A reporting and analysis framework for structured evaluation of COVID-19 clinical and imaging data.

The COVID-19 pandemic has worldwide individual and socioeconomic consequences. Chest computed tomography has been found to support diagnostics and disease monitoring. A standardized approach to generate, collect, analyze, and share clinical and imaging information in the highest quality possible is urgently needed.

Pancreatic Atrophy in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients Receiving Long-Term Treatment with Sorafenib.

Objective: To date, sorafenib is the only approved systemic therapy for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Pancreatic atrophy has recently been reported in 2 patients as a novel side effect after long-term sorafenib treatment.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed clinical and radiological data of patients with advanced HCC with long-term treatment of sorafenib (median 279 days, range 153-826 days).

Histogram analysis of iodine maps from dual energy computed tomography for monitoring targeted therapy of melanoma patients.

Aim: Iodine quantification with dual energy computed tomography (DECT) enables quantitative assessment of contrast medium uptake. Our purpose was to investigate patterns of enhancement under BRAF inhibitor therapy by performing histogram analyses (HAs) of iodine maps.

Materials & Methods: A total of 11 stage IV melanoma patients (32 metastases) underwent DECT at baseline and at least one follow up.

Radiological monitoring of the treatment of solid tumors in practice.

Purpose: Thanks to advances in cancer therapy, the diagnosis of "incurable cancer" is increasingly able to be changed to a chronic disease that is manageable over long periods, resulting in a change in the clinical management of cancer patients with solid tumors. New parameters are needed to measure the success of targeted therapy in clinical trials.

Materials And Methods: Review article on the basis of selective literature research.

The role of perfusion effects in monitoring of chemoradiotherapy of rectal carcinoma using diffusion-weighted imaging.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to characterize and understand the therapy-induced changes in diffusion parameters in rectal carcinoma under chemoradiotherapy (CRT). The current literature shows conflicting results in this regard. We applied the intravoxel incoherent motion model, which allows for the differentiation between diffusion (D) and perfusion (f) effects, to further elucidate potential underlying causes for these divergent reports.

Computational fluid dynamics investigation of chronic aortic dissection hemodynamics versus normal aorta.

Objectives: To evaluate hemodynamic changes during aneurysmal dilatation in chronic type B aortic dissections compared to hemodynamic parameters in the healthy aorta with the use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD).

Methods: True lumen (TL)/false lumen (FL) dimensional changes, changes in total pressure (TP), and wall shear stress (WSS) were evaluated at follow-up (FU) compared to initial examination (IE) with transient CFD simulation with geometries derived from clinical image data and inflow boundary conditions from magnetic resonance images. The TL/FL pressure gradient between ascending and descending aorta (DAo) and maximum WSS at the site of largest dilatation was compared to values for the healthy aorta.

Malignant melanoma S3-guideline "diagnosis, therapy and follow-up of melanoma".

This first German evidence-based guideline for cutaneous melanoma was developed under the auspices of the German Dermatological Society (DDG) and the Dermatologic Cooperative Oncology Group (DeCOG) and funded by the German Guideline Program in Oncology. The recommendations are based on a systematic literature search, and on the consensus of 32 medical societies, working groups and patient representatives. This guideline contains recommendations concerning diagnosis, therapy and follow-up of melanoma.

Monitoring targeted therapy using dual-energy CT: semi-automatic RECIST plus supplementary functional information by quantifying iodine uptake of melanoma metastases.

Aim: Supplementary functional information can contribute to assess response in targeted therapies. The aim of this study was to evaluate semi-automatic RECIST plus iodine uptake (IU) determination in melanoma metastases under BRAF inhibitor (vemurafenib) therapy using dual-energy computed tomography (DECT).

Methods: Nine patients with stage IV melanoma treated with a BRAF inhibitor were included.

Therapy response assessment in metastatic melanoma patients treated with a BRAF inhibitor: adapted Choi criteria can reflect early therapy response better than does RECIST.

Purpose: Targeted therapy can lead to considerable tumor reduction and may result initially in altered tissue at constant tumor size. In this setting, Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) can be inadequate for assessing early treatment response. Choi-criteria combine both size and density measurements.

Hypofractionated carbon ion therapy delivered with scanned ion beams for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma - feasibility and clinical response.

Purpose: Photon-based radiation therapy does currently not play a major role as local ablative treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Carbon ions offer distinct physical and biological advantages. Due to their inverted dose profile and the high local dose deposition within the Bragg peak, precise dose application and sparing of normal tissue is possible.

Quantitative therapy response assessment by volumetric iodine-uptake measurement: initial experience in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma treated with sorafenib.

Objectives: To investigate the volumetric iodine-uptake (VIU) changes by dual-energy CT (DECT) in assessing the response to sorafenib treated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients, compared with AASLD (American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases) and Choi criteria.

Materials And Methods: Fifteen patients with HCC receiving sorafenib, monitored with contrast-enhanced DECT scans at baseline and a minimum of one follow-up (8-12 weeks) were retrospectively evaluated. 30 target lesions in total were analyzed for tumor response according to VIU and adapted Choi criteria and compared with the standard AASLD.

Diffusion-weighted imaging in rectal carcinoma patients without and after chemoradiotherapy: a comparative study with histology.

Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) can be used to quantitatively assess functional parameters in rectal carcinoma that are relevant for prognosis and treatment response assessment. However, there is no consensus on the histopathological background underlying the findings derived from DWI. The aim of this study was to perform a comparison of DWI and histologic parameters in two groups of rectal carcinoma patients without (n=12) and after (n=9) neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT).

[Response criteria for malignant lymphoma].

Clinical/methodical Issue: A proven criterion for assessing tumor response is the increase in tumor size. Unlike most tumors, lymph nodes are normal anatomical structures and can be measured even when benign. The International Working Group (IWG) criteria for lymphomas therefore combine morphological with functional (positron emission tomography PET) and biopsy (bone marrow biopsy) parameters.

Rapid response to sorafenib in metastatic medullary thyroid carcinoma.

Objective: To investigate the efficacy of sorafenib in progressive metastatic Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma (MTC), for which there is currently no effective treatment.

Design: Off-label observational study.

Methods: Sorafenib 400 mg twice daily was evaluated.

Intracranial dissection during carotid endarterectomy treated by carotid stenting.

Intracranial dissection of the internal carotid artery after carotid endarterectomy (CEA) is a serious complication with a potentially fatal outcome. We report on a 67 male with a symptomatic high grad stenosis of the internal carotid artery. Intraoperative completion angiography showed a thrombotic occlusion and the internal carotid artery (ICA) was resected with interposition of a Dacron graft.

Heartbeat-related displacement of the thoracic aorta in patients with chronic aortic dissection type B: quantification by dynamic CTA.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to characterize the heartbeat-related displacement of the thoracic aorta in patients with chronic aortic dissection type B (CADB).

Materials And Methods: Electrocardiogram-gated computed tomography angiography was performed during inspiratory breath-hold in 11 patients with CADB: Collimation 16 mm x 1 mm, pitch 0.2, slice thickness 1mm, reconstruction increment 0.

[Cellular mechanisms of tumor response: clinical demands].

Diseases caused by cancer have become more common due to an increase in life-expectation, but the probability of reaching an old age with or without a tumor disease is still increasing. According to the statistics of the German Cancer register, at present more than half of cancer patients survive for at least 5 years after cancer has been diagnosed. Many tumors can be cured using innovative neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapy regimes, but the options for palliative therapy have also been improved.

Motion characterization of aortic wall and intimal flap by ECG-gated CT in patients with chronic B-dissection.

Rationale And Objectives: To evaluate whether dynamic computed tomography (CT)-imaging can provide functional vessel information in patients with chronic aortic dissection type Stanford-B (ADB).

Materials And Methods: In 32 patients, ECG-gated CT-angiography images were obtained. Cross-sectional area change and wall distensibility were investigated by semiautomatic vessel area segmentation at the end of aortic arch.

Assessment of thoracic aortic conformational changes by four-dimensional computed tomography angiography in patients with chronic aortic dissection type b.

To characterize the heartbeat-related distension of dissected and non-dissected thoracic aortic segments in chronic aortic dissection type b (CADB) ECG-gated computed tomography angiography was performed in ten CADB patients. For 20 time points of the R-R interval, multiplanar reformations were taken at non-dissected (A, B) and dissected (C) aorta: ascending aorta (A), aortic vertex (B), 10 cm distal to left subclavian (Ct, true channel; Cf, false channel). Relative amplitudes of aortic area and major and minor axis diameter changes were quantified.

Quantification of aortic distensibility in abdominal aortic aneurysm using ECG-gated multi-detector computed tomography.

Rationale And Objectives: To detect distensibility changes that might be an indicator for an increased risk of rupture, cross-sectional area changes of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) have been determined using ECG-gated CT.

Materials And Methods: Distensibility measurements of the aorta were performed in 67 patients with AAA. Time-resolved images were acquired with a four detector-row CT system using a modified CT-angiography protocol.

Feeding arteries of the spinal cord at CT angiography before and after thoracic aortic endografting.

Purpose: To study the visualization of spinal cord feeding arteries in patients with complex thoracic aortic pathology undergoing endovascular aortic repair (EVAR) using an optimized protocol for multislice computed tomographic angiography (MSCTA).

Methods: Eighteen consecutive patients (13 men; mean age 63 years, range 45-79) with aortic type B dissections (n=5), chronic expanding aortic dissections (n=5), thoracic aortic aneurysms (n=6), or penetrating aortic ulcers (n=2) underwent 16-slice CTA before and after (mean interval 9 days) EVAR. Pulse rate and neurological status were documented.

Long-term outcome of operated inflammatory aortic aneurysms.

Inflammatory aortic aneurysms (IAAs) represent a rare form of aortic aneurysms. Compared with atherosclerotic aneurysms, patients with IAA have an increased risk of perioperative and long-term morbidity. This retrospective clinical study analyzed the outcome after conventional and endovascular repair of IAAs.

Complications after endovascular repair of acute symptomatic and chronic expanding Stanford type B aortic dissections.

Objective: To outline the complications after endovascular repair in patients with acute symptomatic and chronic expanding Stanford type B aortic dissections.

Methods: Between 1997 and 2004, of 125 patients with acute and chronic aortic type B dissections, 88 were treated conservatively. Thirty-seven patients (29 male, mean age 58 years, range 30-82 years) underwent endovascular repair (30%) using 44 stent grafts of 3 different designs: Excluder (W.