The Role of Intersectional Stigma in Coronary Artery Disease Among Cisgender Women Aging with HIV.

Cisgender women living with HIV experience elevated cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk that increases with age, a concern given extended life expectancies for people living with HIV. The CVD risk disparity among cisgender women aging with HIV is understudied and remains unclear. Taking a psychoneuroimmunology approach, given this group's intersecting marginalized identities, one potential driver of the disparity is intersectional stigma.

Intra-Aortic Balloon Pump Simulating Thoracic Aortic Dissection.

We present a 70-year-old woman who had an intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) in its deflated state in the aorta during a computed tomography angiogram scan. The scan was performed to assess for aortic dissection. The deflated IABP created a curvilinear filling defect in the aortic lumen that suggested an intimal flap.

CT pulmonary angiogram quality comparison between early and later pregnancy.

Purpose: Pregnancy increases the risk for thromboembolic disease. CT pulmonary angiogram (CTPA) is widely used for the diagnosis of pulmonary embolus (PE); however, a significant number of scans are suboptimal or non-diagnostic in pregnant patients. This phenomenon is attributed to physiology during the gravid state.

Computed Tomography Pulmonary Angiogram Dynamic Parameter Correlation With Pulmonary Pressure and Pulmonary Hypertension Etiologies.

Objective: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is caused by etiologies that differ in pathophysiology. Patients with undiagnosed PH may have a computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) scan during workup. Static measurements on computed tomography correlate with PH; however, dynamic parameters have received less attention.

Occult Lung Cancer Occluding a Pulmonary Vein with Suspected Venous Infarction, Mimicking Pneumonia and a Pulmonary Embolus.

Background: Patients with lung cancer present to the emergency department (ED) in a variety of ways. Symptoms are often nonspecific and can lead to a delay in diagnosis. Here, a lung cancer mimicked two illnesses, adding to the diagnostic complexity.

Superior Vena Cava Obstruction in Hemodialysis Patients: Symptoms, Clinical Presentation and Outcomes Compared to Other Etiologies.

The incidence of superior vena cava (SVC) obstruction associated with non-malignant diseases is on the rise, and a large percentage of these patients are on hemodialysis (HD). The objective was to characterize the presentation, symptoms and outcomes of HD patients with SVC obstruction identified on computerized tomography (CT) compared to patients with other etiologies such as neoplasm. A search was performed through the PACS system using key words to identify patients with SVC obstruction.

Cardiac Physiology for Radiologists: Review of Relevant Physiology for Interpretation of Cardiac MR Imaging and CT.

Cardiac computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging provide clinicians with important insights into cardiac physiology and pathology. However, not all radiologists understand the language and concepts of cardiac physiology that are used daily by cardiologists. This review article covers basic cardiac physiology as it relates to cardiac CT and MR imaging.

Downhill esophageal varices: a prevalent complication of superior vena cava obstruction from benign and malignant causes.

Objective: Downhill esophageal varices (DEV) usually develop secondary to superior vena cava (SVC) obstruction. Downhill esophageal varices have been less well characterized compared to uphill varices. The aim of the study was to characterize the anatomy and etiology of DEV by contrast-enhanced computed tomography.

Pulmonary hypertension detection using dynamic and static measurable parameters on CT angiography.

Objective: The aim was to assess dynamic and static parameters on routine computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) that may detect pulmonary hypertension (PH).

Methods: Fifty patients underwent CTPA and echocardiograms. Twenty-six patients had PH, and 24 patients did not have PH.

Prevalence and etiology of focal liver opacification in patients with superior vena cava obstruction.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the prevalence and etiologies of focal liver opacification (FLO) in the setting of superior vena cava (SVC) obstruction.

Methods: An archival search using key words to identify patients with SVC obstruction or severe narrowing and who had computed tomographic scans with intravenous contrast was performed at our institution.

Results: Thirty-one patients were included.

Penetrating atherosclerotic aortic ulcer rupture causing a right hemothorax; a rare presentation of acute aortic syndrome.

Acute aortic syndrome is a spectrum of diseases that have similar presentation and clinical background and include aortic dissection, intramural hematoma, and penetrating atherosclerotic ulcer. Presented here is an 82-year-old woman with a medical history of diabetes, hypertension, nephrectomy, and chronic renal failure who complained of sudden abdominal pain radiating to epigastrium and back. At presentation, the patient was hemodynamically stable with a hemoglobin level of 10.

99mTc-methylene diphosphonate single photon emission tomography of the knees: intensity of uptake and its correlation with arthroscopic findings.

Objective: To examine whether single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) can determine the severity of knee pathology, based on intensity of uptake and, therefore, possibly substituting this technique for more invasive and expensive diagnostic procedures, such as arthroscopy, in certain patient populations.

Methods: The study results of patients referred for knee SPECT followed by an arthroscopy at our institution were evaluated retrospectively. The scintigraphic and arthroscopic findings for the menisci and femoral condyles were each graded on a numeric scale.

A proposed anatomic typing of the right internal spermatic vein: importance for percutaneous sclerotherapy of varicocele.

Purpose: To classify the anatomic types of the right internal spermatic vein (ISV).

Methods: We evaluated venograms obtained in 150 consecutive patients with idiopathic varicocele referred for transfemoral sclerotherapy.

Results: Six anatomic types of the right internal spermatic vein (ISV) were recognized.

Ultrasonography in patients without trauma in the emergency department: impact on discharge diagnosis.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine to what extent findings on ultrasonography performed in the emergency department (ED) after hours confirm or alter the referral diagnosis in patients without trauma as reflected in the discharge diagnosis.

Methods: In this prospective study, data from 136 ultrasonographic examinations performed in patients without trauma after hours in the ED during January and February 2002 were evaluated against the suspected preimaging diagnosis of the referring ED physician and the actual discharge diagnosis from the ED or after hospitalization. The rate of preimaging and postimaging concordance was statistically analyzed and compared by calculation of confidence intervals and by the McNemar test.

Balloon angioplasty of popliteal and crural arteries in elderly with critical chronic limb ischemia.

Objective: Elderly patients with extensive infrainguinal peripheral vascular disease and critical chronic limb ischemia (CCLI) are poor surgical candidates. Our purpose was to evaluate angiographic and clinical results of popliteal, infrapopliteal, and multi-level disease percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) in such patients.

Design: Retrospective study of angiographic and clinical files in selected group.