We present a case of a neonate born with prenatal diagnosis of Cantrell syndrome and ectopia cordis. This extremely rare congenital disorder underscores the significant need for multimodality imaging to plan further management. The aim of the study was to present the thoracoabdominal syndrome using a three-dimensional computed tomography angiography. The CT scans confirmed complex intracardiac defects consisting of tetralogy of Fallot, total anomalous pulmonary venous return and persistent left superior vena cava. In conclusion, Cantrell syndrome necessitates a multidisciplinary approach, from the onset of the prenatal diagnosis followed by prompt medical imaging and surgical interventions after birth. The thoracoabdominal wall defect including complete ectopia cordis is an extremely rare disorder with a fatal outcome.

Background: Performing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) examination is difficult when a child needs to stay awake and cooperate. Many techniques help to prepare them for the study but without modification of the examination protocol. The objective of this research was to prepare a gamified motor paradigm (“computer game”) that will improve the fMRI examination of young children. Methods: After preparing a dedicated application the fMRI examination was performed on 60 healthy children (10 girls and 10 boys in each age group of 4, 5, and 6 years old). Each child performed the gamified and a standard motor paradigm, both based on squeezing a rubber bulb. The effectiveness of squeezing were compared. Results: With the application of the gamified paradigm children completed significantly more active blocks (3.3 ± 1.4) than for the standard paradigm (2.2 ± 1.6) (p < 0.0001). In mixed-effects Poisson regression, age (IRR = 1.9; 95%CI: 1.5–2.5) and application of gamified paradigm (IRR = 5.6; 95%CI: 1.1–28.0) were significantly associated with more completed blocks. Conclusions: The gamified motor paradigm performed better than a standard paradigm in the fMRI examination of children between 4 and 6 years old. It allowed a significant increase in the number of completed active blocks and also better squeezing effectiveness in each block.

Conventional brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in systemic diseases with central nervous system involvement (SDCNS) may imitate MRI findings of multiple sclerosis (MS). In order to better describe the MRI characteristics of these conditions, in our study we assessed brain volume parameters in MS (n = 58) and SDCNS (n = 41) patients using two-dimensional linear measurements (2DLMs): bicaudate ratio (BCR), corpus callosum index (CCI) and width of third ventricle (W3V). In SDCNS patients, all 2DLMs were affected by age (CCI p = 0.005, BCR p < 0.001, W3V p < 0.001, respectively), whereas in MS patients only BCR and W3V were (p = 0.001 and p = 0.015, respectively). Contrary to SDCNS, in the MS cohort BCR and W3V were associated with T1 lesion volume (T1LV) (p = 0.020, p = 0.009, respectively) and T2 lesion volume (T2LV) (p = 0.015, p = 0.009, respectively). CCI was associated with T1LV in the MS cohort only (p = 0.015). Moreover, BCR was significantly higher in the SDCNS group (p = 0.01) and CCI was significantly lower in MS patients (p = 0.01). The best predictive model to distinguish MS and SDCNS encompassed gender, BCR and T2LV as the explanatory variables (sensitivity 0.91; specificity 0.68; AUC 0.86). Implementation of 2DLMs in the brain MRI analysis of MS and SDCNS patients allowed for the identification of diverse patterns of local brain atrophy in these clinical conditions.