Efficacy and safety of gadodiamide (Gd-DTPA-BMA) in renal 3D-magnetic resonance angiography (MRA): a phase II study.

Purpose: To determine the most efficacious dose of gadodiamide for three-dimensional (3D) contrast-enhanced (CE) magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) of the renal arteries on a patient level based on the sensitivity in detecting the main hemodynamically relevant (> or =50% or occlusion) renal artery stenosis (RAS) using intra-arterial digital subtraction angiography (IA DSA) as the gold standard.

Materials And Methods: This prospective, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, multicenter study included 273 patients referred to IA DSA for suspected RAS. Patients underwent 3D CE MRA after injection of 0.

Enhanced flow velocity after stenting of renal arteries is associated with decreased renal function.

Background: Atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis (RAS) is frequently treated by angioplasty and stent placement. Duplex sonography is an established noninvasive technique for patient follow-up. There is lack of evidence that routine monitoring of asymptomatic patients with stable blood pressure is needed.

Correlation of intercondylar notch cross sections to the ACL size: a high resolution MR tomographic in vivo analysis.

Introduction: To correlate cross sections of the intercondylar notch to cross sections of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and to analyze gender-related differences in notch and ACL morphometry with an attempt to explain the observation that a small intercondylar notch and the female gender predispose to a rupture of the ACL.

Material And Methods: High resolution MR imaging was performed on a 1.5 T magnet using a dedicated extremity-coil in ten left and ten right knee joints of 20 volunteers (10 male, 10 female, mean age 25 years) with no history of knee abnormalities.

[Differential diagnosis of bronchiectasis: high-resolution CT as a valuable aide].

Bronchiectasis is defined as localized irreversible dilatation of the bronchial tree. Brochiectasis has been associated with a wide variety of causes, but it is mostly caused by acute, chronic or recurrent infections. This paper should give a review about the manifestation of bronchiectasis and bronchioloectasis in HR-CT and discuss the causing entities.

[Nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome].

Nevoid Basal Cell Carcinoma Syndrome (NBCCS) is an autosomal-dominant disorder characterized by multiple basal cell carcinomas, jaw cysts, palmar/plantar pits, calcification of the falx cerebri, and spine and rib anomalies. The combination of clinical, imaging, and histological findings is helpful in identifying NBCCS patients. Imaging plays a crucial role in evaluation of these patients.

Preoperative embolization in spinal and pelvic metastases.

The role of preoperative embolization should be evaluated for the surgical treatment of spinal and pelvic metastases. Selective embolization was performed in 32 patients (19 men, 13 women; mean age 63.4 years) before surgery by anterior resection of spinal metastases (n = 21) or pelvic metastases (n = 11).

[CT findings in patients with chronic thrombembolic pulmonary hypertension].

Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is thought to be a rare complication of pulmonary embolism. However, it was recently demonstrated that CTEPH is more common than previously thought after pulmonary embolism. Without treatment, CTEPH is associated with a very high mortality rate.

CT scan findings in chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension: predictors of hemodynamic improvement after pulmonary thromboendarterectomy.

Study Objectives: The aim was to correlate CT scan findings with hemodynamic measurements in patients who had undergone pulmonary thromboendarterectomy (PTE) and to evaluate whether CT scan findings can help to predict surgical outcome.

Patients And Method: Sixty patients who underwent PTE and preoperative helical CT scanning were included. Preoperative and postoperative hemodynamics were correlated with preoperative CT imaging features.

Cytotoxic effects of ionic high-osmolar, nonionic monomeric, and nonionic iso-osmolar dimeric iodinated contrast media on renal tubular cells in vitro.

Purpose: To compare the cytotoxic effects of dimeric and monomeric iodinated contrast media on renal tubular cells in vitro with regard to osmolality.

Materials And Methods: LLC-PK1 cells were incubated with ioxithalamate, ioversol, iomeprol-300, iomeprol-150, iodixanol, iotrolan, and hyperosmolar mannitol solutions for 1-24 hours at concentrations from 18.75 to 150 mg of iodine per milliliter.

[High-resolution CT in the differential diagnosis of consolidative lung processes. (Part 2, Chronic processes)].

Consolidations are characterized on CT by the presence of one or more airspace opacities with little or no volume loss. Because HRCT findings overlap among various entities, it may be sometimes to be impossible to make a definite diagnosis with imaging criteria alone. If the symptoms are chronic (weeks to months) the differential diagnosis may include alveolar proteinosis, bronchioloalveolar carcinoma, lymphoma as well as inflammatory diseases.

[Computed tomography of cystic lung diseases].

A cystic lesion in the lung is defined as a well-demarcated epithel-lined cavity, that can be mostly filled with air, water, as well as solid material content. This definition includes a wide variety of diseases such as bronchogenic cyst, abscess formation, lymphangioleiomyomatosis, Langerhans cell histiocytosis, emphysema, bronchiectasis, and pneumatoceles. Despite the difficulties in differential diagnosis, there are some diagnostic criteria for CT-scanning helping the radiologist to differentiate between these cystic entities.

[High-resolution CT in the differential diagnosis of consolidative processes (I. Acute processes)].

Consolidations are usually result of the replacement of the alveolar air by fluid, cells or tissue but these can also be seen with extensive interstitial processes. These diseases cannot be clearly categorized into the classic classification scheme of airspace and interstitial disease since there are features of both categories seen in the imaging and histologic findings. Because this definition includes wide variety of diseases with overlapping HRCT-findings it is difficult to distinguish among these entities with imaging criteria alone.

Effects of dimeric radiographic contrast medium iotrolan on Swine renal arteries: comparison with monomeric contrast media iohexol and iomeprol.

Rationale And Objectives: To investigate whether the lower incidence of vasodilatation upon vascular injection of iotrolan, as compared with monomeric contrast media, is solely the result of its isotonicity.

Materials And Methods: In an organ bath, isolated segments of swine renal arteries, uncontracted or precontracted by 10 microm phenylephrine, were incubated with increasing concentrations of iotrolan-300, iohexol-300, iomeprol-300, iomeprol-150, and mannitol solutions with the same molarity as the contrast media.

Results: At equal iodine and equimolar concentrations, iotrolan-300 relaxed precontracted arteries less than iohexol-300, iomeprol-300, and iomeprol-150, which was, like iotrolan-300, iso-osmolar to blood (P < 0.

Inflammatory pseudotumor of the liver in a patient with congenital granulocytopenia and HCV infection.

Inflammatory pseudotumor (IPT) of the liver is a rare pathologic lesion. Although IPTs within the liver shows spontaneous regression, these lesions are frequently misdiagnosed as malignant on the basis of the clinical manifestation and the results of diagnostic imaging. With special regard to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), differential diagnosis such as hepatocellular or cholangiocellular carcinoma (HCC/CCC) as well as regenerative liver lesions are discussed in a case of IPT with concomitant hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and congenital granulocytopenia.

Contrast-enhanced cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging.

Since its introduction in the early 1990s, contrast-enhanced (CE) cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has evolved rapidly for the assessment of cardiac pathologies, including in particular ischemic heart disease and inflammatory conditions. Likewise, CE-magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) is now used routinely to evaluate the thoracic vasculature. This article reviews the current use of extracellular gadolinium-based agents in CE cardiovascular imaging, focusing on ischemic heart disease, inflammatory myocardial conditions, and the use of CE-MRA in imaging of the pulmonary and aortic vasculature.

[Left ventricular mass in endurance-athletes with athlete's heart and untrained subjects--comparison between different echocardiographic methods and MRI].

Unlabelled: The echocardiographic determination of left ventricular mass (LVM) and volume is of importance for the interpretation of cardiac adaptations and risk-stratification. In pathologically hypertrophied hearts, conventional one- and two-dimensional echocardiographic methods tend to overestimate LVM. For the athlete's heart, a comparison between different echocardiographic methods and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has not been performed so far.

Angiography for acute lower gastrointestinal hemorrhage: efficacy of cut film compared with digital subtraction techniques.

Purpose: To find out if digital subtraction angiography (DSA) has a different diagnostic power than conventional cut-film angiography in investigating acute lower gastrointestinal (GI) hemorrhage.

Materials And Methods: Retrospective analysis of two cohorts of patients investigated by angiography for acute lower GI hemorrhage was performed. One group of patients treated at one center ("hospital H") underwent conventional angiography.

Early posttransplantation renal allograft perfusion failure due to dissection: diagnosis and interventional treatment.

Objective: The aim of our study was to describe the role of interventional radiology, especially in the use of vascular stents, in early renal perfusion failure after transplantation.

Conclusion: Angiography revealed intimal dissection of the graft artery and graft venous thrombosis, which were successfully treated with stent angioplasty and thromboaspiration. For early vascular complication after transplantation, timely use of angiography and subsequent intervention should be recognized as potentially effective and safe treatment techniques.

Athlete's heart: right and left ventricular mass and function in male endurance athletes and untrained individuals determined by magnetic resonance imaging.

Objectives: Athlete's heart represents a structural and functional adaptation to regular endurance exercise.

Background: While left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy of the athlete's heart has been examined in many studies, the extent of right ventricular (RV) hypertrophy is still uncertain because of its complex shape and trabecular structure. To examine RV hypertrophy, we used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and hypothesized that athlete's heart is characterized by similar LV and RV hypertrophy.

Nonionic contrast media iohexol and iomeprol decrease renal arterial tone: comparative studies on human and porcine isolated vascular segments.

Rationale And Objectives: The vasoconstriction of the renal arteries is frequently considered as a crucial factor for radiocontrast-induced nephropathy. A direct effect of iodinated radiographic contrast medium (RCM) on vascular smooth muscle is supposed to be one component of the vascular response. We studied the effect of the nonionic RCM iomeprol and iohexol on the tonus of isolated human and porcine renal arteries in vitro.

Pathophysiological changes after traumatic brain injury: comparison of two experimental animal models by means of MRI.

In an experimental study MRI was used to compare the pathophysiological changes of brain tissue after lateral fluid percussion injury (FPI) versus cold injury (CI) as models of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Two groups of Sprague-Dawley rats (n=23) were subjected to mild FPI, respectively, CI localized over the right parietal cortex. MRI was performed at different time points including T1w, T2w and T1w-CE (Gd-DTPA 0.