A Prospective Randomized Multicenter Study on the Impact of [F]F-Choline PET/CT Versus Conventional Imaging for Staging Intermediate- to High-Risk Prostate Cancer.

This study aimed to compare the efficacy of [F]F-choline PET/CT with conventional imaging for staging and managing intermediate- to high-risk prostate cancer (PCa). The primary objective was to assess the ability of PET/CT with [F]F-choline to identify lymph node and systemic involvement during initial staging. Secondary objectives included evaluating the impact of [F]F-choline PET/CT on unnecessary local treatments and assessing the safety of [F]F-choline agents.

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma of the lip successfully treated with rhenium-188 brachytherapy.

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the second most common form of skin cancer. In most cases, non-invasive SCC has a good prognosis and is curable by surgical resection. Nevertheless, a small percentage of patients pose specific management problems due to the technical difficulty of maintaining function and aesthetics because of the size or location of the tumor.

Applications of Artificial Intelligence and Radiomics in Molecular Hybrid Imaging and Theragnostics for Neuro-Endocrine Neoplasms (NENs).

Nuclear medicine has acquired a crucial role in the management of patients with neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) by improving the accuracy of diagnosis and staging as well as their risk stratification and personalized therapies, including radioligand therapies (RLT). Artificial intelligence (AI) and radiomics can enable physicians to further improve the overall efficiency and accuracy of the use of these tools in both diagnostic and therapeutic settings by improving the prediction of the tumor grade, differential diagnosis from other malignancies, assessment of tumor behavior and aggressiveness, and prediction of treatment response. This systematic review aims to describe the state-of-the-art AI and radiomics applications in the molecular imaging of NENs.

Radiomics and artificial intelligence in prostate cancer: new tools for molecular hybrid imaging and theragnostics.

In prostate cancer (PCa), the use of new radiopharmaceuticals has improved the accuracy of diagnosis and staging, refined surveillance strategies, and introduced specific and personalized radioreceptor therapies. Nuclear medicine, therefore, holds great promise for improving the quality of life of PCa patients, through managing and processing a vast amount of molecular imaging data and beyond, using a multi-omics approach and improving patients' risk-stratification for tailored medicine. Artificial intelligence (AI) and radiomics may allow clinicians to improve the overall efficiency and accuracy of using these "big data" in both the diagnostic and theragnostic field: from technical aspects (such as semi-automatization of tumor segmentation, image reconstruction, and interpretation) to clinical outcomes, improving a deeper understanding of the molecular environment of PCa, refining personalized treatment strategies, and increasing the ability to predict the outcome.

Lifelong bilingualism and mechanisms of neuroprotection in Alzheimer dementia.

Lifelong bilingualism is associated with delayed dementia onset, suggesting a protective effect on the brain. Here, we aim to study the effects of lifelong bilingualism as a dichotomous and continuous phenomenon, on brain metabolism and connectivity in individuals with Alzheimer's dementia. Ninety-eight patients with Alzheimer's dementia (56 monolinguals; 42 bilinguals) from three centers entered the study.

Emerging Alternatives to Conventional Clinic Visits in the Era of COVID-19: Adoption of Telehealth at VCU Adult Cystic Fibrosis Center.

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disease in which consistent follow-up care is required to avoid a decline in pulmonary and nutritional health. It is believed that if a CF patient ceases treatment for 2 days, this can result in an exacerbation. One week of missed treatments can result in a hospitalization and 1 month of missed treatments can result in an earlier demise.

FDG PET/CT in the Staging of Lung Cancer.

Background: Accurate staging is crucial for the proper management of patients with nonsmall cell lung cancer, especially for choosing the best treatment strategy. Different Imaging methods are used to stage patients with non-small cell lung cancer. In the last two decades, FDG PET/CT is carried out in almost all the main Hospitals around the world in this setting.

Non-FDG PET/CT in Diagnostic Oncology: a pictorial review.

Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) is currently one of the main imaging modalities for cancer patients worldwide. Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT has earned its global recognition in the modern management of cancer patients and is rapidly becoming an important imaging modality for patients with cardiac, neurological, and infectious/inflammatory conditions.Despite its proven benefits, FDG has limitations in the assessment of several relevant tumours such as prostate cancer.

Performance of FDG-PET/CT in solitary pulmonary nodule based on pre-test likelihood of malignancy: results from the ITALIAN retrospective multicenter trial.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the performance of F-FDG-PET/CT in patients with solitary pulmonary nodule (SPN), stratifying the risk according to the likelihood of pulmonary malignancy.

Methods: FDG-PET/CT of 502 patients, stratified for pre-test cancer risk, were retrospectively analyzed. FDG uptake in SPN was assessed by a 4-point scoring system and semiquantitative analysis using the ratio between SUVmax in SPN and SUVmean in mediastinal blood pool (BP) and between SUVmax in SPN and SUVmean in liver (L).

Risk-related F-FDG PET/CT and new diagnostic strategies in patients with solitary pulmonary nodule: the ITALIAN multicenter trial.

Purpose: Diagnosis of solitary pulmonary nodule (SPN) is an important public health issue and F-FDG PET/CT has proven to be more effective than CT alone. Pre-test risk stratification and clinical presentation of SPN could affect the diagnostic strategy. A relevant issue is whether thoracic segmental (s)-PET/CT could be implemented in patients with SPN.

The impact of bilingualism on brain reserve and metabolic connectivity in Alzheimer's dementia.

Cognitive reserve (CR) prevents cognitive decline and delays neurodegeneration. Recent epidemiological evidence suggests that lifelong bilingualism may act as CR delaying the onset of dementia by ∼4.5 y.

Interaction of expanding abdominal aortic aneurysm with surrounding tissue: Retrospective CT image studies.

Objectives: Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) that rupture have a high mortality rate. Rupture occurs when local mechanical stress exceeds the local mechanical strength of an AAA, so stress profiles such as those from finite element analysis (FEA) are useful. The role and effect of surrounding tissues, like the vertebral column, which have not been extensively studied, are examined in this paper.

Computational Growth and Remodeling of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms Constrained by the Spine.

Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) evolve over time, and the vertebral column, which acts as an external barrier, affects their biomechanical properties. Mechanical interaction between AAAs and the spine is believed to alter the geometry, wall stress distribution, and blood flow, although the degree of this interaction may depend on AAAs specific configurations. In this study, we use a growth and remodeling (G&R) model, which is able to trace alterations of the geometry, thus allowing us to computationally investigate the effect of the spine for progression of the AAA.

Robust sub-micrometer displacement measurement using dual wavelength speckle correlation.

The unique characteristics of speckle correlation techniques including simple setup and fast, non-contact, high resolution measurement capability offer great potential for industrial applications. Robustness is an important requirement for industrial applications, which limits the application of many common techniques such as interferometric or photographic measurements, especially in mechanical workshops. This paper introduces an innovative technique for displacement measurement using speckle photography that is robust to disturbances, imaging errors, and does not require a large number of database patterns for calibration.

(68)Ga-DOTANOC PET/CT detection of multiple extracranial localizations in a patient with anaplastic meningioma.

We report herein a case of a 65-year-old male with intracranial recurrence of atypical meningioma initially treated with a combination of surgical resection and gamma knife radiotherapy. Afterwards, he underwent a (68)Ga-DOTANOC PET/CT scan in order to evaluate the feasibility of peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT). The scan identified multiple pulmonary, pleural and lymph node localizations.

18F-DOPA and 18F-FDG PET/CT, scintigraphic localization and radioguided surgery of recurrent medullary thyroid cancer: two case reports.

Medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) is considered as a rare thyroid cancer. Surgical approaches such as, total thyroidectomy and bilateral lymph node dissection, represent the first-line treatment. Persistent or increasing serum levels of tumor markers, such as CEA and calcitonin, imply residual or recurrent disease.

Value of fused 18F-Choline-PET/MRI to evaluate prostate cancer relapse in patients showing biochemical recurrence after EBRT: preliminary results.

Purpose: We compared the accuracy of (18)F-Choline-PET/MRI with that of multiparametric MRI (mMRI), (18)F-Choline-PET/CT, (18)F-Fluoride-PET/CT, and contrast-enhanced CT (CeCT) in detecting relapse in patients with suspected relapse of prostate cancer (PC) after external beam radiotherapy (EBRT). We assessed the association between standard uptake value (SUV) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC).

Methods: We evaluated 21 patients with biochemical relapse after EBRT.

Imported visceral leishmaniasis - unexpected bone marrow diagnosis in a patient with fever, pancytopenia, and splenomegaly.

Leishmaniasis is spreading from mediterranean countries to the north of Europe. The Alps are not an endemic region and there are only few reports of sporadic cases. We report the case of a 72 year old male who presented after a syncope with fever, cough and a sacral skin rash.