• In lung cancer, free-breathing DWI-MRI produces acceptable images with evaluable ADC measurement. • ADC repeatability coefficient-of-variation is 7.1% for lung tumours >2 cm. • ADC repeatability coefficient-of-variation is 3.9% for lung tumours >3 cm. • ADC measurement precision is unaffected by the post-processing software used. • In multicentre trials, 22% increase in ADC indicates positive treatment response.
Computed tomography (CT) is routinely used in the evaluation of patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) to assess vascular anatomy and parenchymal morphology. The introduction of dual-energy CT (DECT) enables additional qualitative and quantitative insights into pulmonary hemodynamics and the extent and variability of parenchymal enhancement. Lung perfusion assessed at pulmonary blood volume imaging correlates well with findings at scintigraphy, and pulmonary blood volume defects seen in pulmonary embolism studies infer occlusive disease with increased risk of right heart dysfunction. Similarly, perfusion inhomogeneities seen in patients with PH closely reflect mosaic lung changes and may be useful for severity assessment and prognostication. The use of DECT may increase detection of peripheral thromboembolic disease, which is of particular prognostic importance in patients with chronic thromboembolic PH with microvascular involvement. Other DECT applications for imaging of PH include low-kilovoltage images with greater inherent iodine conspicuity and iodine-selective color-coded maps of vascular perfusion (both of which can improve visualization of vascular enhancement), virtual nonenhanced imaging (which better depicts vascular calcification), and, potentially, ventricular perfusion maps (to assess myocardial ischemia). In addition, quantitative assessment of central vascular and parenchymal enhancement can be used to evaluate pulmonary hemodynamics in patients with PH. The current status and potential advantages and limitations of DECT for imaging of PH are reviewed, and current evidence is supplemented with data from a tertiary referral center for PH.
Nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) is a multisystem disease seen exclusively in patients with renal impairment. It can be severely debilitating and sometimes fatal. There is a strong association with gadolinium-based contrast agents used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Risk factors include renal impairment and proinflammatory conditions, e.g. major surgery and vascular events. Although there is no single effective treatment for NSF, the most successful outcomes are seen following restoration of renal function, either following recovery from acute kidney injury or following renal transplantation. There have been ten biopsy-proved pediatric cases of NSF, with no convincing evidence that children have a significantly altered risk compared with the adult population. After implementation of guidelines restricting the use of gadolinium-based contrast agents in at-risk patients, there has been a sharp reduction in new cases and no new reports in children. Continued vigilance is recommended: screening for renal impairment, use of more stable gadolinium chelates, consideration of non-contrast-enhanced MRI or alternative imaging modalities where appropriate.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.