Real-world impact of high-pitch helical CT on radiation exposure and image quality in infants being evaluated for cardiothoracic pathologies.

Background: Evaluation of cardiothoracic pathologies is a common indication for computed tomography (CT) in infants. However, CT is fraught with challenges specific to the patient population, such as increased sensitivity to radiation and inability to remain stationary during imaging.

Objective: This study investigates potential advantages of a high-pitch helical CT protocol for infants with cardiothoracic pathologies.

Clinical and imaging aspects of pulmonary embolism: a primer for radiologists.

Although many advancements have been made in imaging modalities that can be used to diagnose pulmonary embolism (PE), computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) is still the preferred gold standard for promptly diagnosing pulmonary embolism by looking for filling defects caused by the embolus lodged within the main pulmonary artery or its respective branches. The diagnosis is made by the radiologists in emergency settings where quick detection of a PE on CTPA helps the Pulmonary Embolism Response Team (PERT) in quick management. Thus, utmost care is needed to follow standard image acquisition protocols and optimal contrast administration techniques to achieve a contrast opacification of at least 210 Hounsfield units for the radiologists to easily pinpoint an embolus within the pulmonary arteries.

Deep learning reveals lung shape differences on baseline chest CT between mild and severe COVID-19: A multi-site retrospective study.

Severe COVID-19 can lead to extensive lung disease causing lung architectural distortion. In this study we employed machine learning and statistical atlas-based approaches to explore possible changes in lung shape among COVID-19 patients and evaluated whether the extent of these changes was associated with COVID-19 severity. On a large multi-institutional dataset (N = 3443), three different populations were defined; a) healthy (no COVID-19), b) mild COVID-19 (no ventilator required), c) severe COVID-19 (ventilator required), and the presence of lung shape differences between them were explored using baseline chest CT.

Enhancing cardiovascular risk prediction through AI-enabled calcium-omics.

Whole-heart coronary calcium Agatston score is a well-established predictor of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), but it does not account for individual calcification features related to the pathophysiology of the disease (e.g., multiple-vessel disease, spread of the disease along the vessel, stable calcifications, numbers of lesions, and density).