A Multidisciplinary Approach to Pediatric Obesity Shows Improvement Postintervention.

Objective: Outpatient management of pediatric obesity can be difficult, requiring a significant time commitment from both provider and patient. Multidisciplinary clinic-based programs have shown promising effects in reducing BMI during intervention, but whether these changes are sustained over time is not well studied. The purpose of this study was to determine the post-treatment outcomes of children seen in a multidisciplinary pediatric obesity clinic (MPOC).

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cardiometabolic health parameters in children with preexisting dyslipidemia.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has raised concerns for worsening cardiometabolic health in children.

Objective: This study evaluates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent social restrictions on pediatric cardiometabolic health factors.

Methods: Retrospective review of patients in a pediatric lipid clinic in the year prior to (3/18/2019-3/17/2020) and during (3/18/2020-3/17/2021) the COVID-19 pandemic was performed.

Transaminase Elevation in Nutritional Infantile Failure to Thrive.

Introduction: Laboratory investigations pursued for infants with failure to thrive (FTT) often show mild transaminase elevations, the incidence and significance of which are unknown.

Methods: This retrospective chart review included infants diagnosed with simple nutritional FTT at a single academic tertiary care system. Comparisons of diagnostic studies and outcomes between children with and without transaminase elevation were performed using chi-square and Wilcoxon rank sum tests.

Biomarkers of Traumatic Brain Injury: Temporal Changes in Body Fluids.

Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) are caused by a hit to the head or a sudden acceleration/deceleration movement of the head. Mild TBIs (mTBIs) and concussions are difficult to diagnose. Imaging techniques often fail to find alterations in the brain, and computed tomography exposes the patient to radiation.

Use of vemurafenib in anaplastic thyroid carcinoma: a case report.

Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) is a rare, poorly differentiated type of thyroid cancer occurring in less than 5% of all thyroid cancers. Patients typically have a poor prognosis with very few options for treatment. (2) With current therapy of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, median survival is only 6 months from the time of diagnosis.

Smoking-related emphysema is associated with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and rheumatoid lung.

Background And Objective: A combined pulmonary fibrosis/emphysema syndrome has been proposed, but the basis for this syndrome is currently uncertain. The aim was to evaluate the prevalence of emphysema in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and rheumatoid lung (rheumatoid arthritis-interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD)), and to compare the morphological features of lung fibrosis between smokers and non-smokers.

Methods: Using high-resolution computed tomography, the prevalence of emphysema and the pack-year smoking histories associated with emphysema were compared between current/ex-smokers with IPF (n = 186) or RA-ILD (n = 46), and non-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) controls (n = 103) and COPD controls (n = 34).

Does computer-assisted detection of pulmonary emboli enhance severity assessment and risk stratification in acute pulmonary embolism?

Aim: To prospectively assess the value of computer-aided detection (CAD) for the computed tomography (CT) severity assessment of acute pulmonary embolism (PE).

Materials And Methods: CT angiographic scans of 58 PE-positive patients (34-89 years, mean 66 years) were analysed by four observers for PE severity using the Mastora index, and by CAD. Patients were stratified to three PE risk groups and results compared to an independent reference standard.

Lung diffusing capacity for nitric oxide and carbon monoxide in relation to morphological changes as assessed by computed tomography in patients with cystic fibrosis.

Background: Due to large-scale destruction, changes in membrane diffusion (Dm) may occur in cystic fibrosis (CF), in correspondence to alterations observed by computed tomography (CT). Dm can be easily quantified via the diffusing capacity for nitric oxide (DLNO), as opposed to the conventional diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO). We thus studied the relationship between DLNO as well as DLCO and a CF-specific CT score in patients with stable CF.

[Reticular pattern in thin-section CT: from morphology to differential diagnosis].

Major constituents of a reticular pattern in thin-section CT are thickened interlobular and intralobular septa as well as honeycombing. When thickening of the interlobular septa or honeycombing are visible as predominant features, these patterns have a limited differential diagnosis. In this context, a detailed analysis of morphologic characteristics (e.

Comparison of flat-panel-detector-based CT and multidetector-row CT in automated volumetry of pulmonary nodules using an anthropomorphic chest phantom.

This study evaluates the accuracy and reproducibility of an experimental flat-panel-detector-based CT scanner (fp-CT) in comparison with those of a 64-slice multidetector row CT (MDCT) in automated pulmonary nodule volumetry. An anthropomorphic chest phantom with 31 spherical nodules (nodule diameters of 2.94-10.

The use of flat panel volumetric computed tomography (fpVCT) in osteoporosis research.

Rationale And Objectives: Improvements in imaging technology have led to the increased use of computed tomography (CT). For example, micro-CT and quantitative CT (QCT) are now often used in osteoporosis research, in which micro-CT is able to analyze small bones or bone samples with high spatial resolution. In contrast, QCT is able to investigate large samples with low spatial resolution.

Non-specific interstitial pneumonia in cigarette smokers: a CT study.

The goal of this study was to seek indirect evidence that smoking is an aetiological factor in some patients with non-specific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP). Ten current and eight ex-smokers with NSIP were compared to controls including 137 current smokers with no known interstitial lung disease and 11 non-smokers with NSIP. Prevalence and extent of emphysema in 18 smokers with NSIP were compared with subjects meeting GOLD criteria for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD; group A; n = 34) and healthy smokers (normal FEV(1); group B; n = 103), respectively.

Interstitial lung disease associated with collagen vascular disorders: disease quantification using a computer-aided diagnosis tool.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) tool compared to human observers in quantification of interstitial lung disease (ILD) in patients with collagen-vascular disorders. A total of 52 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (n=24), scleroderma (n=14) and systemic lupus erythematosus (n=14) underwent thin-section CT. Two independent observers assessed the extent of ILD (EoILD), reticulation (EoRet) and ground-glass opacity (EoGGO).

Computer-assisted quantification of interstitial lung disease associated with rheumatoid arthritis: preliminary technical validation.

Purpose: To validate a threshold-based prototype software application (MeVis PULMO 3D) for quantification of chronic interstitial lung disease (ILD) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) using variable threshold settings for segmentation of diseased lung areas.

Methods: Twenty-two patients with rheumatoid arthritis were included and underwent thin-section CT (4x1.25mm collimation).

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: outcome in relation to smoking status.

Rationale: The pathogenic importance of smoking status in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is uncertain. In theory, increased oxidative stress in current and former smokers might promote disease progression. However, better survival has been reported for current smokers with IPF, although this might reflect less severe disease at presentation (a "healthy smoker effect").

Computer-assisted detection of pulmonary embolism: performance evaluation in consensus with experienced and inexperienced chest radiologists.

The value of a computer-aided detection tool (CAD) as second reader in combination with experienced and inexperienced radiologists for the diagnosis of acute pulmonary embolism (PE) was assessed prospectively. Computed tomographic angiography (CTA) scans (64 x 0.6 mm collimation; 61.

[Multidetector-row CT in severe pulmonary embolism: radiologists' help in risk stratification].

Multidetector-row computed tomographic (CT) angiography of pulmonary arteries is the first-line imaging technique in patients suspected of having pulmonary embolism (PE). Patient risk stratification is important because optimal management, monitoring, and therapeutic strategies depend on the patient's prognosis. Acute right-sided heart failure is known to be responsible for circulatory collapse and death in patients with severe PE.

Automated CT volumetry of pulmonary metastases: the effect of a reduced growth threshold and target lesion number on the reliability of therapy response assessment using RECIST criteria.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reproducibility of CT-volumetric tumour response assessment of pulmonary metastasis using variable volume change thresholds (VCT) and target lesions with response evaluation criteria in solid tumours (RECIST). Fifty consecutive patients with pulmonary metastases undergoing follow-up multislice CT under chemotherapy were assessed for response to chemotherapy with modifications to RECIST: (1) decreasing the percentual VCT for diagnosis of tumour response (range = 70%-20%), (2) reducing the number of target lesions (range = 1-5). Continuous and categorical observer agreements were tested by Bland and Altman and extended (kappa(e)) or non-weighted kappa (kappa) and correlated with percentual VCT to predict observer agreement.

[Smoking-related interstitial lung diseases].

The most important smoking-related interstitial lung diseases (ILD) are respiratory bronchiolitis, respiratory bronchiolitis-associated interstitial lung disease, desquamative interstitial pneumonia, and Langerhans' cell histiocytosis. Although traditionally considered to be discrete entities, smoking-related ILDs often coexist, thus accounting for the sometimes complex patterns encountered on high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT). Further studies are needed to elucidate the causative role of smoking in the development of pulmonary fibrosis.

Computer-aided detection and automated CT volumetry of pulmonary nodules.

With use of multislice computed tomography (MSCT), small pulmonary nodules are being detected in vast numbers, constituting the majority of all noncalcified lung nodules. Although the prevalence of lung cancers among such lesions in lung cancer screening populations is low, their isolation may contribute to increased patient survival. Computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) has emerged as a diverse set of diagnostic tools to handle the large number of images in MSCT datasets and most importantly, includes automated detection and volumetry of pulmonary nodules.

[Acute pulmonary embolism: prediction of cor pulmonale and short-term patient survival from assessment of cardiac dimensions in routine multidetector-row CT].

Purpose: Evaluation of the prognostic value of morphological cardiac parameters in patients with suspected and incidental acute pulmonary embolism (PE) using multidetector-row chest CT (MSCT).

Materials And Methods: 2335 consecutive MSCT scans were evaluated for the presence of PE. The arterial enhancement and analysability of pulmonary arteries and the heart were assessed as parameters of the scan quality.

Acute pulmonary embolism on MDCT of the chest: prediction of cor pulmonale and short-term patient survival from morphologic embolus burden.

Objective: To predict cor pulmonale and short-term outcome in patients with pulmonary embolism (PE), we retrospectively investigated three morphology-based MDCT systems for scoring pulmonary artery obstruction.

Materials And Methods: Eighty-nine consecutive patients (51 men and 38 women; age range, 23-83 years; median, 63.3 years) with an MDCT diagnosis of acute PE were included in the study.

Pulmonary embolism at multi-detector row CT of chest: one-year survival of treated and untreated patients.

Purpose: To retrospectively assess outcome in patients with clinically unsuspected pulmonary embolism (PE) at chest multi-detector row computed tomography (CT).

Materials And Methods: Institutional review board approval and informed consent were not required. PE was assessed in consecutive CT scans in 1966 patients (mean age, 60 years; range, 15-96 years; male-female ratio, 1.