No abstract

MSPH Purpose:To retrospectively compare the diagnostic performance of arterial, portal venous, and dual-phase computed tomography (CT) for blunt traumatic splenic injury. Materials and Methods:Informed consent was waived for this institutional review board-approved, HIPAA-compliant study.

Documented renal infarctions following endovascular aortic stent-graft placement are not common and do not appear to be associated with suprarenal endograft fixation.

Lisinopril was used as the targeting moiety to prepare gold nanoparticle-based functional CT contrast agents. Pure lisinopril, thioctic acid-lisinopril conjugate, and reduced thioctic acid-lisinopril conjugate were used to obtain GNP-Lis, GNP-TA-Lis, and GNP-RTA-Lis, respectively, via ligand exchange reaction on citrate-coated gold nanoparticles (GNPs). These lisinopril-decorated GNPs were fully characterized, and their chemical stabilities in biological relevant media and in high salt concentration were compared. Their relative stabilities toward lyophilization and against cyanide-induced decomposition were also investigated. Because of their higher stability, GNP-TA-Lis were used to assess the targeting of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) using X-ray computed tomography (CT). The images obtained displayed high contrast in the region of the lungs and heart, clearly indicating the targeting of ACE, whose overexpression is associated with development of cardiac and pulmonary fibrosis. Thus, the new nanoprobes prepared here will serve as very useful tools for the monitoring of cardiovascular pathophysiologies using CT imaging.

The purpose of the study was to determine the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of multidetector CT (MDCT) in detection of diaphragmatic injury following penetrating trauma. Chest and abdominal CT examinations performed preoperatively in 136 patients after penetrating trauma to the torso with injury trajectory in close proximity to the diaphragm were reviewed by radiologists unaware of surgical findings. Signs associated with diaphragmatic injuries in penetrating trauma were noted. These signs were correlated with surgical diagnoses, and their sensitivity and specificity in assisting the diagnosis were calculated. CT confirmed diaphragmatic injury in 41 of 47 injuries (sensitivity, 87.2%), and an intact diaphragm in 71 of 98 patients (specificity, 72.4%). The overall accuracy of MDCT was 77%. The most accurate sign helping the diagnosis was contiguous injury on either side of the diaphragm in single-entry penetrating trauma (sensitivity, 88%; specificity, 82%). Thus MDCT has high sensitivity and good specificity in detecting penetrating diaphragmatic injuries.

Complete operative correction of DAAC usually can be accomplished as a single-stage procedure with low morbidity and mortality rates. The reconstruction of all renal arteries is essential to cure hypertension. Consequent follow-up is recommended for detection of late postoperative complications.

With the superb spatial resolution of modern multislice CT scanners and their ability to complete a thoracic scan within one breath-hold, software algorithms for computer-aided detection (CAD) of pulmonary nodules are now reaching high sensitivity levels at moderate false positive rates. A number of pilot studies have shown that CAD modules can successfully find overlooked pulmonary nodules and serve as a powerful tool for diagnostic quality assurance. Equally important are tools for fast and accurate three-dimensional volume measurement of detected nodules. These allow monitoring of nodule growth between follow-up examinations for differential diagnosis and response to oncological therapy. Owing to decreasing partial volume effect, nodule volumetry is more accurate with high resolution CT data. Several studies have shown the feasibility and robustness of automated matching of corresponding nodule pairs between follow-up examinations. Fast and automated growth rate monitoring with only few reader interactions also adds to diagnostic quality assurance.

Spectral CT has the potential to enable distinct characterization of hyperattenuating fluids in a renal phantom by helping identify proteinaceous and hemorrhagic lesions through assessment of their distinct levels of attenuation as well as by revealing iodine-containing lesions through analysis of their specific k-edge discontinuities.