Epicardial and liver fat implications in albuminuria: a retrospective study.

Background: Albuminuria is considered an early and sensitive marker of kidney dysfunction, but also an independent cardiovascular risk factor. Considering the possible relationship among metabolic liver disease, cardiovascular disease and chronic kidney disease, we aimed to evaluate the risk of developing albuminuria regarding the presence of epicardial adipose tissue and the steatotic liver disease status.

Methods: A retrospective long-term longitudinal study including 181 patients was carried out.

Lung Cancer Screening in People With COPD: The Pamplona-IELCAP Experience.

Introduction: The Global Initiative for Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) recommends lung cancer screening for patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), but data is lacking regarding results of screening in this high-risk population. The main goal of the present work is to explore if lung cancer screening with Low Dose Chest Tomography (LDCT) in people with COPD, allows lung cancer (LC) diagnosis in early stages with survival compatible with curative state.

Methods: This is a post hoc exploratory analysis.

Comparison of Myocardial Blood Flow Quantification Models for Double ECG Gating Arterial Spin Labeling MRI: Reproducibility Assessment.

Background: Arterial spin labeling (ASL) allows non-invasive quantification of myocardial blood flow (MBF). Double-ECG gating (DG) ASL is more robust to heart rate variability than single-ECG gating (SG), but its reproducibility requires further investigation. Moreover, the existence of multiple quantification models hinders its application.

Impact of Applying the Global Lung Initiative Criteria for Airway Obstruction in GOLD Defined COPD Cohorts: The BODE and CHAIN Experience.

Introduction: The Global Lung Function Initiative (GLI) has proposed new criteria for airflow limitation (AL) and recommends using these to interpret spirometry. The objective of this study was to explore the impact of the application of the AL GLI criteria in two well characterized GOLD-defined COPD cohorts.

Methods: COPD patients from the BODE (n=360) and the COPD History Assessment In SpaiN (CHAIN) cohorts (n=722) were enrolled and followed.

Safety, feasibility, and hemodynamic response of regadenoson for stress perfusion CMR.

Owing to its pharmacodynamics and posology, the use of regadenoson for stress cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) has potential advantages over other vasodilators. We sought to evaluate the safety, hemodynamic response and diagnostic performance of regadenoson stress-CMR in routine clinical practice. All regadenoson stress-CMR examinations performed between May 2017 and July 2020 at our institution were retrospectively reviewed.

Cardiometabolic characterization in metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease.

Background: To better understand the patient's heterogeneity in fatty liver disease (FLD), metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) was proposed by international experts as a new nomenclature for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We aimed to evaluate the cardiovascular risk, assessed through coronary artery calcium (CAC) and epicardial adipose tissue (EAT), of patients without FLD and patients with FLD and its different subtypes.

Methods: Cross sectional study of 370 patients.

Assessment of Splenic Switch-Off With Arterial Spin Labeling in Adenosine Perfusion Cardiac MRI.

Background: In patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD), myocardial perfusion is assessed under rest and pharmacological stress to identify ischemia. Splenic switch-off, defined as the stress to rest splenic perfusion attenuation in response to adenosine, has been proposed as an indicator of stress adequacy. Its occurrence has been previously assessed in first-pass perfusion images, but the use of noncontrast techniques would be highly beneficial.

Transient elastography and serum markers of liver fibrosis associate with epicardial adipose tissue and coronary artery calcium in NAFLD.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with cardiovascular disease morbimortality. However, it is not clear if NAFLD staging may help identify early or subclinical markers of cardiovascular disease. We aimed to evaluate the association of liver stiffness and serum markers of liver fibrosis with epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) and coronary artery calcium (CAC) in an observational cross-sectional study of 49 NAFLD patients that were seen at Clínica Universidad de Navarra (Spain) between 2009 and 2019.

Psoas Muscle Density Evaluated by Chest CT and Long-Term Mortality in COPD Patients.

Rationale: Poor muscle quality in COPD patients relates to exercise intolerance and mortality. Muscle quality can be estimated on computed tomography (CT) by estimating psoas density (PsD). We tested the hypothesis that PsD is lower in COPD patients than in controls and relates to all-cause mortality.

Clinical and Prognostic Impact of Low Diffusing Capacity for Carbon Monoxide Values in Patients With Global Initiative for Obstructive Lung Disease I COPD.

Background: The Global Initiative for Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) does not promote diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (Dlco) values in the evaluation of COPD. In GOLD spirometric stage I COPD patients, the clinical and prognostic impact of a low Dlco has not been explored.

Research Question: Could a Dlco threshold help define an increased risk of death and a different clinical presentation in these patients?

Study Design And Methods: GOLD stage I COPD patients (n = 360) were enrolled and followed over 109 ± 50 months.

The joint use of Tc-MAA-SPECT/CT and cone-beam CT optimizes radioembolization planning.

Purpose: To determine which imaging method used during radioembolization (RE) work-up: contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT), Tc-MAA-SPECT/CT or cone beam-CT (CBCT), more accurately predicts the final target volume (TgV) as well as the influence that each modality has in the dosimetric calculation.

Methods: TgVs from Tc-MAA-SPECT/CT, CECT and CBCT were consecutively obtained in 24 patients treated with RE and compared with Y PET/CT TgV. Using the TgVs estimated by each imaging modality and a fictitious activity of 1 GBq, the corresponding absorbed doses by tumor and non-tumoral parenchyma were calculated for each patient.

Long-Term Prognostic Value of Coronary CTA in Orthotopic Heart Transplant Recipients.

This study aimed to evaluate the long-term prognostic value of coronary CTA (CCTA) in heart transplant recipients. The records of 114 patients who had undergone a heart transplant (mean age, 61.7 ± 11.

A proof-of-concept study of the in-vivo validation of a computational fluid dynamics model of personalized radioembolization.

Radioembolization (RE) with yttrium-90 (Y) microspheres, a transcatheter intraarterial therapy for patients with liver cancer, can be modeled computationally. The purpose of this work was to correlate the results obtained with this methodology using in vivo data, so that this computational tool could be used for the optimization of the RE procedure. The hepatic artery three-dimensional (3D) hemodynamics and microsphere distribution during RE were modeled for six Y-loaded microsphere infusions in three patients with hepatocellular carcinoma using a commercially available computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software package.

Nocturnal Hypoxemia and CT Determined Pulmonary Artery Enlargement in Smokers.

Background: Pulmonary artery enlargement (PAE) detected using chest computed tomography (CT) is associated with poor outcomes in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It is unknown whether nocturnal hypoxemia occurring in smokers, with or without COPD, obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) or their overlap, may be associated with PAE assessed by chest CT.

Methods: We analysed data from two prospective cohort studies that enrolled 284 smokers in lung cancer screening programs and completing baseline home sleep studies and chest CT scans.