Aquaporin-4 regulates water molecule channels and is important in tissue regulation and water transportation in the brain. Upregulation of aquaporin-4 expression is closely related to cel-lular edema after early cerebral infarction. Cellular edema and aquaporin-4 expression can be determined by measuring cerebral infarct area and apparent diffusion coefficient using diffu-sion-weighted imaging (DWI). We examined the effects of silencing aquaporin-4 on cerebral infarction. Rat models of cerebral infarction were established by occlusion of the right middle cerebral artery and siRNA-aquaporin-4 was immediately injectedvia the right basal ganglia. In control animals, the area of high signal intensity and relative apparent diffusion coefifcient value on T2-weighted imaging (T2WI) and DWI gradually increased within 0.5–6 hours after cerebral infarction. After aquaporin-4 gene silencing, the area of high signal intensity on T2WI and DWI reduced, relative apparent diffusion coefifcient value was increased, and cellular edema was ob-viously alleviated. At 6 hours after cerebral infarction, the apparent diffusion coefifcient value was similar between treatment and model groups, but angioedema was still obvious in the treat-ment group. These results indicate that aquaporin-4 gene silencing can effectively relieve cellular edema after early cerebral infarction; and when conducted accurately and on time, the diffusion coefifcient value and the area of high signal intensity on T2WI and DWI can relfect therapeutic effects of aquaporin-4 gene silencing on cellular edema.

Purpose:.To describe the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features of orbital rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS).
Methods:.Thirty-nine patients with histopathologically con-firmed orbital RMS were retrospectively reviewed. All patients underwent orbital conventional MRI, including axial,.sagittal, and coronal T1-weighted,.T2-weighted,.and postcontrast T1-weighted sequences. The location, shape, margin, and MRI signal of the 39 lesions were reviewed..DWI in 15 patients and susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) in 2 patients were also analyzed.
Results:.Orbital MRI was available in 39 patients and re-vealed a soft tissue mass in the orbital region in all cases..Of the 39 patients,.the primary tumor sites were limited to the orbital proper in 31 cases, while 28 cases had extraocular muscle invasion and 8 cases had extraorbital invasion..All le-sions were unilateral..Thirty-three cases were well-defined soft tissue masses and 6 cases appeared as less well-defined soft-tissue masses..Thirty-four cases showed homogeneous isoin-tense or slightly hypointense signals on T1-weighted imaging (T1WI) and hyperintense signal on T2-weighted imaging (T2WI) compared with extraocular muscles. Five cases had heterogeneous signals with focal areas of increased signal on T1WI or decreased signal on T2WI, including 1 case with hy-pointense signal on SWI..The mean apparent diffusion coeffi-cient (ADC) value of the viable part of tumors was (0.925 ± 0.09)×10-3 mm2/s. All cases showed moderate to marked en-hancement after contrast administration.
Conclusion:Several MRI features-including homogeneous isointense or slightly hypointense signal on T1WI and slightly hyperintense signal on T2WI, relative low ADC values, and moderate to marked enhancement,.extraocular muscles inva-sion, and extraorbital extensionare helpful in the diagnosis of orbital RMS. (Eye Science 2014; 29:6-11).