Evaluation of the Pulmonary Arteries on CTPA With Dual Energy CT: Objective Analysis and Subjective Preferences in a Multireader Study.

Purpose: To perform qualitative and quantitative evaluation of low-monoenergetic images (50 KeV) compared with conventional images (120 kVp) in pulmonary embolism (PE) studies and to determine the extent and clinical relevance of these differences as well as radiologists' preferences.

Materials And Methods: One hundred fifty CT examinations for PE detection conducted on a single-source dual-energy CT were retrospectively evaluated. Attenuation, contrast-to-noise-ratio, and signal-to-noise-ratio were obtained in a total of 8 individual pulmonary arteries on each exam-including both central (450/1200=37.

Endomyocardial biopsy in clinical practice: the diagnostic yield and insights from a 5-year single-center experience.

Objectives: Endomyocardial biopsy (EMB) is a diagnostic tool for evaluating various cardiac conditions, such as myocarditis and myocardial infiltrative diseases. It is also the gold standard screening technique for detecting allograft rejection after heart transplantation. Despite advances in noninvasive imaging modalities for myocardial tissue characterization, EMB is still necessary for making a definitive diagnosis and determining treatment for certain conditions.

Does clinical decision support system promote expert consensus for appropriate imaging referrals? Chest-abdominal-pelvis CT as a case study.

Objectives: We assessed the appropriateness of chest-abdominal-pelvis (CAP) CT scan use in the Emergency Department (ED), based on expert physicians and the ESR iGuide, a clinical decision support system (CDSS).

Methods: A retrospective cross-study was conducted. We included 100 cases of CAP-CT scans ordered at the ED.

Endovascular brachytherapy for extensive right-heart and pulmonary artery sarcoma - a case report.

Purpose: Primary sarcoma of the heart is a rare but devastating tumor. Median survival with conventional treatment is 8-12 months. When resection is not feasible, patients often succumb to heart failure secondary to obstruction of blood flow, valve dysfunction, chamber compression or conduction abnormalities.

Impact of right ventricular volumes on the outcomes of TAVR: a volumetric analysis of preprocedural computed tomography.

Aims: The aim of this study was to assess the prognostic implications of increased right ventricle volume index (RVVI) using cardiac-gated computed tomography angiography (CCTA) data among patients undergoing transcatheter valve replacement (TAVR).

Methods And Results: CCTA of 323 patients who underwent TAVR at Stanford University Medical Center (CA, USA) and Tel Aviv Medical Center (Israel) between 2013 and 2016 was analysed by an automatic four-chamber volumetric software and grouped into quartiles according to RVVI. Higher one-year mortality rates were noted for the upper quartiles - 5%, 4.

Very Small Left Atrial Volume as a Marker for Mortality in Patients Undergoing Nongated Computed Tomography Pulmonary Angiography.

Objectives: To evaluate the association between very small left atria (VSLA) on nongated computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) and mortality in patients without pulmonary embolism (PE).

Methods: Patients who underwent nongated CTPA between 2011 and 2015 in order to rule out PE, and had an echocardiogram within 24 h of the CTPA, were retrospectively identified. The left atrial volume of nongated CTPA was calculated using automatic 4-chamber volumetric analysis software.

An association between volumes of the cardiac chambers and troponin levels in individuals submitted to cardiac coronary computed tomography.

Background: Previous echocardiographic studies have revealed an association between enlarged cardiac chamber volumes and elevated troponin concentrations. An automatic 4-chamber volumetric analysis tool was adopted to investigate this association in patients who underwent cardiac-gated computed tomography angiography (CCTA).

Hypothesis: We hypothesized that troponin concentration within the normal range correlates with cardiac chambers' volumes.

Left atrial appendage and pulmonary artery anatomic relationship by cardiac-gated computed tomography: Implications for late pulmonary artery perforation by left atrial appendage closure devices.

Background: Delayed pulmonary artery (PA) perforation and tamponade caused by implantable left atrial appendage (LAA) closure devices has been reported in patients with close proximity between these structures. The LAA and PA anatomic relationship (LAA-PAar) has not been analyzed systematically.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify LAA-PAar variants potentially susceptible to this complication using cardiac-gated computed tomography angiography.

Significance of reflux of contrast medium into the inferior vena cava on computerized tomographic pulmonary angiogram.

Reflux of contrast medium into the inferior vena cava (IVC) is often detected on computerized tomographic pulmonary angiogram. The potential clinical implications and associated diagnoses of this finding have not been established. We investigated the prevalence and significance of reflux of contrast medium into the IVC in a large cohort of patients evaluated for possible pulmonary embolism (PE) by computerized tomographic pulmonary angiography.

GO for integration of expression data.

The low reproducibility of differential expression of individual genes in microarray experiments has led to the suggestion that experiments be analyzed in terms of gene characteristics, such as GO categories or pathways, in order to enhance the robustness of the results. An implicit assumption of this approach is that the different experiments in effect randomly sample the genes participating in an active process. We argue that by the same rationale it is possible to perform this higher-level analysis on the aggregation of genes that are differentially-expressed in different expression-based studies, even if the experiments used different platforms.

Biological process linkage networks.

Background: The traditional approach to studying complex biological networks is based on the identification of interactions between internal components of signaling or metabolic pathways. By comparison, little is known about interactions between higher order biological systems, such as biological pathways and processes. We propose a methodology for gleaning patterns of interactions between biological processes by analyzing protein-protein interactions, transcriptional co-expression and genetic interactions.

Hierarchical tree snipping: clustering guided by prior knowledge.

Motivation: Hierarchical clustering is widely used to cluster genes into groups based on their expression similarity. This method first constructs a tree. Next this tree is partitioned into subtrees by cutting all edges at some level, thereby inducing a clustering.