When to perform preoperative chest computed tomography for renal cancer staging.

Objectives: To provide objective criteria for preoperative staging chest computed tomography (CT) in patients diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) because, in the absence of established indications, the decision for preoperative chest CT remains subjective.

Patients And Methods: A total of 1 946 patients undergoing surgical treatment of RCC, whose data were collected in a prospective institutional database, were assessed. The outcome of the study was presence of pulmonary metastases at staging chest CT.

Preoperative sarcopenia determinants in pancreatic cancer patients.

Background & Aims: Recent studies report that muscle depletion can impair short and long-term results after abdominal surgery. The aim of the present study is to quantify sarcopenia rate in patients undergoing pancreatic resection for cancer and to identify possible determinants of muscle waste.

Methods: Total abdominal muscle area (TAMA) and visceral fat area (VFA) were measured by preoperative CT scan imaging at the level of the third lumbar vertebra in 273 patients undergoing pancreas resection for cancer.

Prospective comparison of MR with diffusion-weighted imaging, endoscopic ultrasound, MDCT and positron emission tomography-CT in the pre-operative staging of oesophageal cancer: results from a pilot study.

Objective: To compare the diagnostic performance of MR and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), multidetector CT, endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) and F-FDG (fluorine-18 fludeoxyglucose) positron emission tomography CT (PET-CT) in the pre-operative locoregional staging of oesophageal cancer.

Methods: 18 patients with oesophageal or Siewert I tumour (9 directly treated with surgery and 9 addressed to chemo-/radiotherapy before) underwent 1.5-T MR and DWI, 64-channel multidetector CT, EUS and PET-CT before (n = 18) and also after neoadjuvant treatment (n = 9).

Chemoembolization with drug eluting beads preloaded with irinotecan (DEBIRI) vs doxorubicin (DEBDOX) as a second line treatment for liver metastases from cholangiocarcinoma: a preliminary study.

Objective: The aim of our preliminary study was to compare the efficacy of drug-eluting beads preloaded with irinotecan (DEBIRI) vs drug-eluting beads preloaded with doxorubicin (DEBDOX) as second-line treatment of unresectable liver metastases from cholangiocarcinoma (CCA).

Methods: In 2013, 10 patients affected by multiple liver metastases from CCA, resistant to the first-line chemotherapy regimen, were enrolled: 5 patients were submitted to lobar/segmental transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) with DEBIRI (100-mg irinotecan/1 vial) and 5 patients with DEBDOX (50-mg doxorubicin/1 vial), performed every 3 weeks. Patients treated with DEBIRI received antipain premedication consisting of 30-mg of morphine and 3-4 ml of intra-arterial lidocaine.

Gastric cancer: texture analysis from multidetector computed tomography as a potential preoperative prognostic biomarker.

Objectives: To investigate the association between preoperative texture analysis from multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) and overall survival in patients with gastric cancer.

Methods: Institutional review board approval and informed consent were obtained. Fifty-six patients with biopsy-proved gastric cancer were examined by MDCT and treated with surgery.

Chromogranin-A production and fragmentation in patients with Takayasu arteritis.

Background: Chromogranin-A (CgA) is a secretory protein processed into peptides that regulate angiogenesis and vascular cells activation, migration and proliferation. These processes may influence arterial inflammation and remodelling in Takayasu arteritis (TA).

Methods: Plasma levels of full-length CgA (CgA439), CgA fragments lacking the C-terminal region (CgA-FRs) and the N-terminal fragment, CgA1-76 (vasostatin-1, VS-1) were analysed in 42 patients with TA and 20 healthy age-matched controls.

Gadobutrol in Renally Impaired Patients: Results of the GRIP Study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the potential risk of gadobutrol-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with moderate to severe renal impairment for the development of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF).

Materials And Methods: We performed a prospective, international, multicenter, open-label study in 55 centers. Patients with moderate to severe renal impairment scheduled for any gadobutrol-enhanced MRI were included.

Single-centre experience of extending indications for percutaneous intraportal islet autotransplantation (PIPIAT) after pancreatic surgery to prevent diabetes: feasibility, radiological aspects, complications and clinical outcome.

Objective: Islet allotransplantation is a less invasive alternative to surgical pancreas transplantation for Type 1 diabetes, while percutaneous intraportal islet autotransplantation (PIPIAT) is usually performed after pancreatic surgery to prevent diabetes. Our aim was to assess the feasibility, radiological aspects, complications and clinical outcome of PIPIAT following pancreatic surgery for not only chronic pancreatitis but also benign and malignant nodules.

Methods: From 2008 to 2012, 41 patients were enrolled for PIPIAT 12-48 h after pancreatic surgery (extended pancreatic surgery for chronic pancreatitis and benign/malignant neoplasms).

Hepatic artery aneurysms: open and endovascular repair.

Background: During the last decade endovascular treatment has emerged as an important alternative to open surgical repair because of its reduced invasiveness. Results of both modalities are evaluated in this study.

Methods: A retrospective review of 26 patients (18 males and 8 females; mean age: 62±9 years) who underwent surgical open repair of hepatic artery aneurysm (HAA) between 1998 and 2015 was performed.

Apparent diffusion coefficient in the evaluation of side-specific extracapsular extension in prostate cancer: Development and external validation of a nomogram of clinical use.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to develop a nomogram of clinical utility based on apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) from diffusion-weighted imaging to predict extracapsular extension (ECE), and to validate externally its clinical utility.

Materials And Methods: A total of 101 men (70 for the creation and 31 for external validation of the nomogram) underwent 1.5T multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging followed by radical prostatectomy at 2 different institutions.

Cardiac CT With Delayed Enhancement in the Characterization of Ventricular Tachycardia Structural Substrate: Relationship Between CT-Segmented Scar and Electro-Anatomic Mapping.

Objectives: This study sought to compare myocardial scars depicted by computed tomography (CT) with electrical features from electro-anatomic mapping (EAM), assessing the potential role of CT integration in ventricular tachycardia (VT) and radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) procedures.

Background: Imaging-based characterization of VT myocardial substrate is required to plan EAM and, potentially, to guide RFCA.

Methods: Forty-two consecutive patients, 35 of whom had implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, all referred for VT RFCA, underwent pre-procedural CT including an angiographic and a 10-min delayed-enhancement scan.

Primary Cardiac Lymphoma in an Immunocompetent 71-Year-Old Man.

Isolated cardiac lymphomas are very rare, especially in immunocompetent patients. As a consequence, little is known about the best therapeutic management and about patients' outcomes in these cases. Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is the most frequent subtype; anthracycline-based chemotherapy has been the most successful treatment.

Orbital color Doppler ultrasound as noninvasive tool in the diagnosis of anterior-draining carotid-cavernous fistula.

Purpose: To investigate the role of orbital color Doppler ultrasound (OCDUS) in the diagnosis of carotid-cavernous fistula (CCF) with anterior drainage and particularly whether a negative OCDUS could avoid an invasive diagnostic cerebral angiography (DSA).

Materials And Methods: Twenty-two consecutive patients with ophthalmic signs suspecting CCF were submitted to ophthalmologic examination, OCDUS and DSA. CCF diagnosis with OCDUS was based on the finding of a reversed, arterialized and low-resistive-index (RI <0.

Lights and shadows of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in acute myocarditis.

Unlabelled: Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) is considered a primary tool for the diagnosis of acute myocarditis, due to its unique potential for non-invasive identification of the various hallmarks of the inflammatory response, with relevant impact on patient management and prognosis. Nonetheless, a marked variation in sensitivity and negative predictive value has been reported in the literature, reflecting the intrinsic drawbacks of current diagnostic criteria, which are based mainly on the use of conventional CMR pulse sequences. As a consequence, a negative exam cannot reliably exclude the diagnosis, especially in patients who do not present an infarct-like onset of disease.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging Allows the Evaluation of Tissue Damage and Regeneration in a Mouse Model of Critical Limb Ischemia.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides non-invasive, repetitive measures in the same individual, allowing the study of a physio-pathological event over time. In this study, we tested the performance of 7 Tesla multi-parametric MRI to monitor the dynamic changes of mouse skeletal muscle injury and regeneration upon acute ischemia induced by femoral artery dissection. T2-mapping (T2 relaxation time), diffusion-tensor imaging (Fractional Anisotropy) and perfusion by Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced MRI (K-trans) were measured and imaging results were correlated with histological morphometric analysis in both Gastrocnemius and Tibialis anterior muscles.

Prognostic utility of diffusion-weighted MRI in oesophageal cancer: is apparent diffusion coefficient a potential marker of tumour aggressiveness?

Purpose: To investigate the role of the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) as a potential prognostic biomarker in the evaluation of the aggressiveness of oesophageal cancer.

Materials And Methods: Between November 2009 and December 2013, 43 patients with evidence of oesophageal or oesophago-gastric junction cancer were referred to our institution and prospectively entered in our database. The final study population consisted of 23 patients (18 men; 5 women; mean age, 64.

New Insights in Abdominal Pain in Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria (PNH): A MRI Study.

Introduction: Abdominal pain in PNH has never been investigated by in-vivo imaging studies. With MRI, we aimed to assess mesenteric vessels flow and small bowel wall perfusion to investigate the ischemic origin of abdominal pain.

Materials And Methods: Six PNH patients with (AP) and six without (NOP) abdominal pain underwent MRI.

Prognostic Role of Diffusion-weighted MR Imaging for Resectable Gastric Cancer.

Purpose: To prospectively investigate the role of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) calculated from diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging as a potential prognostic biomarker in the evaluation of the aggressiveness of gastric cancer.

Materials And Methods: This prospective study had institutional review board approval. Informed consent was obtained from all patients.

Hepatic steatosis after islet transplantation: Can ultrasound predict the clinical outcome? A longitudinal study in 108 patients.

Percutaneous intra-portal islet transplantation (PIPIT) is a less invasive, safer, and repeatable therapeutic option for brittle type 1 diabetes, compared to surgical pancreas transplantation. Hepatic steatosis is a consequence of the islet engraftment but it is curiously present in a limited number of patients and its meaning is controversial. The aims of this study were to assess hepatic steatosis at ultrasound (US) after PIPIT investigating its relationship with graft function and its role in predicting the clinical outcome.

Apparent diffusion coefficient value and ratio as noninvasive potential biomarkers to predict prostate cancer grading: comparison with prostate biopsy and radical prostatectomy specimen.

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study is to test the association between diffusion-weighted MRI and prostate cancer Gleason score at both biopsy and final pathologic analysis after radical prostatectomy. SUBJECTS AND METHODS.

Preliminary results of contrast-enhanced sonography in the evaluation of the response of uveal melanoma to gamma-knife radiosurgery.

Purpose: Our aim was to prospectively analyze the use of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in the quantitative assessment of the response of uveal melanoma (UM) to gamma-knife radiosurgery (GKR), investigating whether changes in tumor vascularization precede thickness reduction, which on average occurs at 12 months after GKR.

Methods: Ten patients with UM treated with GKR underwent sonography (US) and CEUS at baseline and at 3, 6, and 12 months after GKR. The transverse diameter, thickness, and quantitative parameters of the UM (ie, area under the curve in the wash-in phase, wash-in perfusion index, peak enhancement, and wash-in rate) were calculated by using dedicated software and compared by using Wilcoxon's signed-rank test.

Preoperative locoregional staging of gastric cancer: is there a place for magnetic resonance imaging? Prospective comparison with EUS and multidetector computed tomography.

Background: The aim of this study was to prospectively compare the diagnostic performance of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) and endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) in the preoperative locoregional staging of gastric cancer.

Methods: This study had Institutional Review Board approval, and informed consent was obtained from all patients. Fifty-two patients with biopsy-proven gastric cancer underwent preoperative 1.

Systemic pentraxin-3 levels reflect vascular enhancement and progression in Takayasu arteritis.

Introduction: Progression of arterial involvement is often observed in patients with Takayasu arteritis (TA) thought to be in remission. This reflects the failure of currently used biomarkers and activity criteria to detect smouldering inflammation occurring within arterial wall. Pentraxin-3 (PTX3) is a soluble pattern recognition receptor produced at sites of inflammation and could reveal systemic as well as localized inflammatory processes.