Spondylodiscitis and Its Mimickers: A Pictorial Review.

Spondylodiscitis is an infection of the intervertebral disc, the adjacent vertebral body, and/or contiguous structures due to the introduction of infectious agent, usually by the hematogenous route. Imaging is crucial in assessing bacterial and tubercular spondylodiscitis, as well as their associated complications. Magnetic resonance imaging in particular can clearly depict osteo-structural changes in the vertebral body and the associated disc, as well as any soft-tissue complications, such as paravertebral abscess and/or epidural abscess, improving disease characterization and helping to recognize the agent involved.

Transarterial Radioembolization Can Downstage Intermediate and Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma to Liver Transplantation.

Background: Transarterial radioembolization (TARE) is an effective treatment to control tumor growth and improve survival in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The role of TARE in downstaging patients to liver transplantation (LT) is unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the downstaging efficacy of TARE for intermediate and advanced HCC.

Qualitative and semi-quantitative ultrasound assessment in delta and Omicron Covid-19 patients: data from high volume reference center.

Objective: to evaluate the efficacy of US, both qualitatively and semi-quantitatively, in the selection of treatment for the Covid-19 patient, using patient triage as the gold standard.

Methods: Patients admitted to the Covid-19 clinic to be treated with monoclonal antibodies (mAb) or retroviral treatment and undergoing lung ultrasound (US) were selected from the radiological data set between December 2021 and May 2022 according to the following inclusion criteria: patients with proven Omicron variant and Delta Covid-19 infection; patients with known Covid-19 vaccination with at least two doses. Lung US (LUS) was performed by experienced radiologists.

Imaging Severity COVID-19 Assessment in Vaccinated and Unvaccinated Patients: Comparison of the Different Variants in a High Volume Italian Reference Center.

Purpose: To analyze the vaccine effect by comparing five groups: unvaccinated patients with Alpha variant, unvaccinated patients with Delta variant, vaccinated patients with Delta variant, unvaccinated patients with Omicron variant, and vaccinated patients with Omicron variant, assessing the “gravity” of COVID-19 pulmonary involvement, based on CT findings in critically ill patients admitted to Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Methods: Patients were selected by ICU database considering the period from December 2021 to 23 March 2022, according to the following inclusion criteria: patients with proven Omicron variant COVID-19 infection with known COVID-19 vaccination with at least two doses and with chest Computed Tomography (CT) study during ICU hospitalization. Wee also evaluated the ICU database considering the period from March 2020 to December 2021, to select unvaccinated consecutive patients with Alpha variant, subjected to CT study, consecutive unvaccinated and vaccinated patients with Delta variant, subjected to CT study, and, consecutive unvaccinated patients with Omicron variant, subjected to CT study.

Quantitative Analysis of Residual COVID-19 Lung CT Features: Consistency among Two Commercial Software.

Objective: To investigate two commercial software and their efficacy in the assessment of chest CT sequelae in patients affected by COVID-19 pneumonia, comparing the consistency of tools.

Materials And Methods: Included in the study group were 120 COVID-19 patients (56 women and 104 men; 61 years of median age; range: 21-93 years) who underwent chest CT examinations at discharge between 5 March 2020 and 15 March 2021 and again at a follow-up time (3 months; range 30-237 days). A qualitative assessment by expert radiologists in the infectious disease field (experience of at least 5 years) was performed, and a quantitative evaluation using thoracic VCAR software (GE Healthcare, Chicago, Illinois, United States) and a pneumonia module of ANKE ASG-340 CT workstation (HTS Med & Anke, Naples, Italy) was performed.

Management of Spontaneous Bleeding in COVID-19 Inpatients: Is Embolization Always Needed?

Background: critically ill patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection present a hypercoagulable condition. Anticoagulant therapy is currently recommended to reduce thrombotic risk, leading to potentially severe complications like spontaneous bleeding (SB). Percutaneous transcatheter arterial embolization (PTAE) can be life-saving in critical patients, in addition to medical therapy.

An explainable AI system for automated COVID-19 assessment and lesion categorization from CT-scans.

COVID-19 infection caused by SARS-CoV-2 pathogen has been a catastrophic pandemic outbreak all over the world, with exponential increasing of confirmed cases and, unfortunately, deaths. In this work we propose an AI-powered pipeline, based on the deep-learning paradigm, for automated COVID-19 detection and lesion categorization from CT scans. We first propose a new segmentation module aimed at automatically identifying lung parenchyma and lobes.

Role of testosterone in SARS-CoV-2 infection: A key pathogenic factor and a biomarker for severe pneumonia.

Objectives: To investigate the association between sex hormones and the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Furthermore, associations between sex hormones and systemic inflammation markers, viral shedding and length of hospital stay were studied.

Design And Methods: This case-control study included a total of 48 male patients with COVID-19 admitted to an Italian reference hospital.

Patient Access to an Online Portal for Outpatient Radiological Images and Reports: Two Years' Experience.

To assess the incidence of outpatient examinations delivered through a web portal in the Latium Region in 2 years and compare socio-demographic characteristics of these users compared to the total of examinations performed. All radiological exams (including MRI, X-ray and CT) performed from March 2017 to February 2019 were retrospectively analysed. For each exam, anonymized data of users who attended the exam were extracted and their characteristics were compared according to digital access to the reports.

Image quality and radiation dose reduction in chest CT in pulmonary infection.

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of dose reduction with iterative reconstruction (IR) on image quality of chest CT scan comparing two protocols.

Materials And Methods: Fifty-nine patients were enrolled. The two CT protocols were applied using Iterative Reconstruction (ASIR™) 40% but different noise indexes, recording dose-length product (DLP) and volume computed tomography dose index (CTDI).

Central Nervous System involvement in tuberculosis: An MRI study considering differences between patients with and without Human Immunodeficiency Virus 1 infection.

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is largely used in the diagnosis of central nervous system involvement of tuberculosis (CNSTB), yet there is no MRI comparison study between HIV+ and HIV- patients with CNSTB. The aim of the present study was to identify MRI differences in CNSTB between HIV+ and HIV- patients and possibly find early characteristics that could raise the suspect of this disease.

Methods: We included all patients admitted in our institution between 2011 and 2018 with confirmed diagnosis of CNSTB, and MRI performed in the first week.