World journal of radiology最新文献

Background: Primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) is a rare malignant tumor originating from the lymphatic hematopoietic system. It exhibits unique imaging manifestations due to its biological characteristics.

Case summary: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), perfusion-weighted imaging (PWI), and magnetic resonance spectroscopy was performed. The imaging findings showed multiple space-occupying lesions with low signal on T1-weighted imaging, uniform high signal on T2-weighted imaging, and obvious enhancement on contrast-enhanced scans. DWI revealed diffusion restriction, PWI demonstrated hypoperfusion, and spectroscopy showed elevated choline peak and decreased N-acetylaspartic acid. The patient's condition significantly improved after hormone shock therapy.

Conclusion: This case highlights the distinctive imaging features of PCNSL and their importance in accurate diagnosis and management.

Among five types of pulmonary hypertension, chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is the only curable form, but prompt and accurate diagnosis can be challenging. Computed tomography and nuclear medicine-based techniques are standard imaging modalities to non-invasively diagnose CTEPH, however these are limited by radiation exposure, subjective qualitative bias, and lack of cardiac functional assessment. This review aims to assess the methodology, diagnostic accuracy of pulmonary perfusion imaging in the current literature and discuss its advantages, limitations and future research scope.

Background: Abernethy malformation is a rare congenital vascular malformation with a portosystemic shunt that may clinically manifest as cholestasis, dyspnea, or hepatic encephalopathy, among other conditions. Early diagnosis and classification are very important to further guide treatment. Typically, patients with congenital portosystemic shunts have no characteristics of portal hypertension. Herein, we report an 18-year-old female with prominent portal hypertension that manifested mainly as rupture and bleeding of esophageal varices. Imaging showed a thin main portal vein, no portal vein branches in the liver, and bleeding of the esophageal and gastric varices caused by the collateral circulation upwards from the proximal main portal vein. Patients with Abernethy malformation type I are usually treated with liver transplantation, and patients with type II are treated with shunt occlusion, surgery, or transcatheter coiling. Our patient was treated with endoscopic surgery combined with drug therapy and had no portal hypertension and good hepatic function for 24 mo of follow-up.

Case summary: This case report describes our experience in the diagnosis and treatment of an 18-year-old female with Abernethy malformation type IIC and portal hypertension. This condition was initially diagnosed as cirrhosis combined with portal hypertension. The patient was ultimately diagnosed using liver histology and subsequent imaging, and the treatment was highly effective. To publish this case report, written informed consent was obtained from the patient, including the attached imaging data.

Conclusion: Abernethy malformation type IIC may develop portal hypertension, and traditional nonselective beta-blockers combined with endoscopic treatment can achieve high efficacy.

Esophageal cancer, also referred to as esophagus cancer, is a prevalent disease in the cardiothoracic field and is a leading cause of cancer-related mortality in China. Accurately determining the status of lymph nodes is crucial for developing treatment plans, defining the scope of intraoperative lymph node dissection, and ascertaining the prognosis of patients with esophageal cancer. Recent advances in diffusion-weighted imaging and dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have improved the effectiveness of MRI for assessing lymph node involvement, making it a beneficial tool for guiding personalized treatment plans for patients with esophageal cancer in a clinical setting. Radiomics is a recently developed imaging technique that transforms radiological image data from regions of interest into high-dimensional feature data that can be analyzed. The features, such as shape, texture, and waveform, are associated with the cancer phenotype and tumor microenvironment. When these features correlate with the clinical disease outcomes, they form the basis for specific and reliable clinical evidence. This study aimed to review the potential clinical applications of MRI-based radiomics in studying the lymph nodes affected by esophageal cancer. The combination of MRI and radiomics is a powerful tool for diagnosing and treating esophageal cancer, enabling a more personalized and effectual approach.

Background: Rhinocerebral mucormycosis (RCM) is a rare, fatal, invasive fungal infection infecting mainly patients with immunocompromised conditions, such as diabetes mellitus, hematologic malignancies, and organ transplantations. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) disease in these patients further weakens the immune system due to several factors, including hypoxia, corticosteroid usage (further increasing hyperglycemic status), mechanical ventilation, increased serum ferritin levels, endothelitis due to free radicals, and glucose receptor protein upregulation. Timely diagnosis, judicious treatment decisions, and diabetes control with proper treatment guidelines in patients with coexisting COVID-19 disease can reduce complication rates and improve survival.

Case summary: A 75-year-old male patient with diabetes and hypertension diagnosed with COVID-19 presented to the emergency department. Laboratory examinations revealed elevated blood glucose levels, as well as ketone bodies in the urine. He was treated with oxygen and steroids, as well as insulin to correct blood glucose levels. He complained of a headache 10 d later, and imaging demonstrated mucosal thickening in bilateral sphenoidal, ethmoidal, and maxillary sinuses with hyperdense foci in the right maxillary sinus but without central nervous system involvement. Surgical debridement was performed, and a histopathological study revealed fungi hyphae. Systemic antifungals (amphotericin b and posaconazole) were administered. Subsequently, on 15^th day he developed right lower limb weakness and left lateral rectus palsy. There was slow but steady progress, and he was discharged. However, he presented to emergency department 1mo later with altered sensorium and poor control of diabetes resulted in an intracranial spread of mucormycosis, which ultimately led to the patient's poor prognosis and slow recovery.

Conclusion: Prompt early diagnosis, judicious treatment decisions, and diabetes control with proper treatment guidelines are necessary in patients with COVID-19 associated invasive RCM to reduce complication rates and improve patient survival.

Background: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is one of the most frequently referred conditions to the gastrointestinal outpatient clinic. The pathophysiology of IBS has not been determined with certainty. Visceral hypersensitivity is indicated as one of the pathophysiologies. The sympathetic nervous system is primarily in charge of controlling the arteries, and its effect is vasospasm in the medium and large arteries, resulting in decreased blood flow.

Aim: To demonstrate, using Doppler evaluation of the brachial artery, that sympathetic activity impairs vasomotor performance due to autonomic neuropathy, which we believe is associated with IBS.

Methods: There were 58 participants in the study. The control group consisted of 29 healthy patients, while the remaining 29 patients had been diagnosed with IBS. Patients who met the Rome IV criteria and had IBS were included in the study. People with known polyneuropathy or non-IBS chronic conditions that can progress were excluded from the trial, as were those with essential hypertension, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, or peripheral arterial disease, and patients diagnosed with anxiety or depression. Those with moderate to severe carpal tunnel syndrome or a median nerve lesion due to trauma were also excluded from the trial. A Doppler probe was used to measure the baseline diameter and flow rates of the brachial artery from 2 cm superior to the antecubital fossa. The Doppler probe remained stationary throughout the experiment, allowing for continuous measurements. Then, to activate the sympathetic fibers, an electrical stimulus for 5 s with an intensity of 10 mA and a frequency of 1 Hz was applied to the median nerve at the wrist level via the bipolar stimulus electrode. The artery diameter and flow rates were measured again immediately following the fifth stimulus.

Results: In healthy persons with no history of chronic illness, there was a statistically significant decrease in flow rate after stimulation (P < 0.001). In addition, stimulation resulted in a statistically significant reduction in the diameter of the brachial artery (P < 0.001). Patients diagnosed with IBS had statistically significant vasodilation and an increase in flow rate.

Conclusion: Sympathetic stimulation causes a reduction in vascular diameter and blood flow, whereas it has the reverse effect on IBS patients. In investigating the involvement of autonomic neuropathy in the development of IBS, significant changes in brachial artery Doppler parameters were observed before and after stimulation of the median nerve with low-current sensory stimulation. This method is thought to be more user-friendly and comfortable than other methods described in the literature.

Background: Many imaging methods such as ultrasonography, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging, and endoscopy are used to identify the problems or complications that occur in the perioperative period and to determine the appropriate therapeutic approach. Specialists at surgical clinics and intensive care units sometimes need diagnostic procedures that can give quick results or reveal unexpected results. In particular, rapid on-site evaluation of patients followed under intensive care conditions has several advantages.

Aim: To determine the problems developing in patients in the perioperative period by contrast-enhanced abdominal X-ray (CE-AXR), revealing their current status or defining the effectiveness of CE-AXR.

Methods: The files of the patients who underwent hepatopancreatobiliary or upper gastrointestinal surgery, whose CE-AXR film was taken, were reviewed retrospectively. Abdominal X-ray radiographs taken after ingestion of a water-soluble contrast agent (iohexol, 300 mg, 50 cc vial) and its application in a drain, nasogastric tube, or stent were evaluated. The contribution of the data obtained in patients who underwent CE-AXR to the diagnosis, follow-up, and treatment processes and the effectiveness of the application were investigated.

Results: CE-AXR was applied to 131 patients in our clinic, most of whom underwent hepatopancreatobiliary or upper gastrointestinal surgery. It was determined that the data obtained from CE-AXR films taken in 98 (74.8%) of the patients contributed to the diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up expectations and positively affected the clinical processes.

Conclusion: CE-AXR is a simple procedure that can be applied anywhere, especially in intensive care patients and at bedside, with a portable X-ray device. The simplicity of the procedure, less radiation exposure for the patients, less time wastage, reduction in the CT and endoscopy procedure burden and costs, quick results, rapid assessment of the situation, and enabling the monitoring of processes with repetitive procedures are important advantages. X-rays taken will be useful in terms of being a reference value during the follow-up period of the patient and determining the situation in medicolegal processes.

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a common acute abdomen disease of the digestive system. It has a potentially fatal risk because of its variable severity and various complications. With the widespread application of the Revised Atlanta Classification, new requirements for AP imaging reports are introduced. Experts in abdominal radiology and pancreatology in the United States published the first structured computed tomography reporting template for AP in 2020. However, there is no corresponding structured magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) reporting template globally. Therefore, this article focuses on the structured MRI report of AP images from our pancreatitis imaging center, which is intended to improve the systematic understanding of this disease and standardize the writing of MRI structured reports. In the meantime, we aim to promote the clinical diagnosis and assessment of MRI efficacy for AP and its multiple complications. It is further intended to facilitate academic exchanges and scientific research between different medical centers.

Preoperative prediction of the postoperative pancreatic fistula risk is critical in the current era of minimally invasive pancreatic surgeries to tailor perioperative management, thereby minimizing postoperative morbidity. Pancreatic duct diameter can be readily measured by any routine imaging used to diagnose pancreatic disease. However, radiological evaluation of pancreatic texture, an important determinant of pancreatic fistula, has not been widely used to predict the risk of postoperative pancreatic fistula. Qualitative and quantitative assessment of pancreatic fibrosis and fat fraction provides the basis for predicting pancreatic texture. Traditionally computed tomography has been utilized in identifying and characterizing pancreatic lesions and background parenchymal pathologies. With the increasing utilisation of endoscopic ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging for evaluating pancreatic pathologies, elastography is emerging as a promising tool for predicting pancreatic texture. Also, recent studies have shown that early surgery for chronic pancreatitis is associated with better pain relief and preservation of pancreatic function. Pancreatic texture assessment can allow early diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis, facilitating early intervention. The present review outlines the current evidence in utilizing various imaging modalities for determining the pancreatic texture based on different parameters and image sequences. However, multidisciplinary investigations using strong radiologic-pathologic correlation are needed to standardize and establish the role of these non-invasive diagnostic tools in predicting pancreatic texture.