Publications by authors named "Maurice Pradella"

Article Synopsis
  • This study compared the performance of a 0.55-T low-field MRI scanner and a 1.5-T high-field MRI scanner in assessing left ventricular (LV) and right ventricular (RV) volume and function in healthy volunteers and cardiac patients.
  • Data showed a very strong correlation (0.98) between measurements from the two scanners, with average deviations of only 1.6% and 1.1% for healthy volunteers and cardiac patients, respectively.
  • The results suggest that the 0.55-T scanner can provide similar quantitative cardiac metrics as the 1.5-T scanner, although it requires a longer acquisition time.
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Objective: To evaluate incidence and predictors of early silent bypass occlusion following coronary bypass surgery using cardiac computed tomography angiography.

Methods: A total of 439 consecutive patients with mean age of 66 ± 10 years comprising 17% ( = 75) females underwent isolated coronary bypass surgery followed by CT scan before discharge. Graft patency was evaluated in 1,319 anastomoses where 44% ( = 580) arterial and 56% ( = 739) vein graft anastomosis were performed.

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Article Synopsis
  • Left atrial (LA) myopathy may lead to silent brain infarctions (SBI) due to altered blood flow, and 4D-flow MRI is used to assess LA hemodynamics.
  • A study involving 125 participants from the MESA population aimed to explore the links between LA and LAA blood flow parameters and the occurrence of SBI.
  • Results showed that older age and reduced peak velocity in the left atrial appendage were significantly associated with a higher likelihood of having SBI.
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Purpose To investigate associations between left atrial volume (LAV) and function with impaired three-dimensional hemodynamics from four-dimensional flow MRI. Materials and Methods A subcohort of participants from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis from Northwestern University underwent prospective 1.5-T cardiac MRI including whole-heart four-dimensional flow and short-axis cine imaging between 2019 and 2020.

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Article Synopsis
  • - This study aimed to evaluate how well PET/CT and MRI can predict relapse in patients with large-vessel giant cell arteritis (LV-GCA) after they stop treatment.
  • - Researchers analyzed data from 40 patients who had their treatment stopped while in remission, comparing imaging results between those who relapsed and those who didn’t.
  • - The findings indicated that imaging scores from PET/CT and MRI did not significantly differ between relapsing and non-relapsing patients, suggesting these methods may not be effective for guiding treatment decisions in LV-GCA.
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4D flow MRI is an emerging imaging modality that maps voxel-wise blood flow information as velocity vector fields that is acquired in 7-dimensional image volumes (3 spatial dimensions + 3 velocity directions + time). Blood flow in the cardiovascular system is often complex and composite involving multiple flow dynamics and patterns (e.g.

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We sought to investigate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) parameters that correspond to vasculitis observed via [F]FDG positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) and ultrasound in patients with large-vessel giant cell arteritis (LV-GCA). We performed a cross-sectional analysis of patients diagnosed with LV-GCA. Patients were selected if MRI, PET/CT, and vascular ultrasound were performed at the time of LV-GCA diagnosis.

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Background: MRI-derived left atrial (LA) longitudinal strain has been shown to be a marker for mitral regurgitation, but the utility of LA circumferential strain remains unclear.

Purpose: To assess feasibility and reproducibility of LA circumferential strain, identify changes in mitral regurgitation patients compared to healthy volunteers, and determine strain's association with mitral regurgitation severity and cardiac function.

Study Type: Retrospective.

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Purpose: To present a deep learning segmentation model that can automatically and robustly segment all major anatomic structures on body CT images.

Materials And Methods: In this retrospective study, 1204 CT examinations (from 2012, 2016, and 2020) were used to segment 104 anatomic structures (27 organs, 59 bones, 10 muscles, and eight vessels) relevant for use cases such as organ volumetry, disease characterization, and surgical or radiation therapy planning. The CT images were randomly sampled from routine clinical studies and thus represent a real-world dataset (different ages, abnormalities, scanners, body parts, sequences, and sites).

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study focuses on improving the accuracy of deep learning algorithms for measuring thoracic aortic dilatation (TAD) in chest CT scans, particularly for non-ECG gated exams, due to previous unreliable classifications, especially at the aortic root.
  • - A total of 995 patients were included, and the re-trained deep learning tool showed a significant increase in correct diameter measurements, achieving 95.5% accuracy overall, compared to the initial version.
  • - The re-trained algorithm not only improved measurements at previously problematic locations (like the aortic root) but also identified additional measurements not captured before, though it still had a small percentage of inaccuracies.
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A 53-year-old man with a history of vascular ring repair secondary to a right-sided aortic arch with a retroesophageal subclavian artery and ligamentum arteriosum to the descending thoracic aorta presented to our institution with a large aortic pseudoaneurysm of the distal aortic arch. Computed tomography demonstrated a right-sided aortic arch with a 5.8-cm pseudoaneurysm arising from the distal arch with concern for rupture.

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Purpose: To compare maximum left atrial (LA) volume (LAV) from the routinely used biplane area-length (BAL) method with three-dimensional (3D)-based volumetry from late gadolinium-enhanced MRI (3D LGE MRI) and contrast-enhanced MR angiography (3D CE-MRA) in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF).

Materials And Methods: Sixty-four patients with AF (mean age, 63 years ± 9 [SD]; 40 male patients) were retrospectively included from a prospective cohort acquired between October 2018 and February 2021. All patients underwent a research MRI examination that included standard two- and four-chamber cine acquisitions, 3D CE-MRA, and 3D LGE MRI performed prior to the atrial kick.

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Purpose: The biplane area-length method is commonly used in cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) to assess left atrial (LA) volume (LAV) and function. Associations between left atrial emptying fraction (LAEF) and clinical outcomes have been reported. However, only limited data are available on the calculation of LAEF using the biplane method compared to 3D assessment.

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Objectives: Time-resolved, 2D-phase-contrast MRI (2D-CINE-PC-MRI) enables in vivo blood flow analysis. However, accurate vessel contour delineation (VCD) is required to achieve reliable results. We sought to evaluate manual analysis (MA) compared to the performance of a deep learning (DL) application for fully-automated VCD and flow quantification and corrected semi-automated analysis (corSAA).

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Rationale And Objective: In this study, we evaluate the ability of a novel cloud-based radiology analytics platform to continuously monitor imaging volumes at a large tertiary center following institutional protocol and policy changes.

Materials And Methods: We evaluated response to environmental factors through the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic. Analysis involved 11 CT/18 MR imaging systems at a large tertiary center.

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Purpose: Thoracic aortic (TA) dilatation (TAD) is a risk factor for acute aortic syndrome and must therefore be reported in every CT report. However, the complex anatomy of the thoracic aorta impedes TAD detection. We investigated the performance of a deep learning (DL) prototype as a secondary reading tool built to measure TA diameters in a large-scale cohort.

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Article Synopsis
  • Atrial fibrillation (AF) is correlated with left atrial (LA) enlargement, and this study used a CNN for 3D analysis of LA volume over traditional 2D methods.
  • The research involved 102 AF patients who underwent cardiac MRI, and the study measured various LA functional parameters, such as LA emptying fractions, in relation to clinical classification schemes for AF.
  • Results showed that active LA emptying fractions significantly declined with increased AF burden and stroke risk, indicating that the automated analysis could provide valuable insights into AF severity and associated risks.
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Purpose: The purpose of our study was to assess the value of true lumen and false lumen hemodynamics compared to aortic morphological measurements for predicting adverse-aorta related outcomes (AARO) and aortic growth in patients with type B aortic dissection (TBAD).

Materials And Methods: Using an IRB approved protocol, we retrospectively identified patients with descending aorta (DAo) dissection at a large tertiary center. Inclusion criteria includes known TBAD with ≥ 6 months of clinical follow-up after initial presentation for TBAD or after ascending aorta intervention for patients with repaired type A dissection with residual type B aortic dissection (rTAAD).

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Aneurysms of the left atrial appendage (LAA) are rare entities that often require surgical intervention. We demonstrate multimodality imaging features of a giant LAA aneurysm, with a focus on 3-dimensional blood flow dynamics by using 4-dimensional-flow cardiac magnetic resonance. ().

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Background: Artificial intelligence can assist in cardiac image interpretation. Here, we achieved a substantial reduction in time required to read a cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) study to estimate left atrial volume without compromising accuracy or reliability. Rather than deploying a fully automatic black-box, we propose to incorporate the automated LA volumetry into a human-centric interactive image-analysis process.

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Background: Manually performed diameter measurements on ECG-gated CT-angiography (CTA) represent the gold standard for diagnosis of thoracic aortic dilatation. However, they are time-consuming and show high inter-reader variability. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the accuracy of measurements of a deep learning-(DL)-algorithm in comparison to those of radiologists and evaluated measurement times (MT).

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