Legal Evolution of a Law Against Weight Discrimination in the United States: A Focus on Massachusetts.

Weight discrimination heightens health inequalities, particularly among racial and ethnically diverse populations. We aim to research the legal evolution of the law against weight discrimination (S.2495) and raise awareness among lawmakers in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Zip Code-Related Income Disparities in Patients With Colorectal Cancer.

Introduction: Screening and early detection reduce morbidity and mortality in colorectal cancer. Our aim is to study the effect of income disparities on the clinical characteristics of patients with colorectal cancer in Massachusetts.

Methods: Patients were extracted from a database containing all surgically treated colorectal cancers between 2004 and 2015 at a tertiary hospital in Massachusetts.

Multiplatform, Non-Breath-Hold Fast Scanning Protocols: Should We Stop Giving Breath-Hold Instructions for Routine Chest CT? [Formula: see text].

Objective: We assessed if non-breath-hold (NBH) fast scanning protocol can provide respiratory motion-free images for interpretation of chest computed tomography (CT).

Materials And Methods: In our 2-phase project, we first collected baseline data on frequency of respiratory motion artifacts on breath-hold chest CT in 826 adult patients. The second phase included 62 patients (mean age 66 ± 15 years; 21 females, 41 males) who underwent an NBH chest CT on either single-source (n = 32) or dual-source (n = 30) multidetector-row CT scanners.

Comparison of Baseline, Bone-Subtracted, and Enhanced Chest Radiographs for Detection of Pneumothorax.

Purpose: To assess and compare detectability of pneumothorax on unprocessed baseline, single-energy, bone-subtracted, and enhanced frontal chest radiographs (chest X-ray, CXR).

Method And Materials: Our retrospective institutional review board-approved study included 202 patients (mean age 53 ± 24 years; 132 men, 70 women) who underwent frontal CXR and had trace, moderate, large, or tension pneumothorax. All patients (except those with tension pneumothorax) had concurrent chest computed tomography (CT).

Use of Multiphase CT Protocols in 18 Countries: Appropriateness and Radiation Doses.

Purpose: To assess the frequency, appropriateness, and radiation doses associated with multiphase computed tomography (CT) protocols for routine chest and abdomen-pelvis examinations in 18 countries.

Materials And Methods: In collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency, multi-institutional data on clinical indications, number of scan phases, scan parameters, and radiation dose descriptors (CT dose-index volume; dose-length product [DLP]) were collected for routine chest (n = 1706 patients) and abdomen-pelvis (n = 426 patients) CT from 18 institutions in Asia, Africa, and Europe. Two radiologists scored the need for each phase based on clinical indications (1 = not indicated, 2 = probably indicated, 3 = indicated).

Normal-appearing white matter microstructural injury is associated with white matter hyperintensity burden in acute ischemic stroke.

Background: White matter hyperintensity of presumed vascular origin is a risk factor for poor stroke outcomes. In patients with acute ischemic stroke, however, the in vivo mechanisms of white matter microstructural injury are less clear.

Aims: To characterize the directional diffusivity components in normal-appearing white matter and white matter hyperintensity in acute ischemic stroke patients.