Quantification of left ventricular myocardial strain: Comparison between MRI tagging, MRI feature tracking, and ultrasound speckle tracking.

Ultrasound speckle tracking is frequently used to quantify myocardial strain, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) feature tracking is rapidly gaining interest. Our aim is to validate cardiac MRI feature tracking by comparing it with the gold standard method (i.e.

DEcreased Cognitive functiON, NEurovascular CorrelaTes and myocardial changes in women with a history of pre-eclampsia (DECONNECT): research protocol for a cross-sectional pilot study.

Introduction: Pre-eclampsia is a hypertensive disorder affecting up to 8% of pregnancies. After pre-eclampsia, women are at increased risk of cognitive problems, and cerebrovascular and cardiovascular disorders. These sequelae could result from microvascular dysfunction persisting after pre-eclampsia.

How a broken vertebra can lead to a fatal hemorrhage: a case report.

Background: Unintentional falls are common among the elderly and given the expected increase of the aging population, these falls contribute to a high number of admissions to the emergency department. Relatively low-energy trauma mechanisms can lead to serious injuries in the elderly, with contributing factors being comorbidities, medication use and degenerative abnormalities.

Case Presentation: A 94-year-old female suffered an unintentional fall at home.

Attenuated cognitive functioning decades after preeclampsia.

Background: Preeclampsia, a hypertensive pregnancy disorder, is a leading cause of maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality, with remote cardio- and cerebrovascular implications. After preeclampsia, women may report serious disabling cognitive complaints, especially involving executive function, but the extent and time course of these complaints are unknown.

Objective: This study aimed to determine the impact of preeclampsia on perceived maternal cognitive functioning decades after pregnancy.

Cerebral volume is unaffected after pre-eclampsia.

Objectives: Pre-eclampsia has been associated with cardiovascular, cerebrovascular and/or psychological complaints. Signs of altered brain morphology and more white-matter hyperintensities (WMHs) during and shortly after pre-eclampsia have been observed in some, but not all, studies. We compared volumes of cerebral structures and the number of WMHs between formerly pre-eclamptic women and those with normotensive gestational history and assessed the effect of age on brain volumes.

Improvement of an interobserver agreement of ARDS diagnosis by adding additional imaging and a confidence scale.

Unlabelled: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) often is not recognized in clinical practice, largely due to variation in the interpretation of chest x-ray (CXR) leading to poor interobserver reliability. We hypothesized that the agreement in the interpretation of chest imaging for the diagnosis of ARDS in invasively ventilated intensive care unit patients between experts improves when using an 8-grade confidence scale compared to using a dichotomous assessment and that the agreement increases after adding chest computed tomography (CT) or lung ultrasound (LUS) to CXR. Three experts scored ARDS according to the Berlin definition based on case records from an observational cohort study using a dichotomous assessment and an 8-grade confidence scale.

Blood-brain barrier leakage years after pre-eclampsia: dynamic contrast-enhanced 7-Tesla MRI study.

Objective: Pre-eclampsia is a hypertensive complication of pregnancy that is associated with an increased risk of long-term cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disorders. Although the underlying mechanism of persistent susceptibility to cerebral complications after pre-eclampsia remains largely unclear, impaired blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity has been suggested to precede several cerebrovascular diseases. In this study, we aimed to investigate the integrity of the BBB years after pre-eclampsia.

Functional connectivity of limbic system and prefrontal cortex years after pre-eclampsia: 7-Tesla functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

Objective: Pre-eclampsia is a vascular complication of pregnancy, associated with a long-term risk of cerebrovascular and mental disorders. We explored whether formerly pre-eclamptic women exhibit differences in functional brain organization, especially in regions that may explain the commonly reported emotional symptoms and cognitive complaints even years after the pregnancy.

Methods: Formerly pre-eclamptic women and control women with a history of normotensive pregnancy underwent structural and functional 7-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging scans.

Noninvasive Cardiac Imaging in Formerly Preeclamptic Women for Early Detection of Subclinical Myocardial Abnormalities: A 2022 Update.

Preeclampsia is a maternal hypertensive disease, complicating 2-8% of all pregnancies. It has been linked to a 2-7-fold increased risk for the development of cardiovascular disease, including heart failure, later in life. A total of 40% of formerly preeclamptic women develop preclinical heart failure, which may further deteriorate into clinical heart failure.

Cardiovascular outcome 6 months after severe coronavirus disease 2019 infection.

Objectives: In coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), cardiovascular risk factors and myocardial injury relate to increased mortality. We evaluated the extent of cardiac sequelae 6 months after hospital discharge in patients surviving ICU hospitalization for COVID-19.

Methods: All survivors of Maastricht-ICU were invited for comprehensive cardiovascular evaluation 6 months after discharge from ICU.

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance accurately detects obstructive coronary artery disease in suspected non-ST elevation myocardial infarction: a sub-analysis of the CARMENTA Trial.

Background: Invasive coronary angiography (ICA) is still the reference test in suspected non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), although a substantial number of patients do not have obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD). Early cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) may be a useful gatekeeper for ICA in this setting. The main objective was to investigate the accuracy of CMR to detect obstructive CAD in NSTEMI.

The performance of non-ECG gated chest CT for cardiac assessment - The cardiac pathologies in chest CT (CaPaCT) study.

Purpose: Evaluating the prevalence of CAD on non-ECG gated chest CTs, image quality (IQ) and the clinical performance of the CAD-RADS classification for predicting cardiovascular events (CVE).

Methods: 215 consecutive patients referred for chest CTs between May 2016 and March 2018 were included (3rd-generation DSCT) using non-ECG gated acquisitions with automated tube voltage selection (110kV/40mAs), pitch 2.65-3.

Clinical assessment of aortic valve stenosis: Comparison between 4D flow MRI and transthoracic echocardiography.

Background: The prevalence of valvular aortic stenosis (AS) increases as the population ages. Echocardiographic measurements of peak jet velocity (V ), mean pressure gradient (P ), and aortic valve area (AVA) determine AS severity and play a pivotal role in the stratification towards valvular replacement. A multimodality imaging approach might be needed in cases of uncertainty about the actual severity of the stenosis.

Left-sided omental infarction: a rare cause of abdominal pain, discovered by CT scan.

Omental infarction in adults is a rarely occurring phenomenon, with left-sided omental infarction being even more seldom. The importance of this case report lies in raising awareness of the diagnosis omental infarction as a cause of acute abdomen among doctors who work in the emergency department, in order to prevent unnecessary surgical interventions as conservative treatment generally solves the problem. Omental infarction is the result of vascular obstruction and ends in tissue ischaemia.

Aortic elongation part II: the risk of acute type A aortic dissection.

Objectives: Prophylactic surgery for prevention of acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD) is reserved for patients with an ascending aortic aneurysm ≥55 mm. Identification of additional risk predictors is warranted since over 70% of patients presenting with ATAAD have a non-dilated aorta or an aneurysm that would not have met the diameter criterion for preventative surgery. Aim of the study was to evaluate ascending aortic elongation as a risk factor for ATAAD and to compare aortic lengths between ATAAD patients and healthy controls.

Aortic elongation part I: the normal aortic ageing process.

Objectives: Differentiation between normal and abnormal features of vascular ageing is crucial, as the latter is associated with adverse outcomes. The normal aortic ageing process is accompanied by gradual luminal dilatation and reduction of vessel compliance. However, the influence of age on longitudinal aortic dimensions and geometry has not been well studied.

Bicuspid Aortic Valve Stenosis and the Effect of Vitamin K2 on Calcification Using F-Sodium Fluoride Positron Emission Tomography/Magnetic Resonance: The BASIK2 Rationale and Trial Design.

BASIK2 is a prospective, double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial investigating the effect of vitamin K2 (menaquinone-7;MK7) on imaging measurements of calcification in the bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) and calcific aortic valve stenosis (CAVS). BAV is associated with early development of CAVS. Pathophysiologic mechanisms are incompletely defined, and the only treatment available is valve replacement upon progression to severe symptomatic stenosis.

Prevalence and prognostic relevance of cardiac involvement in ANCA-associated vasculitis: eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis and granulomatosis with polyangiitis.

Background: To investigate the prevalence and prognostic relevance of cardiac involvement in an ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) population of eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) and granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) patients.

Methods: Prospective cohort study of fifty EGPA and forty-one GPA patients in sustained remission without previous in-depth cardiac screening attending our clinical immunology outpatient department. Cardiac screening included clinical evaluation, ECG, 24-hour Holter registration, echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) with coronary angiography and endomyocardial biopsy upon indication.

Detection of coronary plaques using MR coronary vessel wall imaging: validation of findings with intravascular ultrasound.

Objectives: Compared with X-ray coronary angiography (CAG), magnetic resonance imaging of the coronary vessel wall (MR-CVW) may provide more information about plaque burden and coronary remodelling. We compared MR-CVW with intravascular ultrasound (IVUS), the standard of reference for coronary vessel wall imaging, with regard to plaque detection and wall thickness measurements.

Methods: In this study 17 patients with chest pain, who had been referred for CAG, were included.

Time-efficient black blood RCA wall imaging at 3T using improved motion sensitized driven equilibrium (iMSDE): feasibility and reproducibility.

Background: The aim of this study was to explore the feasibility and reproducibility of a time-efficient coronary vessel wall measurement approach using an improved motion-sensitized driven equilibrium (iMSDE) pulse sequence.

Methodology: In this study, the iMSDE pulse sequence was first optimized and then applied on a group of healthy volunteers (N = 10) to evaluate its feasibility of vessel wall visualization. The same technique was also applied on a separate group of volunteers (N = 19) for a reproducibility study by scanning the same subject in two separate sessions.

Visualization of coronary wall atherosclerosis in asymptomatic subjects and patients with coronary artery disease using magnetic resonance imaging.

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is sensitive to early atherosclerotic changes such as positive remodeling in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). We assessed prevalence, quality, and extent of coronary atherosclerosis in a group of healthy subjects compared to patients with confirmed CAD.

Methodology: Twenty-two patients with confirmed CAD (15M, 7F, mean age 60.

Multicenter, double-blind, randomized, intraindividual crossover comparison of gadobenate dimeglumine and gadopentetate dimeglumine for MR angiography of peripheral arteries.

Purpose: To prospectively compare the image quality and diagnostic performance achieved with doses of gadobenate dimeglumine and gadopentetate dimeglumine of 0.1 mmol per kilogram of body weight in patients undergoing contrast material-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) angiography of the pelvis, thigh, and lower-leg (excluding foot) for suspected or known peripheral arterial occlusive disease.

Materials And Methods: Institutional review board approval was granted from each center and informed written consent was obtained from all patients.