Optimal approach for diagnosing peripheral lung nodules by combining electromagnetic navigation bronchoscopy and radial probe endobronchial ultrasound.

Introduction: Electromagnetic navigation bronchoscopy (ENB) and radial probe endobronchial ultrasound (RP-EBUS) are essential bronchoscopic procedures for diagnosing peripheral lung lesions. Despite their individual advantages, the optimal circumstances for their combination remain uncertain.

Methods: This single-center retrospective study enrolled 473 patients with 529 pulmonary nodules who underwent ENB and/or RP-EBUS biopsies between December 2021 and December 2022.

Evaluation of retrieval accuracy and visual similarity in content-based image retrieval of chest CT for obstructive lung disease.

The aim of our study was to assess the performance of content-based image retrieval (CBIR) for similar chest computed tomography (CT) in obstructive lung disease. This retrospective study included patients with obstructive lung disease who underwent volumetric chest CT scans. The CBIR database included 600 chest CT scans from 541 patients.

CT-guided percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy for anterior mediastinal lymphoma: the role of PET/CT.

Background: Computed tomography (CT)-guided percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy (PTNB) is not recommended as the diagnostic modality of choice for anterior mediastinal lymphoma, despite its advantages of minimal invasiveness and easy accessibility.

Purpose: To identify the modifiable risk factors for non-diagnostic results from CT-guided PTNB for anterior mediastinal lymphoma.

Material And Methods: This retrospective study identified CT-guided PTNB for anterior mediastinal lesions diagnosed as lymphoma between May 2007 and December 2021.

Deep Learning for Automated Triaging of Stable Chest Radiographs in a Follow-up Setting.

Background Most artificial intelligence algorithms that interpret chest radiographs are restricted to an image from a single time point. However, in clinical practice, multiple radiographs are used for longitudinal follow-up, especially in intensive care units (ICUs). Purpose To develop and validate a deep learning algorithm using thoracic cage registration and subtraction to triage pairs of chest radiographs showing no change by using longitudinal follow-up data.

Efficacy and safety of transcatheter arterial embolization for hemodynamically unstable bleeding after percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy.

Purpose: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) in controlling hemodynamically unstable bleeding following a percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy (PTNB).

Methods: A total of seven patients (four men and three women; mean age, 62 ± 12 years) who received TAE for post-PTNB bleeding between May 2007 and March 2022 were included. The observed types of bleeding were hemothorax (n = 3), hemoptysis (n = 2), and a combination of both (n = 2).

MuSiC-ViT: A multi-task Siamese convolutional vision transformer for differentiating change from no-change in follow-up chest radiographs.

A major responsibility of radiologists in routine clinical practice is to read follow-up chest radiographs (CXRs) to identify changes in a patient's condition. Diagnosing meaningful changes in follow-up CXRs is challenging because radiologists must differentiate disease changes from natural or benign variations. Here, we suggest using a multi-task Siamese convolutional vision transformer (MuSiC-ViT) with an anatomy-matching module (AMM) to mimic the radiologist's cognitive process for differentiating baseline change from no-change.

Air embolism in CT-guided transthoracic needle biopsy: emphasis on pulmonary vein injury.

Objective: To assess whether pulmonary vein injury is detectable on CT and associated with air embolism after percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy (PTNB) in a tertiary referral hospital.

Methods: Between January 2012 and November 2021, 11,691 consecutive CT-guided PTNBs in 10,685 patients were retrospectively evaluated. Air embolism was identified by reviewing radiologic reports.

Preoperative electromagnetic navigation bronchoscopy-guided one-stage multiple-dye localization for resection of subsolid nodules: A single-center pilot study.

Background: Electromagnetic navigation bronchoscopy (ENB)-guided transbronchial dye marking and video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) is an emerging technique that enables successful resection of multiple small subsolid pulmonary nodules. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy and safety of preoperative ENB-guided transbronchial multiple dye localization for VATS resection of subsolid pulmonary nodules.

Methods: As a single-center pilot study, we recruited patients with at least two small or subsolid pulmonary nodules.

Diagnostic Performance of Electromagnetic Navigation Bronchoscopy-Guided Biopsy for Lung Nodules in the Era of Molecular Testing.

Electromagnetic navigation bronchoscopy (ENB) is an emerging technique used to evaluate peripheral lung lesions. The aim of this study was to determine the diagnostic yield, safety profile, and adequacy of specimens obtained using ENB for molecular testing. This single-center, prospective pilot study recruited patients with peripheral pulmonary nodules that were not suitable for biopsy via percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy methods.

Diagnostic yield and safety of biopsy guided by electromagnetic navigation bronchoscopy for high-risk pulmonary nodules.

Background: Electromagnetic navigation bronchoscopy (ENB) is a useful method to obtain tissue for peripheral lung nodules. We aimed to understand the diagnostic yield and safety profile in high-risk pulmonary nodules that cannot be accessed by percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy.

Methods: In this single-center retrospective study, we reviewed patients who underwent ENB for high-risk pulmonary nodules.

Three-Dimensional Computed Tomographic Analysis of Normal and Aneurysmal Aortic Roots: Is There a Specific Geometric Pattern in the Aortic Root?

Current knowledge of the aortic root geometric anatomy and its surgical implications remain limited. We analyzed multiple predefined parameters of the aortic root to increase our understanding of the geometric changes that occur in normal and aneurysmal transformations. Between November 2003 and September 2015, the aortic roots of 107 healthy subjects (control group) and 105 annuloaortic ectasia (AAE) patients (AAE group) were analyzed using multiplanar reformatted computed tomographic images.

Assessment Of Changes In Regional Xenon-Ventilation, Perfusion, And Ventilation-Perfusion Mismatch Using Dual-Energy Computed Tomography After Pharmacological Treatment In Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Visual And Quantitative Analysis.

Purpose: To assess changes in regional ventilation (V), perfusion (Q), and V-Q mismatch in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) after pharmacologic treatment using combined xenon-enhanced V and iodine-enhanced Q dual-energy CT (DECT).

Patients And Methods: Combined V and Q DECT were performed at baseline and after three-month pharmacologic treatment in 52 COPD patients. Anatomically co-registered virtual non-contrast images, V, Q, and V/Q maps were obtained.

Clinical Utility of Quantitative CT Analysis for Fissure Completeness in Bronchoscopic Lung Volume Reduction: Comparison between CT and Chartis™.

Objective: The absence of collateral ventilation (CV) is crucial for effective bronchoscopic lung volume reduction (BLVR) with an endobronchial valve. Here, we assessed whether CT can predict the Chartis™ results.

Materials And Methods: This study included 69 patients (mean age: 70.

Prediction of Pulmonary Function in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Correlation with Quantitative CT Parameters.

Objective: We aimed to evaluate correlations between computed tomography (CT) parameters and pulmonary function test (PFT) parameters according to disease severity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and to determine whether CT parameters can be used to predict PFT indices.

Materials And Methods: A total of 370 patients with COPD were grouped based on disease severity according to the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) I-IV criteria. Emphysema index (EI), air-trapping index, and airway parameters such as the square root of wall area of a hypothetical airway with an internal perimeter of 10 mm (Pi10) were measured using automatic segmentation software.

Cardiac computed tomography for the localization of mitral valve prolapse: scallop-by-scallop comparisons with echocardiography and intraoperative findings.

Aims: We compared the diagnostic accuracy of cardiac computed tomography (CT) with that of echocardiography for the detection of mitral valve prolapse (MVP) on a scallop-by-scallop basis, using surgical inspection as a reference standard.

Methods And Results: This retrospective study included 145 patients (mean age 53 years; 94 men) who underwent surgical MVP repair or replacement and preoperative cardiac CT between May 2011 and October 2013. The prolapsed scallop was localized using cardiac CT and echocardiography according to the Carpentier method (anterior leaflet: from lateral to medial A1, A2, A3; posterior leaflet: P1, P2, P3).

The effect of a multidisciplinary team on the implementation rates of major diagnostic and therapeutic procedures of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.

Background: Although guidelines have recommended that patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) should be managed by a multidisciplinary team (MDT), there is a lack of clinical data indicating that the MDT improves CTEPH management.

Objectives: The study aimed to identify the effect of an MDT on CTEPH management.

Methods: We divided the study period into pre-MDT and post-MDT eras and compared the implementation rates of major diagnostic and therapeutic procedures.

Human Metapneumovirus Infection: Pneumonia Risk Factors in Patients With Solid Organ Transplantation and Computed Tomography Findings.

Background: Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) is a newly detected pathogen that can cause lower respiratory tract disease. Clinical characteristics, computed tomography (CT) findings, and outcomes of HMPV pneumonia in patients with solid organ transplantation (SOT) have not been well demonstrated.

Methods: Between January 2010 and February 2016, clinical and imaging findings of 59 patients with SOT (types of organ: kidney, 37; liver, 16; heart, 4; and pancreas and kidney, 2) who had HMPV infection detected in nasopharyngeal or bronchoalveolar lavage by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction were retrospectively evaluated.

Prediction of survival by texture-based automated quantitative assessment of regional disease patterns on CT in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Objectives: To retrospectively investigate whether the baseline extent and 1-year change in regional disease patterns on CT can predict survival of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).

Methods: A total of 144 IPF patients with CT scans at the time of diagnosis and 1 year later were included. The extents of five regional disease patterns were quantified using an in-house texture-based automated system.

Size variation and collapse of emphysema holes at inspiration and expiration CT scan: evaluation with modified length scale method and image co-registration.

A novel approach of size-based emphysema clustering has been developed, and the size variation and collapse of holes in emphysema clusters are evaluated at inspiratory and expiratory computed tomography (CT). Thirty patients were visually evaluated for the size-based emphysema clustering technique and a total of 72 patients were evaluated for analyzing collapse of the emphysema hole in this study. A new approach for the size differentiation of emphysema holes was developed using the length scale, Gaussian low-pass filtering, and iteration approach.

Improvement in Ventilation-Perfusion Mismatch after Bronchoscopic Lung Volume Reduction: Quantitative Image Analysis.

Purpose To evaluate whether bronchoscopic lung volume reduction (BLVR) increases ventilation and therefore improves ventilation-perfusion (V/Q) mismatch. Materials and Methods All patients provided written informed consent to be included in this study, which was approved by the Institutional Review Board (2013-0368) of Asan Medical Center. The physiologic changes that occurred after BLVR were measured by using xenon-enhanced ventilation and iodine-enhanced perfusion dual-energy computed tomography (CT).

Comparison of chest CT findings in nontuberculous mycobacterial diseases vs. Mycobacterium tuberculosis lung disease in HIV-negative patients with cavities.

Objectives: This article focuses on the differences between CT findings of HIV-negative patients who have cavities with nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) disease and those with Mycobacterium tuberculosis infections (TB).

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 128 NTM disease patients (79 males and 49 females) with cavities in chest CT, matched for age and gender with 128 TB patients in the same period. Sputum cultures of all patients were positive for pathogens.

Assessment of regional emphysema, air-trapping and Xenon-ventilation using dual-energy computed tomography in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients.

Objectives: To compare the parenchymal attenuation change between inspiration/expiration CTs with dynamic ventilation change between xenon wash-in (WI) inspiration and wash-out (WO) expiration CTs.

Methods: 52 prospectively enrolled COPD patients underwent xenon ventilation dual-energy CT during WI and WO periods and pulmonary function tests (PFTs). The parenchymal attenuation parameters (emphysema index (EI), gas-trapping index (GTI) and air-trapping index (ATI)) and xenon ventilation parameters (xenon in WI (Xe-WI), xenon in WO (Xe-WO) and xenon dynamic (Xe-Dyna)) of whole lung and three divided areas (emphysema, hyperinflation and normal) were calculated on virtual non-contrast images and ventilation images.

Texture-Based Automated Quantitative Assessment of Regional Patterns on Initial CT in Patients With Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: Relationship to Decline in Forced Vital Capacity.

Objective: The aim of our study was to retrospectively determine predictive factors for a decline in forced vital capacity (FVC) on initial CT using texture-based automated quantification in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).

Materials And Methods: For our study, 193 patients with IPF and 1-year follow-up pulmonary function tests were enrolled in our study. A texture-based automated system used in-house software to quantify six regional CT patterns: normal, ground-glass opacity (GGO), reticular opacity (RO), honeycombing, emphysema, and consolidation.

Comparisons of clinical outcomes in patients with and without a preoperative tissue diagnosis in the persistent malignant-looking, ground-glass-opacity nodules.

To evaluate the clinical usefulness of surgical resection of persistent malignant-looking ground-glass-opacity nodules (GGN) without a preoperative tissue diagnosis.From September 1998 to November 2011, we retrospectively enrolled 288 patients (126 men, 162 women; mean age, 59.3 years) with lung adenocarcinoma proven by surgery and which appeared as GGN on chest computed tomography (CT, ground-glass-opacity [GGO] proportion >20%).

A size-based emphysema severity index: robust to the breath-hold-level variations and correlated with clinical parameters.

Objective: To determine the power-law exponents (D) of emphysema hole-size distributions as a competent emphysema index. Robustness to extreme breath-hold-level variations and correlations with clinical parameters for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were investigated and compared to a conventional emphysema index (EI%).

Patients And Methods: A total of 100 patients with COPD (97 males and three females of mean age 67±7.