Generation of short-term follow-up chest CT images using a latent diffusion model in COVID-19.

Purpose: Despite a global decrease in the number of COVID-19 patients, early prediction of the clinical course for optimal patient care remains challenging. Recently, the usefulness of image generation for medical images has been investigated. This study aimed to generate short-term follow-up chest CT images using a latent diffusion model in patients with COVID-19.

Nonrigid registration method for longitudinal chest CT images in COVID-19.

Rationale And Objectives: To analyze morphological changes in patients with COVID-19-associated pneumonia over time, a nonrigid registration technique is required that reduces differences in respiratory phase and imaging position and does not excessively deform the lesion region. A nonrigid registration method using deep learning was applied for lung field alignment, and its practicality was verified through quantitative evaluation, such as image similarity of whole lung region and image similarity of lesion region, as well as visual evaluation by a physician.

Materials And Methods: First, the lung field positions and sizes of the first and second CT images were roughly matched using a classical registration method based on iterative calculations as a preprocessing step.

Dynamic chest radiographic evaluation of the effects of tiotropium/olodaterol combination therapy in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: the EMBODY study protocol for an open-label, prospective, single-centre, non-controlled, comparative study.

Introduction: To date, there is limited evidence on the effects of bronchodilators on respiratory dynamics in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Dynamic chest radiography (DCR) is a novel radiographic modality that provides real-time, objective and quantifiable kinetic data, including changes in the lung area (Rs), tracheal diameter, diaphragmatic kinetics and pulmonary ventilation during respiration, at a lower radiation dose than that used by fluoroscopic or CT imaging. However, the therapeutic effect of dual bronchodilators on respiratory kinetics, such as chest wall dynamics and respiratory muscle function, has not yet been prospectively evaluated using DCR.

Respiratory Diaphragm Motion-Based Asynchronization and Limitation Evaluation on Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) typically causes airflow blockage and breathing difficulties, which may result in the abnormal morphology and motion of the lungs or diaphragm. This study aims to quantitatively evaluate respiratory diaphragm motion using a thoracic sagittal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) series, including motion asynchronization and limitations. First, the diaphragm profile is extracted using a deep-learning-based field segmentation approach.

Prediction of oxygen supplementation by a deep-learning model integrating clinical parameters and chest CT images in COVID-19.

Purpose: As of March 2023, the number of patients with COVID-19 worldwide is declining, but the early diagnosis of patients requiring inpatient treatment and the appropriate allocation of limited healthcare resources remain unresolved issues. In this study we constructed a deep-learning (DL) model to predict the need for oxygen supplementation using clinical information and chest CT images of patients with COVID-19.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 738 patients with COVID-19 for whom clinical information (patient background, clinical symptoms, and blood test findings) was available and chest CT imaging was performed.

Prognostic Nutritional Index (PNI) as a Potential Prognostic Tool for Exacerbation of COPD in Elderly Patients.

Purpose: In COPD, exacerbation of the disorder causes a deterioration in the quality-of-life and worsens respiratory dysfunction, leading to a poor prognosis. In recent years, nutritional indices have been reported as significant prognostic factors in various chronic diseases. However, the relationship between nutritional indicators and prognosis in elderly subjects with COPD has not been investigated.

Semiautomatic assessment of respiratory dynamics using cine MRI in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Purpose: The quantitative assessment of impaired lung motions and their association with the clinical characteristics of COPD patients is challenging. The aim of this study was to measure respiratory kinetics, including asynchronous movements, and to analyze the relationship between lung area and other clinical parameters.

Materials And Methods: This study enrolled 10 normal control participants and 21 COPD patients who underwent dynamic MRI and pulmonary function testing (PFT).

Heterogeneity of Lung Density in Patients With Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension (CTEPH).

Rationale And Objectives: Pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) is one of the most effective treatments for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). Right heart catheterization (RHC) is the gold standard assessment for pulmonary circulatory dynamics. However, computed tomography (CT) is less invasive than RHC and can elucidate some of the morphological changes caused by thromboembolism.

[Semi-automated Segmentation of Lungs Using the k-means Method in Cine MRI].

Dynamic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides essential information on the respiratory kinetics in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), such as impaired diaphragm and chest wall motions. The purpose of this study was to develop the semi-automated segmentation program of lungs using cine MRI. We enrolled five control participants and five patients with COPD who underwent cine MRI.

Dynamic Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging Assessment of Areas of the Lung During Free-Breathing of Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Rationale And Objectives: Changes in the geometry of the chest wall due to lung hyperinflation occur in COPD. However, the quantitative assessment of impaired lung motions and its association with the clinical characteristics of COPD patients are unclear. This study aimed to investigate the respiratory kinetics of COPD patients by dynamic MRI.

Objective quantitative multidetector computed tomography assessments in patients with combined pulmonary fibrosis with emphysema: Relationship with pulmonary function and clinical events.

Background: Combined pulmonary fibrosis with emphysema (CPFE) is a clinically meaningful syndrome characterized by coexisting upper-lobe emphysema and lower-lobe interstitial fibrosis. However, ambiguous diagnostic criteria and, particularly, the absence of objective methods to quantify emphysematous/fibrotic lesions in patients with CPFE confound the interpretation of the pathophysiology of this syndrome. We analyzed the relationship between objectively quantified computed tomography (CT) measurements and the results of pulmonary function testing (PFT) and clinical events in CPFE patients.

Feasibility and accuracy of rapid on-site evaluation of touch imprint cytology during transbronchial biopsy.

Background: Rapid on-site evaluation (ROSE) of cytologic material is widely performed because it provides clinicians with instant diagnostic information. However, the utility of ROSE of touch imprint cytology (ROSE-TIC) during transbronchial biopsy (TBB) remains unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of ROSE-TIC for TBB.

Longitudinal changes in structural lung abnormalities using MDCT in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with asthma-like features.

Background: Some patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have asthma-like features. However, there have been few reports on the structural lung abnormalities found in this patient population. Multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) can detect emphysematous low-attenuation areas (LAA) within the lung, airway thickness (wall area percentage, WA%), and the loss of pulmonary vasculature as the percentage of small pulmonary vessels with cross-sectional area (CSA) less than 5 mm2 (%CSA<5).

A predictive factor for patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome: CT lung volumetry of the well-aerated region as an automated method.

Purpose: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is an acute inflammatory lung injury that frequently shows fatal outcomes. As radiographic predictive factors, some reports have focused on the region of ill-aerated lung, but none have focused on well-aerated lung. Our objective was to evaluate the relationship between computed tomography (CT) volume of the well-aerated lung region and prognosis in patients with ARDS.

The positive effect of student-oriented clinical clerkship rounds employing role-play and peer review on the clinical performance and professionalism of clerkship students.

Role-play (RP) and peer review (PR) are occasionally used in training and evaluating communication skills in clinical clerkship (CC). Thus, we evaluated the effect of combining RP and PR during student-oriented CC rounds. Clerkship students conducted medical interviews with and performed physical examinations on their patients, which were reviewed by five peer students who observed their performance while role-playing as senior physicians or patients' families.

S100A12 inhibits fibroblast migration via the receptor for advanced glycation end products and p38 MAPK signaling.

The migration of lung fibroblasts plays a pivotal role in wound repair and fibrotic processes in the lung. Although the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of lung diseases, its role in lung fibroblast migration is unclear. The current study examined the effect of three different RAGE ligands, namely, high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), S100A12, and N-epsilon-(carboxymethyl) lysine (CML), on human fibronectin-directed human fetal lung fibroblast (HFL-1) migration.

Identification of factors during bronchoscopy that affect patient reluctance to undergo repeat examination: Questionnaire analysis after initial bronchoscopy.

Background: Re-biopsy by bronchoscopy is an important part of treatment for patients with relapsed lung cancer; however, some patients refuse to undergo a re-examination due to discomfort during their first bronchoscopy. The aim of the present study was to determine factors causing discomfort during bronchoscopy and to identify the factors that affect patients' reluctance to undergo repeat examinations via a questionnaire administered immediately after the initial bronchoscopy.

Methods And Findings: We evaluated 283 patients who underwent bronchoscopy at Chiba University Hospital between September 2015 and March 2017.

Safety of diagnostic flexible bronchoscopy in patients with echocardiographic evidence of pulmonary hypertension.

Background: The presence of pulmonary hypertension (PH) and treatment with anticoagulant agents could potentially increase the risk for bleeding/hemodynamic complications associated with bronchoscopic procedures. The aim of this study was to assess the safety of diagnostic flexible bronchoscopy (FB) in patients with PH.

Methods: A retrospective review of clinical records of patients with echocardiographic evidence of PH (right ventricular systolic pressure [RVSP] > 40 mm Hg) who underwent diagnostic FB between 2004 and 2016 at a single facility in Japan was conducted.

Efficacy of End-Tidal Capnography Monitoring during Flexible Bronchoscopy in Nonintubated Patients under Sedation: A Randomized Controlled Study.

Background: Although appropriate sedation is recommended during flexible bronchoscopy (FB), patients are at risk for hypoventilation due to inadvertent oversedation. End-tidal capnography is expected as an additional useful monitor for these patients during FB.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the benefit of additional end-tidal capnography monitoring in reducing the incidence of hypoxemia during FB in patients under sedation.

Evaluation of the clinical characteristics of everolimus-induced lung injury and determination of associated risk factors.

Background: Everolimus (ERL), a mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor, has been used for the management of several advanced cancers. ERL frequently causes lung injury, although the clinical and radiographic features have not been clarified. The aim of this study was to assess the clinical features of ERL-induced lung injury and determine the associated risk factors.

Heart Rate and Oxygen Saturation Change Patterns During 6-min Walk Test in Subjects With Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension.

Background: The 6-min walk test (6MWT) is commonly performed to assess functional status in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. However, changes in heart rate and oxygen saturation (S ) patterns during 6MWT in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension remain unclear.

Methods: Thirty-one subjects with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension were retrospectively evaluated to examine the relationships between the change in heart rate (Δheart rate), heart rate acceleration time, slope of heart rate acceleration, heart rate recovery during the first minute after 6MWT (HRR1), change in S (ΔS ), S reduction time, and S recovery time during 6MWT, and the severity of pulmonary hemodynamics assessed by right heart catheterization and echocardiography.

The Relationship of Bone Mineral Density in Men with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Classified According to the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) Combined Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Assessment System.

Objective Osteoporosis, which is now recognized as a major comorbidity of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), must be diagnosed by appropriate methods. The aims of this study were to clarify the relationships between bone mineral density (BMD) and COPD-related clinical variables and to explore the association of BMD with the updated Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) classification in men. Methods We enrolled 50 Japanese men with clinically stable COPD who underwent dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), pulmonary function testing, and computerized tomography (CT) and who had completed a questionnaire (COPD assessment test [CAT]).

The dilatation of main pulmonary artery and right ventricle observed by enhanced chest computed tomography predict poor outcome in inoperable chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.

Background: Dilatation of the pulmonary artery and right ventricle on chest computed tomography images is often observed in patients with pulmonary hypertension. The clinical significance of these image findings has not been defined in chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. We investigated whether the pulmonary arterial and right ventricle dilatation was associated with poor outcome in chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.

Longitudinal changes in structural abnormalities using MDCT in COPD: do the CT measurements of airway wall thickness and small pulmonary vessels change in parallel with emphysematous progression?

Background: Recent advances in multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) facilitate acquiring important clinical information for managing patients with COPD. MDCT can detect the loss of lung tissue associated with emphysema as a low-attenuation area (LAA) and the thickness of airways as the wall area percentage (WA%). The percentage of small pulmonary vessels <5 mm (% cross-sectional area [CSA] <5) has been recently recognized as a parameter for expressing pulmonary perfusion.