Edward Parsons

Background: Bronchoscopy is frequently nondiagnostic in patients with pulmonary lesions suspected to be lung cancer. This often results in additional invasive testing, although many lesions are benign. We sought to validate a bronchial-airway gene-expression classifier that could improve the diagnostic performance of bronchoscopy. Methods: Curre...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of gadofosveset, a gadolinium-based albumin-binding MRI contrast agent, in patients with pedal arterial disease. A total of 185 adult patients with known or suspected pedal arterial disease were randomized in a group receiving 0.03 mmol/kg and a group receiving 0.05 mmol/kg of gadofo...

To determine the feasibility of detecting thrombi using a fibrin-specific gadolinium-based magnetic resonance imaging contrast agent, EP-2104R. Subjects with confirmed thrombus in the venous system (n = 14), or in the heart, or arterial system (n = 38) were enrolled. Patients were imaged before and at various times following a 4 mumol/kg intravenou...

To determine prospectively the safety and efficacy of the blood-pool contrast agent gadofosveset trisodium in renal artery magnetic resonance angiography (MRA). Gadofosveset (0.03 mmol/kg) was administered to adult patients with known or suspected renal arterial disease in a multi-center phase 3 single dose study. The drug binds reversibly to album...

The theory of temporal diffusion spectra is reviewed. In contrast to q-space spectroscopy, which measures the displacement spectrum of spins in a spatial domain, the spectral density of the velocity correlation function (VCF) in the temporal domain is considered. It is demonstrated that casting diffusion in this domain may facilitate measurements o...

Purpose: To assess the change in corneal pachymetry after a novel epithelium-on (EpiSmart®) corneal crosslinking procedure (CXL). Methods: Eyes treated as part of the open-label, non-controlled arm of the study "Collagen Crosslinking with Ultraviolet-A in Asymmetric Corneas" (NCT01097447) were examined at baseline, 3-, 6- and 12-months post-CXL....

Purpose To evaluate effects of sodium iodide (NaI) on riboflavin concentration in corneal stroma before and during ultraviolet A (UVA) light exposure using a novel transepithelial corneal collagen crosslinking (CXL) procedure (EpiSmart CXL system, CXL Ophthalmics, Encinitas CA). Methods Riboflavin solutions with NaI (Ribostat, CXL Ophthalmics, Enc...

Purpose To assess the effectiveness of a novel treatment for patients with advanced corneal ectasia and loss of visual acuity (VA). Conductive keratoplasty (CK) is performed to improve VA followed by epithelium-on (epi-on) corneal crosslinking (CXL) to stabilize the cornea after CK. Methods Retrospective, exploratory cohort study. Patients with ke...

Importance An oral treatment for neovascular age-related macular degeneration would be less burdensome than repeated intravitreous injections. X-82 is an oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor active against vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and platelet-derived growth factor. Objective To undertake safety testing of oral X-82 administered for the...

Background: Bronchoscopy is often the initial diagnostic procedure performed in patients with pulmonary lesions suspicious for lung cancer. A bronchial genomic classifier was previously validated to identify patients at low risk for lung cancer after an inconclusive bronchoscopy. In this study, we evaluate the potential of the classifier to reduce...

The concepts, theoretical behavior and experimental applications of temporal diffusion spectroscopy are reviewed and illustrated. Temporal diffusion spectra are obtained using oscillating-gradient waveforms in diffusion-weighted measurements, and represent the manner in which various spectral components of molecular velocity correlations vary in di...

Purpose: To determine the feasibility of detecting thrombi using a fibrin-specific gadolinium-based magnetic resonance imaging contrast agent, EP-2104R. Methods: Subjects with confirmed thrombus in the venous system (n = 14), or in the heart, or arterial system (n = 38) were enrolled. Patients were imaged before and at various times following a 4 m...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of clot visualization in small sinus and cortical veins with contrast enhanced MRA in a cerebral venous thrombosis animal model using a blood pool contrast agent, Gadofosveset, and high spatial resolution imaging. For induction of cerebral venous thrombosis a recently developed combined i...

PRX-00023, a serotonin 1A receptor agonist, was designed to provide high potency and selectivity for its target. To assess the possible therapeutic utility in anxiety, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted in 311 subjects who met the criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition,...

The aim of this study was to investigate the use of a fibrin-specific contrast agent (EP-2104R, EPIX Pharmaceuticals, Lexington, Massachusetts, USA) for targeted molecular magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of human clot material removed from patients in a model of coronary thrombosis in swine. Freshly ex vivo engineered clots from human blood and hum...

Molecular targeted MR imaging of human clots material in a model of pulmonary embolism using a fibrin-specific magnetic resonance imaging contrast agent (EP-2104R, EPIX Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge, MA). Fresh ex vivo engineered thrombi (human blood) and human clots removed from patients were delivered in 11 swine. Molecular MR imaging with a 3D grad...

Imaging of cerebral vein thrombosis is still challenging. Currently, diagnosis is based on CT venography and MRI including MRA and conventional digital subtraction angiography. However, especially in chronic cases, each method has shown its limitations. Newer strategies for MRI are found on molecular imaging using targeted contrast agents. The aim...

To prospectively assess the accuracy of contrast-enhanced MR angiography of the aortoiliac arteries using the blood pool agent Vasovist compared to unenhanced time-of-flight MRA. Conventional digital subtraction angiography served as the standard of reference. Twenty-nine patients with suspected or known peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD)...

Ziel: Ziel dieser prospektiven klinischen Studie war es, die MR-Angiografie der Beckengefäße mit dem neuen, intravaskulären Kontrastmittel Vasovist® und einer nativen Time-of-Flight MR-Angiografie mit der i. a. DSA als Referenzmethode zu vergleichen. Material und Methoden: 29 Patienten (9 Frauen, 20 Männer; 32 - 87 Jahre, Median 63,5 Jahre) mit ver...

The detection of pulmonary embolism is still challenging due to the often nonspecific clinical findings. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of molecular targeted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of pulmonary emboli using low-dose application of a fibrin-specific contrast agent (EP-2104R; Epix Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge, MA). Fre...

The detection and differentiation of intracardiac masses is still challenging and may include neoplasms and thrombi. The aim of this study was the investigation of a targeted, fibrin-specific contrast agent (EP-2104R) for molecular targeted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of left atrial clots. Chronic human thrombi were surgically implanted in the...

The differential diagnosis of acute chest pain is challenging, especially in patients with normal ECG findings, and may include coronary thrombosis or pulmonary emboli. The aim of this study was to investigate the novel fibrin-specific contrast agent EP-2104R for molecular targeted MR imaging of coronary thrombosis and pulmonary emboli. Fresh clots...

The advent of fibrin-binding molecular magnetic resonance (MR) contrast agents and advances in coronary MRI techniques offers the potential for direct imaging of coronary thrombosis. We tested the feasibility of this approach using a gadolinium (Gd)-based fibrin-binding contrast agent, EP-2104R (EPIX Medical Inc), in a swine model of coronary throm...

Plaque rupture with subsequent thrombosis is recognized as the underlying pathophysiology of most acute coronary syndromes and stroke. Thus, direct thrombus visualization may be beneficial for both diagnosis and guidance of therapy. We sought to test the feasibility of direct imaging of acute and subacute thrombosis using MRI together with a novel...

A variation of the oscillating gradient spin echo method had been developed, which isolates temporal frequencies of the dephasing spectrum. This allows sampling of the diffusion spectrum, the Fourier transform of the velocity correlation function (VCF). It has been shown that restriction and flow alter this function in ways that can be mathematical...

Oscillating gradients were used to probe the diffusion-time/frequency dependence of water diffusion in the gray matter of normal and globally ischemic rat brain. In terms of a conventional definition of diffusion time, the oscillating gradient measurements provided the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of water with diffusion times between 9.75...

In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that a carbohydrate-protein (CHO-Pro) supplement would be more effective in the replenishment of muscle glycogen after exercise compared with a carbohydrate supplement of equal carbohydrate content (LCHO) or caloric equivalency (HCHO). After 2.5 +/- 0.1 h of intense cycling to deplete the muscle glycog...

The NMR methods that are used to characterize inanimate porous media measure relaxation times and related phenomena and material transport, fluid displacement and flow. Biological tissues are comprised of multiple small, fluid-filled compartments, such as cells, that restrict the movement of the bulk solvent water and whose constituents influence w...

We compared the image contrast of a monochromatic CT, Multiple Energy Computed Tomography (MECT), being developed at the National Synchrotron Light Source for imaging the human head and neck, and a conventional CT scanner using phantoms. The same phantom images were also produced by computer simulations. The experimental results indicate that monoc...

A monochromatic CT for imaging the human head and neck is being developed at the National Synchrotron Light Source. We compared the performance of this system, multiple energy computed tomography [MECT], with that of a conventional CT [CCT] using phantoms. The advantage in image contrast of MECT, with its beam energy tuned just above the K-edge of...

We explored the potential for clinical research of computed tomography (CT) with monochromatic x-rays using the preclinical multiple energy computed tomography (MECT) system at the National Synchrotron Light Source. MECT has a fixed, horizontal fan beam with a subject apparatus rotating about a vertical axis; it will be used for imaging the human h...

We compared the image contrast of a monochromatic CT, Multiple Energy Computed Tomography (MECT), and conventional CT scanner using phantoms. The experimental results indicate that monochromatic CT, with beam energy tuned just above the iodine K-edge, has about a 3 fold advantage in iodine contrast over conventional CT with a 120 kVp beam. Modeling...

Computed tomography (CT) with monochromatic X-ray beams was used to image phantoms and a live rabbit using the preclinical multiple energy computed tomography (MECT) system at the National Synchrotron Light Source. MECT has a horizontal fan beam with a subject apparatus rotating about a vertical axis. Images were obtained at 43 keV for single-energ...