Decline in renal function associated with cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy positively coordinated with proteinuria in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Aims/introduction: To investigate the association between cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy (CAN) assessed by the coefficient of variation of the R-R interval and the reduction in the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective observational cohort study enrolled type 2 diabetes patients who had their coefficient of variation of the R-R interval measured on an electrocardiogram from January 2005 to December 2018. CAN was defined using the reference coefficient of variation of the R-R interval value based on age and sex.

Aerial image resolution measurement based on the slanted knife edge method.

Image resolution is one of the most important performance specifications of aerial display techniques. However, there is no standard method for evaluating the aerial image resolution. In this paper, we propose a method for measuring the modulation transfer function (MTF) of an aerial imaging system based on the slanted knife edge method.

Low-dose CT lung cancer screening in never-smokers and smokers: results of an eight-year observational study.

Background: This was an observational study of Japanese participants who underwent low-dose computed tomographic (LDCT) lung cancer screening between February 2004 and March 2012, to evaluate the lung cancers in never-smokers and smokers.

Methods: The study population consisted of a total of 12,114 subjects [never-smokers, 6,021 (49.70%); smokers with <30 pack-years of smoking, 3,785 (31.

The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer Early Lung Imaging Confederation.

Purpose: To improve outcomes for lung cancer through low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) early lung cancer detection. The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer is developing the Early Lung Imaging Confederation (ELIC) to serve as an open-source, international, universally accessible environment to analyze large collections of quality-controlled LDCT images and associated biomedical data for research and routine screening care.

Methods: ELIC is an international confederation that allows access to efficiently analyze large numbers of high-quality computed tomography (CT) images with associated de-identified clinical information without moving primary imaging/clinical or imaging data from its local or regional site of origin.

Evaluation of the 95% limits of agreement of the volumes of 5-year clinically stable solid nodules for the development of a follow-up system for indeterminate solid nodules in CT lung cancer screening.

Background: This study sought to evaluate the 95% limits of agreement of the volumes of 5-year clinically stable solid nodules for the development of a follow-up system for indeterminate solid nodules.

Methods: The volumes of 226 solid nodules that had been clinically stable for 5 years were measured in 186 patients (53 female never-smokers, 36 male never-smokers, 51 males with <30 pack-years, and 46 males with ≥30 pack-years) using a three-dimensional semiautomated method. Volume changes were evaluated using three methods: percent change, proportional change and growth rate.

Mast cell hyperactivity underpins the development of oxygen-induced retinopathy.

Mast cells are classically thought to play an important role in protection against helminth infections and in the induction of allergic diseases; however, recent studies indicate that these cells also contribute to neovascularization, which is critical for tissue remodeling, chronic inflammation, and carcinogenesis. Here, we demonstrate that mast cells are essential for sprouting angiogenesis in a murine model of oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR). Although mouse strains lacking mast cells did not exhibit retinal neovascularization following hypoxia, these mice developed OIR following infusion of mast cells or after injection of mast cell tryptase (MCT).

Natural History of Pulmonary Subsolid Nodules: A Prospective Multicenter Study.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the natural course of the progression of pulmonary subsolid nodules (SSNs).

Materials And Methods: Eight facilities participated in this study. A total of 795 patients with 1229 SSNs were assessed for the frequency of invasive adenocarcinomas.

Ultra-High-Resolution Computed Tomography of the Lung: Image Quality of a Prototype Scanner.

Purpose: The image noise and image quality of a prototype ultra-high-resolution computed tomography (U-HRCT) scanner was evaluated and compared with those of conventional high-resolution CT (C-HRCT) scanners.

Materials And Methods: This study was approved by the institutional review board. A U-HRCT scanner prototype with 0.

Solitary Pure Ground-Glass Nodules 5 mm or Smaller: Frequency of Growth.

Purpose: To clarify the percentage of solitary pure ground-glass nodules (SPGGNs) 5 mm or smaller that grow and develop into invasive adenocarcinomas.

Materials And Methods: This study was approved by the institutional review board, and informed consent was obtained from all people who were screened. From February 2004 through December 2007, 7294 participants underwent screening for lung cancer with computed tomographic (CT) imaging.

Subcutaneous fat necrosis after selective head cooling in an infant.

Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy in neonates causes irreversible damage to tissue and organs and results in multiple organ failure and poor outcome. Therapeutic hypothermia is the most effective therapy in neonates with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. We report here a case of subcutaneous fat necrosis (SCFN) after therapeutic hypothermia by selective head cooling.

Comparison of sensitivity of lung nodule detection between radiologists and technologists on low-dose CT lung cancer screening images.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to compare the sensitivity of detection of lung nodules on low-dose screening CT images between radiologists and technologists.

Methods: 11 radiologists and 10 technologists read the low-dose screening CT images of 78 subjects. On images with a slice thickness of 5 mm, there were 60 lung nodules that were ≥5 mm in diameter: 26 nodules with pure ground-glass opacity (GGO), 7 nodules with mixed ground-glass opacity (GGO with a solid component) and 27 solid nodules.

Measurement of focal ground-glass opacity diameters on CT images: interobserver agreement in regard to identifying increases in the size of ground-glass opacities.

Purpose: To evaluate interobserver agreement in regard to measurements of focal ground-glass opacities (GGO) diameters on computed tomography (CT) images to identify increases in the size of GGOs.

Materials And Methods: Approval by the institutional review board and informed consent by the patients were obtained. Ten GGOs (mean size, 10.

Influence of slice thickness on diagnoses of pulmonary nodules using low-dose CT: potential dependence of detection and diagnostic agreement on features and location of nodule.

Rationale And Objectives: The aims of this study were to assess the influence of slice thickness on the ability of radiologists to detect or not detect nodules and to agree or disagree on the diagnosis and also to investigate the potential dependence of these relations on the sizes, average computed tomographic (CT) values, and locations of the nodules.

Materials And Methods: Six radiologists performed qualitative diagnostic readings of multislice CT images with a slice thickness of 2 or 10 mm obtained from 360 subjects. The nodules were diagnosed as nodules for further examination (NFEs), inactive nodules for no further examination (INNFEs), or no abnormality.

Association of CYP19A1 polymorphisms with risks for atypical adenomatous hyperplasia and bronchioloalveolar carcinoma in the lungs.

Estrogen has been indicated to play an etiological role in the development of lung adenocarcinoma (ADC), particularly bronchioloalveolar carcinoma (BAC), a type of ADC that develops from a benign adenomatous lesion, atypical adenomatous hyperplasia (AAH). Polymorphisms in the CYP19A1 gene cause interindividual differences in estrogen levels. Here, 13 CYP19A1 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were examined for associations with lung AAH risk.

The adenocarcinoma-specific stage shift in the Anti-lung Cancer Association project: significance of repeated screening for lung cancer for more than 5 years with low-dose helical computed tomography in a high-risk cohort.

Background: We investigated whether a stage shift occurs during long-term repeated screening for lung cancer with low-dose helical computed tomography (LDCT) in a high-risk cohort.

Methods: A total of 2120 subjects (mean age, 63 years; 87% male and 83% smokers) were continuously recruited and underwent repeated screening with LDCT from 1993 through 2004.

Results: Nineteen lung cancers were detected at baseline examinations (prevalence cancers), and 57 lung cancers were detected at subsequent examinations (incidence cancers).

Performance evaluation of 4 measuring methods of ground-glass opacities for predicting the 5-year relapse-free survival of patients with peripheral nonsmall cell lung cancer: a multicenter study.

Objective: To evaluate the performance of 4 methods of measuring the extent of ground-glass opacities as a means of predicting the 5-year relapse-free survival of patients with peripheral nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSLC).

Methods: Ground-glass opacities on thin-section computed tomographic images of 120 peripheral NSLCs were measured at 7 medical institutions by the length, area, modified length, and vanishing ratio (VR) methods. The performance (Az) of each method in predicting the 5-year relapse-free survival was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic analysis.

Optimized control of X-ray exposure and image noise using a particular multislice CT scanner.

Patient dose reduction in computed tomography (CT) always results in a trade off between radiation exposure and image quality. There are few reports that estimate the relationship between image quality and X-ray exposure in CT examinations as one optimal index. The purpose of this study was to determine the optimal parameter settings enabling a low radiation exposure without compromising image quality using a particular 4-row multislice CT (MSCT) scanner (Aquilion VZ 4-slice CT scanner, Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation, Otawara, Tochigi, Japan).

Evaluation of whole-body cancer screening using 18F-2-deoxy-2-fluoro-D-glucose positron emission tomography: a preliminary report.

Objective: (18)F-2-deoxy-2-fluoro-D-glucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) is a promising screening modality targeting whole body. However, the validity of PET cancer screening remains to be assessed. Even the screening accuracy for whole-body screening using FDG-PET has not been evaluated.

Low-dose CT screening for lung cancer with automatic exposure control: phantom study.

We conducted a study to determine optimal scan conditions for automatic exposure control (AEC) in computed tomography (CT) of low-dose chest screening in order to provide consistent image quality without increasing the collective dose. Using a chest CT phantom, we set CT-AEC scan conditions with a dose-reduction wedge (DR-Wedge) to the same radiation dose as those for low-tube current, fixed-scan conditions. Image quality was evaluated with the use of the standard deviation of the CT number, contrast-noise ratios (CNR), and receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.

Serum cytokine and chemokine profiles in neonates with meconium aspiration syndrome.

Objectives: Various inflammatory cytokines and chemokines are thought to be associated with the pathophysiology of meconium aspiration syndrome. To clarify any such association, we compared various serum cytokine and chemokine profiles in patients with and without meconium aspiration syndrome.

Patients And Methods: Using a highly sensitive fluorescence microsphere method, 17 types of cytokines and chemokines in sera were measured in 11 neonatal patients with meconium aspiration syndrome, 16 neonatal patients without meconium aspiration syndrome, and 9 healthy children.