The purpose of our review is to discuss the role of CT angiography (CTA) in evaluating a variety of vascular complications in critically ill COVID-19 patients. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to be a worldwide health threat. While COVID-19 pneumonia is the most common and well-recognized presentation of COVID-19, severely ill hospitalized patients often present with extrapulmonary systemic findings. Vascular complications occur not only due to known viral-induced vasculopathy, coagulopathy, and related “cytokine storm,” but also due to anticoagulation medication used during hospitalization. There is a paucity of articles describing extrapulmonary vascular findings, especially in critically ill COVID-19 patients. In our article, we discuss commonly encountered vascular imaging findings in the body (chest, abdomen, and pelvis) and extremities, the importance of early radiological detection, and the role of CTA in the management of critically ill COVID-19 patients.
Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) fistulae originating from the fallopian canal of the facial nerve is hypothesized to arise due to atypical patterns of subarachnoid space extension into the geniculate ganglion or more distal regions along the intratemporal course of the facial nerve, but its pathogenesis remains poorly understood. Although a rare etiology of CSF fistulae of the temporal bone, there are significant clinical ramifications due to the risk of recurrent meningitis, difficulty in identifying the anatomic location of the CSF leak, and technical challenges associated with surgical repair. We present three clinical cases of arachnoid cysts within the geniculate fossa with or without CSF fistulization and provide histopathologic correlates of this rare clinical phenomenon from a human temporal bone collection. The pediatric and adult patients presented suggest differential pathophysiologic mechanisms associated with CSF fistulae. Temporal bone histology reveals atypical patterns of subarachnoid space extension in the fallopian canal that may underlie arachnoid cyst formation and overt CSF leak from the geniculate region.
Background and Purpose
Salvage radiation therapy (SRT) is indicated for biochemical failure after radical prostatectomy. Prior data have shown that initiation of SRT at lower PSA levels improves subsequent biochemical control, yet given the long natural history of prostate cancer questions remain regarding optimal timing of SRT. We analyzed the impact of prostate specific antigen (PSA) level at time of salvage radiotherapy with regard to both biochemical relapse‐free (bRFS) as well as metastasis‐free survival (MFS) in patients with biochemically recurrent prostate cancer.
Methods
Using prospective institutional tumor registry data, univariate and multivariable‐adjusted Cox proportional hazards models were constructed to assess association between outcomes and clinical and pathologic prognostic features, including pre‐SRT PSA, interval from prostatectomy to SRT, androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), and adverse pathologic features.
Results
We identified 397 patients who received salvage RT between 1985 and 2016: 187 (45.8%) received SRT initiated when pre‐RT PSA was ≤0.5 ng/ml; 212 (52.0%) patients had pre‐SRT PSA > 0.5 ng/ml. Independent of pathologic risk status and ADT use, pre‐SRT PSA ≤ 0.5 ng/ml was the most significant predictor of bRFS (HR 0.39, 95% CI [0.27, 0.56]) as well as MFS (HR = 0.58, 95% CI [0.37, 0.91]). Seminal vesicle invasion was also associated with shorter interval to biochemical failure, HR = 1.79, 95% CI [1.07, 2.98], and eventual metastases, HR = 2.07, 95% CI [1.14, 3.740].
Conclusions
Initiation of salvage RT while PSA levels remain ≤0.5 ng/ml was associated with improved MFS. Consideration for salvage RT initiation while PSA levels remain low is warranted to minimize risk of future prostate cancer metastasis.
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