Comparative Effectiveness and Safety of Preoperative Lung Localization for Pulmonary Nodules: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background: An optimal method of preoperative localization for pulmonary nodules has yet to be established. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to compare the success and complication rates associated with three pulmonary nodule localization methods for video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS): hook-wire localization, microcoil localization, and lipiodol localization.

Methods: We searched the PubMed, MEDLINE, and EMBASE databases for prospective or retrospective English language studies of VATS localization in adult patients.

Coronary Computed Tomographic Angiography at 80 kVp and Knowledge-Based Iterative Model Reconstruction Is Non-Inferior to that at 100 kVp with Iterative Reconstruction.

The aims of this study were to compare the image noise and quality of coronary computed tomographic angiography (CCTA) at 80 kVp with knowledge-based iterative model reconstruction (IMR) to those of CCTA at 100 kVp with hybrid iterative reconstruction (IR), and to evaluate the feasibility of a low-dose radiation protocol with IMR. Thirty subjects who underwent prospective electrocardiogram-gating CCTA at 80 kVp, 150 mAs, and IMR (Group A), and 30 subjects with 100 kVp, 150 mAs, and hybrid IR (Group B) were retrospectively enrolled after sample-size calculation. A BMI of less than 25 kg/m2 was required for inclusion.

Volume-based quantification using dual-energy computed tomography in the differentiation of thymic epithelial tumours: an initial experience.

Objectives: To investigate the diagnostic value of dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) in differentiating between low- and high-risk thymomas and thymic carcinomas.

Materials: Our institutional review board approved this study, and patients provided informed consent. We prospectively enrolled 37 patients (20 males, mean age: 55.

False-negative results of breast MR computer-aided evaluation in patients with breast cancer: correlation with clinicopathologic and radiologic factors.

Purpose: To investigate clinicopathologic and radiologic factors associated with false-negative results of magnetic resonance computer aided evaluation (MR-CAE) of breast MR imaging (MRI) in breast cancer patients.

Materials And Methods: A total of 135 breast cancer patients who underwent preoperative breast MR-CAE were included. False-negative and true-positive MR-CAE results were compared in terms of clinicopathologic and radiologic features.

Comparison of coronary computed tomography angiography image quality with high- and low-concentration contrast agents (CONCENTRATE): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: With the development of computed tomography (CT) technology, coronary CT angiography can be acquired with low doses of radiation and contrast agent without a loss of diagnostic performance. The primary objective of the CONCENTRATE study is to prove the noninferiority of the enhancement effect of low-concentration contrast agents compared to a high-concentration contrast agent of the coronary artery and myocardium with coronary CT angiography.

Methods/design: The CONCENTRATE study is a prospective, multicenter, noninferiority, randomized trial evaluating the enhancement effect of low-concentration contrast agents (270 and 320 mg iodine/ml) compared with a high-concentration contrast agent (370 mg iodine/ml) in the coronary artery and myocardium of coronary artery CT angiography.

The feasibility of CT lung volume as a surrogate marker of donor-recipient size matching in lung transplantation.

Donor-recipient size matching in lung transplantation (LTx) by computed tomography lung volume (CTvol) may be a reasonable approach because size matching is an anatomical issue. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of CTvol as a surrogate marker of size matching in LTx by comparing CTvol and predicted total lung capacity (pTLC) to reference total lung capacity (TLC) values.From January to December 2014, data from 400 patients who underwent plethysmography, pulmonary function testing (PFT), and chest computed tomography scans were reviewed retrospectively.

Characterizing amide proton transfer imaging in haemorrhage brain lesions using 3T MRI.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to characterize amide proton transfer (APT)-weighted signals in acute and subacute haemorrhage brain lesions of various underlying aetiologies.

Methods: Twenty-three patients with symptomatic haemorrhage brain lesions including tumorous (n = 16) and non-tumorous lesions (n = 7) were evaluated. APT imaging was performed and analyzed with magnetization transfer ratio asymmetry (MTR ).

Histogram and gray level co-occurrence matrix on gray-scale ultrasound images for diagnosing lymphocytic thyroiditis.

The objective of the study was to evaluate whether texture analysis using histogram and gray level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) parameters can help clinicians diagnose lymphocytic thyroiditis (LT) and differentiate LT according to pathologic grade. The background thyroid pathology of 441 patients was classified into no evidence of LT, chronic LT (CLT), and Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT). Histogram and GLCM parameters were extracted from the regions of interest on ultrasound.

Assessment of Mitral Paravalvular Leakage After Mitral Valve Replacement Using Cardiac Computed Tomography: Comparison With Surgical Findings.

Background: The diagnostic performance of cardiac computed tomography (CT) for detection of paravalvular leakage (PVL) after mitral valve replacement has not been investigated in a large population. We aimed to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of CT for diagnosis of mitral PVL using surgical findings as the standard reference and to compare the diagnostic performance of CT with those of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE).

Methods And Results: A total of 204 patients with previous mitral valve replacement who underwent cardiac CT were retrospectively included.

How to Develop, Validate, and Compare Clinical Prediction Models Involving Radiological Parameters: Study Design and Statistical Methods.

Clinical prediction models are developed to calculate estimates of the probability of the presence/occurrence or future course of a particular prognostic or diagnostic outcome from multiple clinical or non-clinical parameters. Radiologic imaging techniques are being developed for accurate detection and early diagnosis of disease, which will eventually affect patient outcomes. Hence, results obtained by radiological means, especially diagnostic imaging, are frequently incorporated into a clinical prediction model as important predictive parameters, and the performance of the prediction model may improve in both diagnostic and prognostic settings.

Incremental prognostic value of computed tomography in stroke: rationale and design of the IMPACTS study.

This study was designed to determine the prognostic value of coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) in ischemic stroke patients and to identify any incremental risk stratification benefits of CCTA findings compared with coronary artery calcium scoring (CACS) and traditional Framingham risk scores (FRS) in ischemic stroke patients without chest pain. IMPACTS is a prospective, multicenter, observational cohort study in which at least seven centers in Korea will participate. All participants will be enrolled in this study after providing informed consent.

Prostate Cancer: PI-RADS Version 2 Helps Preoperatively Predict Clinically Significant Cancers.

Purpose To retrospectively analyze whether Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS) version 2 is helpful for the detection of clinically significant prostate cancer. Materials and Methods Institutional review board approved this retrospective study. A total of 425 patients with prostate cancer who had undergone magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and radical prostatectomy were included.

Metastasis-Free Interval Is Closely Related to Tumor Characteristics and Has Prognostic Value in Breast Cancer Patients with Distant Relapse.

Purpose: We investigated the relationships between metastasis-free interval (MFI) and tumor characteristics, and assessed the prognostic value of MFI for survival after metastasis in patients with metastatic breast cancer. Furthermore, we compared MFI among the subtypes.

Methods: We identified 335 patients with postoperative tumor recurrence at distant site(s).

Lesion stiffness measured by shear-wave elastography: Preoperative predictor of the histologic underestimation of US-guided core needle breast biopsy.

Objectives: To determine whether lesion stiffness measured by shear-wave elastography (SWE) can be used to predict the histologic underestimation of ultrasound (US)-guided 14-gauge core needle biopsy (CNB) for breast masses.

Methods: This retrospective study enrolled 99 breast masses from 93 patients, including 40 high-risk lesions and 59 ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), which were diagnosed by US-guided 14-gauge CNB. SWE was performed for all breast masses to measure quantitative elasticity values before US-guided CNB.

Anterior Optic Pathway Compression Due to Internal Carotid Artery Aneurysms: Neurosurgical Management and Outcomes.

Background And Purpose: Compression of the anterior optic pathway results in visual deficits that can lead to the detection of unruptured aneurysms in the internal carotid artery (ICA). The general types of treatment modalities for aneurysms and visual deficits include surgery and endosaccular coiling. This study retrospectively analyzed and compared the resolution of visual deficits following surgery or endosaccular coiling.

MR Enterography for the Evaluation of Small-Bowel Inflammation in Crohn Disease by Using Diffusion-weighted Imaging without Intravenous Contrast Material: A Prospective Noninferiority Study.

Purpose: To determine whether magnetic resonance (MR) enterography performed with diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) without intravenous contrast material is noninferior to contrast material-enhanced (CE) MR enterography for the evaluation of small-bowel inflammation in Crohn disease.

Materials And Methods: Institutional review board approval and informed consent were obtained for this prospective noninferiority study. Fifty consecutive adults suspected of having Crohn disease underwent clinical assessment, MR enterography, and ileocolonoscopy within 1 week.

Repeat Targeted Prostate Biopsy under Guidance of Multiparametric MRI-Correlated Real-Time Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound for Patients with Previous Negative Biopsy and Elevated Prostate-Specific Antigen: A Prospective Study.

Objectives: To prospectively determine whether multi-parametric MRI (mpMRI) - contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) correlated, imaging-guided target biopsy (TB) method could improve the detection of prostate cancer in re-biopsy setting of patients with prior negative biopsy.

Methods: From 2012 to 2014, a total of 42 Korean men with a negative result from previous systematic biopsy (SB) and elevated prostate-specific antigen underwent 3T mpMRI and real-time CEUS guided TB. Target lesions were determined by fusion of mpMRI and CEUS.

Standardized uptake value of ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography for prediction of tumor recurrence in breast cancer beyond tumor burden.

Introduction: 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) can reveal the metabolic activity of malignant tumors. Recent advances gained from molecular studies suggest that tumor biology can be a good predictor of prognosis in breast cancer. We compared the ability of maximum standardized uptake values (SUVmax) derived by FDG-PET with tumor burden in predicting tumor recurrence for patients with breast cancer.

Mammographic and sonographic features of triple-negative invasive carcinoma of no special type.

The aim of this study was to compare the mammography, ultrasound (US) and histologic features of triple-negative (TN) invasive carcinoma of no special type (NST) to non-TN invasive carcinoma of NST. The second aim was to assess whether the distinct imaging characteristics of TN breast cancer would persist after controlling for the histologic features. A total of 344 invasive carcinomas of NST in 337 patients from January 2007 to February 2008 were included in this study.

Shear wave elastography of thyroid nodules for the prediction of malignancy in a large scale study.

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to validate the usefulness of shear wave elastography (SWE) in predicting thyroid malignancy with a large-scale quantitative SWE data.

Methods: This restrospective study included 476 thyroid nodules in 453 patients who underwent gray-scale US and SWE before US-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy (US-FNA) or surgical excision were included. Gray-scale findings and SWE elasticity indices (EIs) were retrospectively reviewed and compared between benign and malignant thyroid nodules.

[18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography can contribute to discriminate patients with poor prognosis in hormone receptor-positive breast cancer.

Background: Patients with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer typically show favorable survival. However, identifying individuals at high risk of recurrence among these patients is a crucial issue. We tested the hypothesis that [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) scans can help predict prognosis in patients with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer.

Determination of EC95 of remifentanil for smooth emergence from propofol anesthesia in patients undergoing transsphenoidal surgery.

Background: In patients undergoing pituitary surgery using a transsphenoidal approach, anesthesia emergence should be smooth with minimal coughing. Recent studies demonstrated that a target-controlled infusion of remifentanil effectively suppresses coughing induced by the endotracheal tube. We investigated the EC95 of remifentanil for smooth emergence without coughing from propofol anesthesia in patients undergoing transsphenoidal hypophysectomy.

Role of [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography, sonography, and sonographically guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy in the diagnosis of axillary lymph nodes in patients with breast cancer: comparison of diagnostic performance.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the diagnostic performance of [(18)F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) with that of sonography and sonographically guided fine-needle aspiration (FNA) for determining the preoperative axillary lymph node (ALN) status and to evaluate the factors related to false-negative PET-CT, sonographic, and FNA results in ALN staging of invasive ductal carcinoma.

Methods: From March 2009 to July 2012, 226 patients had a diagnosis of primary breast cancer. Among these patients, 107 constituted the study population after exclusion of transferred patients and patients with breast cancer other than invasive ductal carcinoma.

The myth of the equiangular triangle for identification of sacral hiatus in children disproved by ultrasonography.

Background And Objectives: A triangle formed by the sacral hiatus and posterior superior iliac spines (PSISs) has been known as equiangular and has been proposed as a way to help identify the sacral hiatus for a caudal block. In children, however, no feasibility study of this triangle has been performed. We compared the expected sacral hiatus obtained from the equiangular triangle method and the real sacral hiatus confirmed by ultrasound.