Current Medical Imaging - Current Issue

This study aims to discuss the treatment of congenital recto-vestibular fistula and recto-perineal fistula, and the effect of the megarectum on defecation.

Congenital recto-vestibular fistula or recto-perineal fistula is the most common type of anorectal malformation, and surgical methods include posterior sagittal anorectoplasty, anterior sagittal anorectoplasty, and mid-sagittal anorectoplasty, which can be performed at stage one or stage two after the ostomy. In the later stages of a recto-vestibular fistula, constipation is a common complication. Rectal dilatation is frequently associated with constipation, and the effect of rectal dilatation on defecation should be discussed for patients with congenital recto-vestibular or recto-perineal fistula who had rectal dilatation prior to surgery. Rectal dilatation may be one of the causes of constipation for congenital recto-vestibular fistula and recto-perineal fistula.

The patients in this study were 67 children with congenital recto-vestibular fistula or recto-perineal fistula treated in our hospital from March 2013 to February 2017. All patients underwent an MRI of the spine and a barium enema. Six patients with myelodysplasia and sacral agenesis were excluded from this study. There were 18 patients with rectal dilatation (ages: 4-month-old to 1 year old, male: 3, female: 15). Seven of them had anterior sagittal anorectoplasty (group A), and 11 had anorectoplasty with dilated rectum resection (group B). Forty-three patients (ages: 3- to 10 months old, male: 6; female: 37) without a dilated rectum underwent anterior sagittal anorectoplasty (group C).

All patients were followed up for 1 year to 5 years. Among the 50 patients who had undergone an anoplasty, 5 out of 7 patients with rectal dilatation developed post-operative constipation, and 3 of them had normal defecation after the second resection of the dilated rectum. Only two out of 43 patients without rectal dilatation developed post-operative constipation. One out of 11 patients with rectal dilatation who underwent anoplasty and resection of the dilated rectum developed post-operative constipation.

Patients with congenital recto-vestibular fistula or recto-perineal fistula complicated by rectal dilatation are more susceptible to post-operative constipation. Resection of the dilated rectum at the same time can reduce the incidence rate of constipation. A barium enema should be performed pre-operatively for patients with congenital recto-vestibular fistula or recto-perineal fistula. If the dilated rectum is found, it can be resected at the same time.

Coronary cameral fistula is a rare cardiovascular anomaly, and usually needs advanced image modalities, such as computerized tomography and/or angiography, to confirm its existence. A few reports in the literature have addressed the role of medical ultrasound in the diagnosis of this disease, without a comprehensive summary of all the valuable echocardiographic features in its diagnosis.

Hereby, we presented an 80-year-old lady with exertional dyspnea and angina. We diagnosed coronary cameral fistula from the left anterior descending artery into the left ventricle by echocardiography with “intramyocardial vascular channel and the diastolic flow”, and “multiple diastolic flow jets into heart chamber from heart wall”. We confirmed the diagnosis with coronary angiography later. In the discussion, we make a comprehensive summary to conclude all the echocardiographic findings of this disease into 3 categories.

We believe the identification of those findings will prompt the early diagnosis of this rare anomaly.

Cardiac hemangiomas account for only 2.8% of primary cardiac tumors and are caused by the abnormal proliferation of endothelial cells and excess blood vessels. Typical radiological findings of cardiac hemangioma demonstrate intense contrast enhancement.

Here we report the case of a 69-year-old man who presented with a right atrial mass found incidentally with multimodal imaging findings, including echocardiography, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This case presented with poor enhancement within right atrial mass on dynamic contrast-enhanced CT scan and gadolinium-enhanced first-pass perfusion image of cardiac MRI. After surgical resection, the pathologic diagnosis of cardiac capillary hemangioma was made.

Cardiac hemangioma could be included in the differential diagnosis for cardiac neoplasms demonstrating poor enhancements on CT and MRI scans.

To explore the feasibility of applying computed tomography perfusion (CTP) imaging-guided mechanical thrombectomy in acute ischemic stroke patients with large vessel occlusion beyond the therapeutic time window.

The clinical data of acute cerebral infarction patients with large vessel occlusion who were beyond the therapeutic time window and admitted to Handan Central Hospital from January 2021 to March 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. All patients were assessed by the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) and were examined by one-stop CTP imaging. The preoperative onset time of the disease was more than 6 h. Fourteen patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging examination at the same time. Fifty-four patients were retrospectively divided into two groups based on the treatment methods: the mechanical thrombectomy group had 21 patients and the conservative treatment group had 33 patients. NIHSS scoring and computed tomography scan were performed before treatment, 6 h, 24 h, 7 days, and 30 days after treatment.

The NIHSS scores of the patients with acute cerebral large vessel occlusion who underwent CTP imaging-guided mechanical thrombectomy at 6 h, 24 h, 7 days, and 30 days after treatment were compared with those of the conventional treatment group. The NIHSS score of the mechanical thrombectomy group was significantly better, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). In terms of the prognosis rate and expansion rate of infarct core volume, the patients of the mechanical thrombectomy group had a better prognosis, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Artificial intelligence-assisted CTP diagnosis can facilitate the automatic evaluation of diseases and enable quick judgments that are independent of radiologists’ evaluation, but it may pose a problem in the determination of infarct core volume (either being too high or too low).

It is of great significance to apply CTP imaging in guiding the mechanical thrombectomy procedure in acute stroke patients with large vessel occlusion who are beyond the therapeutic time window.

There is currently no clinically accepted method for quantifying background parenchymal enhancement (BPE), though a sensitive method might allow individualized risk management based on the response to cancer-preventative hormonal therapy.

The objective of this pilot study is to demonstrate the utility of linear modeling of standardized dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCEMRI) signal for quantifying changes in BPE rates.

On a retrospective database search, 14 women with DCEMRI examinations pre- and post-treatment with tamoxifen were identified. DCEMRI signal was averaged over the parenchymal ROIs to obtain time-dependent signal curves S(t). The gradient echo signal equation was used to standardize scale S(t) to values of FA = 10° and TR = 5.5 ms, and obtain the standardized DCE-MRI signal Sp(t). Relative signal enhancement was calculated from Sp, and the reference tissue method for T1 calculation was used to standardize to gadodiamide as the contrast agent, obtaining . in the first 6 minutes post-contrast administration was fit to a linear model with the slope α denoting the standardized rate relative BPE.

Changes in α were not found to be significantly correlated with the average duration of tamoxifen treatment, age at the initiation of preventative treatment, or pre-treatment BIRADS breast density category. The average change in α showed a large effect size of -1.12, significantly higher than -0.86 observed without signal standardization (p < 0.01).

Linear modeling of BPE in standardized DCEMRI can provide quantitative measurements of BPE rates, improving sensitivity to changes due to tamoxifen treatment.

The concept of occult breast carcinoma (OBC) was first described in 1907 by Halsted, who described this type of breast cancer to arise from small, undetectable tumours in the breast that had already metastasized to the lymph nodes. Although the breast is the most likely site for the primary tumour, non-palpable breast cancer presenting as an axillary metastasis has been reported, but with a low frequency of less than 0.5% of all breast cancers. OBC represents a complex diagnostic and therapeutic dilemma. Considering its rarity, clinicopathological information is still limited.

A 44-year-old patient presented to the emergency room with an extensive axillary mass as the first manifestation. Conventional evaluation of the breast with mammography and ultrasound was unremarkable. However, a breast MRI confirmed the presence of conglomerate axillary nodes. A supplementary whole-body PET-CT established the axillary conglomerate with a malignant behaviour with SUVmax of 19.3. The primary tumour was not detected in the breast tissue of the patient, confirming the diagnosis of OBC. Immunohistochemical results showed positive receptors for estrogen and progesterone.

Although OBC is a rare diagnosis, its existence is a possibility in a patient with breast cancer. Mammography and breast ultrasound with unremarkable findings but with high clinical suspicion should be supplemented with additional imaging methods, such as MRI and PET-CT, emphasizing the appropriate pre-treatment evaluation.

Monomorphic epitheliotropic intestinal T-cell lymphoma (MEITL) is a rare, rapidly progressive, primary intestinal T-cell lymphoma. The most common site of occurrence is on the small intestine. The prognosis of MEITL is extremely poor due to delayed diagnosis and lack of targeted therapy.

A case of MEITL involving the entire small bowel, part of the colon, rectum, mesenteric lymph nodes, and liver is herein reported. We are presenting the ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT features of MEITL, which showed all involved lesions with increased FDG activity. The MRI and pathological characteristics of MEITL were also described. Furthermore, some malignant diseases and benign diseases should be considered in the differential diagnosis.

Based on the lesions with a high accumulation of FDG, our case shows the involved extent of MEITL, which is helpful for biopsy and treatment option decisions. We expect more could know about this disease and make an early diagnosis to improve the outcomes of MEITL.

This study aimed to automatically implement liver disease quantification (DQ) in lymphoma using CT images without lesion segmentation.

Computed Tomography (CT) imaging manifestations of liver lymphoma include diffuse infiltration, blurred boundaries, vascular drift signs, and multiple lesions, making liver lymphoma segmentation extremely challenging.

The method includes two steps: liver recognition and liver disease quantification. We use the transfer learning technique to recognize the diseased livers automatically and delineate the livers manually using the CAVASS software. When the liver is recognized, liver disease quantification is performed using the disease map model. We test our method in 10 patients with liver lymphoma. A random grouping cross-validation strategy is used to evaluate the quantification accuracy of the manual and automatic methods, with reference to the ground truth.

We split the 10 subjects into two groups based on lesion size. The average accuracy for the total lesion burden (TLB) quantification is 91.76% ± 0.093 for the group with large lesions and 95.57% ± 0.032 for the group with small lesions using the manual organ (MO) method. An accuracy of 85.44% ± 0.146 for the group with larger lesions and 81.94% ± 0.206 for the small lesion group is obtained using the automatic organ (AO) method, with reference to the ground truth.

Our DQ-MO and DQ-AO methods show good performance for varied lymphoma morphologies, from homogeneous to heterogeneous, and from single to multiple lesions in one subject. Our method can also be extended to CT images of other organs in the abdomen for disease quantification, such as Kidney, Spleen and Gallbladder.

At present, early detection of the potential risk of atherosclerosis and prevention is of great significance to reduce the occurrence of stroke.

This study aims to explore the value of combining the wall shear stress measured by ultrasound vector flow imaging technique and sound touch elastography of common carotid artery in normal adults using the Mindray Resona 7 ultrasound system.

Forty volunteers (mean age 39.5 y, 23 females, 17 males) were divided into four groups according to their age. All volunteers underwent ultrasound carotid artery examination, and the values of wall shear stress and elasticity on the posterior wall of the common carotid artery were measured using advanced imaging functions, vector flow imaging technique, and sound touch elastography.

Different cut-off values of wall shear stress were used to investigate the significance between two groups with corresponding sound touch elastography values. It can be seen that the statistical difference could be found when the mean wall shear stress was larger than 1.5 Pa approximately (statistical significance was defined when P < 0.05), and the sound touch elastography value was positively correlated with the wall shear stress value.

This study reveals that the combination of wall shear stress and sound touch elastography is an effective and feasible method for assessing carotid artery health. When the mean wall shear stress value is over 1.5 Pa, the corresponding sound touch elastography value increases significantly. The risk of atherosclerosis increases with the stiffness of blood vessel walls.

Neuroimaging has helped us learn about the stages of brain development from infancy to maturity. Neuroimaging helps physicians diagnose mental illnesses and find novel treatments for them. It can distinguish depression from neurodegenerative diseases or brain tumors, and it can reveal structural defects that cause psychosis. Psychosis has been linked to lesions in the frontal or temporal lobes of the brain, as well as the thalamus and hypothalamus, which can be detected using a brain scan for mental illnesses. Neuroimaging uses quantitative and computational methods to explore the central nervous system. It can detect brain injuries and psychological illnesses. Thus, a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials using neuroimaging to detect psychiatric disorders assessed their efficacy and benefits.

Appropriate articles were searched from PubMed, MEDLINE, and CENTRAL databases using the appropriate keywords as per the PRISMA guidelines. Randomized controlled trials and open-label studies were included as per the predefined PICOS criteria. Meta-analysis was performed using the RevMan software, and statistical parameters like odds ratio and risk difference were calculated.

Twelve randomized controlled clinical trials with a total of 655 psychiatric patients were included following the criteria from the year 2000 to 2022. We included studies that use different neuroimaging techniques for the detection of organic brain lesions that would help diagnose psychiatric disorders. The primary outcome was detecting brain abnormalities in diverse psychiatric illnesses with neuroimaging versus conventional methods. We found the odds ratio value of 2.29 (95% CI 1.49-3.51). The results were heterogeneous with a Tau² value of 0.38, chi² value of 35.48, df value of 11, I² value of 69%, the z value of 3.78, and p-value less than 0.05. The risk difference is 0.20 (95% CI 0.09 -0.31) with heterogeneity of Tau2 value of 0.03, chi2 value of 50, df value of 11, I² value of 78%, the z value of 3.49, and p-value less than 0.05.

The present meta-analysis strongly recommends the use of neuroimaging techniques for the detection of psychiatric disorders.

Extra-adrenal non-functional adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC)is an extremely rare tumor with only eight cases having been reported at different localizations.

A 60-year-old woman was presented to our hospital with abdominal pain. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a solitary mass abutting the wall of the small bowel. She underwent resection of the mass, and the results of histopathology and immunohistochemistry were consistent with ACC.

We report the first occurrence of non-functional adrenocortical carcinoma in the wall of the small bowel in the literature. Magnetic resonance examination is sensitive enough to indicate the accurate location of the tumor and is of great help to clinical operation.

Schwannomas arise from nerve sheaths of cranial, peripheral, and spinal nerve or nerve roots. Most intracranial schwannomas arise from the cranial nerves, predominantly the vestibulocochlear nerve. In addition to cranial nerve schwannomas, intraparenchymal schwannomas of the brain and intramedullary schwannomas of the spinal cord are extremely rare.

In our case we describe the imaging findings of three diverse cases of schwannoma at different locations and unique presentations with acute neurological symptoms in the pediatric age group.

Schwannomas should be included in the differential diagnosis of intracranial or intraspinal intramedullary space-occupying lesions in pediatric patients.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a large number of deaths and has caused a significant increase in population morbidity. This viral infection has been associated with different neurological symptoms and complications that do not have a clear pathophysiological mechanism and exact implications for these patients.

A 40-year-old man with COVID-19 and co-infection with Klebsiella pneumoniae KPC presented extensive pulmonary involvement and required comprehensive management in the intensive care unit (ICU). During his hospitalization, he developed neurological symptoms with evidence of involvement of the corpus callosum, which was attributed to the cytotoxic lesion of the corpus callosum (CLOCC). After several months of interdisciplinary management in the ICU, there was a progressive improvement in his general condition, with discharge from the hospital without significant sequelae, with follow-up images showing complete involvement of the corpus callosum due to what was considered an atypical cytotoxic lesion of the corpus callosum.

Imaging features of CLOCCs are known to be temporary, but in the setting of COVID-19, it has not yet been determined if this is true and further studies are needed. Nonetheless, the one-year follow-up of our patient makes us believe that this atypical involvement of the corpus callosum described in severe SARS-CoV-2 infections is not transitory, even if there are no neurologic sequelae.

COVID-19 has become a worldwide epidemic disease and a new challenge for all mankind. The potential advantages of chest X-ray images on COVID-19 were discovered. We proposed a lightweight and effective Convolution Neural Network framework based on chest X-ray images for the diagnosis of COVID-19, named AMResNet.

COVID-19 has become a worldwide epidemic disease and a new challenge for all mankind. The potential advantages of chest X-ray images on COVID-19 were discovered.

A lightweight and effective Convolution Neural Network framework based on chest X-ray images for the diagnosis of COVID-19.

By introducing the channel attention mechanism and image spatial information attention mechanism, a better level can be achieved without increasing the number of model parameters.

In the collected data sets, we achieved an average accuracy rate of more than 92%, and the sensitivity and specificity of specific disease categories were also above 90%.

The convolution neural network framework can be used as a novel method for artificial intelligence to diagnose COVID-19 or other diseases based on medical images.

Whether deep learning-based CT reconstruction could improve lesion conspicuity on abdominal CT when the radiation dose is reduced is controversial.

To determine whether DLIR can provide better image quality and reduce radiation dose in contrast-enhanced abdominal CT compared with the second generation of adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASiR-V).

This study aims to determine whether deep-learning image reconstruction (DLIR) can improve image quality.

In this retrospective study, a total of 102 patients were included, who underwent abdominal CT using a DLIR-equipped 256-row scanner and routine CT of the same protocol on the same vendor's 64-row scanner within four months. The CT data from the 256-row scanner were reconstructed into ASiR-V with three blending levels (AV30, AV60, and AV100), and DLIR images with three strength levels (DLIR-L, DLIR-M, and DLIR-H). The routine CT data were reconstructed into AV30, AV60, and AV100. The contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of the liver, overall image quality, subjective noise, lesion conspicuity, and plasticity in the portal venous phase (PVP) of ASiR-V from both scanners and DLIR were compared.

The mean effective radiation dose of PVP of the 256-row scanner was significantly lower than that of the routine CT (6.3±2.0 mSv vs. 2.4±0.6 mSv; p< 0.001). The mean CNR, image quality, subjective noise, and lesion conspicuity of ASiR-V images of the 256-row scanner were significantly lower than those of ASiR-V images at the same blending factor of routine CT, but significantly improved with DLIR algorithms. DLIR-H showed higher CNR, better image quality, and subjective noise than AV30 from routine CT, whereas plasticity was significantly better for AV30.

DLIR can be used for improving image quality and reducing radiation dose in abdominal CT, compared with ASIR-V.

The dimensions of the liver, spleen, and kidneys either change in primary diseases related to these organs or in secondary diseases that indirectly affect them, such as diseases of the cardiovascular system. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the normal dimensions of the liver, kidneys, and spleen and their correlations with body mass index in healthy Turkish adults.

A total of 1,918 adults older than 18 years of age underwent ultrasonographic (USG) examinations. Participants’ age, sex, height, weight, BMI, liver, spleen, and kidney dimensions, biochemistry and haemogram results were recorded. The relationships between organ measurements and these parameters were examined.

A total of 1,918 patients participated in the study. Of these, 987 (51.5%) were female and 931 (48.5%) were male. The mean age of the patients was 40.74± 15.95 years. The liver length (LL) for men was found to be greater than that for women. The effect of the sex factor on the LL value was statistically significant (p = 0.000). The difference between men and women in terms of liver depth (LD) was statistically significant (p=0.004). The difference between BMI groups in terms of splenic length (SL) was not statistically significant (p=0.583). The difference between BMI groups in terms of splenic thickness (ST) was statistically significant (p=0.016).

We obtained the mean normal standard values of the liver, spleen, and kidneys in a healthy Turkish adult population. Consequently, values exceeding those in our findings will guide clinicians in the diagnosis of organomegaly and will contribute to filling the gap in this regard.

The artifacts produced by calcification on coronary computed tomographic angiography (CCTA) have a great influence on the diagnosis of coronary stenosis. The purpose of this study is to investigate the value of corrected coronary opacification (CCO) difference in the diagnosis of stenosis in diffusely calcified coronary arteries (DCCAs).

A total of 84 patients were enrolled. The CCO difference across the diffuse calcification was measured through CCTA. Coronary arteries were grouped according to the extent of stenosis obtained by invasive coronary angiography (ICA). The Kruskal-Wallis H test was used to compare the CCO differences between different groups and a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of the CCO difference.

Among the 84 patients, 58 patients had one DCCA, 14 patients had 2 DCCAs, and 12 patients had 3 DCCAs. A total of 122 coronary arteries were examined, 16 showed no significant stenosis, 42 had <70% stenosis, and 64 had 70-99% stenosis. The median CCO differences among the 3 groups were 0.064, 0.117, and 0.176, respectively. There were significant differences between the group without stenosis and the group with 70-99% stenosis (H = -3.581, P = 0.001), and between the group with <70% stenosis and the group with 70-99% stenosis (H = -2.430, P = 0.045). The area under the ROC curve was 0.681 and the optimal cut-off point was 0.292. Taking the ICA results as the gold standard, the sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of ≥70% coronary stenosis with a cut-off point of 0.292 were 84.4% and 44.8%, respectively.

CCO difference could be useful in the diagnosis of ≥70% severe coronary stenosis in DCCA. Through this non-invasive examination, the CCO difference could be a reference for clinical treatment.

Although the essential components of pain pathways have been identified, a thorough comprehension of the interactions necessary for creating focused treatments is still lacking. Such include more standardised methods for measuring pain in clinical and preclinical studies and more representative study populations.

This review describes the essential neuroanatomy and neurophysiology of pain nociception and its relation with currently available neuroimaging methods focused on health professionals responsible for treating pain.

Conduct a PubMed search of pain pathways using pain-related search terms, selecting the most relevant and updated information.

Current reviews of pain highlight the importance of their study in different areas from the cellular level, pain types, neuronal plasticity, ascending, descending, and integration pathways to their clinical evaluation and neuroimaging. Advanced neuroimaging techniques such as fMRI, PET, and MEG are used to better understand the neural mechanisms underlying pain processing and identify potential targets for pain therapy.

The study of pain pathways and neuroimaging methods allows physicians to evaluate and facilitate decision-making related to the pathologies that cause chronic pain. Some identifiable issues include a better understanding of the relationship between pain and mental health, developing more effective interventions for chronic pain's psychological and emotional aspects, and better integrating data from different neuroimaging modalities for the clinical efficacy of new pain therapies.

Larger sample volume can be obtained in one needle pass using an aspiration-type semi-automatic cutting biopsy needle (STARCUT^® aspiration-type needle; TSK Laboratory, Tochigi, Japan) in comparison to the conventional semi-automatic cutting biopsy needle.

To evaluate and compare the safety and effectiveness of aspiration-type semi-automatic cutting biopsy needles and non-aspiration-type biopsy needles when performing computed tomography (CT)-guided core needle biopsies (CNBs).

A total of 106 patients underwent CT-guided CNB for chest lesions between June 2013 and March 2020 at our hospital. Non-aspiration-type cutting biopsy needles were used in 47 of these patients, while aspiration-type needles were used in the remaining 59 patients. All needles used were 18- or 20-gauge biopsy needles. Parameters, like forced expiratory volume in 1-second percent (FEV1.0%), the maximum size of the target lesion, puncture pathway distance in the lung, number of needle passes, procedure time, diagnostic accuracy, and incidence of complications, were measured. Comparisons were made between the needle-type groups.

No significant difference was observed in terms of diagnostic accuracy. However, the procedure time was shorter and a lesser number of needle passes were required with the aspiration-type cutting biopsy needle compared to the non-aspiration-type needle. Pneumothorax and pulmonary hemorrhage were the complications encountered, however, their incidence was not significantly different between the two types of needles.

The aspiration-type semi-automatic cutting biopsy needle had similar diagnostic accuracy as the non-aspiration-type biopsy needle, with added advantages of a lesser number of needle passes and shorter procedure time.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a long-term risk to one’s health that can result in kidney failure. CKD is one of today's most serious diseases, and early detection can aid in proper treatment. Machine learning techniques have proven to be reliable in the early medical diagnosis.

The paper aims to perform CKD prediction using machine learning classification approaches. The dataset used for the present study for detecting CKD was obtained from the machine learning repository at the University of California, Irvine (UCI).

In this study, twelve machine learning-based classification algorithms with full features were used. Since the CKD dataset had a class imbalance issue, the Synthetic Minority Over-Sampling technique (SMOTE) was used to alleviate the problem of class imbalance and review the performance based on machine learning classification models using the K fold cross-validation technique. The proposed work compares the results of twelve classifiers with and without the SMOTE technique, and then the top three classifiers with the highest accuracy, Support Vector Machine, Random Forest, and Adaptive Boosting classification algorithms were selected to use the ensemble technique to improve performance.

The accuracy achieved using a stacking classifier as an ensemble technique with cross-validation is 99.5%.

The study provides an ensemble learning approach in which the top three best-performing classifiers in terms of cross-validation results are stacked in an ensemble model after balancing the dataset using SMOTE. This proposed technique could be applied to other diseases in the future, making disease detection less intrusive and cost-effective.

Brain tumour detection and classification require trained radiologists for efficient diagnosis. The proposed work aims to build a Computer Aided Diagnosis (CAD) tool to automate brain tumour detection using Machine Learning (ML) and Deep Learning (DL) techniques.

Magnetic Resonance Image (MRI) collected from the publicly available Kaggle dataset is used for brain tumour detection and classification. Deep features extracted from the global pooling layer of Pretrained Resnet18 network are classified using 3 different ML Classifiers, such as Support vector Machine (SVM), K-Nearest Neighbour (KNN), and Decision Tree (DT). The above classifiers are further hyperparameter optimised using Bayesian Algorithm (BA) to enhance the performance. Fusion of features extracted from shallow and deep layers of the pretrained Resnet18 network followed by BA-optimised ML classifiers is further used to enhance the detection and classification performance. The confusion matrix derived from the classifier model is used to evaluate the system's performance. Evaluation metrics, such as accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, precision, F1 score, Balance Classification Rate (BCR), Mathews Correlation Coefficient (MCC) and Kappa Coefficient (Kp), are calculated.

Maximum accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, precision, F1 score, BCR, MCC, and Kp of 99.11%, 98.99%, 99.22%, 99.09%, 99.09%, 99.10%, 98.21%, 98.21%, respectively, were obtained for detection using fusion of shallow and deep features of Resnet18 pretrained network classified by BA optimized SVM classifier. Feature fusion performs better for classification task with accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, precision, F1 score, BCR, MCC and Kp of 97.31%, 97.30%, 98.65%, 97.37%, 97.34%, 97.97%, 95.99%, 93.95%, respectively.

The proposed brain tumour detection and classification framework using deep feature extraction from Resnet 18 pretrained network in conjunction with feature fusion and optimised ML classifiers can improve the system performance. Henceforth, the proposed work can be used as an assistive tool to aid the radiologist in automated brain tumour analysis and treatment.

In recent years, various deep learning algorithms have exhibited remarkable performance in various data-rich applications, like health care, medical imaging, as well as in computer vision. COVID-19, which is a rapidly spreading virus, has affected people of all ages both socially and economically. Early detection of this virus is therefore important in order to prevent its further spread.

COVID-19 crisis has also galvanized researchers to adopt various machine learning as well as deep learning techniques in order to combat the pandemic. Lung images can be used in the diagnosis of COVID-19.

In this paper, we have analysed the COVID-19 chest CT image classification efficiency using multilayer perceptron with different imaging filters, like edge histogram filter, colour histogram equalization filter, color-layout filter, and Garbo filter in the WEKA environment.

The performance of CT image classification has also been compared comprehensively with the deep learning classifier Dl4jMlp. It was observed that the multilayer perceptron with edge histogram filter outperformed other classifiers compared in this paper with 89.6% of correctly classified instances.

Hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) has been popular for treating unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, there are few reports comparing the transradial approach (TRA) and transfemoral approach (TFA) in HAIC.

This study aimed to compare the duration of the hepatic artery catheterization, fluoroscopy time (FT), radiation exposure, safety, and quality of life associated with the procedure in patients undergoing HAIC via TRA and TFA.

This prospective, single-center, randomized, controlled study included 120 patients with unresectable HCC undergoing HAIC procedures. Patients were randomly assigned to group A (n = 60, TRA-HAIC) or group B (n = 60, TFA-HAIC). The hepatic artery catheterization time, FT, entrance surface dose (ESD), dose area product (DAP), procedure-related complications, and quality of life associated with the procedure were assessed between the two groups. Independent-sample t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to assess differences. Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05.

HAIC procedures were successfully performed in both groups. The hepatic artery catheterization time (19.35 ± 5.84 vs. 18.93 ± 5.62 minutes, P = 0.837), FT (2.35 ± 2.23 vs. 2.25 ± 2.16 minutes, P = 0.901), ESD (259.32 ± 167.46 vs. 250.56 ± 170.58 mGy, P = 0.449), and DAP (125.37 ± 60.65 vs. 120.56 ± 64.33 Gy.cm³, P = 0.566) were comparable between the two groups. The incidence of artery occlusion (10.0% vs. 0%, P < 0.001) in the TRA group was significantly higher than that in the TFA group. TRA was associated with a statistically significant (P < 0.05) improvement in the quality of life.

TRA to HAIC was associated with greater improvement in the quality of life associated with the procedure compared with TFA. Both approaches to HAIC had similar efficiency, safety, radiation exposure, and procedure duration.

COVID-19 is a global pandemic. Currently, the predominant strain is SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariant BA.2 in many countries. Understanding its infection characteristics can facilitate clinical management.

This study aimed to characterize the clinical, laboratory, and high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) findings in patients with mild or moderate infection from SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariant BA.2.

We performed a retrospective study on patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariant BA.2 between April 4^th and April 17^th, 2022. The clinical characteristics, laboratory features, and HRCT images were reviewed.

A total of 805 patients were included (411 males and 394 females, median age 33 years old). The infection was mild, moderate, severe, and asymptomatic in 490 (60.9%), 37 (4.6%), 0 (0.0%), and 278 (34.5%) patients, respectively. Notably, 186 (23.1%), 96 (11.9%), 265 (32.9%), 11 (3.4%), 7 (0.9%), and 398 (49.4%) patients had fever, cough, throat discomfort, stuffy or runny nose, fatigue, and no complaint, respectively. Furthermore, 162 (20.1%), 332 (41.2%), and 289 (35.9%) patients had decreased white blood cell counts, reduced lymphocytes, and elevated C-reactive protein levels, respectively. HRCT revealed pneumonia in 53 (6.6%) patients. The majority of the lung involvements were ground-glass opacity (50, 94.3%) mostly in the subpleural area. The grade of lung injury was mainly mild (90.6%). Short-term follow-ups showed that most patients with pneumonia recovered.

Most patients with mild or moderate infection from SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariant BA.2 were adults, with fever and upper respiratory symptoms as the main clinical presentations. Lower respiratory infection was mild, with ground-glass opacity in the subpleural area as the main finding.

This study aimed to explore the imaging features and risk factors of PCLs complicating AIP, and investigate its prognosis through continuous imaging follow-up.

Patients who were diagnosed with AIP from January 2014 to December 2020 in our hospital were recruited. We analyzed the CT and MRI features of PCLs complicating AIP, and investigated its prognosis through imaging follow-up. We also compared subjects with and without PCLs using clinical, laboratory, and imaging data; the related risk factors associated with PCLs were investigated in a multivariate logistic regression analysis.

In this group, 16 patients had PCLs and 86 did not. A total of 43 PCLs larger than 5mm were found in 15 patients. Among these PCLs, 35 showed homogeneous signal (density); one, bleeding; three, linear separation; and four, small focal low signal on T2WI. Eight patients with 23 PCLs appeared for the follow-up after steroid treatment. Short-term follow-up showed that 11 PCLs disappeared, nine reduced, one unchanged and two enlarged. Of the 12 PCLs that did not disappear, 10 PCLs disappeared at long-term follow-up, except for two reduced PCLs were not re-examined. Logistic regression analysis showed that drinking history was an independent risk factor, age ≥ 65 years was an independent protective factor for PCLs complicating AIP.

The imaging features of PCLs complicating AIP are various, which can be single or multiple, most of them are homogeneous, and some lesions may be accompanied by hemorrhage, separation and necrosis. Age ≥ 65 years and avoiding drinking may help to reduce the occurrence of these lesions.

Xanthogranulomatous endometritis (XGE) is a rare inflammatory disease, which can easily misdiagnose as cancer in imaging diagnosis. Diagnosis of XGE relies on histopathological examination and immunohistochemistry.

In this study, a case of a 72-year-old female with XGE and elevated CA125 is presented, which was misdiagnosed as endometrial cancer in transvaginal ultrasonography and ovarian cystadenocarcinoma in CT. However, the features of XGE on the contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) were different from that of endometrial cancer. The patient finally underwent laparoscopic hysterectomy and bilateral adnexectomy.

The histopathological examination and immunohistochemistry suggested xanthogranulomatous endometritis (histiocytic endometritis). This case report manifests that CEUS may be a new noninvasive diagnostic method for XGE, which may reduce extensive tissue sampling and unnecessary hysterectomies for patients.

It has been reported in the literature that the complication rate of percutaneous compression plate (PCCP) is the lowest among the new internal fixators for the treatment of femoral neck fracture (FNS). However, no multicenter studies of PCCP for FNS have been reported. This study aimed to evaluate the med-term effectiveness of PCCP in a multicenter mainly through radiology.

265 patients with FNF treated with PCCP fixation in our five hospitals between January 2011 and December 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. 140 men and 125 women; aged 19–79 (mean 51.6) years. The follow-up time was 2-5 years (mean 3.1). Radiological evaluation of the therapeutic effect was the main outcome, and the function was the secondary outcome.

One case of screw cutting out, 3 cases of screw back out, 25 cases of neck shortening, 2 cases of nonunion, 8 cases of delayed healing, and 29 cases of avascular necrosis (AVN). Bivariate correlation showed that shortening healing was correlated with age, Singh index, and Garden alignment index, poor healing was correlated with garden alignment index, and AVN was correlated with Pauwels and Garden classifications and operation timing. Further pairwise comparison analysis showed that age of > 65 and Singh index IV were dangerous factors for neck shortening, and the operation timing > 3 days, Pauwels II and III, and Garden III and IV were dangerous factors for AVN. The excellent and good rate of function in 198 patients who were readmitted for internal fixator removal or other surgery was 90.9%.

PCCP for FNS has satisfactory med-term efficacy with a low complication rate. The main complication is AVN, which is prone to occur in patients with displaced Pauwels II or III FNF and operation timing > 3 days. Another main complication is shortening healing, which is prone to occur in patients with an age of > 65 and Singh index IV.

Mediastinal and hilar lesions may be benign or malignant. Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) is increasingly used for the diagnosis of these lesions as it is both minimally invasive and safe.

To investigate the clinical efficacy of EBUS-TBNA in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of mediastinal and hilar lesions.

A retrospective observational study was undertaken to investigate patients diagnosed with mediastinal and hilar lymphadenopathy based on imaging at our hospital from 2020 to 2021. After evaluation, EBUS TBNA was used and data including the puncture site, postoperative pathology, and complications were recorded.

Data from 137 patients were included in the study, of which 135 underwent successful EBUS TBNA. A total of 149 lymph node punctures were performed, of which 90 punctures identified malignant lesions. The most common malignancies were small-cell lung carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, and squamous cell carcinoma. Forty-one benign lesions were identified, resulting from sarcoidosis, tuberculosis, and reactive lymphadenitis, amongst others. Follow-up findings showed that 4 cases were malignant tumors, with 1 case of pulmonary tuberculosis and 1 case of sarcoidosis). Four specimens where lymph node puncture was insufficient were subsequently confirmed by other means. The sensitivity of EBUS TBNA for malignant lesions, tuberculosis and sarcoidosis in mediastinal and hilar lesions was 94.7%, 71.4%, and 93.3%, respectively. Similarly, the negative predictive values (NPV) were 88.9%, 98.5%, and 99.2%, and the accuracy was 96.3%, 98.5%, and 99.3%.

EBUS TBNA is an effective and feasible approach for the diagnosis of mediastinal and hilar lesions that is minimally invasive and safe.

Recent advances in deep learning have aided the well-being business in Medical Imaging of numerous disorders like brain tumours, a serious malignancy caused by unregulated and aberrant cell portioning. The most frequent and widely used machine learning algorithm for visual learning and image identification is CNN.

In this article, the convolutional neural network (CNN) technique is used. Augmentation of data and processing of images is used to classify scan imagery of brain MRI as malignant or benign. The performance of the proposed CNN model is compared with pre-trained models: VGG-16, ResNet-50, and Inceptionv3 using the technique which is transfer learning.

Even though the experiment was conducted on a relatively limited dataset, the experimental results reveal that the suggested scratched CNN model accuracy achieved is 94%, VGG-16 was extremely effective and had a very low complexity rate with an accuracy of 90%, whereas ResNet- 50 reached 86% and Inception v3 obtained 64% accuracy.

When compared to previous pre-trained models, the suggested model consumes significantly less processing resources and achieves significantly higher accuracy outcomes and a reduction in losses.

We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of high-dose and low-dose use of radioactive material in intraoperative gamma probe application methods in patients diagnosed with primary hyperparathyroidism and planned for surgery.

47 patients with primary hyperparathyroidism underwent minimally-invasive parathyroid surgery (MIS) after preoperative imaging studies consisting of ultrasonography (USG) and sestamibi parathyroid scintigraphy (SPS) showed a possible primary parathyroid lesion (PPL). All patients received Tc-99 sestamibi on day-of-surgery imaging (DOSI) to help with the localization of a primary parathyroid lesion (PPL) via both DOSI and intraoperative gamma probe (IGP). Patients in Group I were administered 20-25 mCi Tc-99m sestamibi (methoxy isobutyl isonitrile) and images were obtained at the 20th and 120th minutes. Patients in Group II were administered 8-10 mCi doses and images were obtained at the 20th and 40th minutes. Two nuclear medicine specialists independently evaluated the images. Lesions in the localizations determined by DOSI and IGP were compared with the histopathological results of these lesions.

47 patients, 35 females, and 12 males were included in the study. The mean age of 28 patients in the first group given the high dose was 54 (41-60), and the mean age was 48 (42-57) in the second group given the low dose (p=0.011). In the group given low-dose radioactive material during intraoperative gamma probe application, the observer's sensitivity, specificity, positive, and negative predictive values for finding pathology were 61.1, 100, 100, and 12.5, respectively. In the group given high-dose radioactive material, the same values were 90.9, 33.3, 50, and 83.3, respectively. While the success of MIS increases with the use of DOSI and IGP in large lesions, the success decreases with the prolongation of the accumulation time of the given dose.

In the intraoperative gamma probe technique used in primary hyperparathyroidism patients, the method used with low-dose radioactive material has lower sensitivity but higher specificity in estimating the post-operative pathology compared to the high-dose technique.

The etiology of rotator cuff tears (RCTs) have been investigated for years and many underlying causes have been identified. Shoulder joint morphology is one of the extrinsic causes of RCTs.

Morphometric measurements on MRI sections determined which parameters are an important indicator of RCT in patients with shoulder pain. The aim of this study was to determine the risk factors in the etiology of RCTs by evaluating the shoulder joint morphology with the help of previously defined radiological parameters.

Between January 2019-December 2020, 408 patients (40-70 years old) who underwent shoulder MRI and met the criteria were included in the study. There were 202 patients in the RCT group and 206 patients in the control group. Acromion type, acromial index (AI), critical shoulder angle (CSA), acromiohumeral distance (AHD), lateral acromial angle (LAA), acromial angulation (AA), acromion-greater tuberosity impingement index (ATI), and glenoid version angle (GVA) were measured from the MRI images of the patients.

AI (0.64 vs. 0.60, p = 0.003) CSA (35.3° vs. 32.4°, p = 0.004), ATI (0.91 vs. 0.83, P < 0.001), and AA (13.6° vs. 11.9°, p = 0.011) values were higher in the RCT group than in the control group and the difference was significant. AHD (8.1 mm vs. 9.9 mm, P < 0.001), LAA (77.2° vs. 80.9°, p = 0.004) and GVA (-3.9° vs. -2.5°, P < 0.001) values were lower in the RCT group than in the control group, and again the difference was significant. According to the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, the cutoff values were 0.623 for AI and 0.860 for ATI.

Acromion type, AI, CSA, AHD, LAA, AA, ATI, and GVA are suitable radiological parameters to evaluate shoulder joint morphology. High AI, CSA, AA, ATI, GVA and low AHD and LAA are risk factors for RCT.

The objective of this study was to describe the CT and MRI features of sclerosing angiomatoid nodular transformation (SANT) of the spleen with pathologic correlation.

Ten patients with surgically resected and pathologically confirmed SANTs were included. Clinical history was reviewed, and gross pathologic, histologic, and immunohistochemical findings were recorded. CT and MRI examinations were evaluated by two radiologists.

Patients included seven men and three women, with a mean age of 42.9±16.7 years. Pathologic features of SANTs involved multiple angiomatous nodules in a radiating pattern with a central stellate fibrous scar and evidence of hemosiderin deposition. 9 cases showed a lobulated demarcated margin, 8 cases a slight hypoattenuating, 1 isoattenuating, and 1 case with two lesions demonstrated a slight hyperattenuating margin, respectively. Multiple scattered punctate calcifications were involved in 2 cases. 5 cases manifested hypointensity on in-phase imaging, 1 iso-intensity, and 4 iso-hypointensity on out-of-phase imaging. Progressive and centripetal enhancement were exhibited in 10 cases, spoke-wheel pattern in 3 cases, and nodular enhancement in 4 cases, respectively. The central fibrous scar was identified in 8 cases during delayed enhancement.

Characteristics of SANTs on CT/MRI reflected the underlying pathology. Hypointensity on DWI and T2WI, and change of signal on T1 chemical-shift imaging were found to be due to hemosiderin deposition and fibrous tissue. Typical feature was a solitary, round, lobulated mass with a fibrous scar. Progressive and centripetal enhancement, spoke-wheel pattern, nodular enhancement, and delayed enhancement of central fibrous scar were observed.

The majority of the existing diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) that have been established for computed tomography (CT) are based on various anatomical locations, such as the head, chest, abdomen, etc. However, DRLs are initiated to improve radiation protection by conducting a comparison of similar examinations with similar objectives. The aim of this study was to explore the feasibility of establishing dose baselines based on common CT protocols for patients who underwent enhanced CT abdomen and pelvis exams.

Dose length product total (tDLPs), volumetric CT dose index (CTDIvol), size-specific dose estimate (SSDE), effective dose (E), and scan acquisition parameters for a total of 216 adult patients, who underwent an enhanced CT abdomen and pelvis exams over a one-year period, were obtained and retrospectively analyzed. Spearman coefficient and one-way ANOVA tests were used to check significant differences between dose metrics and the different CT protocols.

The data exhibited 9 different CT protocols to acquire an enhanced CT abdomen and pelvis exam at our institute. Out of these, 4 were found more common, i.e., CT protocols were acquired for a minimum of 10 cases. Triphasic liver demonstrated the highest mean and median tDLPs across all 4 CT protocols. Triphasic liver protocol registered the highest E followed by gastric sleeve protocol with a mean of 28.7 and 24.7 mSv, respectively. Significant differences (p < 0.0001) were found between the tDLPs of anatomical location and the CT protocol.

Evidently, wide variability exists across CT dose indices and patient dose metrics relying on anatomical-based dose baseline, i.e., DRLs. Patient dose optimizations require establishing dose baselines based on CT protocols rather than the anatomical location.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most serious problems that has taken many lives worldwide. The diagnostic procedure using the traditional approaches was manual by visually analyzing the large volumes of the dataset, making it time-consuming and prone to subjective errors. Hence the need for the computer-aided diagnosis system (CADs) emerged that comprises the machine and deep learning approaches for denoising, segmentation and classification of pancreatic cancer.

There are different modalities used for the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, such as Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography (PET/CT), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Multiparametric-MRI (Mp-MRI), Radiomics and Radio-genomics. Although these modalities gave remarkable results in diagnosis on the basis of different criteria. CT is the most commonly used modality that produces detailed and fine contrast images of internal organs of the body. However, it may also contain a certain amount of gaussian and rician noise that is necessary to be preprocessed before segmentation of the required region of interest (ROI) from the images and classification of cancer.

This paper analyzes different methodologies used for the complete diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, including the denoising, segmentation and classification, along with the challenges and future scope for the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.

Various filters are used for denoising and image smoothening and filters as gaussian scale mixture process, non-local means, median filter, adaptive filter and average filter have been used more for better results.

In terms of segmentation, atlas based region-growing method proved to give better results as compared to the state of the art whereas, for the classification, deep learning approaches outperformed other methodologies to classify the images as cancerous and non- cancerous. These methodologies have proved that CAD systems have become a better solution to the ongoing research proposals for the detection of pancreatic cancer worldwide.

The aim of this study was to assess the value of 3.0T magnetic resonance (MR) Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in the diagnosis of lumbosacral nerve root compression.

The radiology reports, and clinical records of 34 patients with nerve root compression caused by lumbar disc herniation or bulging and 21 healthy volunteers who had undergone magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and DTI scan were retrospectively reviewed. The differences in fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) between compressed and non-compressed nerve roots from patients and the normal nerve roots from healthy volunteers were compared. Meanwhile, the nerve root fiber bundles were observed and analyzed.

The average FA and ADC values of the compressed nerve roots were 0.254 ± 0.307 and 1.892 ± 0.346 10^-3mm²/s, respectively. The average FA and ADC values of the non-compressed nerve roots were 0.377 ± 0.659 and 1.353 ± 0.344 10^-3mm²/s, respectively. The FA value of compressed nerve roots was significantly lower than that of non-compressed nerve roots (P < 0.01). The ADC value of compressed nerve roots was significantly higher than that of non-compressed nerve roots. There were no significant differences between the left and right nerve roots of normal volunteers in FA and ADC values (P > 0.05). The nerve roots at different levels of L3-S1 had significantly different FA and ADC values (P < 0.01). Incomplete fiber bundles with extrusion deformation, displacement or partial defect were observed in the compressed nerve root fiber bundles. The real diagnosis of the clinical situation of the nerve can provide neuroscientists with an important computer tool to help them infer and understand the possible working mechanism from the experimental data of behavior and electrophysiology.

The compressed lumbosacral nerve roots can be accurately localized through 3.0T magnetic resonance DTI, which is instructive for accurate clinical diagnosis and preoperative localization.

To investigate the performance of a novel radiological-metabolic scoring (RM-S) system to predict mortality and intensive care unit (ICU) requirements among COVID-19 patients and to compare performance with the chest computed-tomography severity-scoring (C-CT-SS). The RM-S was created from scoring systems such as visual coronary-artery-calcification scoring (V-CAC-S), hepatic-steatosis scoring (HS-S) and pancreatic-steatosis scoring (PS-S).

Between May 2021 and January 2022, 397 patients with COVID-19 were included in this retrospective cohort study. All demographic, clinical and laboratory data and chest CT images of patients were retrospectively reviewed. RM-S, V-CAC-S, HS-S, PS-S and C-CT-SS scores were calculated, and their performance in predicting mortality and ICU requirement were evaluated by univariate and multivariable analyses.

A total of 32 (8.1%) patients died, and 77 (19.4%) patients required ICU admission. Mortality and ICU admission were both associated with older age (p < 0.001). Sex distribution was similar in the deceased vs. survivor and ICU vs. non-ICU comparisons (p = 0.974 and p = 0.626, respectively). Multiple logistic regression revealed that mortality was independently associated with having a C-CT-SS score of ≥ 14 (p < 0.001) and severe RM-S category (p = 0.010), while ICU requirement was independently associated with having a C-CT-SS score of ≥ 14 (p < 0.001) and severe V-CAC-S category (p = 0.010).

RM-S, C-CT-SS, and V-CAC-S are useful tools that can be used to predict patients with poor prognoses for COVID-19. Long-term prospective follow-up of patients with high RM-S scores can be useful for predicting long COVID.

To compare main lacrimal gland values through shear-wave elastography (SWE) in patients with low Schirmer value and unspecified Sjögren's syndrome (SS) with healthy controls.

Admitted to the ophthalmology department with Schirmer value <10 mm, randomly selected 46 eyes of 46 patients evaluated for Sjögren's syndrome (SS) in the rheumatology department between December 2022 and April 2023 were classified as low Schirmer group (LSG). Randomly selected 48 eyes of 48 patients at a similar age with Schirmer value >10 mm were included as controls. Main lacrimal gland SWE measurements in LSG and control groups were recorded and compared as meter/second (m/sec).

Mean SWE values of the main lacrimal gland were measured as 2.78 ± 0.66 m/sec and 2.26 ± 0.29 m/sec in LSG and controls. SWE measurements were significantly higher in LSG patients than in controls (p<0.001). No significant correlation was found in the analysis between the Schirmer and the main lacrimal gland SWE values in LSG patients (p=0.702, r=0.058). No significant correlation was also detected between the Schirmer and main lacrimal gland SWE values in controls (p=0.097, r=0.242). No significant relationship was also found between age, gender, body mass index (BMI), and SWE values (p=0.351, p=0.493, p=0.328, respectively).

Mean SWE value of the main lacrimal gland was determined as significantly higher in patients with aqueous lacrimal insufficiency without SS than in controls. We consider that SWE measurements may be an imaging method to support the diagnosis of aqueous lacrimal insufficiency and used in follow-ups of those with dry eye syndrome (DES) in the future.

Distinguishing between IHCC and HCC is important because of their differences in treatment and prognosis. The hybrid Positron Emission Tomography/magnetic Resonance Imaging (PET/MRI) system has become more widely accessible, with oncological imaging becoming one of its most promising applications.

The objective of this study was to see how well 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) PET/MRI could be used for differential diagnosis and histologic grading of primary hepatic malignancies.

We retrospectively evaluated 64 patients (53 patients with HCC, 11 patients with IHCC) with histologically proven primary hepatic malignancies using 18F-FDG/MRI. The Apparent Diffusion Coefficient (ADC), Coefficient of Variance (CV) of the ADC, and standardized uptake value (SUV) were calculated.

The mean SUVmax value was higher for IHCC (7.7 ± 3.4) than for HCC (5.2 ± 3.1) (p = 0.019). The area under the curve (AUC) was 0.737, an optimal 6.98 cut-off value providing 72% sensitivity and 79% specificity. The ADCcv value in IHCC was statistically significantly higher than in HCC (p=0.014). ADC mean values in HCCs were significantly higher in low-grade tumors than in high-grade tumors. The AUC value was 0.73, and the optimal cut-off point was 1.20x10-6 mm²/s, giving 62% sensitivity and 72% specificity. The SUVmax value was also found to be statistically significantly higher in the high-grade group. The ADCcv value in the HCC low-grade group was found to be lower than in the high-grade group (p=0.036).

18F FDG PET/MRI is a novel imaging technique that can aid in the differentiation of primary hepatic neoplasms as well as tumor-grade estimation.

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is one of the most common digestive emergencies, and vascular complication is one of the primary reasons for death, with splanchnic venous thrombosis being the most common. Although extra-splanchnic venous thrombosis is rare, it carries the risk of life-threatening secondary pulmonary embolism.

We have, herein, reported a case of AP complicated by rare brachiocephalic vein thrombosis and superior vena cava thrombosis. A 40 years old woman was diagnosed with severe AP for abdominal pain 21 days ago. The patient received symptomatic treatment, including acid suppression, enzyme suppression, lipid-lowering, fluid infusion, anti-infection, and continuous renal replacement therapy. The patient was discharged after symptomatic relief. Recently, the patient was admitted again for middle-upper abdominal pain and discomfort. On admission, her blood platelet, D-Dimer, fibrin degradation products (FDP), and triglyceride levels have been found to be increased; abdominal enhanced CT showed pancreatic necrosis and an accumulation of peripancreatic necrosis and fluid, while chest enhanced CT suggested thrombosis in the right brachiocephalic vein and superior vena cava. The patient, however, improved and was discharged after anticoagulation combined with insulin and trypsin inhibitors.

In diagnosing and treating AP, dynamic monitoring of D-dimer levels is necessary for the timely detection of the development of thrombotic complications.

This study aimed to explore the imaging characteristics of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis complicated with pulmonary embolism and analyze the prognosis of the condition, thereby reducing the mortality and misdiagnosis rate of complications in this type of pulmonary tuberculosis.

In this retrospective study, a total of 70 patients diagnosed with pulmonary embolism by computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) from January 2016 to May 2021 in Anhui Chest Hospital were included. Among them, 35 patients with pulmonary embolism combined with pulmonary tuberculosis were set as the study group, and the other 35 patients with pulmonary embolism only were set as the control group. The imaging findings of chest CT examination, the incidence of pulmonary hypertension, the level of N-terminal proto-B-type brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), and the prognosis of patients were compared between the two groups. The incidence of deep venous embolism was evaluated by ultrasonography of the lower extremity.

In the study group, the median age of patients was 71 years, and the ratio of males to females was 2.5 to 1. In the control group, the median age was 66 years old, and the male-to-female ratio was 2.2 to 1. There were 16 cases (16/35, 45.71%) in the study group and 10 cases (10/35, 28.57%) in the control group with an increased level of NT-proBNP. Pulmonary hypertension occurred in 10 patients (10/35, 28.57%) in the study group and 7 patients (7/35, 20.00%) in the control group. Patients who lost follow-up included 5 in the study group (5/35, 14.29%) and 3 in the control group (3/35, 8.57%). There were 17 cases (17/35, 48.57%) in the study group and 3 cases (3/35, 8.57%) in the control group with pulmonary artery widening, and the difference was significant (P < 0.001). There were 13 deaths in the study group (13/35, 37.14%) and 1 death in the control group (1/35, 2.86%), and the difference was significant (P <0.001).

Special signs of pulmonary artery widening, pulmonary hypertension of varying degrees, and increased levels of NT-proBNP of varying degrees can be found in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis complicated with pulmonary embolism, and the three signs are positively correlated. The mortality of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis complicated with pulmonary embolism is significantly higher than that of patients with pulmonary embolism alone. Pulmonary tuberculosis and pulmonary embolism both occur in the ipsilateral lung, causing clinical symptoms to cover each other, thereby making diagnosis difficult.

Adenofibroma is a rare benign Müllerian mixed tumor composed of epithelial and mesenchymal cells. This tumor may occasionally be associated with toremifene therapy which is used as an adjuvant drug for breast cancer.

We describe a case of a 55-year-old woman with adenofibroma of the endometrium. This patient was receiving toremifene after surgery and neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer. She underwent a total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingectomy. There was no evidence of tumor residual or recurrence at 32 months of MRI follow-up.

In conclusion, we report a rare case of endometrial adenofibroma in a patient receiving toremifene. It must be borne in mind that long-term toremifene therapy may increase the frequency of endometrial neoplasms.

One of the most common issues following pedicle screw fixation is pedicle screw loosening. There are, however, few trustworthy methods for predicting screw loosening. The goal of the current study was to identify an efficient technique for using preoperative CT scanning to predict screw loosening in older patients and to offer recommendations for preoperative surgical planning.

The current analysis included retrospectively all patients who underwent lumbar pedicle screw fixation for degenerative lumbar diseases in our department between January 2015 and January 2022. Hounsfield units were used to assess each vertebra's attenuation in a CT scan (HU). Postoperative X-ray testing identified screw loosening. Using IBMSPSS 24.00 software, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were performed.

Over a mean follow-up period of 28.4±11.5 (range 12-44 months) months, screw loosening was noted in 53 of 242 patients (136 male and 106 female, average age 58.7±7.3 years). Gender, BMI, smoking habits, and whether or not a patient had diabetes or spondylolisthesis were not shown to be significantly different among the patients (P>0.05). The difference between the average lumbar vertebral HU values in the screw-loosening group and the control group was significant (P<0.01) at 120.3±31.5HU and 138.6±37.6HU, respectively. The average HU value of L1-L4 exhibited an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.691 (95% CI: 0.614-0.784), according to ROC curve analysis. A HU cut-off value of 122 HU is a likely cut-off point to predict screw loosening with a sensitivity of 70% and a specificity of 58%.

The use of screw augmentation techniques can be decided using a prospective CT scan HU value-based prediction. An independent risk factor for screw loosening in an instrumented lumbar vertebra is a cutoff L1-L5 average HU value of 122 HU.

Although iron deposition has been identified as a significant migraine trigger, the key structures in episodic migraine (EM) remain unknown.

The aim of this study is to investigate cerebral iron deposition in EM using an advanced voxel-based quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM).

A multi-echo gradient echo sequence MR was performed in 15 episodic migraine patients (EMs) and 27 normal control subjects (NCs). The reconstructed quantitative susceptibility mapping images and voxel-based analysis were performed over the entire brain. The susceptibility value of all brain regions with altered iron deposition was extracted, and the correlations between susceptibility value and clinical variables (including HAMA, HAMD, MoCA, VAS, MIDAS score, diseased duration, and headache frequency) were calculated.

EM patients presented increased susceptibility value in the left putamen and bilateral substantia nigra (SN) compared with NC. There was no correlation between susceptibility value and the clinical variables.

Increased brain iron deposition in the extrapyramidal system may be a biomarker for migraine, and abnormal iron metabolism may be involved in the extrapyramidal mechanism. The QSM technique would be an optimal and simple tool for clinical practice and research in iron measurement.

Primary thymic mucinous adenocarcinoma is an extremely rare and aggressive tumor with poor prognosis. The tumor may present as a heterogeneous solid or cystic mass accompanied by calcifications. However, clinical and radiologic features of the tumor are not well known due to the rarity of the disease, which makes accurate diagnosis difficult.

Here we present a rare case of primary thymic mucinous adenocarcinoma in the anterior mediastinum, including computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings. Chest computed tomography revealed a large anterior mediastinal mass with extensive calcifications with poor enhancement. MRI showed that anterior mediastinal mass showed intermediate signal intensity on T1-weighted images (T1WI), high SI on T2-weighted images (T2WI), and heterogeneous enhancement. Biopsy was performed and the anterior mediastinal tumor was diagnosed as thymic mucinous adenocarcinoma by histopathologic examination and immunohistochemical staining.

Thymic mucinous adenocarcinomas could be included in differential diagnoses of anterior mediastinal tumors showing extensive calcification, and common imaging findings of mucinous adenocarcinoma such as T2 high signal intensity and heterogeneous enhancement on MRI may be helpful to diagnose thymic mucinous adenocarcinoma.

The distinction between benign and borderline epithelial ovarian tumors is important because treatment and follow-up strategies differ.

We aimed to evaluate benign, borderline, and malignant epithelial ovarian tumors using MRI features and contributed to the preoperative evaluation.

MRIs of 81 patients (20 bilateral), including 31 benign, 27 borderline, and 23 malignant, who had pelvic imaging between 2013-2020, were evaluated retrospectively. The evaluation was made blindly to the pathology result by two radiologists with MRI scoring and features that we determined. MRI evaluation was performed with T1 TSE, T2 TSE, fat-suppressed T2 TSE, and before and after contrast T1 fat-suppressed and non-fat-suppressed TSE images. The numbers and findings obtained in scoring were evaluated by Chi-Square, ordinal logistic regression, and 2 and 3 category ROC analysis.

The total score varied between 7 and 24. Among the three groups, a significant difference was found in terms of T1, T2 signal intensity (p <0.01), size (p = 0.055), solid area (p <0.001), septa number (p <0.05), ovarian parenchyma (p = 0.001), ascites (p <0.001), peritoneal involvement (p <0.001), laterality (p <0.001), contrast enhancement pattern (p <0.001). On the other hand, no significant difference was found in terms of wall thickness, lymph node involvement and endometrial thickness (p> 0.05). Cut-off values were found as 11.5 and 18.5 in the 3-category ROC analysis performed for the score (VUS: 0.8109). Patients with a score below 11.5 were classified as benign, those between 11.5-18.5 as borderline, and those over 18.5 as malignant.

The differentiation of borderline tumors from benign and malignant tumors by MRI scoring will contribute to the preoperative diagnosis.

Transvaginal and transabdominal ultrasonography has become a widely used investigative method in the diagnostic workup of endometriosis, as well as for the postoperative follow-up. The variety of lesions, the distorted anatomy caused by adhesions and the fibrosis process represent the main challenges of the ultrasound evaluation. Regarding the recurrence of endometriosis, the diagnostic criteria are being imprecise, being adjusted according to the development of ultrasound techniques.

To this study, extensive research has been performed interrogating PubMed, Embase and Web of Science databases to identify published research including patients with endometriosis who underwent surgery. Included patients had postoperative ultrasound investigations to detect evidence of endometriosis recurrence. The selected timeframe was 5 years. We conducted a literature review on ultrasound markers of endometriosis recurrence.

In this analysis, 2023 patients from 9 studies were included. The recurrence rate detected was 17.26%. The postoperative treatment was different in the selected studies and they include the administration of progesterone, oral combined contraceptives, GnRh antagonists, aromatase inhibitors and intrauterine devices with prolonged release of progesterone.

The recurrence rate is different in the selected studies as a result of the recurrence definition used by each author and the minimum dimension of the lesions, in case of the cystic pattern. Innovative techniques of differential diagnosis by ultrasound are proposed, one of them being the textural analysis performed by computer-aided diagnosis – CAD. In order to standardize the recommendations regarding imaging techniques, we propose an algorithm for following up with patients in the postoperative period.

The transabdominal or endovaginal ultrasound performed regularly represents a key factor to determine the recurrence of endometriosis in the postoperative period and the imaging reassessment is recommended to be performed at a 6-month interval.

Study test aims to assess the position and route of the alveolar antral artery and the lateral wall thickness of the maxillary sinus using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), reducing the risk of complications and improving the success rate of surgery.

This study included CBCT scans from 238 patients. The detection diameter of AAA and distance of the lower border of AAA to the maxillary sinus floor at the first premolar, second premolar, first molar, and second molar locations were evaluated. The route of AAA was observed with novel classification. Furthermore, the distance from the maxillary sinus floor to the alveolar crest at four posterior tooth locations was measured respectively. Moreover, the lateral wall thickness at four locations was assessed. Data were subjected to statistical analysis.

AAA was observed in 62.18% of all sinuses. The mean diameter was 0.99±0.21 mm, with significant differences within gender. Half of the route of AAA was intrasinus intraosseous type. The mean distance between the maxillary sinus floor and AAA was 8.00±2.68 mm, with a significant difference between dentate and edentulous status at the first molar location. Distance from the sinus floor to the alveolar ridge crest in edentulous status negatively correlated with the distance from the sinus floor to AAA at the first molar location. The mean thickness of the lateral wall was 2.03±0.91 mm, and the difference in thickness between males and females at the four locations was statistically significant.

Intrasinus-intraosseous type, is the most common route. Special care should be taken at the first molar location during a lateral window sinus floor elevation. CBCT is highly recommended to before lateral wall maxillary sinus floor elevation.

This study is to explore the efficacy of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) / Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) fusion imaging-guided(fusion group)radiofrequency ablation (RFA) versus conventional ultrasound imaging-guided (conventional group) RFA for colorectal cancer liver metastases (CRLM) in a short-term.

From December 2020 to December 2021, patients who underwent imaging-guided RFA of CRLM at our hospital with available CT/MRI images were enrolled consecutively. 22 patients with 46 lesions had undergone conventional group RFA whereas 29 patients with 63 lesions had undergone fusion group RFA. The lesion detection rate, technical success, local tumor progression (LTP) and complications were calculated.

In this retrospective study, 51 patients with 130 lesions were diagnosed with CRLM. However, there were 12 lesions and 9 lesions invisible in the conventional group and fusion group, respectively. The lesion detection rate on the fusion imaging was significantly higher than on the US or CEUS in the fusion group (P<0.05). There were no significant differences of the detection rate between the conventional group and the fusion group (P=0.207). In both groups, the technical success rate was 100%. For local tumor progression (LTP), there were no significant differences between the two groups (P>0.05). The complications after ablation had no significant differences between the two groups (P=0.97).

CEUS/ Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI fusion imaging is a safe and effective method for RFA in the management of CRLM patients, and it may improve the therapeutic effect by detecting small lesions early.

This study is aimed to explore the characteristics and clinical application of ultrasonic elastography in peripheral soft tissue in patients with poststroke complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS).

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) type I is also known as shoulder hand syndrome (SHS). Its main symptoms include shoulder pain, limited activity, upper arm, wrist, and knuckle joint pain. Ultrasonic elastic imaging technology is gradually being applied to musculoskeletal system evaluation, primarily for the elastic examination of superficial tissue, as a result of the continual advancements in ultrasound technology. To make up for the absence of conventional imaging, functional state evaluation of the motor system can offer conventional ultrasonic tissue elasticity and hardness data.

The purpose of this study was to objectively quantify the soft tissue surrounding the shoulder joint of stroke patients with CRPS using ultrasonic elastic imaging and to determine the diagnostic usefulness of ultrasonic elastic imaging for CRPS in stroke in order to promote its usage in clinical practice.

Patients diagnosed with CRPS following a stroke and admitted to the rehabilitation unit at Shanxi Bethune Hospital between January, 2021 to June, 2021 were included in the analysis. The control group consisted of people without pain in their shoulder joints. Each group consisted of 30 patients. A high-frequency wire array probe (frequency = 8-16 Hz) was employed in conjunction with an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. A quantitative analytic system determined Young's modulus of the tissue, while the tracking of the shear wave provided an elastin map in real-time. An excitation pulse of acoustic radiation force was used to cause shear waves in the tissue.

The Young's modulus of supraspinatus muscle in the study and control groups was 289.16±22.07 Kpa and 231.99±23.61 Kpa, respectively (P <0.01). Young's modulus values of the study group's subscapular biceps were compared to those of the control group (P > 0.05). The supraspinatus shear wave elastographic (SWE) imaging value was 10.01±0.49 m/s in the study group and 7.92±0.50 in the control group (P <0.05). The study and control groups had subscapular muscle SWE values of 15.99±1.95 and 8.64±0.56 m/s, respectively (P <0.05). The average biceps tendon SWE value in the study and control groups was 6.39±0.42 and 4.69±0.36 m/s, respectively (P <0.05).

In conclusion, the SWE assessed by ultrasound elastography is useful for early diagnosis and evaluation of the superior shoulder tendon, subscapular tendon, and biceps tendon of CRPS following stroke test.