Enlarged Dural Sac in Idiopathic Bronchiectasis Implicates Heritable Connective Tissue Gene Variants.

Rationale: Patients with idiopathic bronchiectasis are predominantly female and have an asthenic body morphotype and frequent nontuberculous mycobacterial respiratory infections. They also demonstrate phenotypic features (scoliosis, pectus deformity, mitral valve prolapse) that are commonly seen in individuals with heritable connective tissue disorders.

Objectives: To determine whether lumbar dural sac size is increased in patients with idiopathic bronchiectasis as compared with control subjects, and to assess whether dural sac size is correlated with phenotypic characteristics seen in individuals with heritable connective tissue disorders.

Transthoracic needle biopsy.

Transthoracic needle biopsy (TTNB) is integral in the diagnosis and treatment of many thoracic diseases, and is an important alternative to more invasive surgical procedures. Both computed tomography and ultrasound may be used as imaging guidance for TTNB, with CT being more commonly utilized. Needle choice depends mostly upon lesion characteristics and location.

Persistent Left Superior Vena Cava Identified During Central Line Placement: A Case Report.

INTRODUCTION: A persistent left superior vena cava is found in 0.3-0.5% of the general population and in up to 10% of patients with a congenital cardiac anomaly.

Early changes in tumor size in patients treated for advanced stage nonsmall cell lung cancer do not correlate with survival.

Background: In clinical trials, change in tumor size is used to stratify patients into response categories. The objective of the current study was to: 1) determine whether early change in the tumor size were correlated with survival in patients with advanced nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) using modified response categories from the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST), and 2) to determine whether there was an optimal percentage change in tumor size that could be used to define a partial response that also correlated with survival.

Methods: A total of 99 consecutive patients presenting for the treatment of advanced NSCLC during the year 2003 who had computed tomography (CT) scans before and after treatment available for review were included in the study.

Hepatocellular carcinoma missed on gadolinium enhanced MR imaging, discovered in liver explants: retrospective evaluation.

The main purpose of this study was to determine if hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) missed on prospective magnetic resonance (MR) study could be identified on retrospective MR analysis, and to determine the cause for misdiagnosis. Among 555 patients who underwent liver transplantation between 1993 and 2004, 279 were imaged with MR imaging and four of these revealed HCCs in explanted livers that were not reported on prospective MR reading. The main cause of missed lesions were suboptimal image quality due to inability of patients to suspend respiration; other causes were HCC misinterpreted as high-grade dysplastic nodule and isoenhancement of HCC on early phase images.

Magnetic resonance evaluation of pregnant patients with acute abdominal pain.

Acute abdominal pain in a pregnant patient is associated with a long differential diagnosis, and diagnostic imaging is often required to guide management. Ultrasound is safe and widely available; however, maternal structures may be difficult to evaluate during pregnancy due to anatomic changes. Computed tomography is accurate but exposes the fetus to ionizing radiation.

Suspected pancreatic cancer: evaluation by dynamic gadolinium-enhanced 3D gradient-echo MRI.

Objective: The objective of our study was to determine the sensitivity and specificity of gadolinium-enhanced 3D gradient-echo (GRE) MR images in the detection of pancreatic cancer.

Conclusion: Dynamic gadolinium-enhanced 3D GRE images are both sensitive and specific in the detection of pancreatic cancer. Our study shows that the identification of pancreatic cancer using these images can be performed with a high degree of confidence and accuracy, making them very useful in the detection of pancreatic cancer.

MRI of acute abdominal and pelvic pain in pregnant patients.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to show the usefulness of MRI in the evaluation of pregnant women with acute abdominal or pelvic pain.

Subjects And Methods: All MRI studies of pregnant patients who were referred for examination because of acute abdominal or pelvic pain between June 2002 and May 2004 were included in this study (n=29). The use of MRI was at the discretion of the clinician.

Fecal incontinence in the postreproductive woman.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the pelvic floor specifically to evaluate causes of fecal incontinence is relatively new. Along with physical examination and endoanal ultrasound, recently developed MRI techniques can be used to more accurately diagnose and characterize pelvic floor disorders leading to fecal incontinence. All three compartments of the pelvic floor can be evaluated simultaneously using MRI.