Influential factors on the echogenicity of peripheral venous catheters: Insights from an experimental phantom study.

Introduction: Ultrasound-guided placement of peripheral venous catheters requires appropriate equipment. Among the devices used, peripheral venous catheters have different structure and properties. This study aimed to define the impact of these different factors on the echogenicity of peripheral venous catheters.

Role of aldosterone in mid- and long-term left ventricular remodelling after acute myocardial infarction: The REMI study.

Aims: Whether aldosterone levels after myocardial infarction (MI) are associated with mid- and long-term left ventricular (LV) remodelling in the era of systematic use of renin-angiotensin system inhibitors is uncertain. We prospectively investigated the relationship between aldosterone levels and mid- and long-term LV remodelling in patients with acute MI.

Methods And Results: Plasma aldosterone was measured in 119 patients successfully treated by primary percutaneous coronary angioplasty for a first acute ST-elevation MI (STEMI) 2-4 days after the acute event.

Impact of Pretreatment Ischemic Location on Functional Outcome after Thrombectomy.

Pretreatment ischemic location may be an important determinant for functional outcome prediction in acute ischemic stroke. In total, 143 anterior circulation ischemic stroke patients in the THRACE study were included. Ischemic lesions were semi-automatically segmented on pretreatment diffusion-weighted imaging and registered on brain atlases.

Arterial and Cardiac Remodeling Associated With Extra Weight Gain in an Isolated Abdominal Obesity Cohort.

This study aims to assess the changes in cardiovascular remodeling attributable to bodyweight gain in a middle-aged abdominal obesity cohort. A remodeling worsening might explain the increase in cardiovascular risk associated with a dynamic of weight gain. Seventy-five middle-aged subjects (56 ± 5 years, 38 women) with abdominal obesity and no known cardiovascular disease underwent MRI-based examinations at baseline and at a 6.

Assessing the neuroanatomy knowledge and spatial ability of radiotherapy technologist undergraduates using an interactive volumetric simulation tool-the RadioLOG project.

Objective: To assess the use of a volumetric image display simulation tool (VDST) for the evaluation of applied radiological neuroanatomy knowledge and spatial understanding of radiotherapy technologist (RTT) undergraduates.

Methods: Ninety-two third-year RTT students from three French RTT schools took an examination using software that allows visualization of multiple volumetric image series. To serve as a reference, 77 first- and second-year undergraduates, as well as ten senior neuroradiologists, took the same examination.

Plasma Galectin-3 predicts deleterious vascular dysfunction affecting post-myocardial infarction patients: An explanatory study.

Objectives: In a previous analysis of a post-myocardial infarction (MI) cohort, abnormally high systemic vascular resistances (SVR) were shown to be frequently revealed by MRI during the healing period, independently of MI severity, giving evidence of vascular dysfunction and limiting further recovery of cardiac function. The present ancillary and exploratory analysis of the same cohort was aimed at characterizing those patients suffering from high SVR remotely from MI with a large a panel of cardiovascular MRI parameters and blood biomarkers.

Methods: MRI and blood sampling were performed 2-4 days after a reperfused MI and 6 months thereafter in 121 patients.

Longer Duration of Hypertension and MRI Microvascular Brain Alterations Are Associated with Lower Hippocampal Volumes in Older Individuals with Hypertension.

Background: Hippocampal atrophy is associated with cognitive decline. Determining the clinical features associated with hippocampal volume (HV)/atrophy may help in tailoring preventive strategies.

Objective: This study was aimed to investigate the association between HV (at visit 2) and vascular status (both at visit 1 and visit 2) in a cohort of individuals aged 60+ with hypertension and without overt cognitive impairment at visit 1 (visit 1 and visit 2 were separated by approximately 8 years).

Physiological Whole-Brain Distribution of [F]FDOPA Uptake Index in Relation to Age and Gender: Results from a Voxel-Based Semi-quantitative Analysis.

Purpose: 6-[F]fluoro-L-DOPA ([F]FDOPA), a positron emission tomography (PET) amino-acid tracer of brain decarboxylase activity, is used to assess the brain dopaminergic system. Using a voxel-based semi-quantitative analysis, this study aimed to determine whether a current brain uptake index of [F]FDOPA, expressed relative to the occipital background level, varies according to age and gender.

Procedures: One hundred and seventy-seven subjects were retrospectively included.

Effect of general anaesthesia on functional outcome in patients with anterior circulation ischaemic stroke having endovascular thrombectomy versus standard care: a meta-analysis of individual patient data.

Background: General anaesthesia (GA) during endovascular thrombectomy has been associated with worse patient outcomes in observational studies compared with patients treated without GA. We assessed functional outcome in ischaemic stroke patients with large vessel anterior circulation occlusion undergoing endovascular thrombectomy under GA, versus thrombectomy not under GA (with or without sedation) versus standard care (ie, no thrombectomy), stratified by the use of GA versus standard care.

Methods: For this meta-analysis, patient-level data were pooled from all patients included in randomised trials in PuMed published between Jan 1, 2010, and May 31, 2017, that compared endovascular thrombectomy predominantly done with stent retrievers with standard care in anterior circulation ischaemic stroke patients (HERMES Collaboration).

Low baseline and subsequent higher aortic abdominal aneurysm FDG uptake are associated with poor sac shrinkage post endovascular repair.

Purpose: The growth phases of medically treated abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) are frequently associated with an F-fluorodesoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) pattern involving low baseline and subsequent higher FDG uptake. However, the FDG-PET patterns associated with the endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) of larger AAA are presently unknown. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between serial AAA FDG uptake measurements, obtained before EVAR and 1 and 6 months post-intervention and subsequent sac shrinkage at 6 months, a well-recognized indicator of successful repair.

Development of a biometric method to estimate age on hand radiographs.

Age estimation of living individuals aged less than 13, 18 or 21 years, which are some relevant legal ages in most European countries, is currently problematic in the forensic context. Thus, numerous methods are available for legal authorities, although their efficiency can be discussed. For those reasons, we aimed to propose a new method, based on the biometric analysis of hand bones.

Cardiac remodeling following reperfused acute myocardial infarction is linked to the concomitant evolution of vascular function as assessed by cardiovascular magnetic resonance.

Background: Left ventricular (LV) remodeling following acute myocardial infarction (MI) is difficult to predict at an individual level although a possible interfering role of vascular function has yet to be considered to date. This study aimed to determine the extent to which this LV remodeling is influenced by the concomitant evolution of vascular function and LV loading conditions, as assessed by phase-contrast Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (CMR) of the ascending aorta.

Methods: CMR was performed in 121 patients, 2-4 days after reperfusion of a first ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction and 6 months thereafter.

Temporal deformation pattern in acute and late phases of ST-elevation myocardial infarction: incremental value of longitudinal post-systolic strain to assess myocardial viability.

Background: Identification of transmural extent and degree of non-viability after ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is clinically important. The objective of the present study was to assess the regional mechanics and temporal deformation patterns using speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) in acute and later phases of STEMI to predict myocardial damage in these patients.

Methods And Results: Ninety-eight patients with first STEMI underwent both echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in acute phase and at 6 months follow-up with 2D STE-derived measurements of peak longitudinal strain (PLS), Pre-STretch index (PST) and post-systolic deformation index (PSI).

Comprehensive monitoring of cardiac remodeling with aortic stroke volume values provided by a phase-contrast MRI sequence.

Objectives: Blood pressure (BP) and its changes with antihypertensive therapy are key parameters when monitoring left ventricular (LV) remodeling. This dual cross-sectional and longitudinal MRI study aimed to determine whether this monitoring is enhanced by aortic stroke volume (SV) values provided by a phase-contrast sequence.

Methods: The study involved 334 MRI examinations from 247 study participants who had no significant cardiac disease (18-85 years old, 40% with hypertension) and among whom 48 had a 2-4-year MRI follow-up.

Evidence of Cyclic Changes in the Metabolism of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms During Growth Phases: ¹⁸F-FDG PET Sequential Observational Study.

Unlabelled: The rates of growth of medically treated abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) are difficult to determine, and relationships with parietal inflammation and with metabolic parameters from (18)F-FDG PET remain unclear. This (18)F-FDG PET sequential observational study was aimed at analyzing the metabolic changes accompanying the growth phases of medically treated AAA.

Methods: Thirty-nine patients (37 men; age [mean ± SD], 71 ± 12 y) exhibiting small and medically treated AAA (maximal diameter, 46 ± 3 mm) underwent (18)F-FDG PET and CT angiography at baseline and 9 mo later.

Chronic urinary obstruction: evaluation of dynamic contrast-enhanced MR urography for measurement of split renal function.

Purpose: To evaluate if measurement of split renal function ( SRF split renal function ) with dynamic contrast material-enhanced ( DCE dynamic contrast enhanced ) magnetic resonance (MR) urography is equivalent to that with renal scintigraphy ( RS renal scintigraphy ) in patients suspected of having chronic urinary obstruction.

Materials And Methods: The study protocol was approved by the institutional ethics committee of the coordinating center on behalf of all participating centers. Informed consent was obtained from all adult patients or both parents of children.

Assessment of right ventricle volumes and function by cardiac MRI: quantification of the regional and global interobserver variability.

Reproducibility of the manual assessment of right ventricle volumes by short-axis cine-MRI remains low and is often attributed to the difficulty in separating the right atrium from the ventricle. This study was designed to evaluate the regional interobserver variability of the right ventricle volume assessment to identify segmentation zones with the highest interobserver variability. Short-axis views of 90 right ventricles (30 hypertrophic, 30 dilated, and 30 normal) were acquired with 2D steady-state free precession sequences at 1.

CT image quality improvement using Adaptive Iterative Dose Reduction with wide-volume acquisition on 320-detector CT.

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of Adaptive Iterative Dose Reduction (AIDR) on image quality and radiation dose in phantom and patient studies.

Methods: A phantom was examined in volumetric mode on a 320-detector CT at different tube currents from 25 to 550 mAs. CT images were reconstructed with AIDR and with Filtered Back Projection (FBP) reconstruction algorithm.