DeepCOVID-XR, an artificial intelligence algorithm for detecting COVID-19 on chest radiographs, demonstrated performance similar to the consensus of experienced thoracic radiologists. Key Results: • DeepCOVID-XR classified 2,214 test images (1,194 COVID-19 positive) with an accuracy of 83% and AUC of 0.90 compared with the reference standard of RT-PCR. • On 300 random test images (134 COVID-19 positive), DeepCOVID-XR's accuracy was 82% (AUC 0.88) compared to 5 individual thoracic radiologists (accuracy 76%-81%) and the consensus of all 5 radiologists (accuracy 81%, AUC 0.85). • Using the consensus interpretation of the radiologists as the reference standard, DeepCOVID-XR's AUC was 0.95. Abbreviations: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), artificial intelligence (AI), area under the curve (AUC), receiver operating characteristic (ROC), convolutional neural network (CNN) See also the editorial by van Ginneken.

Pembrolizumab, a humanized IgG4 monoclonal antibody targeting programmed death-1 protein, has demonstrated efficacy in relapsed/refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL). To assess the complete metabolic response (CMR) rate and safety of pembrolizumab monotherapy in newly diagnosed cHL, we conducted a multicenter, single-arm, phase II investigator-initiated trial of sequential pembrolizumab and doxorubicin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (AVD) chemotherapy. Patients > 18 years of age with untreated early unfavorable or advanced stage disease were eligible for treatment. Thirty patients with either early unfavorable (n=12) or advanced (n=18) stage cHL were treated with 3 cycles of pembrolizumab monotherapy followed by AVD for 4-6 cycles depending on stage and bulk. Twelve had either large mediastinal masses and/or bulky disease (>10 cm). Following pembrolizumab monotherapy, 11 patients (37%) demonstrated CMR's, and an additional 7 of 28 (25%) patients with quantifiable positron emission tomography/computed tomography scanning (PET-CT) had >90% reductions in metabolic tumor volume. All patients achieved CMR following 2 cycles of AVD and maintained their responses at end of treatment. With a median follow-up of 22.5 months (range: 14.2-30.6) there have been no changes in therapy, progressions, or deaths. No patients received consolidation radiotherapy, including those with bulky disease. Therapy was well-tolerated. The most common immune-related adverse events were grade 1 rash (n=6), and grade 2 infusion reactions (n=4). One patient had a reversible grade 4 transaminitis and a second had a reversible Bell's palsy. Brief pembrolizumab monotherapy followed by AVD proved both highly effective and safe in newly diagnosed cHL patients including those with bulky disease. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT03226249.

The study aimed at identifying patient-specific dosimetric and nondosimetric factors predicting outcome of non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients after 131I-tositumomab radioimmunotherapy for potential use in treatment planning. Methods Tumor-absorbed dose measures were estimated for 130 tumors in 39 relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients by coupling SPECT/CT imaging with the Dose Planning Method (DPM) Monte Carlo code. Equivalent biologic effect was calculated to assess the biologic effects of nonuniform absorbed dose including the effects of the unlabeled antibody. Evaluated nondosimetric covariates included histology, presence of bulky disease, and prior treatment history. Tumor level outcome was based on volume shrinkage assessed on follow-up CT. Patient level outcome measures were overall response (OR), complete response (CR), and progression-free survival (PFS), determined from clinical assessments that included PET/CT. Results The estimated mean tumor-absorbed dose had a median value of 275 cGy (range, 94–711 cGy). A high correlation was observed between tracer-predicted and therapy-delivered mean tumor-absorbed doses (P < 0.001; r = 0.85). In univariate tumor-level analysis, tumor shrinkage correlated significantly with almost all of the evaluated dosimetric factors, including equivalent biologic effect. Regression analysis showed that OR, CR, and PFS were associated with the dosimetric factors and equivalent biologic effect. Both mean tumor-absorbed dose (P = 0.025) and equivalent biologic effect (P = 0.035) were significant predictors of PFS whereas none of the nondosimetric covariates were found to be statistically significant factors affecting PFS. The most important finding of the study was that in Kaplan–Meier curves stratified by mean dose, longer PFS was observed in patients receiving mean tumor-absorbed doses greater than 200 cGy than in those receiving 200 cGy or less (median PFS, 13.6 vs. 1.9 mo for the 2 dose groups; log-rank P < 0.0001). Conclusion A higher mean tumor-absorbed dose was significantly predictive of improved PFS after 131I-tositumomab radioimmunotherapy. Hence tumor-absorbed dose, which can be estimated before therapy, can potentially be used to design radioimmunotherapy protocols to improve efficacy.

Pulmonary mucormycosis (PM) is an uncommon fungal infection most often seen in immunocompromised patients. The fungus grows on decaying food, soil, and animal excrement. Patients usually become infected by inhalation of spores. The most common risk factors include diabetes mellitus, hematologic malignancy, and solid organ or stem cell transplant. PM can have a nonspecific appearance at imaging. For example, early imaging may show peribronchial ground-glass opacity. Later, the disease progresses to consolidation, nodules, or masses. Because patients are usually immunocompromised, the differential diagnosis often includes invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA). Various radiologic findings suggestive of PM have been identified to help differentiate it from IPA. For example, the reverse halo sign is more closely associated with PM than with IPA. The reverse halo sign is an area of groundglass opacity surrounded by a rim of consolidation. In addition, the presence of pleural effusions and more than 10 nodules is more suggestive of PM than it is of IPA. PM can progress rapidly in neutropenic patients. Identification of the hyphae in tissue by using endobronchial or percutaneous sampling can allow differentiation from IPA and help confirm the diagnosis of mucormycosis. Because of the high mortality rate associated with PM, early identification of the disease is critical for an improved likelihood of survival. A multimodality treatment approach with antifungal agents and surgical débridement has been shown to improve outcomes. The authors review the risk factors for PM, describe its imaging appearance and disease process, and describe the treatment of the disease. ©

We present examples of extraosseous radiotracer uptake seen on (99m)Tc-MDP bone scans in which either SPECT with integrated CT or correlative imaging improved the study's interpretation.

OBJECTIVENo guidelines for A1C measurement exist for women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). The aim of this study was to document the rate of A1C decline in women with GDM.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSWomen with GDM in the Santa Barbara County Endocrine Clinic are managed with a carbohydrate-restricted diet and self-monitored blood glucose before and 1-h postprandial. Insulin is started if the preprandial glucose concentration is ≥90 mg/dl and/or a 1-h postprandial glucose concentration is ≥120 mg/dl. Capillary A1C was tested weekly using the DCA2000+ analyzer.RESULTSTwenty-four women with GDM (aged 29.0 ± 7.3 years) with initial A1C ≥7.0% were recruited. Baseline A1C was 8.8 ± 1.8%. Mean A1C decline was 0.47% per week (range 0.10–1.15%); the maximum was 4.3% in 4 weeks.CONCLUSIONSThis study documents rapid decline in A1C during pregnancy and the utility of weekly A1C to guide therapy.

Radioiodine imaging has a well-established role in depicting metastatic disease after thyroidectomy in patients with well-differentiated thyroid cancer. Uptake of radioiodine in thyroid metastases depends on expression of sodium-iodide symporter (NIS) by tumor tissues. However, because radioiodine may also accumulate in normal structures and tissues, it is important to distinguish physiologic radioiodine activity from metastatic disease. Furthermore, secretions that contain radioiodine may also simulate pathologic uptake. A spectrum of physiologic distributions, normal variants, and benign mimics of disease have been described in the literature; yet, even when armed with a comprehensive knowledge of these patterns, interpreting radiologists and nuclear physicians may still encounter diagnostic uncertainty. Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) with integrated computed tomography (CT) is a novel technology that, when applied to diagnostic iodine 123 or iodine 131 ((131)I) radioiodine scintigraphy, may accurately localize and help distinguish benign mimics of disease, with the potential to alter the management plan. SPECT/CT is increasingly being used with radioiodine scintigraphy to evaluate patients with thyroid cancer and shows promise for improving imaging specificity and reducing false-positive results.

Introduction: Approximately 30-35% of patients with classic Hodgkin Lymphoma will prove refractory to frontline therapy or relapse subsequently. Traditional second-line chemotherapy regimens including ifosfamide, carboplatin, and etoposide (ICE) result in complete response rates of ~50%. Achievement of complete metabolic response (CMR) assessed by PET/CT imaging prior to autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant (AHSCT) predicts favorable progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). PD-1 blockade is a well-established therapeutic strategy for the treatment of cHL. Pembrolizumab (PEM) is a checkpoint inhibitor targeting PD-1 currently FDA approved as monotherapy in relapsed cHL. We hypothesized that PEM in combination with ICE (PEM-ICE) chemotherapy would be a safe and effective regimen that would yield high CMR rates prior to AHSCT. Methods: This single arm, phase II, multi-institutional clinical trial evaluated the addition of PEM to ICE chemotherapy in AHSCT eligible patients with relapsed and refractory cHL (NCT03077828). The regimen consisted of 21 day cycles of PEM 200 mg IV on day 1 with standard ICE including ifosfamide 5 g/m2 with MESNA as a 24hr continuous infusion on day 2, carboplatin AUC 5 IV (max 800 mg) on day 2, and etoposide 100 mg/m2/day IV on days 1 to 3. Two cycles of PEM-ICE were followed by stem cell mobilization/collection. One cycle of PEM 200 mg IV monotherapy was then administered. Our primary endpoint was the rate of CMR on PET/CT (PET2) imaging defined as a Deauville score of ≤ 3. Images were reviewed centrally. An optional third cycle of PEM-ICE was permitted for patients achieving CMR to allow for appropriate timing of AHSCT. Secondary objectives included clinical outcomes (PFS and OS), safety and tolerability, and transplantation related metrics including ability to collect stem cells and time to engraftment. Results: A total of 42 patients were enrolled with 37 patients evaluable for the primary endpoint. Median age was 34 (19-70) with female predominance (n=27, 64%). 16 patients had primary refractory disease. The CMR rate assessed by PET/CT imaging following 2 cycles of PEM-ICE was 86.5% (95% CI, 71.2-95%), meeting our primary endpoint of improvement over historical outcomes to 70%. The PET2 ORR was 97.3% with 11% PR and 2.7% PD. PET2 scores were Deauville 1 in 45% (n=17), Deauville 2 in 27.0% (n=10), Deauville 3 in 8.1% (n=3), Deauville 4 in 13.5% (n=5), and Deauville 5 in 5.4% (n=2). New areas of PET-positivity in two cases were biopsied showing noncaseating granuloma in one case and EBV but no cHL in another. Five patients received the optional third cycle of PEM-ICE chemotherapy with 35 of the 37 evaluable patients proceeding to AHSCT. Seven patients had radiation as part of the conditioning regimen with an additional 4 patients receiving consolidative radiation following transplant. After a median follow up of 27 months, the median PFS was 26.9 months with survival probability at 24 months of 88.2% (Figure 1). Median OS was not reached with too few events but remained 95.1% at 27 months. The addition of PEM to ICE did not impair stem cell mobilization and all patients successfully collected, with 35 (87%) within 2 apheresis sessions (range 1-7). No patients had engraftment delays or failure. Of the 42 patients, all received at least one dose of PEM and were therefore eligible for toxicity analyses. 34 patients (81%) experienced adverse events (AEs) attributed to PEM and 22 patients (52.3%) had grade 3-4 AEs comprised of cytopenias, elevated AST/ALT, hyponatremia, hypophosphatemia, and fatigue. Five patients had severe AEs attributed to PEM which included anemia, back pain, decreased EF, fever, and thrombocytopenia. There were no significant PEM-related autoimmune events that delayed a patient's treatment on protocol. There were two grade 5 toxicities on the protocol including a patient with cardiac arrest during stem cell collection and a patient with acute respiratory distress syndrome attributed to engraftment syndrome. Both were judged "possibly" related to PEM. Conclusions: Pembrolizumab with ICE chemotherapy is a tolerable and efficacious regimen with high CMR rate as assessed by PET/CT. Despite short follow up, patients had excellent PFS and OS in the post-transplant setting. The results support further investigation of PEM-ICE as second-line treatment for AHSCT eligible patients with relapsed and refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Casulo: BMS: Research Funding; Verastem: Research Funding; Genentech: Research Funding; Gilead: Research Funding. Allen: Kyowa Kirin: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Daichii Sankyo: Consultancy, Honoraria; Secure Bio: Consultancy, Honoraria. Karmali: Epizyme: Consultancy; AstraZeneca: Speakers Bureau; Roche: Consultancy; Genentech: Consultancy; EUSA: Consultancy; Janssen/Pharmacyclics: Consultancy; Karyopharm: Consultancy; Morphosys: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; BeiGene: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; BMS/Celgene/Juno: Consultancy, Research Funding; Takeda: Research Funding. Gordon: Zylem Biosciences: Patents & Royalties: Patents, No royalties; Bristol Myers Squibb: Honoraria, Research Funding. Winter: Actinium Pharma: Consultancy; BMS: Other: Husband: Data and Safety Monitoring Board; Karyopharm (Curio Science): Honoraria; Novartis: Other: Husband: Consultancy, Data and Safety Monitoring Board; Merck: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Ariad/Takeda: Other: Husband: Data and Safety Monitoring Board; Epizyme: Other: Husband: Data and Safety Monitoring Board; Agios: Other: Husband: Consultancy; Gilead: Other: Husband: Consultancy; Janssen: Other: Husband: Consultancy. OffLabel Disclosure: new combination of study agent with standard of care chemotherapy regimen