Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging During Childbirth to Demonstrate Fetal Head Moldability and Brain Compression: Prospective Cohort Study.

Background: Childbirth is a physiological process with significant medical risk, given that neurological impairment due to the birthing process can occur at any time. Improvements in risk assessment and anticipatory interventions are constantly needed; however, the birthing process is difficult to assess using simple imaging technology because the maternal bony pelvis and fetal skeleton interfere with visualizing the soft tissues. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a noninvasive technique with no ionizing radiation that can monitor the biomechanics of the birthing process.

Three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging of fetal head molding and brain shape changes during the second stage of labor.

To demonstrate and describe fetal head molding and brain shape changes during delivery, we used three-dimensional (3D) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and 3D finite element mesh reconstructions to compare the fetal head between prelabor and the second stage of labor. A total of 27 pregnant women were examined with 3D MRI sequences before going into labor using a 1 Tesla open field MRI. Seven of these patients subsequently had another set of 3D MRI sequences during the second stage of labor.

Comparative anatomy on 3-D MRI of the urogenital sinus and the periurethral area before and during the second stage of labor during childbirth.

Purpose Of The Study: To describe the observable MRI changes in the urogenital sinus during the second stage of labor and delivery by comparing the changes in the positions of the anatomical structures of the maternal perineum using MRI-based vector 3-D models.

Materials And Methods: Seven pregnant women underwent 3-D MRI sequences using a Philips 1 T Panorama open MRI during the pre-labor period and during the second stage of labor. A 3-D vector reconstruction platform (BABYPROGRESS, France) enabled the transformation of volumes of 2-D images into finite element meshes.

Quantification of elasticity changes in the myometrium during labor using Supersonic Shear Imaging: a feasibility study.

Very little is known about the myometrium's physiology in terms of its elasticity but shear wave elastography could be an efficient tool to better understand it. This could considerably help the prevention of difficult births, the consequences of which are tremendous for neonate morbidity and pathologies. The purpose of this paper is to show the feasibility of the in vivo monitoring of myometrial stiffness changes in contraction and relaxation during pregnancy.

Multidetector CT scan findings of a right aberrant retroesophageal vertebral artery with an anomalous origin from a cervical aortic arch.

Various malformations of the aortic arch and great vessels have been reported in the literature, which reflects the complexity of their embryologic development. Most of them are of incidental finding and remain asymptomatic but can be responsible for respiratory or digestive symptoms and be associated with congenital cardiac diseases. We report the case of a patient presenting a right retroesophageal vertebral artery.

Pulmonary veno-occlusive disease: clinical, functional, radiologic, and hemodynamic characteristics and outcome of 24 cases confirmed by histology.

Pulmonary veno-occlusive disease (PVOD) is defined by specific pathologic changes of the pulmonary veins. A definite diagnosis of PVOD thus requires a lung biopsy or pathologic examination of pulmonary explants or postmortem lung samples. However, lung biopsy is hazardous in patients with severe pulmonary hypertension, and there is a need for noninvasive diagnostic tools in this patient population.

Deep venous thrombosis in patients with acute pulmonary embolism: prevalence, risk factors, and clinical significance.

Study Objectives: To determine the prevalence of lower-limb deep venous thrombosis (DVT) that can be detected by compression ultrasonography (CUS) in patients with symptomatic pulmonary embolism (PE) diagnosed with spiral CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA); and to explore the risk factors for positive CUS results and the prognostic significance of such findings.

Design: Post hoc analysis of data from a prospective multicenter outcome study of 1,041 patients with clinically suspected non-severe PE. All patients underwent CTPA and CUS within 24 h of enrollment and were followed up for 3 months.

CT imaging of peripheral pulmonary vessel disease.

The diseases concerning the small pulmonary vessels are difficult to diagnose. Pathologic findings are rarely limited to the small vessels, and a continuum between the involvement of small and large vessels is frequent. Moreover, small vessels can be affected by various disease entities with overlapping radiologic features and a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations.

Usefulness of abdominal CT scan in severe peritoneal sepsis linked to primary peritonitis.

We report 2 cases of primary group A streptococcal peritonitis in which emergency abdominal CT scan ruled out a hollow viscus perforation, or necrosis, avoiding unnecessary laparotomy. These cases highlight the usefulness of abdominal CT scan and suggest that blind surgical exploration has no advantages.

Effect of age on the performance of a diagnostic strategy based on clinical probability, spiral computed tomography and venous compression ultrasonography: the ESSEP study.

As the prevalence of PE increases with age, the effect of age on the diagnostic work-up in front of a clinical suspicion of PE deserves exploration. In this retrospective analysis, we used the data from 1041 consecutive suspected PE patients. The patients were divided into three groups according to tertiles of age: under 54 years, 54 to 73 years and above 73 years.

Pulmonary hypertension: CT of the chest in pulmonary venoocclusive disease.

Objective: Pulmonary venoocclusive disease is a rare cause of pulmonary hypertension that is often difficult to distinguish from severe primary pulmonary hypertension. Unfortunately, medical treatment of primary pulmonary hypertension with prostacyclin can be fatal in patients with venoocclusive disease, and an early pretreatment diagnosis of this uncommon condition is critical. The aim of our study was to evaluate this disease noninvasively using CT of the chest.

Comparison of doses for pulmonary embolism detection with helical CT and pulmonary angiography.

The objective of this study was to compare the radiation exposure delivered by helical CT and pulmonary angiography (PA) for the detection of pulmonary embolism (PE), with an anthropomorphic phantom. A preliminary survey defined a representative standard procedure for helical CT and PA ( n=148) by choosing the exposure settings most frequently used. Then, radiation doses were measured with thermoluminescent dosimeters TLD 100 (Lif) introduced into the depth of an anthropomorphic phantom.

Diagnostic strategy for patients with suspected pulmonary embolism: a prospective multicentre outcome study.

Background: We designed a prospective multicentre outcome study to evaluate a diagnostic strategy based on clinical probability, spiral CT, and venous compression ultrasonography of the legs in patients with suspected pulmonary embolism (PE). The main aim was to assess the safety of withholding anticoagulant treatment in patients with low or intermediate clinical probability of PE and negative findings on spiral CT and ultrasonography.

Methods: 1041 consecutive inpatients and outpatients with suspected PE were included.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension: thin-section CT predictors of epoprostenol therapy failure.

Purpose: To correlate pretherapeutic thin-section computed tomographic (CT) findings in patients with pulmonary hypertension with the risk of fatality with treatment with epoprostenol.

Materials And Methods: Seventy-three consecutive patients with severe pulmonary hypertension treated with epoprostenol were retrospectively separated into two groups. The first group included 12 patients who had a fatal outcome with epoprostenol therapy.