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Case report of rare congenital cardiovascular anomalies associated with truncus arteriosus type 2
(2022)
Truncus arteriosus (TA) is a very rare congenital anomaly with complex cardiovascular anatomy and high lethality also due to severe associated anatomical variants and pathologies. As TA has a massive impact on the survival of a newborn and usually has to be surgically treated. Thus, it is of high importance to understand this congenital cardiovascular disease and associated complications, to improve life expectancy and outcome of these patients. We recently came across a newborn female patient with a rare complex case of persistent TA type 2 associated with further complex cardiovascular anomalies, who received a contrast enhanced CT scan on the 3 rd day post-partum, showing complex cardiovascular abnormalities that were ultimately incompatible with life.
Rationale and objectives: To provide a detailed analysis of injury patterns of the spine following blunt trauma and establish the role of supplementary MRI by evaluating discrepancies in the detection rates of damaged structures in CT and MRI.
Method: 216 patients with blunt trauma to the spine who underwent CT followed by supplementary MRI were included in this study. Two board-certified radiologists blinded to clinical symptoms and injury mechanisms independently interpreted all acquired CT and MRI images. The interpretation was performed using a dedicated catalogue of typical findings associated with spinal trauma and assessed for spinal stability using the AO classification systems.
Results: Lesions to structures associated with spinal instability were present in 31.0% in the cervical spine, 12.3% in the thoracic spine, and 29.9% in the lumbar spine. In all spinal segments, MRI provided additional information regarding potentially unstable injuries. Novel information derived from supplementary MRI changed clinical management in 3.6% of patients with injury to the cervical spine. No change in clinical management resulted from novel information on the thoracolumbar spine. Patients with injuries to the vertebral body, intervertebral disc, or spinous process were significantly more likely to benefit from supplementary MRI.
Conclusion: In patients that sustained blunt spinal trauma, supplementary MRI of the cervical spine should routinely be performed to detect injuries that require surgical treatment, whereas CT is the superior imaging modality for the detection of unstable injuries in the thoracolumbar spine.
Purpose: The purpose of the study is to retrospectively evaluate the development and technological progress in local oncological treatments of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by means of ablation techniques like laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT), microwave ablation (MWA) and transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) in a multimodal application.
Method: This retrospective single-center study uses data generated between 1993 and 2020 (1,045 patients). Therapy results are evaluated using survival rates of Kaplan-Meier estimator, Cox proportional hazard regression and log-rank test.
Results: Median survival times in group LITT (25 patients) are 1.6 years, and, 2.6 years for LITT + TACE (67 patients). For LITT only treatments 1-/3-/5-year survival rates scored 64%, 24% and 20%. Results for combined LITT + TACE treatments were 84%, 37% and 14%. Median survival time in group MWA (227 patients) is 4.5 years. Estimated median survival time for MWA + TACE (108 patients) leads to a median survival time of 2.7 years. In group MWA the 1-/3-/5-year survival rates are 85%, 54%, 45%. Group MWA + TACE shows values of 79%, 41% and 25%. A separate group of 618 patients has been analyzed with TACE as monotherapy. Median survival time of 1 year was estimated in this group. 1-/3-/5-year survival rates are 48%, 15% and 8%. - Cox regression analysis showed that the different treatment methods are statistically significant predictors for survival of patients.
Conclusions: Treatments with MWA resulted in best median survival rates, followed by MWA + TACE in combination. Survival rates of MWA only are significantly higher vs. LITT, vs. LITT + TACE and vs. TACE monotherapy.
Vaccination represents one of the fundamentals in the fight against SARS-CoV-2. Myocarditis has been reported as a rare but possible adverse consequence of different vaccines, and its clinical presentation can range from mild symptoms to acute heart failure. We report a case of a 29-year-old man who presented with fever and retrosternal pain after receiving SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and laboratory data revealed typical findings of acute myocarditis.
Objectives: To compare dual-energy CT (DECT) and MRI for assessing presence and extent of traumatic bone marrow edema (BME) and fracture line depiction in acute vertebral fractures. Methods: Eighty-eight consecutive patients who underwent dual-source DECT and 3-T MRI of the spine were retrospectively analyzed. Five radiologists assessed all vertebrae for presence and extent of BME and for identification of acute fracture lines on MRI and, after 12 weeks, on DECT series. Additionally, image quality, image noise, and diagnostic confidence for overall diagnosis of acute vertebral fracture were assessed. Quantitative analysis of CT numbers was performed by a sixth radiologist. Two radiologists analyzed MRI and grayscale DECT series to define the reference standard. Results: For assessing BME presence and extent, DECT showed high sensitivity (89% and 84%, respectively) and specificity (98% in both), and similarly high diagnostic confidence compared to MRI (2.30 vs. 2.32; range 0–3) for the detection of BME (p = .72). For evaluating acute fracture lines, MRI achieved high specificity (95%), moderate sensitivity (76%), and a significantly lower diagnostic confidence compared to DECT (2.42 vs. 2.62, range 0–3) (p < .001). A cutoff value of − 0.43 HU provided a sensitivity of 89% and a specificity of 90% for diagnosing BME, with an overall AUC of 0.96. Conclusions: DECT and MRI provide high diagnostic confidence and image quality for assessing acute vertebral fractures. While DECT achieved high overall diagnostic accuracy in the analysis of BME presence and extent, MRI provided moderate sensitivity and lower confidence for evaluating fracture lines.
Objectives: To investigate the diagnostic accuracy of color-coded contrast-enhanced dual-energy CT virtual noncalcium (VNCa) reconstructions for the assessment of lumbar disk herniation compared to unenhanced VNCa imaging.
Methods: A total of 91 patients were retrospectively evaluated (65 years ± 16; 43 women) who had undergone third-generation dual-source dual-energy CT and 3.0-T MRI within an examination interval up to 3 weeks between November 2019 and December 2020. Eight weeks after assessing unenhanced color-coded VNCa reconstructions for the presence and degree of lumbar disk herniation, corresponding contrast-enhanced portal venous phase color-coded VNCa reconstructions were independently analyzed by the same five radiologists. MRI series were additionally analyzed by one highly experienced musculoskeletal radiologist and served as reference standard.
Results: MRI depicted 210 herniated lumbar disks in 91 patients. VNCa reconstructions derived from contrast-enhanced CT scans showed similar high overall sensitivity (93% vs 95%), specificity (94% vs 95%), and accuracy (94% vs 95%) for the assessment of lumbar disk herniation compared to unenhanced VNCa images (all p > .05). Interrater agreement in VNCa imaging was excellent for both, unenhanced and contrast-enhanced CT (κ = 0.84 vs κ = 0.86; p > .05). Moreover, ratings for diagnostic confidence, image quality, and noise differed not significantly between unenhanced and contrast-enhanced VNCa series (all p > .05).
Conclusions: Color-coded VNCa reconstructions derived from contrast-enhanced dual-energy CT yield similar diagnostic accuracy for the depiction of lumbar disk herniation compared to unenhanced VNCa imaging and therefore may improve opportunistic retrospective lumbar disk herniation assessment, particularly in case of staging CT examinations.
Key Points
• Color-coded dual-source dual-energy CT virtual noncalcium (VNCa) reconstructions derived from portal venous phase yield similar high diagnostic accuracy for the assessment of lumbar disk herniation compared to unenhanced VNCa CT series (94% vs 95%) with MRI serving as a standard of reference.
• Diagnostic confidence, image quality, and noise levels differ not significantly between unenhanced and contrast-enhanced portal venous phase VNCa dual-energy CT series.
• Dual-source dual-energy CT might have the potential to improve opportunistic retrospective lumbar disk herniation assessment in CT examinations performed for other indications through reconstruction of VNCa images.
Objective: To determine the early treatment response after microwave ablation (MWA) of inoperable lung neoplasms using the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value calculated 24 h after the ablation.
Materials and methods: This retrospective study included 47 patients with 68 lung lesions, who underwent percutaneous MWA from January 2008 to December 2017. Evaluation of the lesions was done using MRI including DWI sequence with ADC value calculation pre-ablation and 24 h post-ablation. DWI-MR was performed with b values (50, 400, 800 mm2/s). The post-ablation follow-up was performed using chest CT and/or MRI within 24 h following the procedure; after 3, 6, 9, and 12 months; and every 6 months onwards to determine the local tumor response. The post-ablation ADC value changes were compared to the end response of the lesions.
Results: Forty-seven patients (mean age: 63.8 ± 14.2 years, 25 women) with 68 lesions having a mean tumor size of 1.5 ± 0.9 cm (range: 0.7–5 cm) were evaluated. Sixty-one lesions (89.7%) showed a complete treatment response, and the remaining 7 lesions (10.3%) showed a local progression (residual activity). There was a statistically significant difference regarding the ADC value measured 24 h after the ablation between the responding (1.7 ± 0.3 × 10−3 mm2/s) and non-responding groups (1.4 ± 0.3 × 10−3 mm2/s) with significantly higher values in the responding group (p = 0.001). A suggested ADC cut-off value of 1.42 could be used as a reference point for the post-ablation response prediction (sensitivity: 66.67%, specificity: 84.21%, PPV: 66.7%, and NPV: 84.2%). No significant difference was reported regarding the ADC value performed before the ablation as a factor for the prognosis of treatment response (p = 0.86).
Conclusion: ADC value assessment following ablation may allow the early prediction of treatment efficacy after MWA of inoperable lung neoplasms.
Key Points
• ADC value calculated 24 h post-treatment may allow the early prediction of MWA efficacy as a treatment of pulmonary tumors and can be used in the early immediate post-ablation imaging follow-up.
• The pre-treatment ADC value of lung neoplasms is not different between the responding and non-responding tumors.
Highlights
• MRI and ultrasound provided significant correlations between findings suggestive of vasculitis and the final diagnosis.
• Careful selection of available imaging techniques is warranted considering the time course, location, and clinical history.
• Considering its moderate diagnostic power to distinguish tracer uptake, a holistic view of PET/CT findings is essential.
Abstract
Purpose: To assess the diagnostic value of different imaging modalities in distinguishing systemic vasculitis from other internal and immunological diseases.
Methods: This retrospective study included 134 patients with suspected vasculitis who underwent ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) between 01/2010 and 01/2019, finally consisting of 70 individuals with vasculitis. The main study parameter was the confirmation of the diagnosis using one of the three different imaging modalities, with the adjudicated clinical and histopathological diagnosis as the gold standard. A secondary parameter was the morphological appearance of the vessel affected by vasculitis.
Results: Patients with systemic vasculitis had myriad clinical manifestations with joint pain as the most common symptom. We found significant correlations between different imaging findings suggestive of vasculitis and the final adjudicated clinical diagnosis. In this context, on MRI, vessel wall thickening, edema, and diameter differed significantly between vasculitis and non-vasculitis groups (p < 0.05). Ultrasound revealed different findings that may serve as red flags in identifying patients with vasculitis, such as vascular occlusion or halo sign (p = 0.02 vs. non-vasculitis group). Interestingly, comparing maximal standardized uptake values from PET/CT examinations with vessel wall thickening or vessel diameter did not result in significant differences (p > 0.05).
Conclusions: We observed significant correlations between different imaging findings suggestive of vasculitis on ultrasound or MRI and the final adjudicated diagnosis. While ultrasound and MRI were considered suitable imaging methods for detecting and discriminating typical vascular changes, 18F-FDG PET/CT requires careful timing and patient selection given its moderate diagnostic accuracy.
The purpose of this study is to compare the efficacy and safety of microwave ablation (MWA) versus laser-induced thermotherapy (LITT) as a local treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC,) with regard to therapy response, survival rates, and complication rates as measurable outcomes. This retrospective study included 250 patients (52 females and 198 males; mean age: 66 ± 10 years) with 435 tumors that were treated by MWA and 53 patients (12 females and 41 males; mean age: 67.5 ± 8 years) with 75 tumors that were treated by LITT. Tumor response was evaluated using CEMRI (contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging). Overall, 445 MWA sessions and 76 LITT sessions were performed. The rate of local tumor progression (LTP) and the rate of intrahepatic distant recurrence (IDR) were 6% (15/250) and 46% (115/250) in the MWA-group and 3.8% (2/53) and 64.2% (34/53) in the LITT-group, respectively. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival (OS) rates calculated from the date of diagnosis were 94.3%, 65.4%, and 49.1% in the MWA-group and 96.2%, 54.7%, and 30.2% in the LITT-group, respectively (p-value: 0.002). The 1-, 2-, and 3-year disease-free survival (DFS) rates were 45.9%, 30.6%, and 24.8% in the MWA-group and 54.7%, 30.2%, and 17% in the LITT-group, respectively (p-value: 0.719). Initial complete ablation rate was 97.7% (425/435) in the MWA-group and 98.7% (74/75) in the LITT-group (p-value > 0.99). The overall complication rate was 2.9% (13/445) in the MWA-group and 7.9% (6/76) in the LITT-group (p-value: 0.045). Based on the results, MWA and LITT thermal ablation techniques are well-tolerated, effective, and safe for the local treatment of HCC. However, MWA is recommended over LITT for the treatment of HCC, since the patients in the MWA-group had higher survival rates.