Radiation therapy for low- and high-risk perineural invasion in head and neck cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma: Clinical outcomes and patterns of failure.

Background: Perineural invasion (PNI) in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) portends poor prognosis. Extent of treatment of nerve pathways with varying degrees of PNI and patterns of failure following elective neural radiotherapy (RT) remain unclear.

Methods: Retrospective review of HNSCC patients with high-risk (clinical/gross, large-nerve, extensive) or low-risk (microscopic/focal) PNI who underwent curative-intent treatment from 2010 to 2021.

Performance of multiparametric prostate magnetic resonance imaging validated by targeted and systematic transperineal biopsies.

Objective: To measure the performance of multiparametric (mp) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to identify intraprostatic tumour deposits using a systematic and targeted MR-guided transperineal prostate biopsy technique.

Materials And Methods: Patients underwent a combined systematic and targeted MR-guided transperineal biopsy procedure in the dorsal lithotomy position under general anaesthesia. Systematic biopsies were spaced 10 mm or less apart and additional biopsies targeted any Prostate Imaging-Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS) 3, 4 or 5 lesions identified on mpMRI.

Predicted Inferior Outcomes for Lung SBRT With Treatment Planning Systems That Fail Independent Phantom-Based Audits.

Purpose: More than 15% of radiation therapy clinics fail external audits with anthropomorphic phantoms conducted by Imaging and Radiation Oncology Core-Houston (IROC-H) while passing other industry-standard quality assurance (QA) tests. We seek to evaluate the predicted effect of such failed plans on outcomes for patients treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for lung tumors.

Methods And Materials: We conducted a retrospective study of 55 patients treated with SBRT for lung tumors with a prescription biologically equivalent dose (BED) ≥100 Gy using a treatment planning system (TPS) that passed IROC-H phantom audits.

Disparities in Access to Radiation Therapy by Race and Ethnicity in the United States With Focus on American Indian/Alaska Native People.

Objectives: Striking disparities in access to radiation therapy (RT) exist, especially among racial and ethnic-minority patients. We analyzed census block group data to evaluate differences in travel distance to RT as a function of race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and rurality.

Methods: The Directory of Radiotherapy Centers provided the addresses of facilities containing linear accelerators for RT.

A Prospective Study of a Resorbable Intravesical Fiducial Marker for Bladder Cancer Radiation Therapy.

Purpose: We conducted a prospective pilot study to evaluate safety and feasibility of TraceIT, a resorbable radiopaque hydrogel, to improve image guidance for bladder cancer radiation therapy (RT).

Methods And Materials: Patients with muscle invasive bladder cancer receiving definitive RT were eligible. TraceIT was injected intravesically around the tumor bed during maximal transurethral resection of bladder tumor.

Comparisons of 3-Dimensional Conformal and Intensity-Modulated Neutron Therapy for Head and Neck Cancers.

Purpose: Neutron therapy is a high linear energy transfer modality that is useful for the treatment of radioresistant head and neck (H&N) cancers. It has been limited to 3-dimensioanal conformal-based fast-neutron therapy (3DCNT), but recent technical advances have enabled the clinical implementation of intensity-modulated neutron therapy (IMNT). This study evaluated the comparative dosimetry of IMNT and 3DCNT plans for the treatment of H&N cancers.

Disparities in Access to Radiation Therapy Facilities Among American Indians/Alaska Natives and Hispanics in Washington State.

Purpose: Racial and ethnic minorities in the state of Washington experience higher cancer mortality relative to whites. We sought to characterize differences in travel distance to radiation therapy (RT) facilities in Washington by race and ethnicity with a special focus on non-Hispanic American Indians and Alaska Natives as a contributor to limited access and cancer disparities.

Methods And Materials: Geocoded mortality data from Washington Department of Health (2011-2018) were used to identify decedents with mortality related to all-causes, all cancers, and cancers likely requiring access to RT.

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning.

Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless, highly toxic gas primarily produced through the incomplete combustion of organic material. Carbon monoxide binds to hemoglobin and other heme molecules, causing tissue hypoxia and oxidative stress. Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning can vary from a mild headache to critical illness, which can make diagnosis difficult.

Emergency Medicine/Critical Care Medicine (EM/CCM) Trainees' Performance on Standardized Critical Care Medicine Examinations: A Ten-Year Review.

Background: Emergency Medicine/Critical Care Medicine (EM/CCM) trainees may obtain board certification through Internal Medicine (American Board of Internal Medicine [ABIM]), Surgery (American Board of Surgery [ABS]), and Anesthesiology (American Board of Anesthesiology [ABA]). However, EM/CCM trainees experience challenges, including: 1) additional training requirements and 2) an unwillingness to accept EM graduates by many programs.

Objectives: We sought to: 1) compare EM/CCM knowledge acquisition to medicine (Internal Medicine [IM]/CCM), surgery (surgical critical care [SCC]), and anesthesiology (anesthesiology critical care medicine [ACCM]) Fellows at the local and national level using the Multidisciplinary Critical Care Knowledge Assessment Program (MCCKAP) in-service examination as an objective measure; and 2) compare American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) pass rates for EM/CCM.

Interreader Variability of Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System Version 2 in Detecting and Assessing Prostate Cancer Lesions at Prostate MRI.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate agreement among radiologists in detecting and assessing prostate cancer at multiparametric MRI using Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System version 2 (PI-RADSv2). Treatment-naïve patients underwent 3-T multipara-metric MRI between April 2012 and June 2015. Among the 163 patients evaluated, 110 underwent prostatectomy after MRI and 53 had normal MRI findings and transrectal ultrasound-guided biopsy results.

Can Apparent Diffusion Coefficient Values Assist PI-RADS Version 2 DWI Scoring? A Correlation Study Using the PI-RADSv2 and International Society of Urological Pathology Systems.

Objective: The purposes of this study were to assess correlation of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and normalized ADC (ratio of tumor to nontumor tissue) with the Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System version 2 (PI-RADSv2) and updated International Society of Urological Pathology (ISUP) categories and to determine how to optimally use ADC metrics for objective assistance in categorizing lesions within PI-RADSv2 guidelines.

Materials And Methods: In this retrospective study, 100 patients (median age, 62 years; range, 44-75 years; prostate-specific antigen level, 7.18 ng/mL; range, 1.

Computer-aided diagnosis prior to conventional interpretation of prostate mpMRI: an international multi-reader study.

Objectives: To evaluate if computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) prior to prostate multi-parametric MRI (mpMRI) can improve sensitivity and agreement between radiologists.

Methods: Nine radiologists (three each high, intermediate, low experience) from eight institutions participated. A total of 163 patients with 3-T mpMRI from 4/2012 to 6/2015 were included: 110 cancer patients with prostatectomy after mpMRI, 53 patients with no lesions on mpMRI and negative TRUS-guided biopsy.

Radial Arterial Lines Have a Higher Failure Rate than Femoral.

Introduction: Arterial lines are important for monitoring critically ill patients. They are placed most commonly in either femoral or radial sites, though there is little evidence to guide site preference.

Methods: This is an ambispective, observational, cohort study to determine variance in failure rates between femoral and radial arterial lines.

The Problems with the Kappa Statistic as a Metric of Interobserver Agreement on Lesion Detection Using a Third-reader Approach When Locations Are Not Prespecified.

Rationale And Objectives: To point out the problems with Cohen kappa statistic and to explore alternative metrics to determine interobserver agreement on lesion detection when locations are not prespecified.

Materials And Methods: Use of kappa and two alternative methods, namely index of specific agreement (ISA) and modified kappa, for measuring interobserver agreement on the location of detected lesions are presented. These indices of agreement are illustrated by application to a retrospective multireader study in which nine readers detected and scored prostate cancer lesions in 163 consecutive patients (n = 110 cases, n = 53 controls) using the guideline of Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System version 2 on multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging.

All over the map: An interobserver agreement study of tumor location based on the PI-RADSv2 sector map.

Background: Prostate imaging reporting and data system version 2 (PI-RADSv2) recommends a sector map for reporting findings of prostate cancer mulitparametric MRI (mpMRI). Anecdotally, radiologists may demonstrate inconsistent reproducibility with this map.

Purpose: To evaluate interobserver agreement in defining prostate tumor location on mpMRI using the PI-RADSv2 sector map.

Multiparametric MRI for the detection of local recurrence of prostate cancer in the setting of biochemical recurrence after low dose rate brachytherapy.

Purpose: Prostate multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) has utility in detecting post-radiotherapy local recurrence. We conducted a multireader study to evaluate the diagnostic performance of mpMRI for local recurrence after low dose rate (LDR) brachytherapy.

Methods: A total of 19 patients with biochemical recurrence after LDR brachytherapy underwent 3T endorectal coil mpMRI with T2-weighted imaging, dynamic contrast-enhanced imaging (DCE) and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) with pathologic confirmation.

What Are We Missing? False-Negative Cancers at Multiparametric MR Imaging of the Prostate.

Purpose To characterize clinically important prostate cancers missed at multiparametric (MP) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Materials and Methods The local institutional review board approved this HIPAA-compliant retrospective single-center study, which included 100 consecutive patients who had undergone MP MR imaging and subsequent radical prostatectomy. A genitourinary pathologist blinded to MP MR findings outlined prostate cancers on whole-mount pathology slices.

Validation of the Disease-Specific GPA for Patients With 1 to 3 Synchronous Brain Metastases in Newly Diagnosed NSCLC.

Background: The disease-specific graded prognostic assessment (DS-GPA) for brain metastases is a powerful prognostic tool but has not been validated for patients with synchronous brain metastases (SBM) in newly diagnosed non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Patients And Methods: We identified patients with newly diagnosed NSCLC with 1 to 3 SBM treated with stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) between 1997 and 2012. We included patients whose brain metastases were treated with SRS alone or combined SRS and whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT).

Validation of the Dominant Sequence Paradigm and Role of Dynamic Contrast-enhanced Imaging in PI-RADS Version 2.

Purpose To validate the dominant pulse sequence paradigm and limited role of dynamic contrast material-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in the Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS) version 2 for prostate multiparametric MR imaging by using data from a multireader study. Materials and Methods This HIPAA-compliant retrospective interpretation of prospectively acquired data was approved by the local ethics committee. Patients were treatment-naïve with endorectal coil 3-T multiparametric MR imaging.

Detection of prostate cancer in multiparametric MRI using random forest with instance weighting.

A prostate computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) based on random forest to detect prostate cancer using a combination of spatial, intensity, and texture features extracted from three sequences, T2W, ADC, and B2000 images, is proposed. The random forest training considers instance-level weighting for equal treatment of small and large cancerous lesions as well as small and large prostate backgrounds. Two other approaches, based on an AutoContext pipeline intended to make better use of sequence-specific patterns, were considered.

PI-RADSv2: How we do it.

Unlabelled: Much criticism has been leveled at screening for prostate cancer using prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing, yet there is no suitable replacement to improve the detection of clinically significant cancer (CSC). Prostate multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) combined with mpMRI-guided biopsies is one possible solution, as it reduces detection of low-grade disease and increases detection of CSC. However, mpMRI is critically limited by lack of standardization across institutions and low interobserver agreement.

Does Abstinence From Ejaculation Before Prostate MRI Improve Evaluation of the Seminal Vesicles?

Objective: The purpose of the present study is to determine whether abstinence from ejaculation before undergoing multiparametric prostate MRI increases seminal vesicle (SV) volume and therefore improves diagnostic interpretation of the SVs.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective study included 238 patients who underwent 3-T MRI of the prostate over a 4-month period. Patients were requested to complete a questionnaire that asked how long it had been since their last ejaculation (i.

Accuracy and agreement of PIRADSv2 for prostate cancer mpMRI: A multireader study.

Purpose: Multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) improves the detection of clinically significant prostate cancer, but is limited by interobserver variation. The second version of theProstate Imaging Reporting and Data System (PIRADSv2) was recently proposed as a standard for interpreting mpMRI. To assess the performance and interobserver agreement of PIRADSv2 we performed a multi-reader study with five radiologists of varying experience.

Multiparametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Recurrent Prostate Cancer.

There is growing consensus that multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) is an effective modality in the detection of locally recurrent prostate cancer after prostatectomy and radiation therapy. The emergence of magnetic resonance (MR)-guided focal therapies, such as cryoablation, high-intensity focused ultrasound, and laser ablation, have made the use of mpMRI even more important, as the normal anatomy is inevitably altered and the detection of recurrence is made more difficult. The aim of this article is to review the utility of mpMRI in detecting recurrent prostate cancer in patients following radical prostatectomy, radiation therapy, and focal therapy and to discuss expected post-treatment mpMRI findings, the varied appearance of recurrent tumors, and their mimics.