Comparisons of echocardiographic findings of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units before and after the omicron variant propagation.

Purpose: Few investigational reports have evaluated the status of cardiovascular manifestations of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during the Omicron dominance period. In this study, we aimed to investigate the cardiac function parameters and clinical outcomes of patients with COVID-19 before and after the Omicron variant (OV) propagation.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the data of 88 adult patients with COVID-19 who underwent clinically indicated standard transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) in intensive care wards.

New Frontiers in Asthma Chest Imaging.

Modern pulmonary imaging can reveal underlying pathological and pathophysiological changes in the lungs of people with asthma, with important clinical implications. A multitude of imaging modalities are now used to examine underlying structure/function relationships including computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, optical coherence tomography, and endobronchial ultrasound. Imaging-based biomarkers from these techniques, including airway dimensions, blood vessel volumes, mucus scores, ventilation defect extent and air trapping extent, often have increased sensitivity compared to traditional lung function measurements, and are increasingly used as endpoints in clinical trials.

Clinical Implications of Functional Imaging in the Assessment of Bronchiectasis-Associated Sarcopenia.

Introduction: Bronchiectasis is a complex lung disease with poorly studied systemic manifestations. Patients with bronchiectasis-associated sarcopenia exhibit a specific differential profile of functional muscle phenotype (vastus lateralis, VL), which may be analyzed using imaging (ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging, MRI).

Methods: Ultrasound and MRI were used to explore functional imaging parameters in quadriceps of 20 patients with stable bronchiectasis and 10 healthy controls.

Analysis of associated malformations by computed tomography in adults with polysplenia syndrome: A pilot study.

Objective: To analytically depict the associated malformations of polysplenia syndrome (PS) in adults via computed tomography (CT).

Materials And Methods: The incidence of malformations associated with PS in twelve adult patients was retrospectively analyzed via CT imaging.

Results: The number of splenic nodules ranged from three to twelve; the splenic nodules were located in the left upper quadrant in nine patients and in the right upper quadrant in three patients.

Multimodality Evaluation of Turner Syndrome With Right Ventricular Dilation and Partial Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return.

Turner syndrome is a rare chromosomal abnormality in women that is caused by a partial or complete loss of one X chromosome and is often associated with a spectrum of congenital cardiac abnormalities, including cardiac shunts.  A 27-year-old woman with Turner syndrome was also found to have right ventricular dilation, partial anomalous pulmonary venous return, and possible atrial septal defect. She was scheduled for elective surgical repair.

Quantitative F-FDG PET-CT can assess presence and extent of interstitial lung disease in early severe diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis.

Background: This study aimed to assess the quantitative uptake of F-FDG PET-CT in the lungs of patients with early severe diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis (SSc) with and without interstitial lung disease (ILD), compared to controls. In patients with SSc-ILD, F-FDG uptake was correlated to high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) and pulmonary function test (PFT) parameters.

Methods: A prospective, cross-sectional study was conducted, involving 15 patients with SSc-ILD, 5 patients with SSc without ILD, and 7 controls without SSc.

Risk factors of severe conditions in hospitalized children with adenovirus infection and chest CT features.

Background: Children infected with human adenovirus (HAdV) were at particularly high risk of developing severe disease, but the risk factors of severe conditions are poorly understood.

Objectives: To explore the risk factors for developing into severe conditions in pediatric patients with HAdV infection by analyzing baseline epidemiological data, clinical characteristics, and computed tomography (CT) imaging features.

Methods: In this retrospective study, 267 children with HAdV infection were included between October 2016 and September 2021 at Tongji Hospital, Wuhan, China.

Pediatric SARS-CoV-2 long term outcomes study (PECOS): cross sectional analysis at baseline.

Background: PECOS is an ongoing study aimed to characterize long-term outcomes following pediatric SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional analysis of infected and uninfected cohorts at baseline. Participants (0-21 years) with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection were enrolled as infected.

Management, outcomes and predictors of mortality of Cryptococcus infection in patients without HIV: a multicentre study in 46 hospitals from Australia and New Zealand.

Background: Limited data exist regarding outcomes of cryptococcosis in patients without HIV with few studies having compared outcomes of Cryptococcus gattii, versus C. neoformans, infection.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study in 46 Australian and New Zealand hospitals to determine the outcomes of cryptococcosis in patients without HIV diagnosed between 2015 and 2019, and compared outcomes of C.

Navigating the Spectrum of Double-İnlet Left Ventricle Presentations: Contemporary Retrospective Cohort Study.

Purpose: We presented the experience of a tertiary care center for maternal and fetal diseases and assessed the findings fetuses with double-inlet left ventricle (DILV) regarding fetal echocardiography, prenatal course including fetal growth and death, and postnatal outcome.

Methods: In this retrospective study, patients diagnosed with DILV via prenatal ultrasound in the maternal-fetal medicine department between 2015 and 2023 were included to evaluate important aspects of prenatal diagnosis and course, as well as postnatal management and outcome.

Results: There were 33 DILV cases prenatally diagnosed and postnatally confirmed.

Factor Analysis of the Missed Diagnosis of Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Connection in Prenatal Echocardiography.

Aim: This study investigated the major factors contributing to the missed diagnosis of total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVC) in fetal echocardiography.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the prenatal ultrasonic images of 32 fetuses with missed diagnoses of TAPVC, compared them with autopsy and postnatal surgical records, and summarized the most likely reasons leading to the missed diagnoses.

Results: We studied a total of 157 fetuses with TAPVC, 32 (20.

Graph theory analysis of a human body metabolic network: A systematic and organ-specific study.

Purposes: Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging is widely used to detect focal lesions or diseases and to study metabolic abnormalities between organs. However, analyzing organ correlations alone does not fully capture the characteristics of the metabolic network. Our work proposes a graph-based analysis method for quantifying the topological properties of the network, both globally and at the nodal level, to detect systemic or single-organ metabolic abnormalities caused by diseases such as lung cancer.

Impact of Sodium-Glucose Co-Transporter-2 Inhibitors on Exercise-Induced Pulmonary Hypertension.

Patients with borderline pulmonary hypertension (PH) often experience shortness of breath or exacerbation of PH during exercise, known as exercise-induced PH. However, the pathogenesis of exercise-induced post-capillary PH (post-EIPH) and its treatment strategies remain unclear. Recent guidelines and consensus documents have highlighted the benefits of sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors in heart failure and chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Case Report: Anomalous origin of the right coronary artery leading to cardiac arrest induced by sexual activity: a previously unreported pathogenetic condition.

Background: The Anomalous Origin of the Right Coronary Artery from the Left Coronary Sinus (ARCA-LCS) is a rare congenital cardiac condition where the right coronary artery emerges from the left sinus instead of the right coronary sinus of Valsalva. The clinical significance of ARCA-LCS lies in its potential to cause myocardial ischemia or sudden cardiac death, particularly under physical exertion. In this case, a patient experienced sudden cardiac arrest during sexual activity, which has not previously been reported.

Integrating carotid doppler, grey scale ultrasound, and aortic oscillometry to evaluate macroangiopathy in myositides: the MYOCARD cohort.

Objectives: To evaluate the combination of novel colour Doppler ultrasound (CDUS), greyscale ultrasound (GSUS), and oscillometric indices of macroangiopathy in patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM). Second, to explore the associations between these imaging markers and both patient-related and disease-related characteristics, as well as traditional cardiovascular (CV) risk factors.

Methods: We conducted CDUS to evaluate arterial compliance markers, specifically the resistance (RI) and pulsatility (PI) indices, both in the common (CCA) and internal carotid arteries (ICA) of patients with IIM and healthy controls.

A Young Woman with Hemoptysis as the main Manifestation of Isolated UAPA with Multiple Vascular Malformations.

Background: The unilateral absence of a pulmonary artery (UAPA) is a very rare congenital pulmonary vascular malformation. Since the first case was reported in 1868, the overall incidence of UAPA has been at a level of 1/300,000 - 1,200,000. Isolated UAPA without other cardiac anomalies is rare.

First in Human Evaluation of a Novel Thin Convex Probe Endobronchial Ultrasound System.

Introduction: The incidence of pulmonary imaging abnormalities continues to increase. While standard CP-EBUS is safe and accurate, it has limited reach through smaller bronchi. Olympus BF-Y0069 TCP-EBUS has smaller diameter and improved angulation.

Bronchiectasis-COPD Overlap Syndrome: A Comprehensive Review of its Pathophysiology and Potential Cardiovascular Implications.

Bronchiectasis-Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Overlap Syndrome (BCOS) is a complex pulmonary condition that merges bronchiectasis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), presenting unique clinical challenges. Patients with BCOS typically exhibit a range of symptoms from both conditions, including a chronic productive cough, reduced lung function, frequent exacerbations, and diminished exercise tolerance. The etiology of BCOS involves multiple factors such as genetic predisposition, respiratory infections, tobacco smoke, air pollutants, and other inflammatory mediators.

[Diagnostic value of the airway post-processing technique of multi-slice spiral CT in Accessory cardiac bronchus].

This study aimed to assess the diagnostic value of the airway post-processing technique of multi-slice spiral CT(MSCT) in Accessory cardiac bronchus(ACB)and to improve the understanding of this disease. The original MSCT axial images and various post-processing reconstructed images of 9 ACB cases were retrospectively analyzed.Airway post-processing techniques, including multi-planar reformation(MPR), minimum intensity projection (MinIP), volume rendering technique(VRT), CT virtual endoscopy(CTVE) and tissue transition projection (TTP), were employed.

Partial Response to Treatment with ALK Inhibitor in a Patient With SQSTM1-ALK Fusion Positive Lung Adenocarcinoma.

Introduction: Lung cancer is the second most common cancer worldwide and the leading cause of cancer deaths; non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) constitutes about 85% of lung cancer cases, with ALK fusions representing 3-6% of them. The SQSTM1-ALK fusion is a rare finding in NSCLC, accounting for only 1.1% of ALK rearrangements.

F-FAPI versus F-FDG PET/CT in the Diagnosis of Relapsing Polychondritis.

Relapsing polychondritis (RP) is a rare immune-mediated systemic inflammatory disease with diverse clinical manifestations. Independent involvement of the respiratory system in RP is uncommon. In the event of respiratory involvement as the initial airway-only manifestation, the diagnosis of RP is challenging and might be delayed, and patients with respiratory involvement exhibit a poor prognosis.

Altered structural covariance of the cortex and hippocampal formation in patients with lung cancer after chemotherapy.

Objective: In this retrospective study, we aimed to investigate changes in brain morphology and structural topological networks in patients with lung cancer (LC) with or without chemotherapy.

Methods: We retrospectively recruited 191 participants for this cross-sectional study, including 113 patients with LC without chemotherapy (Ch-), 38 patients with LC with chemotherapy (Ch+), and 40 healthy controls (HC) matched for age, sex, and education. The gray matter volume (GMV) and cortical properties were compared among the three groups.

Conjoined twin at abdomen: twin A anencephaly and face presentation with twin B cephalic presentation: a case report and review of the literature.

Objectives: Conjoined twins are described as having been physically fused during pregnancy and delivery. They share some vital organs, such as the heart, lungs, liver, abdomen, etc. The article aims to present a unique discussion on conjoined twins at the abdomen, with twin A with anencephaly and face presentation and twin B with cephalic presentation.