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Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate pain, functional impairment, mental health, and daily activity in patients with end-stage hip and knee osteoarthritis (OA) during the COVID-19 lockdown. Methods The study included 63 patients, with hip or knee OA, who had been scheduled for arthroplasty that was postponed because of COVID-19. Patients were evaluated by telephone interviews during the first week after lockdown, in the fourth week, and again at the end of the lockdown. Patients rated their pain level on the basis of a visual analog scale (VAS) and completed WOMAC, SF-12 and Tegner activity scale (TAS) questionnaires. Results VAS and WOMAC scores increased significantly during lockdown, while physical activity significantly decreased. At the final evaluation, VAS and WOMAC showed a significant negative correlation with TAS. The SF-12 subscale scores showed a significant decrease of the physical component during the lockdown, while the mental component remained largely unchanged. Patients with knee OA showed a faster progress of pain compared to those with hip OA. 50 patients (79%) stated they wished to have arthroplasty as soon as possible. Conclusion The COVID-19 lockdown had a significant impact on pain, joint function, physical function, and physical activity in patients with end-stage hip and knee OA. Level of evidence II (Prospective cohort study).

Objective of the study is to compare the diagnostic accuracy for detecting monosodium urate crystal deposits between dual-energy CT (DECT) and ultrasound (US). Sixty consecutive patients (49 men, mean age 62 years) with clinically suspected gout were included in this case-control study. DECT and US of feet, knees, hands and elbows were performed in all patients. Polarisation microscopy of synovial fluid or a score incorporating serum uric acid level, first MTP joint involvement, gender, previous patient-reported arthritis attack, cardiovascular diseases, joint redness and onset within 1 day was used as standard of reference. Standard of reference classified 39 patients as gout positive. Sixteen patients had gout and a concomitant rheumatic disease. Sensitivities for diagnosis of gout disease were 84.6 % (33/39) for DECT and 100 % (39/39) for US. Specificities were 85.7 % (18/21) for DECT and 76.2 % (16/21) for US. Positive and negative predictive values were 91.7 % (33/36) and 75.0 % (18/24) for DECT, 88.6 % (39/44) and 100 % (16/16) for US, respectively. Urate crystals were detected most frequently in MTP1 joints (DECT 20/78, US 58/78), any other toe joints (DECT 25/78, US 62/78) and knees (DECT 41/78, US 31/78). The volumetry of DECT computed a mean urate crystal deposit load of 2.1 cm(3) (SD 9.6 cm(3)). A mean effective dose of ≤0.5 mSv was estimated. DECT is more specific for the diagnosis of gout than US. However, it fails to detect small urate crystal deposits. It might be particularly useful for patients with ambivalent findings, concomitant rheumatic diseases and with non-conclusive joint aspiration.

Purpose: To evaluate very small superparamagnetic iron oxide particles (VSOP-C184) as blood-pool contrast agent for coronary MR angiography (CMRA) in humans.Materials and Methods: Six healthy volunteers and 14 patients with suspected coronary artery disease underwent CMRA after administration of VSOP-C184 at the following doses: 20 mmol Fe/kg (4 patients), 40 mmol Fe/kg (5 patients), 45 mmol Fe/kg (6 healthy volunteers), and 60 mmol Fe/kg (5 patients). In healthy volunteers, contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and vessel edge definition (VED) of contrast-enhanced CMRA were compared with non-contrast-enhanced CMRA. In patients, a per-segment intention-to-diagnose evaluation of contrast-enhanced CMRA for detection of significant coronary stenosis (!50%) was performed.Results: Three healthy volunteers (45 mmol Fe/kg VSOP-C184) and two patients (60 mmol Fe/kg VSOP-C184) had adverse events of mild or moderate intensity. VSOP-C184 significantly increased CNR (15.1 6 4.6 versus 6.9 6 1.9; P ¼ 0.010), SNR (21.7 6 5.3 versus 15.4 6 1.6; P ¼ 0.048), and VED (2.3 6 0.6 versus 1.2 6 0.2; P < 0.001) compared with non-contrast-enhanced CMRA. In patients, contrastenhanced CMRA yielded sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy for detection of significant coronary stenosis of 86.7%, 71.0%, 73.1%, respectively.Conclusion: CMRA using VSOP-C184 was feasible and yielded moderate diagnostic accuracy for detection of significant coronary stenosis within this proof-of-concept setting.

BackgroundClaustrophobia is a common problem precluding MR imaging. The purpose of the present study was to assess whether a short-bore or an open magnetic resonance (MR) scanner is superior in alleviating claustrophobia.MethodsInstitutional review board approval and patient informed consent were obtained to compare short-bore versus open MR. From June 2008 to August 2009, 174 patients (139 women; mean age = 53.1 [SD 12.8]) with an overall mean score of 2.4 (SD 0.7, range 0 to 4) on the Claustrophobia Questionnaire (CLQ) and a clinical indication for imaging, were randomly assigned to receive evaluation by open or by short-bore MR. The primary outcomes were incomplete MR examinations due to a claustrophobic event. Follow-up was conducted 7 months after MR imaging. The primary analysis was performed according to the intention-to-treat strategy.ResultsWith 33 claustrophobic events in the short-bore group (39% [95% confidence interval [CI] 28% to 50%) versus 23 in the open scanner group (26% [95% CI 18% to 37%]; P = 0.08) the difference was not significant. Patients with an event were in the examination room for 3.8 min (SD 4.4) in the short-bore and for 8.5 min (SD 7) in the open group (P = 0.004). This was due to an earlier occurrence of events in the short-bore group. The CLQ suffocation subscale was significantly associated with the occurrence of claustrophobic events (P = 0.003). New findings that explained symptoms were found in 69% of MR examinations and led to changes in medical treatment in 47% and surgery in 10% of patients. After 7 months, perceived claustrophobia increased in 32% of patients with events versus in only 11% of patients without events (P = 0.004).ConclusionsEven recent MR cannot prevent claustrophobia suggesting that further developments to create a more patient-centered MR scanner environment are needed.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT00715806

Gadofosveset trisodium serves well for first-pass imaging in WB-MRA.

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Non-gated MDCT depicts LA with appropriate image quality for integrated EAM, while exposing patients to substantially lower radiation dose compared with ECG-gated MDCT.