The burden of radiation exposure in congenital heart disease: the Italian cohort profile and bioresource collection in HARMONIC project.

Background: The European-funded Health Effects of Cardiac Fluoroscopy and Modern Radiotherapy in Pediatrics (HARMONIC) project aims to improve knowledge on the effects of medical exposure to ionizing radiation (IR) received during childhood. One of its objectives is to build a consolidated European cohort of pediatric patients who have undergone cardiac catheterization (Cath) procedures, with the goal of enhancing the assessment of long-term radiation-associated cancer risk. The purpose of our study is to provide a detailed description of the Italian cohort contributing to the HARMONIC project, including an analysis of cumulative IR exposure, reduction trend over the years and an overview of the prospective collection of biological samples for research in this vulnerable population.

Quantitative Computed Tomography and Response to Pronation in COVID-19 ARDS.

Background: The use of prone position (PP) has been widespread during the COVID-19 pandemic. Whereas it has demonstrated benefits, including improved oxygenation and lung aeration, the factors influencing the response in terms of gas exchange to PP remain unclear. In particular, the association between baseline quantitative computed tomography (CT) scan results and gas exchange response to PP in invasively ventilated subjects with COVID-19 ARDS is unknown.

Artificial intelligence for differentiating COVID-19 from other viral pneumonias on CT: comparative analysis of different models based on quantitative and radiomic approaches.

Background: To develop a pipeline for automatic extraction of quantitative metrics and radiomic features from lung computed tomography (CT) and develop artificial intelligence (AI) models supporting differential diagnosis between coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and other viral pneumonia (non-COVID-19).

Methods: Chest CT of 1,031 patients (811 for model building; 220 as independent validation set (IVS) with positive swab for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (647 COVID-19) or other respiratory viruses (384 non-COVID-19) were segmented automatically. A Gaussian model, based on the HU histogram distribution describing well-aerated and ill portions, was optimised to calculate quantitative metrics (QM, n = 20) in both lungs (2L) and four geometrical subdivisions (GS) (upper front, lower front, upper dorsal, lower dorsal; n = 80).

Diagnostic Performance in Differentiating COVID-19 from Other Viral Pneumonias on CT Imaging: Multi-Reader Analysis Compared with an Artificial Intelligence-Based Model.

Growing evidence suggests that artificial intelligence tools could help radiologists in differentiating COVID-19 pneumonia from other types of viral (non-COVID-19) pneumonia. To test this hypothesis, an R-AI classifier capable of discriminating between COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 pneumonia was developed using CT chest scans of 1031 patients with positive swab for SARS-CoV-2 ( = 647) and other respiratory viruses ( = 384). The model was trained with 811 CT scans, while 220 CT scans ( = 151 COVID-19; = 69 non-COVID-19) were used for independent validation.

Validation of a dose tracking software for skin dose map calculation in interventional radiology.

Purpose: Validate the skin dose software within the radiation dose index monitoring system NEXO[DOSE]® (Bracco Injeneering S.A., Lausanne, Switzerland).

Patient organ and effective dose estimation in CT: comparison of four software applications.

Background: Radiation dose in computed tomography (CT) has become a topic of high interest due to the increasing numbers of CT examinations performed worldwide. Hence, dose tracking and organ dose calculation software are increasingly used. We evaluated the organ dose variability associated with the use of different software applications or calculation methods.

Patient dose in angiographic interventional procedures: A multicentre study in Italy.

Purpose: The Council Directive 2013/59/EURATOM considers interventional radiology to be a special practice involving high doses of radiation and requiring strict monitoring to ensure the best quality assurance programs. This work reports the early experience of managing dose data from patients undergoing angiography in a multicentre study.

Materials And Methods: The study was based on a survey of about 15,200 sample procedures performed in 21 Italian hospitals centres involved on a voluntary basis.

Analysis of a multicentre cloud-based CT dosimetric database: preliminary results.

Background: To manage and analyse dosimetric data provided by computed tomography (CT) scanners from four Italian hospitals.

Methods: A radiation dose index monitoring (RDIM) software was used to collect anonymised exams stored in a cloud server. Since hospitals use different names for the same procedure, digital imaging and communications in medicine (DICOM) tags more appropriate to describe exams were selected and associated to study common names (SCNs) from a radiology playbook according to scan region and use of contrast media.

Computed tomography use in a large Italian region: trend analysis 2004-2014 of emergency and outpatient CT examinations in children and adults.

Objectives: To analyse CT use in recent years in a high-density Italian area (±10 million inhabitants, including 1 million children), focusing on developing age.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of records from HealthCare IT System, covering >400 hospitals and clinics. Description of CT use between 2004-2014 in emergency and outpatient care and assessment of radiation exposure trend.

Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration for suspected malignancies adjacent to the gastrointestinal tract.

Aim: To investigate the impact of endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) in association with a multidisciplinary team evaluation for the detection of gastrointestinal malignancies.

Methods: A cohort of 1019 patients with suspected malignant lesions adjacent to the gastrointestinal tract received EUS-FNA after a standardized multidisciplinary team evaluation (MTE) and were divided into 4 groups according to their specific malignant risk score (MRS). Patients with a MRS of 0 (without detectable risk of malignancy) received only EUS without FNA.

Analysis and reduction of thermal dose errors in MRgFUS treatment.

ExAblate 2000 MRgFUS system (InSightec) installed in Ospedale Maggiore Niguarda Ca' Granda (Milano, Italy) is currently used to treat uterine fibroids. Through the magnetic resonance thermometry (PRF method), it is possible to monitor the temperature in the target in real-time and compute the treated region calculating the thermal dose. The purpose of this work is to investigate the errors in the temperature measurements and their effect on thermal dose.