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Background The role and performance of chest CT in the diagnosis of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic remains under active investigation. Purpose To evaluate the French national experience using Chest CT for COVID-19, results of chest CT and RT-PCR were compared together and with the final discharge diagnosis used as reference standard. Materials and Methods A structured CT scan survey (NCT04339686) was sent to 26 hospital radiology departments in France between March 2 and April 24 2020. These dates correspond to the peak of the national COVID-19 epidemic. Radiology departments were selected to reflect the estimated geographical prevalence heterogeneities of the epidemic. All symptomatic patients suspected of having a COVID-19 pneumonia who underwent within 48 hours both initial chest CT and at least one RT-PCR testing were included. The final discharge diagnosis, based on multiparametric items, was recorded. Data for each center were prospectively collected and gathered each week. Test efficacy was determined by using Mann-Whitney Test, Student’s t-test, Chi-square test and Pearson’s correlation. A p value <.05 determined statistical significance. Results Twenty-six of 26 hospital radiology departments responded to the survey with 7500 patients entered; 2652 did not have RT-PCR results or had unknown or excess delay between RT-PCR and CT. After exclusions, 4824 patients (mean age 64, ± 19 yrs, 2669 males) were included. Using final diagnosis as the reference, 2564 of the 4824 patients were positive for COVID-19 (53%). Sensitivity, specificity, NPV and PPV of chest CT for diagnosing COVID-19 were 2319/2564 (90%, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 89, 91), 2056/2260 (91%, 95%CI: 91, 92%), 2056/2300 (89%, 95%CI; 87, 90%) and 2319/2524 (92%, 95%CI 91, 93%) respectively. There was no significant difference for chest CT efficacy among the 26 geographically separate sites, each with varying amounts of disease prevalence. Conclusion Use of chest CT for the initial diagnosis and triage of suspected COVID-19 patients was successful.

This study has shown an inverse relationship between the diameter of the aneurysm and the length of the aortic neck (correlation coefficient, -0.3640, p < 0.001). The diameter of an aneurysm was the most useful of the 31 parameters measured in predicting the feasibility of endoaortic grafting, estimated at 71% for aneurysms less than 60 mm in diameter and 37.5% for aneurysms greater than 60 mm in diameter (p < 0.01).

In our case-control study, HCV therapy with DAAs does not accelerate or prevent early HCC recurrence compared with untreated patients. The rate of recurrence, time to progression, and HCC pattern are similar. Early DAAs treatment (<12 months) after HCC cure should be discouraged considering the HCC recurrence rate during this period.

Background-Neuropathological data are very scarce in systemic sclerosis and fail to demonstrate primary changes in the brains of such patients. Case Descriptions-A 41-year-old woman with CREST syndrome developed signs of dementia after an episode of severe dehydration and died two months later of septic shock. A 63-year-old woman with CREST syndrome and a history of two unexplained transient ischemic attacks had had balance disorders since age 62. She died of severe pulmonary hypertension. In both cases, the autopsy showed extensive wall calcification of small arteries and arterioles in the brain, primarily in the basal ganglia, and also in the frontal lobes and the cerebellar area in the second case. No known cause of cerebrovascular calcification was found in either patient. Conclusion-The neuropathological findings in these two patients suggest that systemic sclerosis may induce primary vascular changes in the brain, of which calcification may be a marker. (Stroke. 1998;29:719-721.)