Automatic determination of differential coronary artery motion minima for cardiac computed tomography optimal phase selection.

Rationale And Objectives: Selecting the optimal phase for coronary artery evaluation can be challenging, especially at higher heart rates, given that the optimal phase may differ for each of the coronary arteries. This study aimed to evaluate a novel vessel-specific algorithm which automatically outputs the minimum motion phase per coronary artery.

Materials And Methods: The study included 44 patients who underwent 256-slice cardiac computed tomography for evaluation of chest pain.

Influence of different self-expanding stent-graft types on remodeling of the aortic neck after endovascular aneurysm repair.

Purpose: To evaluate aortic neck changes, specifically aortic neck dilatation, over a 10-year period in patients undergoing endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) for abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Methods: All patients who underwent elective EVAR at our institution from 1998 through 2007 were analyzed retrospectively. Among these, 103 patients (96 men; mean age 71 years, range 35-84) who received the 3 most frequently implanted self-expanding stent-grafts (35 Talent, 39 Excluder, and 29 Zenith) and had a minimum 3-month imaging follow-up at our department were selected for this study.

[Influence of fixation mechanism on changes of the supra- and infrarenal segment of the aorta after endovascular treatment of infrarenal aortic aneurysm].

Introduction: Dilatation of the infrarenal aortic segment determines the long-term outcome after endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms. This segment is crucial for sealing and preventing stent-graft migration. The purpose of this study was to evaluate influence of fixation mechanism on changes of supra- and infrarenal aortic diameters over a 10-year period.

Diffusion-weighted MR imaging in comparison to integrated [¹⁸F]-FDG PET/CT for N-staging in patients with lung cancer.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to prospectively determine the diagnostic accuracy of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) using MRI in the staging of thoracic lymph nodes in patients with lung cancer, and to compare the performance to that of PET/CT.

Patients And Method: 20 consecutive patients (pts) with histologically proven lung cancer were included in this study. In all pts FDG-PET/CT was routinely performed to stage lung carcinoma.

Quantification of aortic valve area at 256-slice computed tomography: comparison with transesophageal echocardiography and cardiac catheterization in subjects with high-grade aortic valve stenosis prior to percutaneous valve replacement.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare planimetric aortic valve area (AVA) measurements from 256-slice CT to those derived from transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) and cardiac catheterization in high-risk subjects with known high-grade calcified aortic stenosis.

Methods And Materials: The study included 26 subjects (10 males, mean age: 79±6; range, 61-88 years). All subjects were clinically referred for aortic valve imaging prior to percutaneous aortic valve replacement from April 2008 to March 2009.