CTA is the most accurate technique for evaluating carotid stenoses, with a slightly better performance than MRA (97% vs. 95% for SS MRA and 92% for FP MRA) and a greater accuracy than CDUS (97% vs. 76%). Blood-pool contrast-enhanced SS sequences offer improved evaluation of degree of stenosis and plaque morphology with accuracy substantially identical to CTA.

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Central systolic and PPs, brachial PP, AIx, aortic PWV are moderately heritable. A moderate genetic covariance among aortic PWV and central PP, central SBP and brachial SBP was found.

ABSTRACT. Small bowel neoplasms, including adenocarcinoma, carcinoid tumour, lymphoma and gastrointestinal stromal tumours, represent a small percentage of gastrointestinal cancers, yet are among those with the poorest prognosis compared with other gastrointestinal malignancies. Unclear clinical scenarios and difficult radiological diagnosis often delay treatment with negative effects on patient survival. Recently, multidetector CT (MDCT) and MRI have been introduced as feasible and accurate diagnostic techniques for the identification and staging of small bowel neoplasms. These techniques are gradually replacing conventional barium radiography as the tool of choice. However, the inherent technical and physiological challenges of small bowel imaging require a familiarity with patient preparation and scan protocols. Adequate knowledge of the histopathology and natural evolution of small bowel neoplasms is also important for differential diagnosis. The aim of this article is to review MDCT and MRI protocols for the evaluation of small bowel tumours and to provide a concise yet comprehensive guide to the most relevant imaging features relative to histopathology.

MR imaging and 64-MDCT accuracy levels did not differ in advanced stages of disease, whereas MR imaging was superior in identifying early stages of gastric cancer and can be considered a valid alternative to MDCT in clinical practice.

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IntroductionCOVID-19 is a respiratory illness due to novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), described in December 2019 in Wuhan (China) and rapidly evolved into a pandemic. Gastrointestinal (GI) tract can also be involved.Case presentationA 44-year-old man was hospitalised for COVID-19-associated pneumonia. A rapid recovery of respiratory and general symptoms was observed after 1 week of treatment with lopinavir/ritonavir plus hydroxychloroquine and broad-spectrum antibiotics (piperacillin–tazobactam plus teicoplanin). No GI symptoms were reported during hospitalisation, but a lung contrast-enhancement CT (CE-CT) excluding thromboembolism showed, as collateral finding, intraperitoneal free bubbles not present on a previous CT examination; the subsequent abdominal CE-CT described pneumatosis intestinalis (PI) involving the caecum and the right colon. Ciprofloxacin plus metronidazole was started, and the 2-week follow-up CT showed the complete resolution of PI.DiscussionThe pathogenesis of PI is poorly understood. PI involving the caecum and right colon has been described for HIV and Cytomegalovirus infections, but, to our best knowledge, never before in COVID-19. We hypothesise a multifactorial aetiopathogenesis for PI, with a possible role of the bowel wall damage and microbiota impairment due to SARS-CoV-2 infection, and we suggest a conservative management in the absence of symptoms.

The diagnostic performance of 64-section CT angiography is excellent in patients with clinical symptoms of PAD. The results can be used to effectively guide therapeutic decision making in these patients.