The role of T2*-weighted gradient echo in the diagnosis of tumefactive intrahepatic extramedullary hematopoiesis in myelodysplastic syndrome and diffuse hepatic iron overload: a case report and review of the literature.

Background: Extramedullary hematopoiesis is the proliferation of hematopoietic cells outside bone marrow secondary to marrow hematopoiesis failure. Extramedullary hematopoiesis rarely presents as a mass-forming hepatic lesion; in this case, imaging-based differentiation from primary and metastatic hepatic neoplasms is difficult, often leading to biopsy for definitive diagnosis. We report a case of tumefactive hepatic extramedullary hematopoiesis in the setting of myelodysplastic syndrome with concurrent hepatic iron overload, and the role of T2*-weighted gradient-echo magnetic resonance imaging in differentiating extramedullary hematopoiesis from primary and metastatic hepatic lesions.

Prospective Cohort Study of Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis in Patients With Stage 3-5 Chronic Kidney Disease Undergoing MRI With Injected Gadobenate Dimeglumine or Gadoteridol.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and moderate-to-severe impairment of kidney function who had not previously been exposed to gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) or referred to undergo contrast-enhanced MRI with gadobenate dimeglumine or gadoteridol.

Subjects And Methods: Two multicenter prospective cohort studies evaluated the incidence of unconfounded NSF in patients with stage 3 CKD (estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR] in cohort 1, 30-59 mL/min/1.73 m(2)) or stage 4 or 5 CKD (eGFR in cohort 2, < 30 mL/min/1.

Detectability of pancreas divisum in patients with acute pancreatitis on multi-detector row computed tomography.

The purpose of this study was to retrospectively assess the diagnostic performance of multi-detector row computed tomography (MDCT) in an evaluation of pancreas divisum using endoscopic retrograde pancreatography (ERP) as the reference standard. We analyzed 41 consecutive patients (14 cases of pancreas divisum and 27 cases of standard anatomy) who had undergone both MDCT and ERP for the evaluation of clinically diagnosed acute pancreatitis between November 2004 and June 2007. The CT reconstruction thickness and interval were both 3 mm.

Concordance of preoperative prostate endorectal MRI with subsequent prostatectomy specimen in high-risk prostate cancer patients.

Objective: Endorectal MRI (ER-MRI) may identify areas suspicious for prostate cancer. We evaluated the accuracy of ER-MRI compared with subsequent pathology specimen from prostatectomy.

Materials And Methods: We reviewed 309 open radical retropubic prostatectomy cases (RRP) from 2003 to 2008 to identify 94 men with a preoperative ER-MRI, which was obtained in patients with high-risk factors suspicious for local extension (Gleason grade ≥ 4+3, PSA ≥ 10 ng/ml, abnormal rectal exam, or extensive biopsy core involvement).

Quantitative assessment of the entire thoracic aorta from magnetic resonance images.

Objectives: Although magnetic resonance imaging is a primary modality for following patients with connective tissue diseases, only a limited amount of the image data is utilised. The purpose of this study was to show the clinical applicability of an automated four-dimensional analysis method of magnetic resonance images of the aorta and develop normative data for the cross-sectional area of the entire thoracic aorta.

Study Design: Magnetic resonance imaging was obtained serially over 3 years from 32 healthy individuals and 24 patients with aortopathy and a personal or family history of connective tissue disorder.

Portosystemic encephalopathy due to mesoiliac shunt in a patient without cirrhosis.

Hepatic encephalopathy most commonly occurs in patients with cirrhosis and end-stage liver disease, however, the disorder can also occur in the presence of intrahepatic or extrahepatic shunts when the intrahepatic circulation is effectively bypassed. The majority of extrahepatic shunts described to date develop between a mesenteric vein and inferior vena cava. Herein we report a novel case of a superior mesenteric vein to left internal iliac vein shunt that led to hepatic encephalopathy in a 57-year-old woman with no apparent underlying liver disorder.

Congenital aortic disease: 4D magnetic resonance segmentation and quantitative analysis.

Automated and accurate segmentation of the aorta in 4D (3D+time) cardiovascular magnetic resonance (MR) image data is important for early detection of congenital aortic disease leading to aortic aneurysms and dissections. A computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) method is reported that allows one to objectively identify subjects with connective tissue disorders from 16-phase 4D aortic MR images. Starting with a step of multi-view image registration, our automated segmentation method combines level-set and optimal surface segmentation algorithms in a single optimization process so that the final aortic surfaces in all 16 cardiac phases are determined.

Reproducibility of dynamic MR imaging pelvic measurements: a multi-institutional study.

Purpose: To assess the reproducibility of bone and soft-tissue pelvimetry measurements obtained from dynamic magnetic resonance (MR) imaging studies in primiparous women across multiple centers.

Materials And Methods: All subjects prospectively gave consent for participation in this institutional review board-approved, HIPAA-compliant study. At six clinical sites, standardized dynamic pelvic 1.

Evaluation of locally recurrent pelvic malignancy: performance of T2- and diffusion-weighted MRI with image fusion.

Purpose: To evaluate the performance of T2- and diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with image fusion for detection of locally recurrent pelvic malignancy.

Materials And Methods: The study group consisted of 28 patients (27 female, 1 male) who underwent pelvic MRI at 1.5 T after treatment of pelvic malignancy.

Three-dimensional shape analysis of right ventricular remodeling in repaired tetralogy of Fallot.

Understanding of right ventricular (RV) remodeling is needed to elucidate the mechanism of RV dysfunction in the overloaded right ventricle, but is hampered by the chamber's complex shape. We imaged 15 patients with repaired tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) and 8 normal subjects by magnetic resonance imaging in long- and short-axis views. We reconstructed the right ventricles in 3 dimensions using the piecewise smooth subdivision surface method.

Older donor livers show early severe histological activity, fibrosis, and graft failure after liver transplantation for hepatitis C.

Background: In hepatitis C virus (HCV)-positive liver transplant recipients, infection of the allograft and recurrent liver disease are important problems. Increased donor age has emerged as an important variable affecting patient and graft survival; however, specific age cutoffs and risk ratios for poor histologic outcomes and graft survival are not clear.

Methods: A longitudinal database of all HCV-positive patients transplanted at our center during an 11-year period was used to identify 111 patients who received 124 liver transplants.

Accuracy and reproducibility of real-time three-dimensional echocardiography for assessment of right ventricular volumes and ejection fraction in children.

Background: Measurement of right ventricular (RV) volumes and ejection fraction (EF) by two-dimensional echocardiography has limited accuracy and reproducibility because of the complex RV geometry.

Objectives: This study sought to validate real-time three-dimensional echocardiography (RT3DE) using a disk summation method for assessment of RV volumes and RVEF in children by comparing it with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurements.

Methods: A total of 20 children (mean age 10.

Measurement of volumetric flow by real-time 3-dimensional doppler echocardiography in children.

Background: We sought to assess the accuracy and reproducibility of an automated real-time (RT) 3-dimensional (3D) Doppler echocardiography (RT3DDE) technique for measuring volumetric flow (VF) in children.

Methods: A total of 19 healthy children (age = 11.5 +/- 3.

CT and MRI of pericardial and cardiac neoplastic disease.

This article reviews the pathological classification of cardiac and pericardial neoplasms, the incidence of the various tumor types, and the role of CT and MRI, including their major differences and clinical impact on patient management.

Gadolinium-enhanced fat-suppressed T1-weighted imaging for staging ureteral carcinoma: correlation with histopathology.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to retrospectively compare contrast-enhanced fat-suppressed T1-weighted images with histopathologic findings in ureteral carcinoma to develop accurate preoperative MR criteria for T staging.

Conclusion: Contrast-enhanced fat-suppressed T1-weighted images can be used to distinguish thickened noncarcinomatous ureteral walls, which occur due to the proliferation of fibrous tissue, from ureteral carcinoma because fibrous tissue enhances more intensely on MRI than ureteral carcinoma. We also observed that when ureteral carcinomas had invaded periureteral fat tissue, a disruption or fragmentation of the intensely enhancing ureteral wall was seen.

Breast MRI lesion classification: improved performance of human readers with a backpropagation neural network computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) system.

Purpose: To develop and test a computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) system to improve the performance of radiologists in classifying lesions on breast MRI (BMRI).

Materials And Methods: A CAD system was developed that uses a semiautomated segmentation method. After segmentation, 42 features based on lesion shape, texture, and enhancement kinetics were computed, and the 13 best features were selected and used as inputs to a backpropagation neural network (BNN).

Bolus characteristics based on Magnetic Resonance Angiography.

Background: A detailed contrast bolus propagation model is essential for optimizing bolus-chasing Computed Tomography Angiography (CTA). Bolus characteristics were studied using bolus-timing datasets from Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA) for adaptive controller design and validation.

Methods: MRA bolus-timing datasets of the aorta in thirty patients were analyzed by a program developed with MATLAB.

Projection-based bolus detection for computed tomographic angiography.

Computed tomographic (CT) angiography is important for imaging studies on cardiovascular structures, peripheral vessels, and solid organs. In practice, a CT angiography scan is triggered by the bolus arrival at a prespecified anatomical location, which is determined using CT fluoroscopy. In this article, we propose a projection-based method adapted from the Grangeat formula to detect the bolus arrival.

Liver tumor characterization: comparison between liver-specific gadoxetic acid disodium-enhanced MRI and biphasic CT--a multicenter trial.

Objective: In our multi center trial we compared the potentials of biphasic contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) and a novel tissue-specific magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent gadoxetic acid disodium in liver lesion characterization.

Methods: A total of 176 patients with 252 liver lesions were analyzed. There were 104 malignant and 148 benign lesions.

Positive serum cryoglobulin is associated with worse outcome after liver transplantation for chronic hepatitis C.

Background: Recurrent hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in patients after liver transplantation is an important clinical problem. Because serum cryoglobulins (CG) are known to be associated with an increased incidence of cirrhosis in nontransplant patients, the authors tested the hypothesis that CG would also predict aggressive recurrent HCV in patients after liver transplantation.

Methods: Using a longitudinal database, the outcomes of 105 allografts transplanted into 97 HCV-positive patients from 1991 through 2002 were analyzed on the basis of CG status using a retrospective cohort design.

Diagnostic value of gadolinium-enhanced 3D magnetic resonance angiography in patients with suspected hepatic arterial complications after liver transplantation.

Purpose: To evaluate the accuracy and clinical role of gadolinium-enhanced 3D magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) in patients with suspected hepatic arterial complications after liver transplantation.

Materials And Methods: Thirty-six consecutive MRA studies were performed in 33 liver transplant recipients after transplantation. MRA image quality was assessed subjectively.