Rationale & objectivesWe sought to develop an abbreviated protocol (AP) for breast MRI that maximizes lesion detection by assessing each lesion not seen on mammography by each acquisition from a full diagnostic protocol (FDP).Materials & methods671 asymptomatic women (mean 55.7 years, range 40–80) with a negative mammogram were prospectively enrolled in this IRB approved study. All lesions on MRI not visualized on mammography were analyzed, reported, and suspicious lesions biopsied. In parallel, all FDP MRI acquisitions were scored by lesion to eventually create a high-yield AP.ResultsFDP breast MRI detected 452 findings not visible on mammography, including 17 suspicious lesions recommended for biopsy of which seven (PPV 41.2%) were malignant in six women. Mean size of the four invasive malignancies was 1.9 cm (range 0.7–4.1), all node negative; three lesions in two women were ductal carcinoma in situ. Nine biopsied lesions were benign, mean size 1.2 cm (range 0.6–2.0). All biopsied lesions were in women with dense breasts (heterogeneously or extremely dense on mammography, n = 367), for a cancer detection rate of 16.3/1000 examinations in this subpopulation. These data were used to identify four high-yield acquisitions: T2, T1-pre-contrast, T11.5, and T16 to create the AP with a scan time of 7.5 min compared to 24 min for the FDP.ConclusionsOur analysis of a FDP MRI in a mammographically negative group identified four high-yield acquisitions that could be used for rapid screening of women for breast cancer that retains critical information on morphology, histopathology, and kinetic activity to facilitate detection of suspicious lesions.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10549-017-4112-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Objective. To compare the diagnostic usefulness of the 2019 European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR)/ American College of Rheumatology (ACR) classification criteria for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) to that of the 1997 ACR classification criteria for SLE when applied to youths (age ≤21 years) with SLE. Methods. Data were extracted from electronic health records of patients followed at a large academic pediatric hospital. The treating rheumatologist's diagnosis of SLE served as the standard criterion for identifying SLE patients (cases). Controls were patients with juvenile dermatomyositis (DM), juvenile scleroderma, or juvenile systemic sclerosis (SSc). The 2019 EULAR/ACR criteria and the 1997 ACR criteria were tested against the standard criterion. Results. A total of 112 SLE patients ages 2-21 years and 105 controls ages 1-19 years (66% juvenile DM, 34% juvenile scleroderma or juvenile SSc) were available for analysis. The 2019 EULAR/ACR criteria had significantly higher sensitivity (85% versus 72%; P = 0.023) and similar specificity (83% versus 87%; P = 0.456) than the 1997 ACR criteria. The mean ± SD 2019 EULAR/ACR classification summary scores were significantly higher among non-White than White patients (22.41 ± 10.04 versus 17.59 ± 9.19; P < 0.01). The sensitivity of the 2019 EULAR/ACR criteria in non-White/White patients was 92%/80% (P = 0.08) versus 83%/64% (P < 0.02) for the 1997 ACR criteria. The sensitivity of the 2019 EULAR/ACR criteria was not affected by age or sex. Conclusion. The 2019 EULAR/ACR criteria efficiently classify youths with SLE, irrespective of age, sex, and race. Compared to the 1997 ACR criteria, the new criteria are significantly more sensitive and similarly specific in youths with SLE.

Homocysteic acid (HCA) is a neurotoxin and a NMDA receptor agonist that is taken up in GABAergic interneurons by the cystine/glutamate exchanger, System xc‐, and then slowly released. We thus hypothesized that HCA may trigger a slowly developing neurodegeneration of GABAergic interneurons, which might serve as a model for schizophrenia. In addition, we hypothesized that cold acclimation would exacerbate the effects of the HCA. In this study, HCA was injected bilaterally into the lateral cerebral ventricles of rats. Two days later half of the rats were placed in a 5°C environmental chamber. Behavioral testing for motor performance, anxiety, social interaction, hedonistic behavior, and spatial learning and memory began three weeks later. Cold acclimation reduced body weight gain, motor performance and exploratory behavior while HCA decreased exploratory behavior. Neither cold acclimation nor HCA altered spatial learning or memory or social interaction. Both cold acclimation and HCA altered hedonistic behavior as measured with a saccharine preference test. There were no significant interactions between cold acclimation and HCA for any behavioral test. These results indicate that both central administration of HCA and cold acclimation can alter performance in behavioral tests that may relate to schizophrenia‐like behavior in rats but cold acclimation does not potentiate the effects of HCA.