Hossein Moein Taghavi

All Publications

• Longitudinal alterations of cerebral blood flow in high-contact sports. Annals of neurology Karimpoor, M., Georgiadis, M., Zhao, M. Y., Goubran, M., Moein Taghavi, H., Mills, B. D., Tran, D., Mouchawar, N., Sami, S., Wintermark, M., Grant, G., Camarillo, D. B., Moseley, M. E., Zaharchuk, G., Zeineh, M. M. 2023

  Abstract

  Repetitive head trauma is common in high-contact sports. Cerebral blood flow (CBF) can measure changes in brain perfusion that could indicate injury. Longitudinal studies with a control group are necessary to account for interindividual and developmental effects. We investigated whether exposure to head impacts causes longitudinal CBF changes.We prospectively studied 63 American football (high-contact cohort) and 34 volleyball (low-contact controls) male collegiate athletes, tracking CBF using 3D-pseudo-continuous arterial-spin-labeling (ASL) MRI for up to four years. Regional relative CBF (rCBF, normalized to cerebellar CBF) was computed after co-registering to T1-weighted images. A linear-mixed-effects model assessed the relationship of rCBF to sport, time, and their interaction. Within football players, we modeled rCBF against position-based head impact risk and baseline SCAT (Standardized Concussion Assessment Tool) score. Additionally, we evaluated early (1-5 days) and delayed (3-6 months) post-concussion rCBF changes (in-study concussion).Supratentorial gray matter rCBF declined in football compared to volleyball (sport-time interaction p=0.012), with a strong effect in the parietal lobe (p=0.002). Football players with higher position-based impact-risk had lower occipital rCBF over time (interaction p=0.005), while players with lower baseline SCAT score (worse performance) had relatively decreased rCBF in the cingulate-insula over time (interaction effect: p=0.007). Both cohorts showed a left-right rCBF asymmetry that decreased over time. Football players with an in-study concussion exhibited an early increase in occipital lobe rCBF (p=0.0166).These results suggest head impacts may result in an early increase in rCBF, but cumulatively a long-term decrease in rCBF. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

  View details for DOI 10.1002/ana.26718

  View details for PubMedID 37306544

• Imaging crossing fibers in mouse, pig, monkey, and human brain using small-angle X-ray scattering. Acta biomaterialia Georgiadis, M., Menzel, M., Reuter, J. A., Born, D., Kovacevich, S., Alvarez, D., Taghavi, H. M., Schroeter, A., Rudin, M., Gao, Z., Guizar-Sicairos, M., Weiss, T. M., Axer, M., Rajkovic, I., Zeineh, M. M. 2023

  Abstract

  Myelinated axons (nerve fibers) efficiently transmit signals throughout the brain via action potentials. Multiple methods that are sensitive to axon orientations, from microscopy to magnetic resonance imaging, aim to reconstruct the brain's structural connectome. As billions of nerve fibers traverse the brain with various possible geometries at each point, resolving fiber crossings is necessary to generate accurate structural connectivity maps. However, doing so with specificity is a challenging task because signals originating from oriented fibers can be influenced by brain (micro)structures unrelated to myelinated axons. X-ray scattering can specifically probe myelinated axons due to the periodicity of the myelin sheath, which yields distinct peaks in the scattering pattern. Here, we show that small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) can be used to detect myelinated, axon-specific fiber crossings. We first demonstrate the capability using strips of human corpus callosum to create artificial double- and triple-crossing fiber geometries, and we then apply the method in mouse, pig, vervet monkey, and human brains. We compare results to polarized light imaging (3D-PLI), tracer experiments, and to outputs from diffusion MRI that sometimes fails to detect crossings. Given its specificity, capability of 3-dimensional sampling and high resolution, SAXS could serve as a ground truth for validating fiber orientations derived using diffusion MRI as well as microscopy-based methods. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: : To study how the nerve fibers in our brain are interconnected, scientists need to visualize their trajectories, which often cross one another. Here, we show the unique capacity of small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) to study these fiber crossings without use of labelling, taking advantage of SAXS's specificity to myelin - the insulating sheath that is wrapped around nerve fibers. We use SAXS to detect double and triple crossing fibers and unveil intricate crossings in mouse, pig, vervet monkey, and human brains. This non-destructive method can uncover complex fiber trajectories and validate other less specific imaging methods (e.g., MRI or microscopy), towards accurate mapping of neuronal connectivity in the animal and human brain.

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.actbio.2023.04.029

  View details for PubMedID 37098400

• The Adverse Effects of Climate Change on Congenital Birth Defects. International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics Moein Taghavi, H., Eldeeb, S. 2022

  View details for DOI 10.1002/ijgo.14542

  View details for PubMedID 36321221

• High-resolution hippocampal diffusion tensor imaging of mesial temporal sclerosis in refractory epilepsy. Epilepsia Chau Loo Kung, G., Chiu, A., Davey, Z., Mouchawar, N., Carlson, M., Moein Taghavi, H., Martin, D., Graber, K., Razavi, B., McNab, J., Zeineh, M. 2022

  Abstract

  OBJECTIVE: We explore the possibility of using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) to discern microstructural abnormalities in the hippocampus indicative of mesial temporal sclerosis (MTS) at the subfield level.METHODS: We analyzed data from 57 patients with refractory epilepsy who previously underwent 3.0-T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) including DTI as a standard part of presurgical workup. We collected information about each subject's seizure semiology, conventional electroencephalography (EEG), high-density EEG, positron emission tomography reports, surgical outcome, and available histopathological findings to assign a final diagnostic category. We also reviewed the radiology MRI report to determine the radiographic category. DTI- and NODDI-based metrics were obtained in the hippocampal subfields.RESULTS: By examining diffusion characteristics among subfields in the final diagnostic categories, we found lower orientation dispersion indices and elevated axial diffusivity in the dentate gyrus in MTS compared to no MTS. By similarly examining among subfields in the different radiographic categories, we found all diffusion metrics were abnormal in the dentate gyrus and CA1. We finally examined whether diffusion imaging would better inform a radiographic diagnosis with respect to the final diagnosis, and found that dentate diffusivity suggested subtle changes that may help confirm a positive radiologic diagnosis.SIGNIFICANCE: The results suggest that diffusion metric analysis at the subfield level, especially in dentate gyrus and CA1, maybe useful for clinical confirmation of MTS.

  View details for DOI 10.1111/epi.17330

  View details for PubMedID 35751514