Noninvasive high-frequency oscillation ventilation as post- extubation respiratory support in neonates: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: Noninvasive High-Frequency Oscillatory Ventilation (NHFOV) is increasingly being adopted to reduce the need for invasive ventilation after extubation.

Objectives: To evaluate the benefits and harms of NHFOV as post-extubation respiratory support in newborns compared to other non-invasive respiratory support modes.

Material & Methods: We included randomized controlled trials comparing NHFOV with other non-invasive modes post-extubation in newborns.

Resolving fetal hydrops - A rare entity.

Non-immune hydrops fetalis (NIHF) is abnormal accumulation of serous fluid in ≥2 interstitial spaces with no evidence of maternal red cell alloimmunization. Leaving a few treatable conditions, it is generally considered as a sign of poor fetal outcome. Bi-allelic variants in THSD1 have been found to be to be associated with phenotypes ranging from lethal NIHF to persistent edema.

Merkel Cell Carcinoma of the Left Cheek With Testicular Metastasis: An Uncommon Occurrence.

Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is an infrequent and aggressive neuroendocrine tumor of the skin. 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) is an effective imaging technique with good diagnostic accuracy that may be used to help stage MCC and for detecting unexpected recurrences and distant metastatic disease. Other causes of testicular neoplasms, such as primary testicular tumors, lymphomas, or anaplastic small cell melanomas, are difficult to differentiate from MCC testicular metastases on imaging, and tumor markers and histopathology will help confirm it.

External Validation of the Neonatal Mortality Risk-2000 Score to Predict In-Hospital Mortality in Neonates Weighing 2000 g or Less.

The authors aimed to externally validate the Neonatal Mortality Risk-2000 (NMR-2000) score, a simplified tool to predict in-hospital mortality in the setting of a tertiary care hospital. They conducted a single-center prospective cohort study on neonates weighing ≤ 2000 g who were admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit within 6 h of age. The predictors included in the NMR-2000 score were birth weight, SpO at admission, and the highest level of respiratory support during the first 24 h of life.

Ventricular function in congenital diaphragmatic hernia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

There is emerging evidence supporting ventricular function as a prognostic factor in congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). The present systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to determine the predictive value of early ventricular function for survival and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) requirement in newborns with CDH. PubMed, Google Scholar, Cochrane Central Register, Clinical Trial Registry, and Opengrey were accessed.

Cardiac uptake patterns in routine 18F-FDG PET-CT scans: A pictorial review.

Broad variability of 18F-Fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (FDG) uptake is noted in myocardium while performing FDG PET-CT scans for viability, infection, or oncologic purposes. While most of the uptakes are considered non-specific, presence of underlying cardiac disease is seldom encountered. With this presentation, our intent is to pictorially highlight the variable FDG uptake patterns associated with the normal variations, benign, and malignant disease.

Improvement in Successful Extubation in Newborns After a Protocol-driven Approach: A Quality Improvement Initiative.

Objective: To reduce extubation failure rate by implementing protocol-driven ventilation and extubation strategies.

Methods: Quality improvement project in a level II neonatal care unit from April 2017 to January 2018. Ventilation and extubation protocols implemented from 1 August, 2017.

Congenital Arhinia: A Rare Case Report and Review of Literature.

Congenital absence of nose (Arhinia) is extremely rare. A male baby was born at term via uncomplicated vaginal delivery and presented with complete arhinia, bilateral microphthalmia, lower eyelid coloboma and feeding difficulty. Reconstructive surgery was postponed until preschool age.

Quantitative Analysis of Dynamic 123I-mIBG SPECT Imaging Data in Healthy Humans with a Population-Based Metabolite Correction Method.

Unlabelled: Conventional 2-dimensional planar imaging of (123)I-metaiodobenzylguanidine ((123)I-mIBG) is not fully quantitative. To develop a more accurate quantitative imaging approach, we investigated dynamic SPECT imaging with kinetic modeling in healthy humans to obtain the myocardial volume of distribution (VT) for (123)I-mIBG.

Methods: Twelve healthy humans underwent 5 serial 15-min SPECT scans at 0, 15, 90, 120, and 180 min after bolus injection of (123)I-mIBG on a hybrid cadmium zinc telluride SPECT/CT system.

Scatter and crosstalk corrections for (99m)Tc/(123)I dual-radionuclide imaging using a CZT SPECT system with pinhole collimators.

Purpose: The energy spectrum for a cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) detector has a low energy tail due to incomplete charge collection and intercrystal scattering. Due to these solid-state detector effects, scatter would be overestimated if the conventional triple-energy window (TEW) method is used for scatter and crosstalk corrections in CZT-based imaging systems. The objective of this work is to develop a scatter and crosstalk correction method for (99m)Tc/(123)I dual-radionuclide imaging for a CZT-based dedicated cardiac SPECT system with pinhole collimators (GE Discovery NM 530c/570c).

Scatter characterization and correction for simultaneous multiple small-animal PET imaging.

Purpose: The rapid growth and usage of small-animal positron emission tomography (PET) in molecular imaging research has led to increased demand on PET scanner's time. One potential solution to increase throughput is to scan multiple rodents simultaneously. However, this is achieved at the expense of deterioration of image quality and loss of quantitative accuracy owing to enhanced effects of photon attenuation and Compton scattering.

A cone-shaped phantom for assessment of small animal PET scatter fraction and count rate performance.

Purpose: Positron emission tomography (PET) image quality deteriorates as the object size increases owing to increased detection of scattered and random events. The characterization of the scatter component in small animal PET imaging has received little attention owing to the small scatter fraction (SF) when imaging rodents. The purpose of this study is first to design and fabricate a cone-shaped phantom which can be used for measurement of object size-dependent SF and noise equivalent count rates (NECR), and second, to assess these parameters for two small animal PET scanners as function of radial offset, object size and lower energy threshold (LET).

NEMA NU-04-based performance characteristics of the LabPET-8™ small animal PET scanner.

The objective of this study is to characterize the performance of the preclinical avalanche photodiode (APD)-based LabPET-8™ subsystem of the fully integrated trimodality PET/SPECT/CT Triumph™ scanner using the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) NU 04-2008 protocol. The characterized performance parameters include the spatial resolution, sensitivity, scatter fraction, counts rate performance and image-quality characteristics. The PET system is fully digital using APD-based detector modules with highly integrated electronics.

Performance evaluation of the FLEX triumph X-PET scanner using the national electrical manufacturers association NU-4 standards.

Unlabelled: The purpose of this work was to evaluate the performance characteristics of the preclinical X-PET subsystem of the FLEX Triumph PET/CT scanner based on the NU 4-2008 standards of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA).

Methods: The performance parameters evaluated include the spatial resolution, scatter fraction, count losses and random coincidences, sensitivity, and image-quality characteristics. The PET detector array consisted of 11,520 individual bismuth germanate crystals arranged in 48 rings and 180 blocks, with an axial field of view (FOV) of 11.

Advances in multimodality molecular imaging.

Multimodality molecular imaging using high resolution positron emission tomography (PET) combined with other modalities is now playing a pivotal role in basic and clinical research. The introduction of combined PET/CT systems in clinical setting has revolutionized the practice of diagnostic imaging. The complementarity between the intrinsically aligned anatomic (CT) and functional or metabolic (PET) information provided in a "one-stop shop" and the possibility to use CT images for attenuation correction of the PET data has been the driving force behind the success of this technology.