Assessment of interstitial lung disease in a systemic sclerosis patient cohort using photon-counting detector CT with ultra-high resolution and a 1024-pixel image matrix.

Objective: This study assessed the potential of ultra-high resolution (UHR) and a 1024-matrix in photon-counting-detector CT (PCD-CT) for evaluating interstitial lung disease (ILD) in systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients.

Methods: Sixty-six SSc patients who underwent ILD-CT screening on a first-generation PCD-CT were retrospectively included. Scans were performed in UHR mode at 100 kVp with two different matrix sizes (512×512 and 1024x1024) and reconstructed at slice thicknesses of 1.

Histogram-Based Densitometry Index to Assess the Severity of Interstitial Lung Disease in Systemic Sclerosis in Standard and Low-Dose Computed Tomography.

Objective: Mean lung attenuation, skewness, and kurtosis are histogram-based densitometry variables that quantify systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD) and were recently merged into a computerized integrated index (CII). Our work tested the CII in low-dose 9-slice (reduced) and standard high-resolution computed tomography (CT) scans to evaluate extensive SSc-ILD and predict mortality.

Methods: CT scans from patients with SSc-ILD were assessed using the software Horos to compute standard and reduced CIIs.

Potential of Photon-Counting Detector CT for Radiation Dose Reduction for the Assessment of Interstitial Lung Disease in Patients With Systemic Sclerosis.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the potential of photon-counting detector computed tomography (PCD-CT) for radiation dose reduction compared with conventional energy-integrated detector CT (EID-CT) in the assessment of interstitial lung disease (ILD) in systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients.

Methods: In this retrospective study, SSc patients receiving a follow-up noncontrast chest examination on a PCD-CT were included between May 2021 and December 2021. Baseline scans were generated on a dual-source EID-CT by selecting the tube current-time product for each of the 2 x-ray tubes to obtain a 100% (D 100 ), a 66% (D 66 ), and a 33% dose image (D 33 ) from the same data set.

Sclerodermic Cardiomyopathy-A State-of-the-Art Review.

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a chronic autoimmune disorder with unknown triggering factors, and complex pathophysiologic links which lead to fibrosis of skin and internal organs, including the heart, lungs, and gut. However, more than 100 years after the first description of cardiac disease in SSc, sclerodermic cardiomyopathy (SScCmp) is an underrecognized, occult disease with important adverse long-term prognosis. Laboratory tests, electrocardiography (ECG) and cardiovascular multimodality imaging techniques (transthoracic 2D and 3D echocardiography, cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR), and novel imaging techniques, including myocardial deformation analysis) provide new insights into the cardiac abnormalities in patients with SSc.

The Challenge of Very Early Systemic Sclerosis: A Combination of Mild and Early Disease?

Objective: To address the hypothesis that very early patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) are a heterogeneous group with mild or early disease, we analyzed the extent of heterogeneity in clinical, epidemiological, and immunological characteristics of these patients.

Methods: We performed an analysis of very early SSc patients from the Zurich cohort, who fulfilled neither the 2013 American College of Rheumatology (ACR)/European League Against Rheumatism nor the 1980 ACR classification criteria, but had a clinical expert diagnosis of SSc with Raynaud phenomenon (RP) and additional features of SSc (puffy fingers, SSc-specific antibodies, SSc pattern on nailfold capillaroscopy, or any organ involvement characteristic for SSc). Disease duration was defined from first RP symptom.

Efficacy of 7-Day and 14-Day Triple Therapy Regimens for the Eradication of Helicobacter pylori: A Comparative Study in a Cohort of Romanian Patients.

Objective. This study compared the eradication rates of of Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection by a 7-day and 14-day anti-HP regimen. Materials and Methods.