Quality of Life, Dyspnea, and Functional Exercise Capacity Following a First Episode of Pulmonary Embolism: Results of the ELOPE Cohort Study.

Background: We aimed to evaluate health-related quality of life (QOL), dyspnea, and functional exercise capacity during the year following the diagnosis of a first episode of pulmonary embolism.

Methods: This was a prospective multicenter cohort study of 100 patients with acute pulmonary embolism recruited at 5 Canadian hospitals from 2010-2013. We measured the outcomes QOL (by Short-Form Health Survey-36 [SF-36] and Pulmonary Embolism Quality of Life [PEmb-QoL] measures), dyspnea (by the University of California San Diego Shortness of Breath Questionnaire [SOBQ]) and 6-minute walk distance at baseline and 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after acute pulmonary embolism.

Altered hepatic metabolic activity in patients with hepatic steatosis on FDG PET/CT.

Objective: FDG PET studies frequently use the liver as an internal reference organ to assess the significance of FDG uptake in pathologic processes involving other organs. The purpose of this study was to assess whether hepatic steatosis has a significant effect on the standardized uptake value (SUV) of the liver.

Subjects And Methods: This prospective case-control study analyzed FDG PET/CT scans of patients with frank hepatic steatosis on the unenhanced CT portion of the study.

The "pirate sign" in fibrous dysplasia.

Fibrous dysplasia commonly involves the skull in both its monostotic and polyostotic variants. We present two cases of fibrous dysplasia involving the sphenoid wing, which were strikingly similar in their bone scan appearance. Both patients demonstrated intense increased uptake of Tc-99m MDP in a pattern reminding us of a "pirate wearing an eyepatch.