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Purpose: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a potent regulator of angiogenesis and thereby involved in the development and progression of solid tumors. A 936C > T polymorphism in the VEGF gene has been associated with reduced VEGF plasma levels. Purpose of the present study was to analyze the potential association between VEGF genotype and radiological appearance of breast lesions by mammography. Materials and Methods: Fifty two women with 54 suspected breast lesions were analyzed by the use of mammography with the standard breast imaging reporting and data systems (BI-RADS). Germline VEGF genotype was determined in all subjects by allele-specific digestion of amplification products. An open biopsy was performed on all lesions. Results: VEGF CC, CT and TT genotypes were found in 41 (79%), 9 (17%) and 2 (4%) patients. By mammography 26, 16 and 12 suspected breast lesions were classified as BI-RADS scores 3, 4 and 5, respectively. Both carriers of the TT genotype were classified as BI-RADS 5, whereas among CT or CC carriers, BI-RADS scores 3, 4 and 5 were found in 26, 16 and 10 subjects (P < 0.026). Conclusion: The VEGF 936C > T polymorphism seems to be associated with a high BI-RADS score in women with suspicious breast lesions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate perceptions and expectations towards artificial intelligence (AI) applications in diagnostic radiology among radiologists across academic, non-academic and private practice settings in the Federal State of Styria, Austria. It also sought to determine how participant's characteristics and AI-specific knowledge might influence these views., Methods: An online quantitative survey comprising 20 multiple-choice questions in German language was distributed via email to radiologists in outpatient and hospital settings throughout Styria in 2024., Results: Out of 149 radiologists contacted, 66 responded. Of these, 75.4% reported having basic knowledge of AI, 13.8% indicated good to very good knowledge and only 10.8% had minimal AI-specific knowledge. The majority (84.4%) expressed willingness to use certified AI software in diagnostics. About half of the respondents (50.8%) believed that AI would not fully replace radiologists in the next 10-15 years, although 46.0% anticipated partial replacement. Additionally, 87.7% did not foresee a decrease in professional income due to AI integration. 64.6% anticipated improvement in diagnostic tasks through AI, with this expectation being significantly linked to an academic career (χ 2  = 8.97, p   =  0.01). However, opinions varied on AI's potential to outperform radiologists in diagnostics in the near future. There was no statistically significant relationship between participant's AI-specific knowledge and perceptions and expectations towards AI., Conclusion: The study reveals a generally positive attitude towards AI among radiologists, with uncertainties about its future performance compared to human radiologists. Although AI is anticipated to positively influence workload without reducing income, there may be a discrepancy between these expectations and actual outcomes., Competing Interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© The Author(s) 2024.)

Myocardial infarction (MI) may be visible on contrast-enhanced multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) scans of the abdomen. In the previous literature, potentially missed MI in abdominal MDCTs was not perceived as an issue in radiology. This retrospective single-center study assessed the frequency of detectable myocardial hypoperfusion in contrast-enhanced abdominal MDCTs. We identified 107 patients between 2006 and 2022 who had abdominal MDCTs on the same day or the day before a catheter-proven or clinically evident diagnosis of MI. After reviewing the digital patient records and applying the exclusion criteria, we included 38 patients, with 19 showing areas of myocardial hypoperfusion. All MDCT studies were non ECG-gated. The delay between the MDCT examination and MI diagnosis was shorter in studies with myocardial hypoperfusion ( 7.4 ± 6.5 hours and 13.8 ± 12.5 hours) but not statistically significant p = 0.054 . Only 2 of 19 (11%) of these pathologies had been noted in the written radiology reports. The most common cardinal symptom was epigastric pain (50%), followed by polytrauma (21%). STEMI was significantly more common in cases of myocardial hypoperfusion p = 0.009 . Overall, 16 of 38 (42%) patients died because of acute MI. Based on extrapolations using local MDCT rates, we estimate several thousand radiologically missed MI cases worldwide per year., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (© 2023 Talakić, Schöllnast, Kaufmann-Bühler, Hohenberg, Mijovic, Nagy, Fuchsjaeger and Tschauner.)

Objective: Guidelines for previous negative biopsy (PNB) cohorts with a suspicion of prostate cancer (PCa) after positive multiparametric (mp) magnetic-resonance-imaging (MRI) often favour the fusion-guided targeted prostate-biopsy (TB) only approach for Prostate Imaging-Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS) ≥3 lesions. However, recommendations lack direct biopsy performance comparison within biopsy naïve (BN) vs. PNB patients and its prognostication of the whole mount pathology report (WMPR), respectively. We suppose, that the combination of TB and concomitant TRUS-systematic biopsy (SB) improves the PCa detection rate of PI-RADS 2, 3, 4 or 5 lesions and the International Society of Urological Pathology (ISUP)-grade predictability of the WMPR in BN- and PNB patients., Methods: Patients with suspicious mpMRI, elevated prostate-specific-antigen and/or abnormal digital rectal examination were included. All PI-RADS reports were intramurally reviewed for biopsy planning. We compared the PI-RADS score substratified TB, SB or combined approach (TB/SB) associated BN- and PNB-PCa detection rate. Furthermore, we assessed the ISUP-grade variability between biopsy cores and the WMPR., Results: According to BN ( n  = 499) vs. PNB ( n  = 314) patients, clinically significant (cs) PCa was detected more frequently by the TB/SB approach (62 vs. 43%) than with the TB (54 vs. 34%) or SB (57 vs. 34%) (all p  < 0.0001) alone. Furthermore, we observed that the TB/SB strategy detects a significantly higher number of csPCa within PI-RADS 3, 4 or 5 reports, both in BN and PNB men. In contrast, applied biopsy techniques were equally effective to detect csPCa within PI-RADS 2 lesions. In case of csPCa diagnosis the TB approach was more often false-negative in PNB patients (BN 11% vs. PNB 19%; p  = 0.02). The TB/SB technique showed in general significantly less upgrading, whereas a higher agreement was only observed for the total and BN patient cohort., Conclusion: Despite csPCa is more frequently found in BN patients, the TB/SB method always detected a significantly higher number of csPCa within PI-RADS 3, 4 or 5 reports of our BN and PNB group. The TB/SB strategy predicts the ISUP-grade best in the total and BN cohort and in general shows the lowest upgrading rates, emphasizing its value not only in BN but also PNB patients., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (© 2022 Mischinger, Schöllnast, Zurl, Geyer, Fischereder, Adelsmayr, Igrec, Fritz, Merdzo-Hörmann, Elstner, Schmid, Triebl, Trimmel, Reiter, Steiner, Rosenlechner, Seles, Pichler, Pichler, Riedl, Schöpfer-Schwab, Strobl, Hutterer, Zigeuner, Pummer, Augustin, Ahyai, Mannweiler, Fuchsjaeger and Talakic.)

Background/aim: The liver is a frequent site for metastases of colorectal cancer. Approximately 15% of patients have hepatic metastases at the time of diagnosis and another 50% develop them over the course of their disease. Only 10-25% of patients are candidates for liver resection. The aim of this study was to assess the benefit of preoperative computed tomography (CT)-guided wire marking of disappearing colorectal liver metastases (CRLMs) (radiological disappearance of metastases) before surgical resection., Patients and Methods: Between January 2011 and January 2014, 20 patients with potentially disappearing CRLMs were selected for CT-guided wire marking. Following treatment with neoadjuvant chemotherapy, disappearing CRLMs were marked via CT guidance. Afterwards, the marked sites were resected., Results: Complete histological response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy was only in 10 resected sites (18%), and 46 (82%) resected liver metastases showed metastatic tissue present. Both overall survival and the disease-free rates in patients after using our method were 55%., Conclusion: This study demonstrated the usefulness of CT-guided wire marking to mark disappearing CRLMs in order to improve long-term effectiveness of surgical treatment., (Copyright© 2019, International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.)

Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors are known for their aggressiveness. Diagnosis of various bile duct pathologies, like biliar intraepithelial neoplasm, mixed adenoneuroendocrine carcinomas or small cell carcinomas, is challenging. This case report focuses on a rare case of a focal primary minute small cell carcinoma in the vicinity of the extrahepatic bile duct, presenting itself next to an extensive biliar intraepithelial neoplasm. This finding led to adjuvant chemotherapy, followed by major surgery. Therapeutic approach was based on CT and MRI scans but most importantly on immunohistochemistry and histological evaluation. Initially CR seemed achievable, but metastases were to be found rapidly. The authors want to underline the fact that major clinical decisions are based on sometimes tiny specimens; as literature shows it is absolutely advisable to use markers to differentiate the dignity of investigated areas. The authors call for keeping collision of tumors in mind and adding KOC staining and using it in a routine manner examining biliary duct lesions., (Copyright© 2015 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Temperature is a key measure in human red blood cell concentrate (RBC) quality control. A precise description of transient temperature distributions in RBC units removed from steady storage exposed to ambient temperature is at present unknown. Magnetic resonance thermometry was employed to visualize and analyse RBC warm up processes, to describe time courses of RBC mean, surface and core temperatures by an analytical model, and to determine and investigate corresponding model parameters., Methods: Warm-up processes of 47 RBC units stored at 1-6°C and exposed to 21.25°C ambient temperature were investigated by proton resonance frequency thermometry. Temperature distributions were visualized and analysed with dedicated software allowing derivation of RBC mean, surface and core temperature-time courses during warm up. Time-dependence of mean temperature was assumed to fulfil a lumped capacitive model of heat transfer. Time courses of relative surface and core temperature changes to ambient temperature were similarly assumed to follow shifted exponential decays characterized by a time constant and a relative time shift, respectively., Results: The lumped capacitive model of heat transfer and shifted exponential decays described time-dependence of mean, surface and core temperatures close to perfect (mean R(2) were 0.999±0.001, 0.996±0.004 and 0.998±0.002, respectively). Mean time constants were τmean = 55.3±3.7 min, τsurface = 41.4±2.9 min and τcore = 76.8±7.1 min, mean relative time shifts were Δsurface = 0.07±0.02 and Δcore = 0.04±0.01. None of the constants correlated significantly with temperature differences between ambient and storage temperature., Conclusion: Lumped capacitive model of heat transfer and shifted exponential decays represent simple analytical formulas to describe transient mean, surface and core temperatures of RBC during warm up, which might be a helpful tool in RBC temperature monitoring and quality control. Independence of constants on differences between ambient and storage temperature suggests validity of models for arbitrary storage and ambient temperatures.

Purpose: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a potent regulator of angiogenesis and thereby involved in the development and progression of solid tumors. A 936C > T polymorphism in the VEGF gene has been associated with reduced VEGF plasma levels. Purpose of the present study was to analyze the potential association between VEGF genotype and radiological appearance of breast lesions by mammography., Materials and Methods: Fifty two women with 54 suspected breast lesions were analyzed by the use of mammography with the standard breast imaging reporting and data systems (BI-RADS). Germline VEGF genotype was determined in all subjects by allele-specific digestion of amplification products. An open biopsy was performed on all lesions., Results: VEGF CC, CT and TT genotypes were found in 41 (79%), 9 (17%) and 2 (4%) patients. By mammography 26, 16 and 12 suspected breast lesions were classified as BI-RADS scores 3, 4 and 5, respectively. Both carriers of the TT genotype were classified as BI-RADS 5, whereas among CT or CC carriers, BI-RADS scores 3, 4 and 5 were found in 26, 16 and 10 subjects (P < 0.026)., Conclusion: The VEGF 936C > T polymorphism seems to be associated with a high BI-RADS score in women with suspicious breast lesions.