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Few prospective studies have examined posttransplant chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell infusion as candidates for front-line consolidation therapy for high-risk multiple myeloma (MM) patients. This single-arm exploratory clinical trial is the first to evaluate the safety and efficacy of sequential anti-CD19 and anti-BCMA CAR-T cell infusion, followed by lenalidomide maintenance after autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT), in 10 high-risk newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (NDMM) patients. The treatment was generally well tolerated, with hematologic toxicities being the most common grade 3 or higher adverse events. All patients had cytokine release syndrome (CRS), which was grade 1 in 5 patients (50%) and grade 2 in 5 patients (50%). No neurotoxicity was observed after CAR-T cell infusion. The overall response rate was 100%, with the best response being 90% for a stringent complete response (sCR), and 10% for a complete response (CR). At a median follow-up of 42 (36-49) months, seven (70%) of 10 patients showed sustained minimal residual disease (MRD) negativity for more than 2 years. The median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were not reached. Although the sample size was small and there was a lack of control in this single-arm study, the clinical benefits observed warrant ongoing randomized controlled trials.

Background The pathological grade of bladder cancer(BCa)is a critical determinant for the follow-up clinical decision and treatment of patients. The authors investigated a radiomic-clinical model in predicting the pathological grade of BCa. Objective This study explored the feasibility of the radiomics based on multi-phase thick-slice CT images combined with clinical risk factors in predicting of the pathological grade of BCa. Methods Patients with BCa who underwent CT scan and surgical treatment from January 2019 to December 2021 were analyzed retrospectively, with 104 cases of high-grade BCa and 100 cases of low-grade BCa included. Radiomics features were extracted from tumor volume in the images of the plain scan, corticomedullary phase, and parenchymal phase, respectively. Logistic Regression model, SVM model, and Random Forest model were established, and the model with higher diagnostic efficiency was chosen. Additionally, a radiomics-clinical model was conducted by selected independent predictors according to logistic regression analysis. Then the performance of the model was assessed. Results Among the 204 patients enrolled, the training cohort was consisted of 142 patients and the validation cohort was made up of 62 patients. The Logistic Regression model proved to be the most effective one among the three models. The radiomics-clinical model consisted of 2 independent predictors, patient age and Rad-Score, with an AUC of 0.904(95%CI 0.857–0.951) and 0.906༈95%CI 0.837–0.975༉in the training and validation cohorts, respectively. The diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of the validation cohort were 0.790, 0.813, and 0.767 respectively. Conclusion The radiomics-clinical model possesses great potential in predicting the pathological grade of BCa.

This study aimed to assess the collateral circulation in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) using a single time-variant color map (ColorViz) and evaluate its reliability. The relationship between collateral status and computed tomography perfusion (CTP) parameters was also explored. The retrospective study included 74 patients with acute ischemic stroke patients treated with endovascular treatment. The Spearman correlation coefficient was calculated to determine the reliability of the novel evaluation method using ColorViz images compared with that using digital subtraction angiography (DSA) images, and to evaluate the correlation between the collateral status and CTP parameters. The Spearman correlation between collateral scores derived from ColorViz images and DSA images showed considerable reliability (ρ = 0.716, P

BackgroundAlteplase before thrombectomy for patients with large vessel occlusion stroke raises concerns regarding an increased risk of intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), but the details of this relationship are not well understood.MethodsThis was a secondary analysis of the DIRECT-MT trial. ICH and its subtypes were independently reviewed and classified according to the Heidelberg Bleeding Classification. The effects of alteplase before thrombectomy on ICH and ICH subtypes occurrence were evaluated using logistic regression. Clinical and imaging characteristics that may modify these effects were exploratorily tested.ResultsAmong 591 patients, any ICH occurred in 254 (43.0%), including hemorrhagic infarction type 1 in 12 (2.1%), hemorrhagic infarction type 2 in 127 (21.7%), parenchymal hematoma type 1 in 34 (5.8%), parenchymal hematoma type 2 in 50 (8.6%), and other hemorrhage types (3a-3c) in 24 (4.1%). Similar ICH frequencies were observed with combined alteplase and thrombectomy versus thrombectomy only (134/292 (45.9%) vs 120/299 (40.1%); OR 1.27, 95% CI 0.91 to 1.75, P=0.16), but patients treated with alteplase had a higher parenchymal hematoma rate (51/287 (17.8%) vs 33/297 (11.1%); OR 1.75, 95% CI 1.08 to 2.85, P=0.024). In the adjusted model, difference in parenchymal hematoma occurrence between groups remained significant (adjusted OR 1.71, 95% CI 1.00 to 2.92, P=0.049). Patients with history of diabetes (Pinteraction=0.048), hypertension (Pinteraction=0.02), antiplatelet therapy (Pinteraction=0.02), anticoagulation therapy (Pinteraction=0.04), and statin administration (Pinteraction=0.02) harbored a higher ICH rate when they received combination therapy.ConclusionsOur data showed that in the DIRECT-MT trial, alteplase did not increase overall ICH for large vessel occlusion patients treated with thrombectomy, but it increased the parenchymal hematoma rate.

To investigate the value of pre-treatment spectral CT angiography (CTA) in predicting hemorrhagic transformation (HT) after intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) treatment in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients.AIS patients who underwent IVT with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator and pre-treatment head and neck spectral CTA and head CT perfusion (CTP) from January 2018 to June 2020 were reviewed retrospectively. Finally, 20 patients were included in the HT group and 22 age-matched patients were included in the non-HT group. Spectral and CTP parameters of the region of interest on pre-treatment CTA axial raw images and CTP images, including the infarct core (IC) and ischemic penumbral (IP) regions, were recorded. The differences in clinical variables, CTP, collateral scores and spectral parameters between the two groups were analyzed. Three multivariate logistic regression models were then developed, where model 1 included clinical and spectral parameters, model 2 included clinical and CTP parameters and a combined model included clinical, CTP, and spectral parameters. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was used to evaluate the performance of the multivariate model.Patients with HT had higher Safe Implementation of Treatments in Stroke (SITS) score (p = 0.023), the volume of perfusion lesions (p = 0.005), the volume of IP (p = 0.003), the mean transit time (MIT) in the IC area (p = 0.012), as well as the TTP in IP area (p = 0.015) compared with patients without HT. The HT group showed significantly lower CBF in the IC area (p = 0.019), iodine concentration (p = 0.017) and the effective atomic number (p = 0.024) in the IP area than non-HT group. And the slope of the spectral curve of the HT group in the IP region was larger than that of the non-HT group (p = 0.023). Gender, age, SITS score, the volume of entire perfusion lesion, CBF and MIT in the IC area, TTP in the IP area, as well as iodine concentration in the IP area were included in the final multivariate model for predicting HT. And CBF in the IC area (OR = 0.779, 95 % CI:0.609-0.996, p = 0.046) as well as the iodine concentration of IP area (OR = 0.343, 95 % CI: 0.131-0.901, p = 0.030) were proved to be independent predictors for HT. The combined model including clinical, spectral, and CTP parameters, showed improved accuracy compared to the other two models, while the Delong test did not suggest a statistically significant difference (both p values 0.05).The iodine concentration of IP area derived from pre-treatment spectral CTA was an independent predictor of HT after IVT treatment for AIS patients. Moreover, multivariate models combined with clinical, spectral, and CTP parameters may be able to predict HT.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the potential value of quantitative parameters derived from dual-energy spectral computed tomography (DESCT) as comparing to the parameters derived from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in detecting bone marrow (BM) infiltration and distinguishing different patterns of BM infiltration in patients diagnosed with Multiple myeloma (MM). METHODS: This study involved 35MM patients and 15 healthy control subjects who had undergone spinal DESCT and MRI. Pattern assignment was based on visual assessment of MR images, and the regions of interest were defined on both DESCT and apparent diffusion coefficient maps. Quantitative values of DESCT parameters were measured and compared between infiltrated and healthy bone marrow. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to determine potential utility of DESCT parameters in identifying BM infiltration and different patterns defined by MRI. Sensitivity and specificity under the optimal thresholds determined by the Youden Index were also calculated. RSULTS: Statistical differences were observed between the DESCT parameters including Ca(Water), Water(Ca), HAP(Fat), Fat(HAP) and Effective atomic number (Eff-Z) but not for the 70-keV CT value between the infiltrated and healthy BM (all P

We aimed to investigate the association between cerebral arteriosclerosis stenosis (CAS) and the short-term prognosis of non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) related cardioembolic stroke treated by reperfusion therapy.The data of 195 consecutive NVAF related cardioembolic stroke patients were retrospectively collected. We defined poor functional outcome as a modified Rankin scale (mRS) score of 2 at 90 days.Patients with CAS were more likely to be older (75.5 ± 6.8 vs. 72.5 ± 9.2 years, p = 0.001), more current smokers (35.6% vs. 24.1%, p = 0.018), with hypertension (88.1% vs. 65.6%, p 0.001), diabetes mellitus (50.0% vs. 20.0%, p = 0.020), dyslipidemia (33.9% vs. 23.6%, p = 0.029), previous history of stroke (30.5% vs. 19.5%, p = 0.012), and congestive heart failure (32.2% vs. 22.6%, p = 0.041). Patients with CAS had higher National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) (18 [13, 22] vs. 15 [9, 19], p 0.001), and 90-day mRS scores (5 [3, 6] vs. 3[2, 5], p 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that CAS (odds ratio [OR] 3.184, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.314-7.713, p = 0.01), NIHSS score on admission (OR 1.228 [per 1 point], 95% CI 1.146-1.316, p 0.001), congestive heart failure (OR 2.850, 95% CI 1.108-7.331, p = 0.030), and current smokers (OR 2.841, 95% CI 1.102-7.326, p = 0.031) were independent predictors of a poor functional outcome at 90 days.We should give the coexistence of CAS and NVAF related cardioembolic stroke proper attention. CAS was an independent factor for predicting the short-term prognosis of NVAF associated cardioembolic stroke patients treated by reperfusion therapy.

To assess the cerebral hemodynamic data associated with transient cerebral hemodynamic disturbance (TCHD), including cerebral hyperperfusion syndrome (CHS) and watershed shift ischemia (WSI), by whole-brain (WB) computed tomography perfusion (CTP) before and after revascularization for ischemic moyamoya disease.A total of 115 consecutive patients with ischemic moyamoya disease underwent revascularization. All patients underwent WB-CTP 24 hours before operation and on the day of onset of TCHD and 6 months after revascularization. The volumes of delay time (DT)3 seconds and mismatch and relative cerebral blood flow30% were calculated in 3 time points.Of the 115 patients, 18 115 had TCHD, comprising 10 with CHS and 8 with WSI. Compared with the brain volume of DT3 seconds before revascularization, the volume decreased significantly (P0.05) on the day of CHS. The volume of mismatch in 3 time points indicated no significant differences (P0.05). The volume of relative cerebral blood flow30% showed obvious differences of significance among 10 patients with CHS (P0.05) at 3 time points. In the WSI group, the volume of DT3 seconds, mismatch, and DT3 seconds showed significant differences, relatively (P0.05), at 3 time points. At the time of onset of TCHD, DT3 seconds and mismatch in the CHS group were dramatically lower than those in the WSI group (P0.05). DT3 seconds in the no-TCHD group showed significant differences (P0.05) at 3 time points.WB-CTP could be used to assess the cerebral hemodynamic characteristics before and after revascularization. DT3 seconds and mismatch played important roles in evaluating distinct features of TCHD.

Objective: To investigate the diagnostic performance of deep learning (DL)-based vascular extraction and stenosis detection technology in assessing coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods: The diagnostic performance of DL technology was evaluated by retrospective analysis of coronary computed tomography angiography in 124 suspected CAD patients, using invasive coronary angiography as reference standard. Lumen diameter stenosis ≥50% was considered obstructive, and the diagnostic performances were evaluated at per-patient, per-vessel and per-segment levels. The diagnostic performances between DL model and reader model were compared by the areas under the receiver operating characteristics curves (AUCs). Results: In patient-based analysis, AUC of 0.78 was obtained by DL model to detect obstructive CAD [sensitivity of 94%, specificity of 63%, positive predictive value of 94%, and negative predictive value of 59%], While AUC by reader model was 0.74 (sensitivity of 97%, specificity of 50%, positive predictive value of 93%, negative predictive value of 73%). In vessel-based analysis, the AUCs of DL model and reader model were 0.87 and 0.89 respectively. In segment-based analysis, the AUCs of 0.84 and 0.89 were obtained by DL model and reader model respectively. It took 0.47 min to analyze all segments per patient by DL model, which is significantly less than reader model (29.65 min) (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The DL technology can accurately and effectively identify obstructive CAD, with less time-consuming, and it could be a reliable diagnostic tool to detect CAD. Advances in knowledge: The DL technology has valuable prospect with the diagnostic ability to detect CAD.

Purpose To determine the feasibility of whole-body diffusion-weighted imaging (WB-DWI) MRI for evaluation of response in patients with multiple myeloma (MM) following bortezomib-based therapy and to explore the direction of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) changes upon treatment. Method Seventy-two MM patients who underwent WB-DWI MRI before and after bortezomib-based chemotherapy (21 weeks) were evaluated retrospectively. The estimated tumor volume (eTV) and ADCmean values before and after chemotherapy were calculated and compared between deep and non-deep responders. Predictive value of baseline ADCmean was calculated to predict the trend of ADCmean change following treatment. Results Fifty-five patients were classified as deep responders, and 17 cases were assigned as non-deep responders. For 327 focal lesions (FLs), the ADCmean value was significantly increased from baseline to post-treatment. However, the ADCmean value was significantly decreased following treatment in 846 representative diffuse lesions. Diffuse lesions showed a significantly decreased ADCmean value in deep responders, whereas no significant variation in ADCmean value in FLs was found between deep and non-deep responders. Baseline ADCmean at a specific value (0.808 × 10−3 mm2/s) yielded a maximum specificity (68.05%) and sensitivity (54.09%) in predicting increase of post-treatment ADCmean. Conclusions The ADCmean value was significantly decreased in MM patients with diffuse pattern, while it was significantly increased in those with focal pattern following bortezomib-based treatment. WB-DWI MRI could be used to discriminate deep response to induction treatment in MM patients with diffuse infiltration pattern. Baseline ADCmean value might have a potential to predict the trend of ADCmean change following treatment.