI technique for robust fat and water separation (1). It was found with higher fluid/cartilage contrast-to-noise ratio efficiency and fat-suppression quality than FSE imaging in ankle. The goal of this study is to assess image quality, fat suppression and fat-water sepa...

To compare conventional and fat suppression MR imaging in their ability to detect head and neck lesions, we prospectively studied 17 patients with head and neck tumors and one normal volunteer. Five patients had benign tumors (one mixed cell tumor, one hemangioma, one lipoma, and two plexiform neurofibromas), 10 had malignant tumors (six squamous cell carcinomas, two minor salivary gland carcin...

In order to improve the fat suppression performance of in vivo (13)C-MRS operating at 3.0 Tesla, a phantom model study was conducted using a combination of two fat suppression techniques; a set of pulses for frequency (chemical shift) selective suppression (CHESS), and spatial saturation (SAT). By optimizing the slab thickness for SAT and the irradiation bandwidth for CHESS, the signals of the ...