CT fluoroscopy guided transpleural cutting needle biopsy of small (≤2.5 cm) subpleural pulmonary nodules.

Purpose: Small subpleural pulmonary lesions are difficult to biopsy. While the direct, short needle path has been reported to have a lower rate of pneumothorax, the indirect path provides a higher diagnostic yield. Therefore, we tried to optimize the needle pathway and minimize the iatrogenic pneumothorax risk by evaluating a CT fluoroscopy guided direct approach to biopsy subpleural lesions.

Management of patients with small pulmonary nodules: a survey of radiologists, pulmonologists, and thoracic surgeons.

Objective: The objective of our study was to survey recommendations for the management of small pulmonary nodules found on helical CT from radiologists, pulmonologists, and thoracic surgeons.

Materials And Methods: We surveyed 774 radiologists, 623 pulmonologists, and 101 thoracic surgeons. All are members of an associated Austrian scientific society and were asked for their recommendations in 13 hypothetical cases.

Automated vessel edge detection in velocity-encoded cine-MR (VEC-MR) flow measurements: a retrospective evaluation in critically ill patients.

Objective: To assess feasibility of automated edge detection in magnetic resonance (MR) flow calculations in a clinical setting with critically ill patients.

Material And Methods: Velocity encoded cine-MR (VEC-MR) flow measurements cross-sectional area (CSA), mean spatial velocity (MSV), instantaneous flow (IF), flow (F), 0.5 T Philips, TR 800-800, TE=8 ms, 30 degrees flip angle, FOV 280 mm, 128 x 256 matrix, temporal resolution 16 time frames/RR, VENC=120 cm/s) were obtained in 20 major thoracic human vessels (ascending aorta, main, right and left pulmonary artery-AAO, MPA, RPA, LPA) of five patients, suffering from severe chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH).

'The Closer'-percutaneous vascular suture device: evaluation of safety and performance in neuroangiography.

Objective: To evaluate the use of the suture mediated vascular closure device concerning practicability and safety in clinical angiography practice.

Material And Methods: One hundred and seventeen patients (59 female, 58 male, mean age 40.9+/-13.

Suspected pulmonary embolism: enhancement of pulmonary arteries at deep-inspiration CT angiography--influence of patent foramen ovale and atrial-septal defect.

Purpose: To investigate if abnormal early contrast enhancement of the aorta and decreased attenuation of pulmonary arteries at deep-inspiration spiral computed tomographic (CT) angiography might be caused by a patent foramen ovale (PFO).

Materials And Methods: Two hundred forty-four spiral CT angiographic images of the pulmonary arteries obtained during deep inspiration in patients suspected of having pulmonary embolism (PE) were reviewed for evidence of abnormal early enhancement of the aorta. In 45 patients, enhancement of the ascending aorta was equal to or more than that of the pulmonary arteries.

Elimination of errors caused by first-order aliasing in velocity encoded cine-MR measurements of postoperative jets after aortic coarctation: in vitro and in vivo validation.

The aim of this study was to evaluate a velocity-encoded cine-MR (VEC-MR) sequence in measuring flow velocities up to two times the velocity encoding value (VENC) in a flow phantom and to validate the method for assessing poststenotic jet velocities in postoperative patients after aortic coarctation. In vitro, a flow phantom was used (0.5T; TR/TE: 51/8 ms, flip angle=30 degrees, FOV=280 mm, 128x256 matrix VENC 40 or 80 cm/s).