Health care systems of developed non-U.S. nations: strengths, weaknesses, and recommendations for the United States--observations from internationally recognized imaging specialists.

The purpose of this article is to survey imaging experts from developed nations on their impression of their own health care system and recommendations for the U.S. health care system as it seeks to enact health care reform.A survey was sent to individual imaging experts from developed nations requesting information on their health care systems (type of system, strengths, and weaknesses) and their recommendations for the United States.Eighteen respondents from 17 developed nations completed the survey. All respondents reported universal health care coverage: four with government-operated health care, one with mixed government and private insurance-operated health care, 10 with predominantly…

Safety of meglumine gadoterate (Gd-DOTA)-enhanced MRI compared to unenhanced MRI in patients with chronic kidney disease (RESCUE study).

To prospectively compare the renal safety of meglumine gadoterate (Gd-DOTA)-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to a control group (unenhanced MRI) in high-risk patients.Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) scheduled for MRI procedures were screened. The primary endpoint was the percentage of patients with an elevation of serum creatinine levels, measured 72 ± 24 h after the MRI procedure, by at least 25 % or 44.2 μmol/l (0.5 mg/dl) from baseline. A non-inferiority margin of the between-group difference was set at -15 % for statistical analysis of the primary endpoint. Main secondary endpoints were the variation in serum creatinine and eGFR values between baseline and 72 ± 24 h …

Producción española sobre diagnóstico por la imagen en cardiología y radiología (1994-1998)

Introduccion y objetivos El proposito de este estudio es realizar un analisis comparativo de la productividad de los autores espanoles en articulos sobre diagnostico por la imagen en el periodo 1994-1998 en: a) las revistas oficiales de 2 sociedades medicas espanolas, la de Cardiologia (R EVISTA E SPANOLA DE C ARDIOLOGIA ) y la de Radiologia Medica (Radiologia), y b) revistas extranjeras sobre las especialidades incluidas en Journal Citation Reports. Material y metodo Para la recuperacion de los articulos se disenaron perfiles de busqueda especificos para las bases de datos IME y MEDLINE, y se valoro en las revistas extranjeras el factor de impacto por especialidad normalizado al numero de …

Prevalencia del síndrome de desgaste en radiólogos españoles

Objetivos Analizar la prevalencia y grado del síndrome de desgaste profesional entre radiólogos en España. Como objetivos secundarios se pretende identificar sus posibles factores desencadenantes y atenuantes para implementar intervenciones preventivas y correctivas, disminuyendo el estrés asociado y aumentando el rendimiento y la satisfacción laboral de los radiólogos. Material y métodos Estudio transversal y observacional realizado mediante una encuesta en línea, anónima y voluntaria, desarrollada a través de formularios de Google® y dirigida a radiólogos especialistas y en formación. La encuesta se estructura en tres apartados: una valoración cualitativa del grado del síndrome de desgast…

Increased amygdala and parahippocampal gyrus activation in schizophrenic patients with auditory hallucinations: An fMRI study using independent component analysis

Objective: Hallucinations in patients with schizophrenia have strong emotional connotations. Functional neuroimaging techniques have been widely used to study brain activity in patients with schizophrenia with hallucinations or emotional impairments. However, few of these Studies have investigated the association between hallucinations and emotional dysfunctions using an emotional auditory paradigm. Independent component analysis (ICA) is an analysis method that is especially useful for decomposing activation during complex cognitive tasks in which multiple operations occur simultaneously. Our aim in this Study is to analyze brain activation after the presentation of emotional auditory stim…

Spanish Production of Research Articles on Diagnostic Imaging in Cardiology and Radiology (1994-1998)

Introduction and objectives. The aim of this study was to evaluate the production of research papers by Spanish authors on diagnostic imaging published in the official journals of two Spanish scientific societies (REVISTA ESPANOLA DE CARDIOLOGIA and Radiologia) between 1994 and 1998, and to compare publication rates with those of research papers published in foreign cardiological and radiological journals included in Journal Citation Reports. Material and method. Specific search profiles were devised to retrieve items from the Indice Medico Espanol (IME) and MEDLINE databases. The impact factor for non-Spanish journals devoted to different specialties was normalized for the number of papers…

Reproducibility and accuracy in the morphometric and mechanical quantification of trabecular bone from 3Tesla magnetic resonance images

Abstract Objective We used an animal model to analyze the reproducibility and accuracy of certain biomarkers of bone image quality in comparison to a gold standard of computed microtomography (μCT). Materials and methods We used magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and μCT to study the metaphyses of 5 sheep tibiae. The MR images (3 T) were acquired with a T1-weighted gradient echo sequence and an isotropic spatial resolution of 180 μm. The μCT images were acquired using a scanner with a spatial resolution of 7.5 μm isotropic voxels. In the preparation of the images, we applied equalization, interpolation, and thresholding algorithms. In the quantitative analysis, we calculated the percentage of …

First-Episode Psychotic Patients Showed Longitudinal Brain Changes Using fMRI With an Emotional Auditory Paradigm

[EN] Most previous longitudinal studies of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in first-episode psychosis (FEP) using cognitive paradigm task found an increased activation after antipsychotic medications. We designed an emotional auditory paradigm to explore brain activation during emotional and nonemotional word processing. This study aimed to analyze if longitudinal changes in brain fMRI BOLD activation is present in patients vs. healthy controls. A group of FEP patients (n = 34) received clinical assessment and had a fMRI scan at baseline and follow-up (average, 25-month interval). During the fMRI scan, both emotional and nonemotional words were presented as a block design. Resu…

Dopamine agonist cabergoline reduces hemoconcentration and ascites in hyperstimulated women undergoing assisted reproduction.

Abstract Context: Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) results from increased vascular permeability (VP) caused by ovarian hypersecretion of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which activates its receptor-2. In animals, the dopamine receptor 2 agonist cabergoline (Cb2) inactivates VEGF receptor-2 and prevents increased VP. Objective: Our objective was to test whether Cb2 reduces VP and prevents OHSS in humans. Design: We conducted a prospective, randomized, double-blind study on oocyte donors at risk of developing OHSS (>20 follicles, >12 mm developed, and >20 oocytes retrieved). Interventions: Cb2 0.5 mg/d (n = 37) or a placebo (n = 32) was administered fro…

Randomized pilot study and qualitative evaluation of a clinical decision support system for brain tumour diagnosis based on SV 1H MRS: Evaluation as an additional information procedure for novice radiologists

The results of a randomized pilot study and qualitative evaluation of the clinical decision support system Curiam BT are reported. We evaluated the system's feasibility and potential value as a radiological information procedure complementary to magnetic resonance (MR) imaging to assist novice radiologists in diagnosing brain tumours using MR spectroscopy (1.5 and 3.0T). Fifty-five cases were analysed at three hospitals according to four non-exclusive diagnostic questions. Our results show that Curiam BT improved the diagnostic accuracy in all the four questions. Additionally, we discuss the findings of the users' feedback about the system, and the further work to optimize it for real envir…

Digital Pathology Enables Automated and Quantitative Assessment of Inflammatory Activity in Patients with Chronic Liver Disease

Traditional histological evaluation for grading liver disease severity is based on subjective and semi-quantitative scores. We examined the relationship between digital pathology analysis and corresponding scoring systems for the assessment of hepatic necroinflammatory activity. A prospective, multicenter study including 156 patients with chronic liver disease (74% nonalcoholic fatty liver disease-NAFLD, 26% chronic hepatitis-CH etiologies) was performed. Inflammation was graded according to the Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) Clinical Research Network system and METAVIR score. Whole-slide digital image analysis based on quantitative (I-score: inflammation ratio) and morphometric (C-sco…

Auditory hallucinations in first-episode psychosis: A voxel-based morphometry study

Abstract Background Auditory hallucinations (AH) are a core symptom of psychosis. The brain abnormalities responsible for AH remain controversial due to inconsistent and conflicting findings across studies, with substantial confounding factors, such as chronicity. Few studies have examined the pathological changes that occur in the gray matter (GM) of patients with first-episode psychosis (FEP) and AH. The present study aims to validate the presence and characteristics of these structural abnormalities in relation to the intensity of psychotic symptoms and AH in a larger homogeneous sample than those of previous studies. Methods A magnetic resonance voxel-based morphometric analysis was app…

Schizophrenia with auditory hallucinations: A voxel-based morphometry study

Many studies have shown widespread but subtle pathological changes in gray matter in patients with schizophrenia. Some of these studies have related specific alterations to the genesis of auditory hallucinations, particularly in the left superior temporal gyrus, but none has analysed the relationship between morphometric data and a specific scale for auditory hallucinations. The present study aims to define the presence and characteristics of structural abnormalities in relation with the intensity and phenomenology of auditory hallucinations by means of magnetic resonance voxel-based morphometry (MR-VBM) method applied on a highly homogeneous group of 18 persistent hallucinatory patients me…

Upper thoracic-spine disc degeneration in patients with cervical pain.

To study the relationship of upper thoracic spine degenerative disc contour changes on MR imaging in patients with neck pain. The relation between upper thoracic and cervical spine degenerative disc disease is not well established.One hundred and fifty-six patients referred with cervical pain were studied. There were 73 women and 77 men with a mean age of 48.6 +/- 14.6 years (range, 19 to 83 years). All MR studies were performed with a large 23-cm FOV covering at least from the body of T4 to the clivus. Discs were coded as normal, protrusion/bulge or extrusion.Degenerative thoracic disc contour changes were observed in 13.4% of patients with cervical pain. T2-3 was the most commonly affecte…

Radiologists' leading position in image-guided therapy

Image-guided diagnostic and therapeutic procedures are related to, or performed under, some kind of imaging. Such imaging may be direct inspection (as in open surgery) or indirect inspection as in endoscopy or laparoscopy. Common to all these techniques is the transformation of optical and visible information to a monitor or the eye of the operator. Image-guided therapy (IGT) differs by using processed imaging data acquired before, during and after a wide range of different imaging techniques. This means that the planning, performing and monitoring, as well as the control of the therapeutic procedure, are based and dependent on the "virtual reality" provided by imaging investigations. Since…

Redox Status, Dose and Antioxidant Intake in Healthcare Workers Occupationally Exposed to Ionizing Radiation

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between blood redox status, dose and antioxidant dietary intake of different hospital staff groups exposed to low doses of ionizing radiation (LDIR) (Interventional Radiology and Cardiology, Radiation Oncology, and Nuclear Medicine) and non-exposed. Personal dose equivalent (from last year and cumulative), plasma antioxidant markers (total antioxidant capacity, extracellular superoxide dismutase activity, and glutathione/oxidized glutathione ratio), oxidative stress markers (nitrites and nitrates, and lipid peroxidation) and dietary intake (antioxidant capacity using ORAC values) were collected and analyzed from 28 non-exposed healt…

International perspectives on radiology practice metrics: Australia, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, the UK and USA.

INTRODUCTION The delivery of health care around the world is remarkably diverse in 2015. A comparison of the approximately 200 national entities on the planet reveals marked differences in national measures, both on the input side, such as health care spending, and in outcomes, such as life span. Using the percentage of gross domestic product as a metric for comparing health care spending, the current variation among nations is almost an order of magnitude, from the Marshall Islands and the United States at close to 20% to Myanmar at about 2% [1]. Outcomes are also highly variable, with an almost 2-fold difference in life span between the best and worst nations [2]. Within the nations repre…

F145. WHAT ARE THE MAIN BRAIN CHANGES IN FMRI AFTER TREATMENT IN FIRST EPISODE PSYCHOSIS? A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Abstract Background There are many studies using structural MRI to explore the longitudinal course of F Episode Psychosis (FEP).2 On the other hand, there is a lack of functional MRI studies examining the longitudinal course of FEP. The aim of this work is to make a literature systematic review of these studies, to summarize the knowledge about longitudinal course of functional brain activity in FEP. Methods We followed the PRISMA guidelines for conducting systematic reviews and combined the use of electronic and manual systematic search methods, in the principal databases (MedLine, PubMed and Web of Science) using the query “longitudinal” AND “fMRI” AND “first episode psychosis” OR “first …

Prognostic Value of Radiomics Signature By Diagnostic 18F-FDG PET/CT Analysis in Aggressive Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

Abstract BACKGROUND Although the overall prognosis of patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) has improved, nearly a third of patients will have refractory disease or relapse. Identification of these high-risk patients using traditional prognostic factors is limited. PET is the recommended imaging modality for the staging of FDG-avid lymphoma but the value of a comprehensive new imaging biomarkers analysis applied to PET for the prediction of patients outcome has still not been deeply investigated. New metrics estimating the overall tumor burden such as metabolic tumor volume (MTV) and those that may capture intratumoral biological heterogeneity such as total lesion glycolysis…

Análisis comparativo de la producción española sobre diagnóstico por ecografía en las especialidades de obstetricia y ginecología y radiodiagnóstico (1994-1998)

Objetivo Analizar la produccion espanola, en el periodo 1994-1998, de articulos sobre ecografia diagnostica de ginecologos-obstetras (GOB) y radiologos (RAD) en revistas espanolas sobre estas especialidades (incluyendo la produccion en las revistas oficiales de las sociedades nacionales —Progresos de Obstetricia y Ginecologia y R adiologia —) frente a revistas extranjeras incluidas en el Journal Citation Reports (JCR). Material y metodo Para la recuperacion de los articulos se disenaron perfiles de busqueda especificos para IME y MEDLINE, valorando en las revistas extranjeras el factor de impacto (FI) normalizado por especialidad. Resultados Se analizaron 309 articulos, 186 de revistas GOB …

The Role of Imaging Biomarkers in the Assessment of Sarcopenia

Background: The diagnosis of sarcopenia through clinical assessment has some limitations. The literature advises studies that include objective markers along with clinical assessment in order to improve the sensitivity and specificity of current diagnostic criteria. The decrease of muscle quality precedes the loss of quantity, so we studied the role magnetic resonance imaging biomarkers as indicators of the quantity and quality of muscle in sarcopenia patients. Methods: a cross-sectional analysis was performed to analyze what MR-derived imaging parameters correlate better with sarcopenia diagnostic criteria in women of 70 years of age and over (independent walking and community-dwelling wom…

Deterioro cognitivo: clasificación mediante espectroscopia de resonancia magnética de protón y contribución de la imagen convencional

Objetivo Analizar la eficacia diagnostica de la espectroscopia de resonancia magnetica de proton (1H ERM) en pacientes con deterioro cognitivo y establecer la complementariedad de la informacion de imagen de resonancia magnetica (RM) mediante curvas ROC. Material y metodos Se estudian 64 pacientes con deterioro cognitivo, incluyendo enfermedad de Alzheimer (EA) (N = 31), demencia vascular (N = 6), deterioro cognitivo leve (DCL) (N = 9) y depresion mayor (N = 18). Todos se exploraron con RM cerebral y 1H ERM usando dos tiempos de eco (TE, 31 y 136 ms) con volumen unico en la circonvolucion cingular posterior y lobulo temporal derecho. Los metabolitos analizados fueron N-acetilaspartato (NAA)…

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MRS as Endogenous Molecular Imaging for Brain and Prostate Tumors: FP6 Project “eTUMOR“

Molecular imaging has become during the last years in an important tool for supporting cancer diagnosis and prognosis. PET and SPECT are the most common molecular imaging techniques, although very promising and specific biological molecular agent contrast for CT and MRI are being recently developed. However, the above imaging techniques require exogenous contrast agents and usually a sole molecular image can be obtained at once. On the contrary, in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), in particular 1H MRS can simultaneously provide several molecular images using endogenous metabolites. In addition to biochemical spatial information from molecular imaging spectroscopy, MRS can also pr…

Multimodal morphometry and functional magnetic resonance imaging in schizophrenia and auditory hallucinations

To validate a multimodal [structural and functional magnetic resonance (MR)] approach as coincidence brain clusters are hypothesized to correlate with clinical severity of auditory hallucinations.Twenty-two patients meeting Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (fourth edition, DSM-IV) criteria for schizophrenia and experiencing persistent hallucinations together with 28 healthy controls were evaluated with structural and functional MR imaging with an auditory paradigm designed to replicate those emotions related to the patients' hallucinatory experiences. Coincidence maps were obtained by combining structural maps of gray matter reduction with emotional functional increased…

Cognitive impairment: classification by 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) allows accurate and non-invasive in vivo metabolic study, and is a useful tool for the diagnosis of different forms of dementias. Cognitive impairment pathologies have been almost exclusively studied with MRS by comparison with healthy without a global comparison amongst Alzheimer disease (AD), vascular dementia, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and major depression patients with cognitive impairment. Whereas decrease of N-acetylaspartate (NAA) and increase myo-Inositol (mI) at different brain locations by 1H MRS are common features of AD, Choline (Cho) alterations have been inconclusive. In our study, 64 patients with cognitive impairment were evalua…

Left orbitofrontal and superior temporal gyrus structural changes associated to suicidal behavior in patients with schizophrenia.

Suicidal attempts are relatively frequent and clinically relevant in patients with schizophrenia. Recent studies have found gray matter differences in suicidal and non-suicidal depressive patients. However, no previous neuroimaging study has investigated possible structural abnormalities associated to suicidal behaviors in patients with schizophrenia. A whole-brain magnetic resonance voxel-based morphometric examination was performed on 37 male patients meeting the DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia. Thirteen (35.14%) patients had attempted suicide. A non-parametric permutation test was computed to perform the comparability between groups. An analysis of covariance (AnCova) model was constru…

1H and 13C HR-MAS spectroscopy of intact biopsy samples ex vivo and in vivo 1H MRS study of human high grade gliomas.

High-resolution magic angle spinning (HR-MAS) one- and two-dimensional 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy has been used to study intact glioblastoma (GBM) brain tumour tissue. The results were compared with in vitro chemical extract and in vivo spectra. The resolution of 1H one-dimensional, 1H TOCSY and 13C HSQC HR-MAS spectra is comparable to that obtained on perchloric extracts. 13C HSQC HR-MAS spectra have been particularly useful for the identification of 37 different metabolites in intact biopsy tumours, excluding water and DSS components. To our knowledge, this is the most detailed assignment of biochemical compounds obtained in intact human tissue, in particular…

Disease Biomarkers: Modelling MR Spectroscopy and Clinical Applications

Clinical MRS has become a reference technique for in vivo evaluating the metabolism of different tissues, with special application to brain and prostate lesion characterization and tumour’s follow-up. It allows detecting relevant changes that cannot be appreciated in the conventional MR images. Nowadays, MRS has been widely applied in many different brain pathologies with excellent results as a disease biomarker. Since the different diseases and grades have different manifestations in the spectroscopic profile, a deep understanding of the subjacent biology is needed for the signal interpretation. The development of high-field (≥3 T) scanners has permitted the acquisition of high-quality MRS…

Hydrodynamic IL10 Gene Transfer in Human Colon: Results from an "EX VIVO" Study with Potential Clinical Application in Crohn's Disease.

Background: The aim of this work is to evaluate the efficacy of hydrodynamic venous IL10 gene delivery to "ex vivo" human colon segments and to determine its potential interest in Crohn's disease treatment. Methods: Twenty human colon segments were obtained from surgical resections. Hydrodynamic transfection through the main vein of the pedicle with 50 mL of hIL10 plasmid (20 mu g/mL) solution was performed on 13 of them. Tissue sections were cultured and DNA, RNA, and protein copies were determined after 1, 2, and 4 days. Data obtained were compared with 6 nontransfected specimens. Finally, 1 specimen was injected with gold nanoparticles, and their distribution was examined under electron …

Mapping the scientific research on radiology departments: Global trends in publication, collaboration and trending topics.

[Purpose]: To characterize the global research trend in radiology departments based on bibliometric indicators.

Anti-angiogenic drug loaded liposomes: Nanotherapy for early atherosclerotic lesions in mice.

Este artículo se encuentra disponible en la página web de la revista en la siguiente URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0190540 También participan en la elaboración de este artículo científico: Aracely Calatayud-Pascual, Alicia López-Castellano, Elena P. Albelda, Enrique García-España, Luis Martí-Bonmatí, Juan C. Frias y M. Teresa Albelda. Fumagillin-loaded liposomes were injected into ApoE-KO mice. The animals were divided into several groups to test the efficacy of this anti-angiogenic drug for early treatment of atherosclerotic lesions. Statistical analysis of the lesions revealed a decrease in the lesion size after 5 weeks of treatment.

Corpus callosum function in verbal dichotic listening: inferences from a longitudinal follow-up of Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis patients.

This study conducted a follow-up of 13 early-onset slightly disabled Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis (RRMS) patients within an year, evaluating both CC area measurements in a midsagittal Magnetic Resonance (MR) image, and Dichotic Listening (DL) testing with stop consonant vowel (C-V) syllables. Patients showed a significant progressive loss of posterior CC areas (isthmus and splenium) related to increasing EDSS scores and an enhancing right ear advantage (REA) over time. A significant correlation between posterior CC areas and DL scores emerged in both evaluations, being negative for the right and positive for the left ear. The pattern of correlations suggests that the CC can serve …

Gadodiamide and gadopentetate dimeglumine in MRI versus spiral CT in the diagnosis of liver lesions.

Variations in the size of focal nodular hyperplasia on magnetic resonance imaging

Abstract Objective To evaluate the changes in the size of focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) during long-term magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) follow-up. Material and methods We reviewed 44 FNHs in 30 patients studied with MRI with at least two MRI studies at least 12 months apart. We measured the largest diameter of the lesion (in mm) in contrast-enhanced axial images and calculated the percentage of variation as the difference between the maximum diameter in the follow-up and the maximum diameter in the initial study. We defined significant variation in size as variation greater than 20%. We also analyzed predisposing hormonal factors. Results The mean interval between the two imaging studie…

Quantitative structural analysis of trabecular alveolar bone in the mandible by multidetector computed tomography: Differences according to tooth presence and type

Background and objective: There is a lack of quantitative measures of the quality of alveolar trabecular bone, an important factor in implantology. This study aimed to develop a method of objectively assessing the quality of trabecular bone by means of image processing and structural analysis of multidetector computed tomography images and to establish differences between tooth types and tooth presence/absence. Materials and methods: We analyzed 20 patients who underwent multidetector computed tomography to evaluate mandibular bone and tooth positioning. Image analysis included automatic segmentation of the mandible, obtainment of sections perpendicular to the dental arch, and structural an…

FOXP2 expression and gray matter density in the male brains of patients with schizophrenia

Common genetic variants ofFOXP2may contribute to schizophrenia vulnerability, but controversial results have been reported for this proposal. Here we evaluated the potential impact of the commonFOXP2rs2396753 polymorphism in schizophrenia. It was previously reported to be part of a risk haplotype for this disease and to have significant effects on gray matter concentration in the patients. We undertook the first examination into whether rs2396753 affects the brain expression ofFOXP2and a replication study of earlier neuroimaging findings of the influence of this genetic variant on brain structure.FOXP2expression levels were measured in postmortem prefrontal cortex samples of 84 male subject…

Quadrature coils for magnetic resonance spectroscopy in the detection of prostate cancer: Single voxel acquisition does not improve the diagnostic accuracy of multivoxel images

Abstract Objective To determine the viability of quadrature coils for detecting prostate cancer using single voxel and multivoxel spectroscopy images. Material and methods We used a quadrature coil on a 1.5T MR scanner to evaluate 23 patients with suspected prostate cancer and prostate specific antigen levels greater than 4 ng/ml (mean 12 ± 8 ng/ml), independently of findings at digital rectal examination. We acquired T2-weighted images and MR spectroscopy images. We also acquired single voxel studies in areas in which the T2-weighted images or the multivoxel images were altered. We used a citrate solution to verify the spectroscopic calibration. Results Using spectroscopy images and a (Cho…

Magnetic resonance pharmacokinetic imaging clusterization of hepatocellular carcinomas as a means to grade tumor aggressiveness.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) management takes into account clinical and radiological findings, such as tumor stage, hepatic functional status and clinical symptoms. It is necessary to evaluate the number, size and location of the lesions. However, lesion aggressiveness is not considered in this therapeutic workflow, although the biology and the growth rate of the lesions have an important impact on survival. The aim of this work was to establish if the quantitative pharmacokinetic assessment of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance images of HCC can separate lesions with different microvascular properties and biological evolution. Forty five patients with HCC and dynamic contrast-e…

ESGAR consensus statement on liver MR imaging and clinical use of liver-specific contrast agents

Objectives: To develop a consensus and provide updated recommendations on liver MR imaging and the clinical use of liver-specific contrast agents. Methods: The European Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology (ESGAR) formed a multinational European panel of experts, selected on the basis of a literature review and their leadership in the field of liver MR imaging. A modified Delphi process was adopted to draft a list of statements. Descriptive and Cronbach’s statistics were used to rate levels of agreement and internal reliability of the consensus. Results: Three Delphi rounds were conducted and 76 statements composed on MR technique (n = 17), clinical application of liver-speci…

Decorative elements in the medical imaging area improve patients’ perception of pleasantness

Abstract Objectives To evaluate the sensation of pleasantness perceived by patients attended in the radiology department in response to decorative elements hung on the walls in the waiting rooms and in the hallways of the imaging area. Material and methods The material resources comprised works of art in the form of “magic windows” representing scenes from nature installed on the ceilings and walls of the waiting area and hallways of the imaging area. Patients were given a brief questionnaire with general data and questions (sadness–cheerfulness, coldness–warmth, darkness–light, and pessimism–optimism) about their perception of the decorative elements. Results Of the 150 questionnaires coll…

Spectroscopic metabolomic abnormalities in the thalamus related to auditory hallucinations in patients with schizophrenia

Abstract Objective Previous studies have found neurochemical abnormalities in thalamic nuclei in patients with schizophrenia. These abnormalities have been associated with information processing deficiencies and symptom formation. There are no metabolic spectroscopy studies in patients with schizophrenia attending to auditory hallucinations. The aim of the present study is to explore metabolic Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) ratio differences in the thalamus between schizophrenic patients with and without auditory hallucinations and control subjects. Methods MRS studies (MRI 1.5 T unit) were performed in 49 patients with schizophrenia (30 with auditory hallucinations and 19 without au…

Metabolite identification in human liver needle biopsies by high-resolution magic angle spinning1H NMR spectroscopy

High-resolution magic angle spinning (HR-MAS) 1 H NMR spectroscopy of intact human liver needle biopsies has not been previously reported. HR-MAS NMR spectra collected on 17 specimens with tissue amounts between � 0.5 and 12 mg showed very good spectral resolution and signal-to-noise ratios. One-dimensional 1 H spectra revealed many intense signals corresponding to cellular metabolites. In addition, some high molecular weight metabolites, such as glycogen and mobile fatty acids, could be observed in some spectra. Resonance assignments for 22 metabolites were obtained by combining the analysis of three different types of 1D 1 H spectral editing, such as T2 filtering or the nuclear Overhauser…

Variación de tamaño de la hiperplasia nodular focal mediante resonancia magnética

Objective: To evaluate the changes in the size of focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) during longterm magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) follow-up.

Emotional words induce enhanced brain activity in schizophrenic patients with auditory hallucinations.

Neuroimaging studies of emotional response in schizophrenia have mainly used visual (faces) paradigms and shown globally reduced brain activity. None of these studies have used an auditory paradigm. Our principal aim is to evaluate the emotional response of patients with schizophrenia to neutral and emotional words. An auditory emotional paradigm based on the most frequent words heard by psychotic patients with auditory hallucinations was designed. This paradigm was applied to evaluate cerebral activation with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in 11 patients with schizophrenia with persistent hallucinations and 10 healthy subjects. We found a clear enhanced activity of the fronta…

Incidence, risk factors, and thrombotic load of pulmonary embolism in patients hospitalized for COVID-19 infection

Summary Objective To determine the incidence, characteristics, and risk factors of pulmonary embolism (PE) among patients hospitalized for COVID-19. Patients and Methods We performed a prospective observational study of a randomly selected cohort of consecutive patients hospitalized for COVID-19 infection between March 8, 2020 through April 25, 2020. All eligible patients underwent a computed tomography pulmonary angiography independently of their PE clinical suspicion and were pre-screened for a baseline elevated D-dimer level. Results 119 patients were randomly selected from the 372 admitted to one tertiary hospital in Valencia (Spain) for COVID-19 infection during the period of study. Se…

Cuantificación de la fibrosis hepática mediante biomarcadores de imagen

There is a need for early identification of patients with chronic liver diseases due to their increasing prevalence and morbidity-mortality. The degree of liver fibrosis determines the prognosis and therapeutic options in this population. Liver biopsy represents the reference standard for fibrosis staging. However, given its limitations and complications, different non-invasive methods have been developed recently for the in vivo quantification of fibrosis. Due to their precision and reliability, biomarkers' measurements derived from Ultrasound and Magnetic Resonance stand out. This article reviews the different acquisition techniques and image processing methods currently used in the evalu…

Herramienta clínica para la búsqueda de biomarcadores de enfermedades neurológicas

El solapamiento que presentan algunas enfermedades neurologicas en la clinica justifica la necesidad de establecer biomarcadores que sirvan como apoyo en el diagnostico y seguimiento de la enfermedad. El analisis de los fluidos intracraneales (sangre y liquido cefalorraquideo) juega un rol importante en la busqueda de estos biomarcadores. Las secuencias dinamicas de resonancia magnetica en contraste de fase (RM-CF) con sincronismo cardiaco permiten cuantificar el flujo de liquido cefalorraquideo (LCR) y de la sangre durante un ciclo cardiaco. No obstante, la medicion de flujo mediante secuencias de imagenes de RM-CF (IRM-CF) es precisa y reproducible siempre que se use un protocolo de adqui…

A Gadolinium(III) Complex Based on the Thymine Nucleobase with Properties Suitable for Magnetic Resonance Imaging

The paramagnetic gadolinium(III) ion is used as contrast agent in magnetic resonance (MR) imaging to improve the lesion detection and characterization. It generates a signal by changing the relaxivity of protons from associated water molecules and creates a clearer physical distinction between the molecule and the surrounding tissues. New gadolinium-based contrast agents displaying larger relaxivity values and specifically targeted might provide higher resolution and better functional images. We have synthesized the gadolinium(III) complex of formula [Gd(thy)2(H2O)6](ClO4)3·2H2O (1) [thy = 5-methyl-1H-pyrimidine-2,4-dione or thymine], which is the first reported compound based on gadolinium…

Los elementos decorativos ambientales en el Área de Imagen Médica mejoran la percepción de agradabilidad del paciente

Resumen Objetivos Valorar la sensacion de agradabilidad percibida por los pacientes que acuden al servicio de radiologia asociada a la instalacion de elementos decorativos ambientales. Material y metodos Los recursos materiales consistieron en la implantacion de obras de arte en los techos en forma de «ventanas magicas» y paneles en las paredes de las salas de espera y pasillos del Area de Imagen, respectivamente, que representan elementos ambientales de la naturaleza. Posteriormente, a los pacientes se les dio un breve cuestionario con datos generales y preguntas (tristeza-alegria, frialdad-calidez, oscuridad-luminosidad y pesimismo-optimismo) sobre la percepcion que le transmiten los elem…

Findings and Utility of Chest Computed Tomography in Pediatric Tuberculosis

AbstractThe objectives of this study are to describe the radiologic abnormalities detected on chest computed tomography (CT) of children suffering from tuberculosis and identify in which asymptomatic children, with positive tuberculin skin test and normal chest radiography, CT has the highest diagnostic yield using a low radiation dose protocol. The most common finding on CT in cases of tuberculosis is lymphadenopathy with necrotic appearance. In asymptomatic children with positive tuberculin skin test and normal chest radiography, CT had higher diagnostic yield in children younger than 5 years, modifying the therapeutic approach in a high percentage of cases. Reduction kilovoltage (kV) and…

218 – Are there structural changes associated to suicidal behavior in patients with schizophrenia?

Evidence of Wallerian degeneration in normal appearing white matter in the early stages of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis

Objective: Wallerian degeneration in normal appearing white matter in early relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), and its correlation with the number of relapses and disease duration. Background Recent pathological studies have demonstrated Wallerian degeneration in normal appearing white matter (NAWM) in multiple sclerosis (MS), in established RRMS, and in chronic MS. However, the presence of Wallerian degeneration early in the disease and its correlation with relapse and with disease duration has not been studied. Methods: We performed proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging in 21 MS patients, and 4 healthy controls, age and gender matched, aged under 45 years, with a max…

Abnormal synchrony and effective connectivity in patients with schizophrenia and auditory hallucinations

Auditory hallucinations (AH) are the most frequent positive symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. Hallucinations have been related to emotional processing disturbances, altered functional connectivity and effective connectivity deficits. Previously, we observed that, compared to healthy controls, the limbic network responses of patients with auditory hallucinations differed when the subjects were listening to emotionally charged words. We aimed to compare the synchrony patterns and effective connectivity of task-related networks between schizophrenia patients with and without AH and healthy controls. Schizophrenia patients with AH (n = 27) and without AH (n = 14) were compared with healt…

Spectroscopic axonal damage of the right locus coeruleus relates to selective attention impairment in early stage relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis

Summary Lower levels of N-acetylaspartate (NAA), a marker of axonal damage, have been found in the normal-appearing white matter (NAWM) of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients with low physical disability. However, its relation to the clinical status of these patients remains unclear. We explored the association between NAA levels [normalized to creatine (Cr), NAA/Cr] and a cognitive feature that is not measured by the standard scales that address functional disability [e.g. Expanded Disability Scale Score (EDSS)] in early RRMS. Given that a considerable number of RRMS patients present attentional dysfunction early in the disease and assuming a functional-anatomical orient…

Studying Closed Hydrodynamic Models of "In Vivo" DNA Perfusion in Pig Liver for Gene Therapy Translation to Humans.

17 páginas, 6 figuras. En la versión online contiene 3 figuras y 1 tabla en información suplemetaria

Reproducibilidad y exactitud en la cuantificación morfométrica y mecánica del hueso trabecular a partir de imágenes de resonancia magnética de Tesla

Resumen Objetivo En este trabajo se analizan en un modelo animal la reproducibilidad y la exactitud de ciertos biomarcadores de imagen de calidad osea utilizando como patron de referencia la microtomografia computarizada (μTC). Material y metodos Se estudiaron con RM y μTC 5 metafisis tibiales de oveja. Las imagenes de RM (3 Tesla) se adquirieron con una secuencia eco de gradiente potenciada en T1 y una resolucion espacial isotropica de 180 μm. Las imagenes de μTC se adquirieron en un escaner con una resolucion espacial de 7,5 μm en voxeles isotropicos. En la preparacion de las imagenes se aplicaron algoritmos de ecualizacion, interpolacion y umbralizacion. En el analisis cuantitativo se ca…

Magnetic resonance myelography evaluation of the lumbar spine end plates and intervertebral disks.

Purpose: To evaluate the value of magnetic resonance (MR) myelography in the evaluation of intervertebral disk and end‐plate degenerative changes in the lumbar spine.Material and Methods: Conventional MR and MR myelography examinations were performed in 150 consecutive patients (69 F and 81 M, mean age 45±15 years, range 18–89). Sagittal T1 and T2‐weighted TSE images were compared to MR myelography obtained with a multishot‐TSE‐T2‐weighted sequence (4000/250/fat suppression). Coronal, sagittal, and both oblique MR myelography projections were obtained. Image analysis was carried out independently by two radiologists who categorized lumbar disks into normal, degenerated, or edematous; and ve…

Mapas de resonancia magnética functional obtenidos con PC

Objetivos: El estudio de resonancia magnetica funcional (RMf) tiene una especial relevancia en el analisis de diversas activaciones cerebrales. En este trabajo se describe el desarrollo de un programa informatico para PC que analiza estas imagenes para obtener mapas de activacion funcional de una forma sencilla. Material y Metodos: Los mapas de activacion se basan en las diferencias temporales de oxihemoglobina en un plano tomografico. Para detectar estas diferencias se comparan las intensidades registradas repetidamente durante dos estados distintos del cerebro, control y activacion. Los experimentos se han realizado en un equipo de RM de 1,5 Teslas. Para comprobar el correcto funcionamien…

Hypothetical influence of non-indexed Spanish journals on the impact factor of radiological journals

Abstract Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the hypothetical changes in the 2001 impact factor of 52 radiological journals included in the Science Citation Index–Journal Citation Reports by also counting cites proceeding from 73 Spanish journals on different medical specialties. Also, to estimate the possible impact factor of the official Spanish radiology journal, Radiologia , not included in this database. Materials and methods: A modified 2001 impact factor of 52 radiological journals and Radiologia was obtained by adding the number of cites in 1999 and 2000 from the medical Spanish journals. Data were obtained by consulting the 2001 edition of the Journal Citation Reports i…

Intravenous SPION-labeled adipocyte-derived stem cells targeted to the brain by magnetic attraction in a rat stroke model: An ultrastructural insight into cell fate within the brain

Abstract Mesenchymal stem cell therapy after stroke is a promising option investigated in animal models and clinical trials. The intravenous route is commonly used in clinical settings guaranteeing an adequate safety profile although low yields of engraftment. In this report, rats subjected to ischemic stroke were injected with adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) labeled with superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) applying an external magnetic field in the skull to retain the cells. Although most published studies demonstrate viability of ADSCs, only a few have used ultrastructural techniques. In our study, the application of a local magnetic force resulted in a tendency for hig…

The Brain Resting-State Functional Connectivity Underlying Violence Proneness: Is It a Reliable Marker for Neurocriminology? A Systematic Review

Introduction: There is growing scientific interest in understanding the biological mechanisms affecting and/or underlying violent behaviors in order to develop effective treatment and prevention programs. In recent years, neuroscientific research has tried to demonstrate whether the intrinsic activity within the brain at rest in the absence of any external stimulation (resting-state functional connectivity; RSFC) could be employed as a reliable marker for several cognitive abilities and personality traits that are important in behavior regulation, particularly, proneness to violence. Aims: This review aims to highlight the association between the RSFC among specific brain structures and the…

Quadruple-Phase MDCT of the Liver in Patients with Suspected Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Effect of Contrast Material Flow Rate

The purposes of this study were to evaluate the effect of contrast material flow rate (3 mL/sec vs 5 mL/sec) on the detection and visualization of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with MDCT and the safety profile of iodixanol at different injection rates.In a prospective, randomized multicenter trial, 97 patients (83 men and 14 women, with a mean age of 64 years) suspected of having HCC underwent quadruple-phase (double arterial, portal venous, delayed phase) 4-16-MDCT. Patients were randomized to receive iodixanol, 320 mg I/mL (1.5 mL/kg body weight), at a flow rate of 3 mL/sec (48 patients) or 5 mL/sec (49 patients). Qualitative (lesion detection, image quality) and quantitative (liver and …