Renal hemodynamics and oxygenation in transient renal artery occluded rats evaluated with iron-oxide particles and oxygenation-sensitive imaging.

Introduction: Mild or severe renal arterial occlusion is a phenomenon occasionally observed in daily clinical practice, potentially leading to renal ischemia and a general impairment of renal function. Secondly, closing the blood flow to the kidneys can also occur during kidney transplantation procedures. However, the exact physiological effects of these conditions on renal blood perfusion as well as the renal oxygen handling are poorly understood.

Combined radiofrequency ablation and antiangiogenic drug for the treatment of recurrent renal tumor.

The efficacy of radiofrequency ablation of large renal tumors can be increased by modulating their size and vascularity with antiangiogenic drugs, which may limit the sink effect related to high blood flow. We present an observation with 3 recurrent tumor locations, the largest being 3.7 cm in diameter.

Update of renal imaging.

Significant technical improvements have allowed the use of radiological techniques to play a growing role in the imaging of renal diseases. Noninvasive ultrasound methods (ie, sonography and Doppler) are now positioned as first-line methods for the evaluation of renovascular diseases. Multidetector computed tomography is able to provide high spatial resolution images of the kidneys and renal arterial vessels.

Airway wall thickness in cigarette smokers: quantitative thin-section CT assessment.

Purpose: To design and validate a dedicated software tool to measure airway dimensions on thin-section computed tomographic (CT) images and to use the tool to prospectively compare airway wall thickness in nonsmokers with normal lung function with that in smokers with and without chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Materials And Methods: All subjects gave written informed consent. The study was approved by local ethics committee.

Structure and function of small airways in smokers: relationship between air trapping at CT and airway inflammation.

Purpose: To use quantitative computed tomography (CT) to compare lung attenuation with both inflammatory infiltration and in vitro reactivity of peripheral airways in smokers scheduled to undergo lung resection for localized pulmonary lesions.

Materials And Methods: Attenuation was measured in nine ex-smokers, 13 current smokers, and eight nonsmoking control subjects by using CT with respiratory gating and a contour-tracing algorithm. After lung resection in smokers, peripheral bronchi were dissected and studied in terms of both inflammation (by using immunohistochemistry to examine glycolmethacrylate-embedded specimens) and mechanical activity (by using an isolated organ bath system).