Identifying, characterizing, and classifying congenital anomalies of the coronary arteries.

The clinical manifestations of coronary artery anomalies vary in severity, with some anomalies causing severe symptoms and cardiovascular sequelae and others being benign. Cardiovascular computed tomography (CT) has emerged as the standard of reference for identification and characterization of coronary artery anomalies. Therefore, it is important for the reader of cardiovascular CT images to be thoroughly familiar with the spectrum of coronary artery anomalies.

Whole-chest 64-MDCT of emergency department patients with nonspecific chest pain: Radiation dose and coronary artery image quality with prospective ECG triggering versus retrospective ECG gating.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the patient radiation dose and coronary artery image quality of long-z-axis whole-chest 64-MDCT performed with retrospective ECG gating with those of CT performed with prospective ECG triggering in the evaluation of emergency department patients with nonspecific chest pain.

Subjects And Methods: Consecutively registered emergency department patients with nonspecific low-to-moderate-risk chest pain underwent whole-chest CT with retrospective gating (n = 41) or prospective triggering (n = 31). Effective patient radiation doses were estimated and compared by use of unpaired Student's t tests.

Prospective versus retrospective ECG gating for 64-detector CT of the coronary arteries: comparison of image quality and patient radiation dose.

Purpose: To compare image quality and patient radiation dose in a group of patients who underwent 64-detector computed tomography (CT) coronary angiography performed with prospective electrocardiographic (ECG) gating with image quality and radiation dose in a group of patients matched for clinical features who underwent 64-detector CT coronary angiography performed with retrospective ECG gating.

Materials And Methods: Institutional review board approval was obtained for this HIPAA-compliant study, and the informed consent requirement was waived due to the retrospective study design. Two independent reviewers separately scored coronary artery segment image quality and overall image quality for 100 cardiac CT studies (50 in each group).

Ultrasound-based elastography: a novel approach to assess radio frequency ablation of liver masses performed with expandable ablation probes: a feasibility study.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the technical feasibility of ultrasound-based elastography as a tool for assessing the size and shape of the coagulation necrosis caused by radio frequency ablation (RFA) probes using expandable electrodes ex vivo as well as in a patient with a liver metastasis.

Methods: A commercially available expandable RFA probe was used to create a 3-cm ablation in a piece of bovine liver. The ablation probe was used in situ to induce tissue deformation for elastography before and after ablation.

Nonatherosclerotic cardiovascular findings on MDCT coronary angiography: a selection of abnormalities.

Objective: Improvements in MDCT coronary angiography allow imaging of the coronary arteries that rivals invasive coronary angiography. Recent studies have shown high sensitivity and specificity in detecting coronary artery disease. But in the course of interpretation, other significant abnormalities may be encountered in addition to atherosclerotic plaques.

Imaging Findings in Two Cases of Fluoroquinolone-Induced Achilles Tendinopathy.

Tendonitis and tendon rupture are rare but recognized complications of fluoroquinolone therapy. Most reports of this problem have appeared in the rheumatology and pharmacology literature, and this topic has received little attention in the radiologic literature. We report two cases of fluoroquinolone-induced tendinopathy and describe their magnetic resonance (MR) and sonographic findings.