Artificial intelligence's contribution to early pulmonary lesion detection in chest X-rays: insights from two retrospective studies on a Czech population.

In recent years healthcare is undergoing significant changes due to technological innovations, with Artificial Intelligence (AI) being a key trend. Particularly in radiodiagnostics, according to studies, AI has the potential to enhance accuracy and efficiency. We focus on AI's role in diagnosing pulmonary lesions, which could indicate lung cancer, based on chest X-rays.

Neovascularization, vascular mimicry and molecular exchange: The imaging of tumorous tissue aggressiveness based on tissue perfusion.

Angiogenesis in healthy tissue and within malignant tumors differs on many levels, which may partly be explained by vascular mimicry formation resulting in altered contrast material or different radiopharmaceuticals distributions. Failed remodulation results in changes in the molecular exchange through the capillary wall and those consequences affect the behavior of contrast agents and radiopharmaceuticals. One of the most indicative signs of malignant tissue is the increased permeability and the faster molecular exchange that occurs between the extracellular and intravascular spaces.

Acute Mediastinitis - Outcomes and Prognostic Factors of Surgical Therapy (A Single-Center Experience).

Purpose: The aims of this work were the retrospective analysis of a cohort of patients with acute mediastinitis treated at the authors' worksite over a 15-year period and the identification of factors that significantly affect the outcomes of the therapy.

Methods: During the period 2006-2020, 80 patients with acute mediastinitis were treated. Within the cohort, the following were observed: the causes and the type of acute mediastinitis, length of anamnesis, comorbidities, diagnostic methods, time from the diagnosis to surgery, types and number of surgical procedures, results of microbiological tests, complications, and outcomes of the treatment.

Why Use Position Features in Liver Segmentation Performed by Convolutional Neural Network.

Liver volumetry is an important tool in clinical practice. The calculation of liver volume is primarily based on Computed Tomography. Unfortunately, automatic segmentation algorithms based on handcrafted features tend to leak segmented objects into surrounding tissues like the heart or the spleen.

The Use of CT Pattern in Differentiating Non-invasive, Minimally Invasive and Invasive Variants of Lung Adenocarcinoma.

Background/aim: This study determined whether computed tomography (CT) is an appropriate means by which to differentiate non-invasive and minimally invasive forms of pulmonary adenocarcinoma from the invasive variant.

Patients And Methods: A total of 64 patients (38 men and 26 women, aged 42-76, mean age 64), who underwent surgery for pulmonary adenocarcinoma and a chest CT no less than 1 month before surgery, were included in the study. Lesions exhibiting ground glass opacity or ground glass opacity with a solid component of 5 mm or smaller, were defined as minimally invasive or non-invasive adenocarcinomas.

Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Therapy in Novel Porcine Model of Diffuse Liver Damage Induced by Repeated Biliary Obstruction.

In liver surgery, biliary obstruction can lead to secondary biliary cirrhosis, a life-threatening disease with liver transplantation as the only curative treatment option. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) have been shown to improve liver function in both acute and chronic liver disease models. This study evaluated the effect of allogenic MSC transplantation in a large animal model of repeated biliary obstruction followed by partial hepatectomy.

Computed tomography with a full FOV photon-counting detector in a clinical setting, the first experience.

Objectives: to assess the feasibility of CT with an integrated photon-counting-detector system (PC-CT) in the body imaging of clinical patients.

Methods: 120 examinations using photon counting detector CT were evaluated in six groups: 1/ a standard-dose lung, 2/ low-dose lung, 3/ ultra-high resolution (UHR) lung, 4/ standard-dose abdominal, 5/ lower-dose abdominal, 6/ UHR abdominal CTA. All CT examinations were performed on a single-source prototype device equipped with a photon counting detector covering a 50 cm scan field of view.

Is ultra low-dose CT with tin filtration useful for examination of SI joints? Can it replace X-ray in diagnostics of sacroiliitis?

Objectives: The first objective of our study was to determine the radiation exposure received by patients during tin-filtrated ultra-low-dose computed tomography (TFULDCT) of sacroiliac joints and to compare those to conventional X-ray doses. For comparison, we added a cohort examined by low-dose CT (LDCT) without tin filtration. The second objective was to compare the results of TFULDCT and X-ray in the detection of sacroiliitis.

Influence of Mesenchymal Stem Cell Administration on The Outcome of Partial Liver Resection in a Porcine Model of Sinusoidal Obstruction Syndrome.

Background: In patients with colorectal liver metastases, the possibility for radical liver resection can be limited by oxaliplatin-induced sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS). This study investigates the potential of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) to improve the outcome of liver resections in pigs with SOS.

Materials And Methods: SOS was induced in all animals (n=20) on day 0.

A Comparison of F-FDG-PET/MRI and F-FDG-PET/CT in the Cancer Staging of Locoregional Lymph Nodes.

Aim: The aim of the study was to evaluate the yields of 2-deoxy-2-[F]-fluoro-D-glucose positron-emission tomography/magnetic resonance imaging (F-FDG-PET/MRI) and F-FDG-PET/computed tomography (CT) for the detection of metastatic involvement of locoregional neck nodes in patients with head and neck malignancy.

Patients And Methods: A total of 90 patients (66 men and 24 women) met the inclusion criteria. Preoperative staging was performed: 53 examinations using PET/CT and 37 using PET/MRI.

Porcine Liver Anatomy Applied to Biomedicine.

Currently, there are at least 70 pure domestic pig breeds, but only certain breeds are used in biomedical research. The domestic pig liver is suitable for preclinical research because its size, physiology, and anatomy are similar to that of the human liver; in addition, there is a high degree of genetic similarity between the two species. For planning experiments and identifying improvements in both invasive and noninvasive methods of liver disease management, the morphological similarities and dissimilarities of the pig liver to its human counterpart must be taken into consideration along with sexual dimorphism and interindividual and interspecific variability.

Submucosal mucoid as a late complication after appendectomy-A case report.

Introduction: Shortly after an operation infection, intraabdominal abscess, seroma, haemorrhage or development of paralytic ileus may occur. Postoperative adhesions, nonspecific abdominal pain without signs of obstruction, incisional hernia and appendicitis or mucocele in appendiceal stump present common late complications. We present a unique case of a late complication after appendectomy.

Cystic Appearance on Imaging Methods (Bosniak III-IV) in Histologically Confirmed Papillary Renal Cell Carcinoma is Mainly Characteristic of Papillary Renal Cell Carcinoma Type 1 and Might Predict a Relatively Indolent Behavior of Papillary Renal Cell Carcinoma.

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the proportion of cystic tumors according to preoperative CT (Bosniak III, IV) among surgically treated patients with histologically confirmed papillary renal cell carcinoma (pRCC) and to assess progression rates among patients with and without cystic appearance on imaging.

Methods: A total of 138 patients with pRCC histology surgically treated in the period of January 2007-March 2017 were included. Clinical and radiological characteristics, type of surgery, histopathology results, and follow-up data were recorded and statistically evaluated.

Tumor-related Perfusion Changes in White Matter Adjacent to Brain Tumors: Pharmacodynamic Analysis of Dynamic 3T Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Background/aim: To verify perfusion differences in white matter adjacent to glioblastomas and metastatic tumors in dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) 3T-magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using gradient echo (GRE) T1 techniques.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective comparative study was carried out on adults with glioblastoma (n=67) and brain metastases (n=31). In each patient, conventional 3T-MRI and DCE-MRI with 25 acquisitions of GRE-T1 were performed.

Contribution of Computed Tomographic Angiography to Pretreatment Planning of Radio-embolization of Liver Tumors.

Transarterial radio-embolization (TARE) using yttrium-90 microspheres is a promising method based on the brachytherapeutic effect of radionuclide with beta-minus decay dissolved in solid microparticles applied directly to tumor-supplying arteries. This treatment is complex, as well as logistically and technically extremely demanding and must be planned in detail. The visualization of the vascular supply of the liver and the possible parasitic supply of the tumor is essential not only for indication of the procedure and correct identification of the arteries to which the microspheres will be applied, but also for prevention of non-target deposition of radioactive material.

Monitoring after radiofrequency ablation of liver tumors: contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) vs. contrast-enhanced computer tomography (CECT), two days after procedure.

Aim: Our research evaluated the ability of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and contrast enhanced computer tomography (CECT), performed 48 h after radiofrequency ablation (RFA), to detect residual tumor tissue. As recently published studies have evaluated periprocedural CEUS performed within 24 h after procedure and their results were not satisfactory, it seems that postponing the control test by one day could increase the sensitivity of both methods.

Patients And Methods: We evaluated 33 patients with 37 lesions, who met the criteria for our study.

Iodine Content Analysis Using Dual-Energy Computed Tomography as a Biomarker of Transitional Cell Carcinoma, an Experience with Separation of the Clotted Blood and Tumorous Tissue.

Background/aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the possibility to discriminate the blood clot from tumorous tissue in the assessment of transitional cell carcinoma (TCC), when CT data are used only from single-phase dual-energy CT (DECT).

Materials And Methods: A total of 18 patients were included into the retrospective analysis of the prospectively collected data (the average age was 67.3 years, range=62-79 years, 12 males, 6 females).

Pre-surgical Multiparametric Assessment of Breast Lesions Using 3-Tesla Magnetic Resonance.

Background/aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate experience with multiparametric breast imaging on 3-Tesla magnetic resonance (3T-MRI) scanner using a dedicated 18-channel coil compared to histological findings in women after surgery.

Materials And Methods: The study included 100 women with 105 Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) 4 to 6 lesions by mammography who were examined using 3T-MRI and subsequently underwent surgery. MRI included non-contrast T1, T2 and T2 short tau inversion recovery (STIR) sequences, diffusion-weighted imaging with apparent diffusion coeficient maps, postcontrast dynamic study and single-voxel MRI spectroscopy.

The use of porcine corrosion casts for teaching human anatomy.

In teaching and learning human anatomy, anatomical autopsy and prosected specimens have always been indispensable. However, alternative methods must often be used to demonstrate particularly delicate structures. Corrosion casting of porcine organs with Biodur E20 Plus is valuable for teaching and learning both gross anatomy and, uniquely, the micromorphology of cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, and urogenital systems.

Assessment of myocardial enhancement during coronary CT angiography in critically ill patients.

There are still challenges and unmet needs for the imaging techniques, such as conditions of uncertain origin in patients with clinically serious, life-threatening conditions with unknown cause that are not associated with dominant chest pain, ECG changes or other symptoms indicating a possible primarily cardiac or coronary cause. The contribution of the myocardial enhancement evaluation of urgent cardiac CTA scans significantly improves to determining the diagnosis of acute myocardial injury and choosing appropriate treatment. When incorporating the myocardial enhancement assessment into the imaging algorithm of an emergency department, emphasis is placed on a uniform imaging procedure and a uniform evaluation approach.

Predictive Value of Growth Factors and Interleukins for Future Liver Remnant Volume and Colorectal Liver Metastasis Volume Growth Following Portal Vein Embolization and Autologous Stem Cell Application.

Background: Liver metastases occur in 60-80% of patients with colorectal carcinoma. The only potentially curative method is surgical resection, with an operability of 20-25%. The main reason for such low resectability is insufficient future liver remnant volume (FLRV).

Stereological quantification of microvessels using semiautomated evaluation of X-ray microtomography of hepatic vascular corrosion casts.

Purpose: Quantitative description of hepatic microvascular bed could contribute to understanding perfusion CT imaging. Micro-CT is a useful method for the visualization and quantification of capillary-passable vascular corrosion casts. Our aim was to develop and validate open-source software for the statistical description of the vascular networks in micro-CT scans.