Publications by authors named "Robson Macedo"

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread quickly throughout the United States (US) causing significant disruption in healthcare and society. Tools to identify hot spots are important for public health planning. The goal of our study was to determine if natural language processing (NLP) algorithm assessment of thoracic computed tomography (CT) imaging reports correlated with the incidence of official COVID-19 cases in the US.

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Background: A combined approach of myocardial CT perfusion (CTP) with coronary CT angiography (CTA) was shown to have better diagnostic accuracy than coronary CTA alone. However, data on cost benefits and length of stay when compared to other perfusion imaging modalities has not been evaluated. Therefore, we aim to perform a feasibility study to assess direct costs and length of stay of a combined stress CTP/CTA and use SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging (SPECT-MPI) as a benchmark, among chest pain patients at intermediate-risk for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) presenting to the emergency department (ED).

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Purpose: To examine the effects of Arrabidaa chica (Bignoniacea) extract, a native plant of the Amazon known as crajiru, on a 7,12-dimethyl-1,2-benzanthracene (DMBA)-induced breast cancer model in Wistar rats.

Methods: We compared the response of breast cancer to the oral administration of A. chica extract (ACE) for 16 weeks, associated or not with vincristine.

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Purpose:: To examine a correlation of micro-PET images with photographic images of the digestive organs in abdominal sepsis model.

Methods:: Male Wistar rats weighing 265±18g were used. Abdominal sepsis was induced by ligature and cecal puncture.

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Purpose: To evaluate the heart and the Tc-99m-sestamibi biodistribution after statin pretreatment in a rat model of abdominal sepsis.

Methods: Twenty-four Wistar rats were randomly distributed into four groups (n=6 per group): 1) sepsis with simvastatin treatment, 2) sepsis with vehicle, 3) sham control with simvastatin and 4) sham control with vehicle. 24 hours after cecal ligation and puncture rats received 1.

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Background: Still today, measurements used as a reference in the cardiac magnetic resonance imaging have been obtained mainly from studies carried out in North-American and European populations.

Objective: To obtain measurements of the diastolic diameter, systolic diameter, end diastolic volume, end systolic volume, ejection fraction, and myocardial mass of the left and right ventricles in Brazilians.

Methods: 54 men and 53 women, with mean age of 43.

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Purpose: To determine the relationship of pericardial fat, which secretes proinflammatory markers that have been implicated in coronary atherosclerosis, with atherosclerotic plaque in an asymptomatic population-based cohort.

Materials And Methods: In this institutional review board-approved study, all participants supplied written informed consent. One hundred eighty-three participants (89 women, 94 men; mean age, 61 years ± 9 [standard deviation]) from the community-based Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) were included.

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Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess coronary arterial remodeling as a marker of subclinical atherosclerosis using coronary wall magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in an asymptomatic population-based cohort.

Background: In early atherosclerosis, compensatory enlargement of both the outer wall of the vessel as well as the lumen, termed compensatory enlargement or positive remodeling, occurs before luminal narrowing.

Methods: One hundred seventy-nine participants in the MESA (Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis) trial were evaluated using black-blood coronary wall MRI.

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Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of left ventricular (LV) involvement in individuals predisposed to developing arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia/cardiomyopathy (ARVD/C), and to investigate novel morphologic variants of ARVD/C.

Background: The discovery of desmosomal mutations associated with ARVD/C has led researchers to hypothesize equal right ventricular (RV) and LV affliction in the disease process.

Methods: Thirty-eight (age 30 +/- 17 years; 18 males) family members of 12 desmosomal mutation-carrying ARVD/C probands underwent genotyping and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR).

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Objective: Coronary artery wall magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been developed to assess coronary lumen diameter and wall thickness. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the physiological parameters that affect the measures of coronary wall thickness using black-blood MRI pulse sequences.

Methods: Eighty-seven participants (38 men and 49 women) of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis were enrolled in the coronary artery wall MRI study.

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Black blood turbo spin echo (TSE) imaging of the right ventricle (RV) free wall is highly sensitive to cardiac motion, frequently resulting in nondiagnostic images. Temporal and spatial parameters of a black blood TSE pulse sequence were evaluated for visualization of the RV free wall. Seventy-four patient studies were retrospectively evaluated for the effects of acquisition timing on image quality.

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Purpose: To evaluate the use of coronary wall MRI as a measure of atherosclerotic disease burden in an asymptomatic population free of clinical cardiovascular disease. Coronary wall magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a noninvasive method for evaluation of arterial wall remodeling associated with atherosclerosis.

Materials And Methods: Asymptomatic participants of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) study were studied using black blood MRI.

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Purpose: To determine the correlation function between the steady-state free precession (SSFP) and fast gradient echo (FGRE) cine MRI pulse sequences for measuring the myocardial mass and volumes.

Materials And Methods: Cardiac cine MRI examinations were acquired in 50 individuals (female: 35, male: 15, mean age 64.1 +/- 9.

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Background: Prior reports describing magnetic resonance (MR) imaging abnormalities in arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia (ARVD/C) were limited by nonuniform inclusion criteria. The aim of our study was to define the prevalence, sensitivity, and specificity of quantitative MR imaging findings in the probands of multidisciplinary study of right ventricular dysplasia.

Methods: Individuals with ventricular arrhythmias of left bundle-branch block morphology meeting the Task Force criteria for ARVD/C underwent MR imaging.

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Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe the structure and function of the heart in the presence of marked lipomatous infiltration of the right ventricular wall in 13 patients referred for second opinions about fatty infiltration of the right ventricular wall and suspected arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia.

Conclusion: Lipomatous infiltration with right ventricular thickness > or = 6 mm on MRI but without regional or global functional abnormalities of the right ventricle appears to be distinct from fatty right ventricle associated with arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia. The finding of right ventricular fat must be interpreted cautiously to avoid the pharmacologic and defibrillator intervention associated with management of arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia.

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Cardiomyopathies are a group of diseases that are associated with myocardial dysfunction and/or arrhythmia due to abnormalities of the myocardium. Echocardiography is the most commonly used method for functional evaluation and classification of cardiomyopathy since it is widely available. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has recently emerged as a well-validated diagnostic tool for the understanding and treatment of these conditions.

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Patients with non-ischemic cardiomyopathy often represent a diagnostic challenge, and correct etiologic diagnosis may influence outcomes. Lately, delayed myocardial enhancement MR imaging has been developed and is currently being used for a growing number of clinical applications. On delayed enhancement MR images, scarring or fibrosis appears as an area of high signal intensity, and the pattern by which this enhancement occurs in the myocardium allows distinction of many different pathologies.

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Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is highly precise for morphological and functional analyses of the myocardium, and has been used to assess different types of cardiomyopathies. Its ability to characterize tissue, especially with gadolinium (Gd) delayed-enhancement techniques, has shown promising results for the diagnosis of arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathies. In this review we discuss the background and potential of this approach, as well as its usefulness for assessing arrhythmias and cardiomyopathies.

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