Role of 16-multidetector computed tomography in the assessment of coronary artery stenoses: A prospective study of consecutive patients.

Background: Recent studies have demonstrated a high sensitivity (S) of 16-multidetector computed tomography (16-MDCT) for the detection of significant coronary artery stenoses. Whether these results are applicable to clinical practice is unclear. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to compare 16-MDCT angiography with conventional coronary angiography (CCA) for the detection of significant coronary artery stenoses in a consecutive series of patients.

Is there a relation between non-calcifying coronary plaques and acute coronary syndromes? A retrospective study using multislice computed tomography.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess whether different coronary plaque types as classified by multislice computed tomography (CT) are retrospectively correlated with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) in an unselected study population.

Methods: Sixty-three consecutive patients were examined with 16-slice CT coronary angiography. Coronary plaque types were classified as calcifying type 1, mixed (calcifying > non-calcifying) type 2, mixed (non-calcifying > calcifying) type 3, and non-calcifying type 4.

Ultrasound of prostate cancer: recent advances.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. In the future, a significant further increase in the incidence of prostate cancer is expected. Therefore, improvement of prostate cancer diagnosis is a main topic of diagnostic imaging.

Fusion of multislice computed tomography and electroanatomical mapping data for 3D navigation of left and right atrial catheter ablation.

Purpose: To assess whether fusion of multislice computed tomography (CT) images with electroanatomical (EA)-mapping data using a new image integration module (CartoMerge) is feasible and accurate to navigate ablation catheters in right and left atrial catheter ablation.

Material And Methods: Twenty-four patients were examined with ECG-gated cardiac multislice CT (64 mm x 0.6mm, 0.

Diagnostic performance of 64-slice computed tomography in evaluation of coronary artery bypass grafts.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the diagnostic accuracy of 64-slice CT with that of invasive angiography in the detection of greater than 50% graft stenosis within 2 weeks of coronary artery bypass grafting and to investigate the clinical value of 64-slice CT.

Subjects And Methods: Forty-one patients (70 grafts, 46 arterial and 24 venous) underwent 64-slice CT a mean of 2.6 years after minimally invasive or conventional coronary artery bypass surgery.

Value of magnetic resonance imaging in prostate cancer diagnosis.

MRI has shown its potential in prostate cancer (PCa) imaging. MRI is able to demonstrate zonal anatomy with excellent contrast resolution. Furthermore it can detect PCa dependent not only on tumor-size, histological grading, PSA levels, but also on technical equipment and reader's experience.

Value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound and elastography in imaging of prostate cancer.

Purpose Of Review: Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed malignancy in men. Gray-scale ultrasound-guided systematic biopsy is the standard of care for prostate cancer detection in men with an elevated prostate-specific antigen or an abnormal digital rectal examination. Systematic biopsy may miss up to 35% of clinically relevant cancers.

Aortic valve calcification as quantified with multislice computed tomography predicts short-term clinical outcome in patients with asymptomatic aortic stenosis.

Background And Aim Of The Study: Aortic valve calcification may be an independent risk factor for adverse clinical outcome. The study aim was to assess the predictive value of possible risk factors, including the severity of aortic valve calcification as quantified with 16-multislice computed tomography (MSCT) for adverse short-term clinical outcome in patients with asymptomatic, degenerative aortic stenosis (AS).

Methods: Possible risk factors for adverse short-term clinical outcome were prospectively tested in 34 consecutive patients with asymptomatic AS as follows: (i) aortic valve calcium (AVC) score as quantified with MSCT; (ii) echocardiographic parameters--aortic valve area (AVA) calculated with continuity equation, mean and maximal transvalvular pressure gradients, end-diastolic septal wall diameter; and (iii) laboratory tests (brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), C-reactive protein (CRP)).

Evaluation of ascending aortic atherosclerosis with 16-multidetector computed tomography is useful before total endoscopic coronary bypass surgery.

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate the assessment of ascending aortic atherosclerosis with 16-multidetector computed tomography (16-MDCT) angiography prior to total endoscopic coronary artery bypass (TECAB) surgery.

Methods: Forty-five patients were examined with electrocardiogram-gated, 16-MDCT angiography. The presence of atherosclerosis at the ascending aorta was graduated as severe (>50% of circumference) or as mild (<50% of circumference).

Diagnostic performance of MDCT for detecting aortic valve regurgitation.

Objective: This study evaluates whether ECG-gated 16-MDCT coronary angiography provides a reliable imaging technique for detecting aortic regurgitation (AR).

Subjects And Methods: We examined 71 patients prospectively with 16-MDCT angiography using retrospective ECG gating during the mid-to-end diastolic phase. A visible central valvular leakage area was considered as a diagnostic criterion for AR.

Multislice computed tomography for detection of patients with aortic valve stenosis and quantification of severity.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether multislice computed tomography (MSCT) provides a reliable, noninvasive imaging modality for identification of patients with degenerative aortic valve stenosis (AS) by quantifying the aortic valve area (AVA) in comparison to the accepted diagnostic standard transthoracic echocardiography (TTE).

Background: Management of patients with degenerative AS is based on the severity of disease. The severity of AS in clinical practice is assessed by TTE and classified as mild, moderate, or severe according to the AVA.

Body size, body proportions, and mobility in the Tyrolean "Iceman".

Body mass and structural properties of the femoral and tibial midshafts of the "Iceman," a late Neolithic (5,200 BP) mummy found in the Tyrolean Alps, are determined from computed tomographic scans of his body, and compared with those of a sample of 139 males spanning the European early Upper Paleolithic through the Bronze Age. Two methods, based on femoral head breadth and estimated stature/bi-iliac (pelvic) breath, yield identical body-mass estimates of 61 kg for the Iceman. In combination with his estimated stature of 158 cm, this indicates a short but relatively wide or stocky body compared to our total sample.

Reduction of soluble P-selectin by statins is inversely correlated with the progression of coronary artery disease.

Background: Cell adhesion molecules (CAM) play an important role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis by mediating the binding of leukocytes to the endothelium. Soluble CAM isoforms are known to be elevated in the sera of patients suffering from coronary artery disease (CAD).

Methods: We measured the concentrations of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, E-selectin, P-selectin, platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1, and highly sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) in the blood of 47 CAD patients before and 6 months after starting statin therapy and in 16 untreated CAD patients.

High-resolution 16-MDCT evaluation of radial artery for potential use as coronary artery bypass graft: a feasibility study.

Objective: The objective of our study was to assess the feasibility of using 16-MDCT angiography for the preoperative assessment of the radial and ulnar arteries and the palmar arches in patients scheduled for radial artery harvesting for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery.

Conclusion: Sixteen-MDCT angiography shows promise for the noninvasive preoperative assessment of the radial artery as a CABG donor site.

Power Doppler ultrasound imaging for quantification of urinary bladder neck blood flow changes.

This study was designed to evaluate power Doppler imaging for assessment of urinary bladder neck blood flow in comparison with laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) in an animal model. Transrectal power Doppler ultrasound (US) and LDF of the urinary bladder neck were performed in three anesthetized pigs during comparative cystometry. Normal saline (NaCl) was used for the first run, followed by a second run with 0.

Matching lung volume data sets--a novel approach.

There is a significant demand in matching CT datasets of the lung. The increasing number of CT slices per examination due to the higher resolution of modern CT scanners and the need for quantification of the progress of disease and healing processes in follow-up studies. A volunteer's lung was scanned by the means of multidetector CT in two different states of ventilation.

Age-related rhabdosphincter function in female urinary stress incontinence: assessment of intraurethral sonography.

Objective: To assess dynamic intraurethral sonography in the diagnostic evaluation of the function of the rhabdosphincter in female patients with urinary stress incontinence in relation to patient age.

Methods: Sixty-two patients with clinically proved urinary stress incontinence were investigated by means of intraurethral sonography with a 12.5-MHz endoluminal 9F catheter.

The influence of left renal vein entrapment on outcome after surgical varicocele repair: a color Doppler sonographic demonstration.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of left renal vein entrapment on outcome after surgical varicocele repair using color Doppler sonography.

Methods: Eighty-four men had varicoceles on color Doppler sonography (2 right sided, 74 left sided, and 8 bilateral), which were diagnosed on the basis of a venous diameter of 3 mm or greater and venous retrograde flow in the pampiniform plexus of veins during the Valsalva maneuver or when changing from a supine to an upright position. Diagnosis of the left renal vein entrapment was based on the following criteria: antero-posterior diameter of greater than 1 cm and peak velocity of less than 15 cm/s for the left renal vein at the mid portion and anteroposterior diameter of less than 0.

Value of transducer positions in the measurement of finger flexor tendon thickness by sonography.

Objective: To assess the value of 2 transducer positions for measurement of finger flexor tendon thickness by sonography.

Methods: Flexor tendon thickness of the third finger was measured sonographically by 2 independent investigators in 20 healthy volunteers (n = 40 fingers) and in 4 cadaveric specimens (n = 4 fingers). Flexor tendon thickness was measured at histologic examination in the cadaveric specimens.

Paranasal and orbital anatomy revisited: identification of the ethmoid arteries on coronal CT scans.

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify recognizable landmarks on coronal CT (CCT) scans for the localization of the anterior and posterior ethmoid arteries, which are important anatomic structures and surgical landmarks within the ethmoid sinuses.

Materials And Methods: Four series of plastinated cadaver specimens and 80 CCT examinations were evaluated to identify the anatomical landmarks that define the course of the anterior and posterior ethmoid arteries within the ethmoid sinuses.

Results: The following anatomic landmarks: the indentations into the medial orbital wall, the relationship between the superior oblique and medial rectus orbital muscles, and the lateral ethmoid fovea wall thinning proved to be useful CCT landmarks for the localization of the anterior and posterior ethmoid arteries.