San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center

Established in 1934, the Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) in San Francisco is part of the nationwide federal health-care system for veterans operated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The Department of Radiology at VAMC provides quality and state-of-the-art imaging services to the large population of veterans in Northern California. Medical research and physician training are also conducted at VAMC though its affiliation with UCSF. Research directions include: 3D imaging, virtual colonoscopy, vascular imaging with ultrasound; determination of cellular mechanisms causing impaired myocardial contractions and heart failure; effects of hemodynamics on vascular disease; novel applications of triple-head SPECT; noninvasive vascular imaging with carotid MRI; and proton and phosporus MR spectroscopy in cases of substance abuse and HIV.

Office Telephone: (415) 750-2120 - FAX: (415) 750-6944

Research Directions:

Diagnostic Radiology – Judy Yee, MD, Chief

(See article "Virtual Colonoscopy Prepares to Enter the Mainstream")

• Vascular ultrasound waveform analysis
• Contrast-enhanced CT colonography
• Fecal tagging using barium for CT colonography
• Efficacy and safety of Visipaque (Iodixanol) injection for use in intravenous contrast-enhanced CT angiography of abdominal vessels
• Prospective comparison of colonic imaging tests
• Image checker CAD for virtual colonoscopy

Magnetic Resonance Unit – Michael W. Weiner, MD, Director

• Early detection and diagnosis of dementia
• Effects of HIV and alcohol on the brain
• Effects of gulf war illness on basal ganglia
• MRI and MRSI of ALS, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy
• Effects of post traumatic stress disorder on the brain

Vascular Imaging Research Center – David A. Saloner, PhD, Director

• Conduct of a multi-center study to measure changes in atherosclerosis morphology over time
• Development of improved methods for flow quantitation in aneurysms
• Combined use of imaging and simulation in determining durability of stent-graft devices for treatment of aortic disease
• Evaluation of the use of computational methods for determining whether changes in aneurysm geometry correlate with hemodynamic effects

Recent Key References:

Diagnostic Radiology

Abraham C, Reilly L, Schneider D, Dwyer S, Sawhney R, Messina L, Chuter T. A modular multi-branched system for endovascular repair of bilateral common iliac artery aneurysms. J Endovasc Ther 2003; 10(20):203-7.

Ferruci J, Barish M, Choi R, Dachman A, Fenlon H, Glick S, Laghi A, Macari M, Morrin M, Paulson E, Pickhardt PJ, Soto J, Yee J, Zalis M. Working Group on Virtual Colonoscopy. Virtual Colonoscopy. JAMA 2004; 292(4):431-2.

Glastonbury CM, Kennedy AM. Images in clinical medicine: a fetus with hypogenesis of the corpus callosum. N Engl J Med 2003; 349:e6.

Gooding GAW, Kane RA, Townsend RR, Frates MC, Mellstrup JW, Reading CC. Collaborative Subcommittee of ACR and AIUM. AIUM practice guideline for the performance of a thyroid and parathyroid ultrasound examination. J Ultrasound Med 2003; 22:1126-30.

Gooding GAW, Kane RA, Townsend RR, Frates MC, Mellstrup JW, Reading CC. Collaborative Subcommittee of ACR and AIUM. ACR practice guideline for the performance of a thyroid and parathyroid ultrasound examination. American College of Radiology Practice Guidelines and Technical Standards 2003; 603-6.

Johnson CD, Toledano AY, Herman BA, Dachman AH, McFarland EG, Balfe D, Barish M, Brink J, Ernst R, Fletcher JG, Halvorsen R, Hopper KD, Koehler RE, Lu D, Macari M, MacCarty R, Miller F, Morrin M, Paulson E, Yee J, Zalis M. CT colonography: performance evaluation in a retrospective multicenter setting (American College of Radiology Imaging Network Study 6656) Gastroenterology 2003; 125:688-95.

Kerlan R, LaBerge J, Wilson M, Gordon R, Kirkwood K, Sawhney R. Massive hemorrhage from portal vein disruption. J Vasc Interv Radiol 2003; 14:797-802.

Kirshenbaum SB, Hirky AE, Correale J, Goldstein RB, Johnson MO, Rotheram-Borus MJ, Ehrhardt AA. “Throwing the dice": pregnancy decision-making among HIV-positive women in four U.S. cities. Perspect Sex Reprod Health 2004; 36(3):106-13.

Mani A, Napel S, Paik D, Jeffrey RB, Yee J, Olcott EO, Prokesch R, Davila M, Schraedley-Desmond P, Beaulieu CF. CT colongraphy: feasibility of computer-aided polyp detection in a "First Reader" paradigm. J Comput Assist Tomogr. 2004; 28:318-26.

Oh KY, Gilfeather ME, Kennedy AM, Glastonbury C, Green D, Brant W, Yoon H-C. Limited abdominal MRI in the evaluation of acute right upper quadrant pain. Abdom Imaging 2003; 28:643-51.

Paik DS, Beaulieu CF, Rubin GD, Acar B, Jeffrey RB, Yee J, Dey J, Napel S. Surface normal overlap: a computer aided detection algorithm with application to colonic polyps and lung nodules in helical CT. IEEE Trans Med Imaging 2004; 23:661-75.

Reeders JWAJ, Yee J, Gore RM, Miller FH, Megibow AJ. Gastrointestinal infections in the immuno-compromised (AIDS) patient. Eur Radiol 2004; 14:84-102.

Weatherburn GC, Ridout D, Strickland NH, Robins P, Glastonbury CM, Curati W, Harvey C, Shadbolt C. A comparison of conventional film, CR hard copy and PACS soft copy images of the chest: analyses of ROC curves and inter-observer agreement. Eur J Radiol 2003; 47:206-14.

Yee J. Screening CT colonography. Radiol Clin N Am 2004; 42(4):757-66.

Yee J, Galdino G, Urban J, Sawhney R. CT angiography of aortic endovascular stent grafts. Crit Rev Comput Tomogr 2004; 45:17-65.

Yee J, Wall SD, McQuaid KR. By-patient performance characteristics of CT colonography: importance of polyp size threshold data [letter]. Radiology 2003; 229:291-3.

Magnetic Resonance Unit

Blumenfeld H, McNally KA, Vanderhill SD, Paige AL, Chung R, Davis K, Norden AD, Stokking R, Studholme C, Novotny EJ, Jr, Zubal IG, Spencer SS. Positive and negative network correlations in temporal lobe epilepsy. Cereb Cortex 2004; 14(8):892-902.

Blumenfeld H, Westerveld M, Ostroff RB, Vanderhill SD, Freeman J, Necochea A, Uranga P, Tanhehco T, Smith A, Seibyl JP, Stokking R, Studholme C, Spencer SS, Zubal IG. Selective frontal, parietal, and temporal networks in generalized seizures. Neuroimage 2003; 19(4):1556-66.

Boxer A, Kramer JH, Schuff N, Du AT, Weiner MW. Focal right inferotemporal atrophy in AD with disproportionate visual constructive impairment. Neurology 2003; 61(11):1485-91.

Chao LL, Lindgren JA, Flenniken DL, Weiner MW; ERP evidence of impaired central nervous system function in virally suppressed HIV patients on antiretroviral therapy. Clin Neurophysiol 2004; 115:1583-91.

Chao LL, Meyerhoff DJ, Cardenas VA, Rothlind JC, Weiner MW. Abnormal CNV in chronic heavy drinkers. Clin Neurophysiol 2003; 114(11):2081-95.

Chao LL, Meyerhoff DJ, Cardenas-Nicolson VA, Rothlind JC, Weiner MW. Abnormal contingent negative variation in HIV patients receiving antiretroviral therapy. Neuroreport 2003; 14(16):2111-15.

Chao LL, Meyerhoff DJ, Lindgren JA, Weiner MW. The effects of chronic alcohol use on implicit memory and decision-making abilities. Clin Neurophysiol 2003; 114(11):2081-95.

DeCarli C, Mungas D, Harvey D, Reed B, Weiner M, Chui H, Jagust W. Memory impairment, but not cerebrovascular disease predicts progression of MCI to dementia. Neurology 2004; 63(2):220-7.

Du AT, Schuff N, Kramer JH, Ganzer S, Zhu XP, Jagust WJ, Miller BL, Reed BR, Mungas D, Yaffe K, Chui HC, Weiner MW. Higher atrophy rate of entorhinal cortex than hippocampus in AD. Neurology 2004; 62:422-7.

Ebel A, Govindaraju V, Maudsley AA. Comparison of inversion recovery preparation schemes for lipid suppression in 1H MRSI of human brain. Magn Reson Med 2003; 49(5):903-8.

Ebel A, Maudsley AA: Improved spectral quality for 3D MR spectroscopic imaging using a high spatial resolution acquisition strategy. Magn Reson Imaging 2003; 21(2):113-20.

Gorno-Tempini ML, Dronkers NF, Rankin KP, Ogar JM, Phengrasamy L, Rosen HJ, Johnson JK, Weiner MW, Miller BL. Cognition and anatomy in three variants of primary progressive aphasia. Ann Neurol 2004; 55(3):335-6.

Govindaraju V, Gauger GE, Manley GT, Ebel A, Meeker M, Maudsley AA. Volumetric proton spectroscopic imaging of mild traumatic brain injury. Am J Neuroradiol 2004; 25(5):730-7.

Liu W, Miller BL, Kramer JH, Rankin K, Wyss-Coray C, Gearhart R, Phengrasamy L, Weiner M, Rosen HJ. Behavioral disorders in the frontal and temporal variants of frontotemporal dementia. Neurology 2004; 62(5):742-8.

Meyerhoff DJ, Blumenfeld R, Truran D, Lindgren J, Flenniken D, Cardenas VA, Chao L, Rothlind J, Studholme C, Weiner MW. Effects of heavy drinking, binge drinking, and family history of alcoholism on regional brain metabolites. Alcoholism Clin Exp Res 2004; 28(4):650-61.

Mueller SG, Laxer KD, Cashdollar N, Flenniken DL, Matson GB, Weiner MW. Identification of abnormal neuronal metabolism outside the seizure focus in temporal lobe epilepsy. Epilepsia 2004; 45(4):355-66.

Mueller SG, Weber OM, Duc CO, Meier D, Russ W, Boesiger P, Wieser HG. Effects of vigabatrin on brain GABA+/Cr signals in focus-distant and focus-near brain regions monitored by 1H-NMR spectroscopy. Eur J Neurol 2003; 10(1):45-52.

Neylan TC, Lenoci M, Rothlind J, Metzer TJ, Schuff N, Du AT, Franklin K, Weiss DS, Weiner MW, Marmar CR. Attention, learning and memory in posttraumatic stress disorder. J Trauma Stress 2004; 17(1):41-6.

Neylan TC, Schuff N, Lenoci M, Yehuda R, Weiner MW, Marmar CR. Cortisol levels are positively correlated with hippocampal N-acetylaspartate. Biol Psychiatry 2003; 54(10):1118-21.

Rankin KP, Rosen HJ, Kramer JH, Schauer GF, Weiner MW, Schuff N, Miller BL. Right and left medial orbitofrontal volumes show an opposite relationship to agreeableness in FTD. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord 2004; 17(4):328-32.

Schuff N, Capizzano AA, Du AT, Amend DL, O’Neill J, Norman D, Jagust WJ, Chui HC, Kramer JH, Miller BL, Yaffe K, Reed B, Weiner MW. Different patterns of N-acetylaspartate loss in subcortical ischemic vascular dementia and AD. Neurology 2003; 61(3):358-64.

Studholme C, Cardenas V, Blumenfeld R, Schuff N, Rosen HJ, Miller B, Weiner W. Deformation tensor morphometry of semantic dementia with quantitative validation, Neuroimage 2004; 21(4):1387-98.

Studholme C, Cardenas V, Maudsley A, Weiner M. An intensity consistent filtering approach to the analysis of deformation tensor derived maps of brain shape. Neuroimage 2003; 19(4);1638-49.

Studholme C, Cardenas V, Song E, Ezekiel F, Maudsley A, Weiner M. Accurate template-based correction of brain MRI intensity distortion with application to dementia and aging. IEEE Trans Med Imaging 2004; 23(1):99-110.

Wang J, Licht DJ, Jahng GH, Liu CS, Rubin JT, Haselgrove J, Zimmerman RA, Detre JA. Pediatric perfusion imaging using pulsed arterial spin labeling. J Magn Reson Imaging 2003; 18(4):404-13.

Weiner MW, Albert MS, DeCarli CS, de Leon M, Fox NC, Jack CR, Jr, Jagust WJ, Reiman EM, Scheltens P, Small GW, Soininen H, Wahlund L-O. Proceedings and abstracts second meeting of the Alzheimer’s Imaging Consortium Stockholm Fairgrounds, Stockholm, Sweden, July 20, 2002. Neurobiol Aging 2004; 25:239-270.

Wilhelmsen KC, Forman MS, Rose HJ, Alving LI, Goldman J, Feiger J, Lee JV, Segall SK, Kramer JH, Lomen-Hoerth C, Rankin KP, Johnson J, Feiler HS, Weiner MW, Lee VM, Trojanowski JQ, Miller BL. 17 q-linked frontotemporal dementia-amyotrophic lateral sclerosis without Tau mutations with Tau and A-Synuclein inclusions. Arch Neurol 2004; 61:398-406.

Yue N J, Knisely J P, Studholme C, Chen Z, Bond JE, Nath R. A technique to re-establish dose distributions for previously treated brain cancer patients in external beam radiotherapy. Med Dosim 2004; 29(1):31-41.

Zhu X, Du A, Jahng GH, Soher B, Maudsley A, Weiner MW, Schuff N. Magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging reconstruction with deformable shape-intensity models. Magn Reson Med 2003; 50(3):474-82.

Vascular Imaging Research Center

Jou LD, Rapp J, Saloner D. Transport of Contrast agents in contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography. J Magn Reson Imaging 2004; 22:495-504.

Jou LD, Quick CM, Young WL, Lawton MT, Higashida R, Martin A, Saloner D. Computation approach to quantifying hemodynamic forces in giant cerebral aneurysms. Am J Neuroradiol; 2003; 24:1804-10.

Rapp JH, Saloner D. Current status of carotid imaging by MRA. Cardiovasc Surg 2003; 11:445-7.

Rapp JH, Pan XM, Yu B, Swanson R, Higashida R, Simpson P, Saloner D. Cerebral ischemia and infarction from atheroemboli. Stroke 2003; 64A:197-206.

Townsend TC, Saloner D, Pan XM, Rapp JH. Contrast material-enhanced MRA overestimates severity of carotid stenosis, compared with 3D time-of-flight MRA. J Vasc Surg 2003; 38:36-40.

Yu B, Pan XM, Saloner D, Troyer A, Rapp JH. Double-lumen carotid plaque: a morbid configuration. J Vasc Surg 2003; 37:1314-7.