PurposeWe tested the validity of a freely available segmentation pipeline to measure compartmental brain volumes from 3T MRI in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Our primary focus was methodological to explore the effect of segmentation corrections on the clinical relevance of the output metrics.MethodsThree-dimensional T1-weighted images were acquired to compare 61 MS patients to 30 age- and gender-matched normal controls (NC). We also tested the within patient MRI relationship to disability (eg, expanded disability status scale [EDSS] score) and cognition. Statistical parametric mapping v. 8 (SPM8)-derived gray matter (GMF), white matter (WMF), and total brain parenchyma fractions (BPF) were derived before and after correcting errors from T1 hypointense MS lesions and/or ineffective deep GM contouring.ResultsMS patients had lower GMF and BPF as compared to NC (P<.05). Cognitively impaired patients had lower BPF than cognitively preserved patients (P<.05). BPF was related to EDSS; BPF and GMF were related to disease duration (all P<.05). Errors caused bias in GMFs and WMFs but had no discernable influence on BPFs or any MRI-clinical associations.ConclusionsWe report the validity of a segmentation pipeline for the detection of MS-related brain atrophy with 3T MRI. Longitudinal studies are warranted to extend these results.

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Purpose Pathologic upstaging in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is common and confers a significant risk of poor surgical and survival outcomes. Preoperative predictors of upstaging are of great clinical relevance but empirical evidence specific to racial minorities remains scarce. Methods National Cancer Database (NCDB) analysis of T3a‐specific upstaging among White, African‐American, Hispanic and Asian Pacific Islander (API) patients with AJCC cT1N0M0 RCC who underwent partial or radical nephrectomy between 2010 and 2015. Independent preoperative predictors of tumour upstaging were identified using multivariate logistic regression analyses. Results A total of 81 002 patients met the criteria for inclusion (5.6% T3a‐specific upstaging). Increased age, increased Charlson‐Deyo comorbidity index, clinical stages cT1b and unspecified cT1, and increased Fuhrman nuclear grade were identified as independent risk factors for upstaging. Independent protective factors for upstaging were younger age, female sex, African‐American race and papillary, chromophobe, and unspecified RCC histologic subtypes. Significant risk factors and protective factors within individual racial subgroups were highly consistent with those observed in the overall study sample. All independent factors identified on race‐specific subgroup analyses were significant in the same direction relative to the overall study sample. Variables found to be non‐significant in the overall study sample remained non‐significant across all racial subgroup analyses. Conclusion The present study of nationally representative data found no clinically significant differences in upstaging risk across individual racial subgroups relative to the overall study sample. Preoperative factors that can be used to predict pT3a‐specific tumour upstaging in CT1N0M0 RCC likely persist across different racial groups.