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History and Clinical Findings: Two young female patients presented with polyuria and polydipsia. In one patient we additionally found idiopathic vitiligo, there were no relevant previous diseases. The gynaecological history was unremarkable., Investigations: In both cases a water deprivation test confirmed the diagnosis of central diabetes insipidus, the MRI investigation of the pituitary region showed a prominent and thickened pituitary stalk., Diagnosis: After exclusion of a systemic granulomatous inflammation we diagnosed an autoimmune hypophysitis based on the typical morphological lesions of the pituitary gland and stalk. TREATMENT AND FOLLOW-UP: High-dose glucocorticoid therapy was without any beneficial effect on the central diabetes insipidus. Desmopressin treatment was initiated and led to a normalization of the pre-existing polyuria and polydipsia., Conclusion: Autoimmune hypophysitis is a very rare disease and the diagnosis is mostly achieved by excluding other causes. Systematic evaluations on large patient cohorts are lacking in the literature with respect to diagnostic procedures, therapy and outcome, the existing knowledge and experience is largely based on case reports. For this reason it appears desirable to create a central register to collect and to evaluate the course of disease in patients with autoimmune hypophysitis.

We describe a 72-year-old patient with rapidly progressive dementia and a complex focal seizure. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging revealed leukoencephalopathy with the involvement of the U-fibers as well as cortical and subcortical microbleeds. Brain biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of cerebral Abeta amyloid angiopathy (CAA). The presented case illustrates the significance of CAA as a cause of rapidly progressive dementia and leukoencephalopathy and points out the importance of T2-weighted MR imaging in the evaluation of dementia.

We describe a 25-year-old male patient with primary diffuse leptomeningeal gliomatosis (PDLG) presenting with gait ataxia, positive Lhermitte's sign, double vision, and right abducens nerve palsy. Spinal magnetic resonance imaging showed extended intradural, extramedullary, contrast-enhancing masses with compression of the myelon. Spinal leptomeningeal biopsy revealed a pilocytic astrocytoma WHO grade I. Despite chemotherapy with vincristin and carboplatin, the patient died 2 months after admission. A thorough autopsy showed no evidence for primary neoplasms in brain, spine and optic nerve. Sequence analysis of tumor protein 53 gene (TP53) revealed a missense mutation in exon 5, and expression of phosphatase and tensin homolog (mutated in multiple advanced cancers 1) (PTEN) protein was not detected, which may have contributed to astrocytoma development. To our knowledge, this is the first definitive case of pilocytic astrocytoma presenting as PDLG.

We describe a 60-year-old female patient without vascular risk factors diagnosed with cardioembolic ischemic stroke due to an atrial septal aneurysm with a right-to-left shunt. However, further investigation after recurrent strokes revealed a nonbacterial thrombotic endocarditis (NBTE) caused by a metastatic adenocarcinoma. The presented case illustrates the difficulties in establishing the diagnosis of NBTE premortally and points out the importance of repeated echocardiographic evaluations of cardiac valves and serological examination of tumor markers in patients with recurrent strokes of unknown origin.

Internal carotid artery dissection (ICAD) is a frequent etiology of stroke in the young. Immediate anticoagulation with unfractionated heparin is the most frequent treatment. A theoretical side effect of unfractionated heparin is an increase in the intramural hematoma resulting in hemodynamic cerebral infarction. We studied 20 patients with ICAD. All patients were immediately treated with unfractionated heparin. Activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) ratios were measured twice daily. We prospectively monitored the course of ICAD with repeated ultrasound in hospital. Unexpectedly, delayed ICA occlusion was noted in 5 patients under treatment. One of these developed a watershed infarct. We then analyzed the aPTT ratios over the first 6 days after diagnosis. Patients with delayed occlusion had significantly higher aPTT ratios (2.6 +/- 0.4 vs. 2.0 +/- 0.5, p < 0.05). Within the limits of a partially retrospective design, our study seems to support the notion that unfractionated heparin can increase the intramural hematoma. Our findings further justify a randomized clinical trial to resolve the anticoagulant/antiplatelet debate.

Objectives: Evaluation of a parametric deconvolution algorithm (DA) in the diagnostic assessment of stroke patients by multi- slice spiral computed tomography (MS-CT)., Material and Methods: 52 patients (age range 34 - 89 years) with clinically suspected acute ischemia of one hemisphere and no infarct demarcation on plain cerebral CT underwent CT perfusion (CTP), performed on average 3.4 hours after the onset of symptoms by using MS-CT (4 x 8 mm scan volume). Using a DA-based software module, perfusion images of the cerebral blood perfusion (CBP), cerebral blood volume (CBV) and mean transit time (MTT) were calculated and assessed by two readers for visually apparent perfusion abnormalities. Amount and extension of perfusion disturbances were measured and correlated with the outcome., Results: Of 44 patients, in whom perfusion maps could be generated, territorial infarction was confirmed by follow-up in 22 subjects. With a sensitivity of 95 % ischemia could be detected on MTT-maps (CBP 91 %, CBV 77 %). Specificity was highest (100 %) for CBV-maps. Patients with infarction showed significant (p < 0.001) reduction of CBP (10.7 vs. 38.3 ml/100 ml/min), CBV (1.3 vs. 2.3 ml/100 ml) and prolongation of MTT (12.3 vs. 4.3 s) compared to the contralateral hemisphere, whereas in patients without infarction no significant changes were found. Extension of CBV reduction showed the best correlation (r = 0.82) with final infarct volume., Conclusion: The DA-based CTP protocol evaluated in this study is a suitable tool for the early identification and quantification of acute cerebral ischemia.

In Studies 1 and 2, after reading an acquaintance-rape but not a stranger-rape scenario, higher benevolent sexist but not hostile sexist participants blamed the victim significantly more. In Study 2, higher hostile sexist but not benevolent sexist male participants showed significantly greater proclivity to commit acquaintance (but not stranger) rape. Studies 3 and 4 supported the hypothesis that the effects of benevolent sexism and hostile sexism are mediated by different perceptions of the victim, as behaving inappropriately and as really wanting sex with the rapist. These findings show that benevolent sexism and hostile sexism underpin different assumptions about women that generate sexist reactions toward rape victims.

It was proposed that source cues bias message processing in a direction opposite to cue valence if message content violates cue-based expectancies (contrast hypothesis), but consistent with cue valence if message content is ambiguous (bias hypothesis). In line with these hypotheses, students (N = 123) reported less favourable thoughts and attitudes after reading weak arguments presented by a high (vs. low) expertise source (Expts 1 and 2), and reported more favourable thoughts after reading strong arguments presented by a low (vs. high) expertise source (Expt 2). Conversely, students' thoughts and attitudes were more (less) favourable when a high (low) expertise source presented ambiguous arguments (Expt 2). Results are discussed in relation to dual- vs. single-process accounts of persuasion and models of assimilation and contrast in social judgment.

Multislice computed tomography (MS-CT) was introduced into clinical radiology in 1999 and has shown a significant effect on various indications for computed tomography (CT) imaging in neuroradiology. Technical highlights of this new scanner type are the simultaneous data acquisition by up to four detector rows at present, an accelerated rotation time, and a reduction of the slice thickness to as low as 0.5 mm. These features account for an extended scan area, such as head and neck imaging in polytraumatized patients, detailed contrast-enhanced studies of the cervicocerebral vascular system from the carotid bifurcation to the vertex, as well as cerebral perfusion studies of a larger brain volume with an improved time resolution compared to established CT procedures. In addition, the diagnostic yield of the CT is increased with respect to several applications by reducing common image artefacts at the level of the cervicothoracic junction as well as those caused by metallic implants. Apart from improving the image quality of the primary cross-sectional slices, MS-CT significantly enhances two- and three-dimensional image reconstructions. Radiation protection is an important issue with MS-CT, especially when skull base imaging is considered.

Processing strategies in risk assessment were studied in an Internet experiment. Women (N = 399) who were either low or high in rape myth acceptance (RMA) were asked to recall either two or six behaviors that either increase or decrease the risk of being sexually assaulted. Later they judged their personal vulnerability to sexual assault under either no time pressure (no response deadline) or time pressure (response deadline of 5 s). Without time pressure, the results were opposite to previous research: Women low in RMA relied on ease of recall and reported higher vulnerability after recalling few rather than many risk increasing behaviors, or many rather than few risk-decreasing behaviors; women high in RMA relied on the amount of information recalled, which resulted in an opposite pattern of vulnerability judgments. No influences of ease of recall or amount recalled on vulnerability judgments were detected under time pressure.

Single-slice computed tomographic angiography (CTA) is an established imaging method for the cerebrovascular system (CVS), but it suffers from technical limitations with respect to the coherent high resolution visualization of longer vascular segments, such as the extra- and intracranial CVS. The recently introduced multi-slice (MS) technology has been attributed with a superior imaging quality for angiographic procedures due to increased scan speed and improved spatial resolution. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the suitability of multi-slice CTA (MS-CTA) for the assessment of the arteriovenous CVS in patients with acute symptoms of either arterial or venous occlusive diseases. 41 patients with clinically suspected acute cerebral ischaemia (hemispheric in 29 and vertebrobasilar in 12 patients) and 4 patients with suspected cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) underwent CTA in a MS-CT scanner. In addition, doppler ultrasonography (DUS) was erformed in 34, magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) in 5 and digital subtraction angiography (DSA) in 6 patients. All findings were reviewed for stenoses or occlusion of the extra-and intracranial CVS and correlated with the clinical outcome. In 43 (96%) of 45 patients, MS-CTA yielded images of diagnostic quality with comprehensive visualization of the arterial and venous CVS including the cervical carotid bifurcation, the third segment of the major cerebral arteries and the dural sinus as well as internal cerebral veins. In 2 patients, assessment of the carotid bifurcation was limited because of tooth artefacts. In all patients, in whom imaging and clinical follow-up proved a non-lacunar infarction (n = 22), MS-CTA detected the underlying vascular pathology. Suspected CVT could be confirmed in 2 and ruled out in another 2 patients through MS-CTA. In conclusion, multi-slice CT an giography may be a promising new diagnostic tool for the rapid and comprehensive assessment of the arteriovenous CVS in patients with clinical signs of acute cerebrovascular diseases.

Purpose: We present a protocol for the non-invasive angiographic assessment of the arterial and venous cerebrovascular (CV) system by multi-slice CT., Material and Methods: Data acquisition was performed in a multi-slice CT scanner with a scan range from the carotid bifurcation to the vertex and manual scan start following i.v. administration of 120 ml iodinated contrast medium with a flow rate of 4 ml/s. This protocol was applied in 12 patients with symptoms of acute CV insuffiency., Results: In all patients, comprehensive imaging of the arteriovenous CV system was achieved including the common carotid bifurcation, the third segment of the major cerebral arteries, the dural sinus and the internal cerebral veins. Various CV pathologies, such as a territorial artery occlusion, a thrombotic obstruction of the internal carotid artery, an intracranial arteriovenous malformation and a sinus vein thrombosis, were successfully evaluated., Conclusion: Comprehensive assessment of the arteriovenous CV system is possible by the use of a single-bolus, monophasic multi-slice scan technique.