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Purpose: Super-resolution deep-learning-based reconstruction: SR-DLR is a newly developed and clinically available deep-learning-based image reconstruction method that can improve the spatial resolution of CT images. The image quality of the output from non-linear image reconstructions, such as DLR, is known to vary depending on the structure of the object being scanned, and a simple phantom cannot explicitly evaluate the clinical performance of SR-DLR. This study aims to accurately investigate the quality of the images reconstructed by SR-DLR by utilizing a structured phantom that simulates the human anatomy in coronary CT angiography. Methods: The structural phantom had ribs and vertebrae made of plaster, a left ventricle filled with dilute contrast medium, a coronary artery with simulated stenosis, and an implanted stent graft. By scanning the structured phantom, we evaluated noise and spatial resolution on the images reconstructed with SR-DLR and conventional reconstructions. Results: The spatial resolution of SR-DLR was higher than conventional reconstructions; the 10 % modulation transfer function of hybrid IR (HIR), DLR, and SR-DLR were 0.792-, 0.976-, and 1.379 cycle/mm, respectively. At the same time, image noise was lowest (HIR: 21.1-, DLR: 19.0-, and SR-DLR: 13.1 HU). SR-DLR could accurately assess coronary artery stenosis and the lumen of the implanted stent graft. Conclusions: SR-DLR can obtain CT images with high spatial resolution and lower noise without special CT equipments, and will help diagnose coronary artery disease in CCTA and other CT examinations that require high spatial resolution.

Abstract Background Chest computed tomography findings are helpful for understanding the pathophysiology of severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). However, there is no large, multicenter, chest computed tomography registry for patients requiring veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (V-V ECMO). The aim of this study was to describe chest computed tomography findings at V-V ECMO initiation and to evaluate the association between the findings and outcomes in severe ARDS. Methods This multicenter, retrospective cohort study enrolled patients with severe ARDS on V-V ECMO, who were admitted to the intensive care units of 24 hospitals in Japan between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2022. Results The primary outcome was 90-day in-hospital mortality. The secondary outcomes were the successful liberation from V-V ECMO and the values of static lung compliance. Among the 697 registry patients, of the 582 patients who underwent chest computed tomography at V-V ECMO initiation, 394 survived and 188 died. Multivariate Cox regression showed that traction bronchiectasis and subcutaneous emphysema increased the risk of 90-day in-hospital mortality (hazard ratio [95% confidence interval] 1.77 [1.19–2.63], p = 0.005 and 1.97 [1.02–3.79], p = 0.044, respectively). The presence of traction bronchiectasis was also associated with decreased successful liberation from V-V ECMO (odds ratio: 0.27 [0.14–0.52], p

We report a rare patient with portal hypertension who presented with esophageal- and gastric varices and refractory ascites due to hepatic arterioportal fistulas. Treatment by transportal scleroembolization using ethanolamine oleate and coils were successful. Pretreatment hepatofugal flow subsequently changed to hepatopetal flow and the symptoms of portal hypertension improved. We describe our endovascular treatment option for addressing hepatic arterioportal fistulas.

Abstract Background It is clinically important to predict difficulty in short-term liberation from veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (V-V ECMO) in patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) at the time of initiation of the support. The aim of this study was to identify the characteristics of pulmonary opacities on chest CT that is associated with difficulty in short-term liberation from V-V ECMO (

Abstract The main purpose of pre-transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) cardiac computed tomography (CT) for patients with severe aortic stenosis is aortic annulus measurements. However, motion artifacts present a technical challenge because they can reduce the measurement accuracy of the aortic annulus. Therefore, we applied the recently developed second-generation whole-heart motion correction algorithm (SnapShot Freeze 2.0, SSF2) to pre-TAVI cardiac CT and investigated its clinical utility by stratified analysis of the patient's heart rate during scanning. We found that SSF2 reconstruction significantly reduced aortic annulus motion artifacts and improved the image quality and measurement accuracy compared to standard reconstruction, especially in patients with high heart rate or a 40% R-R interval (systolic phase). SSF2 may contribute to improving the measurement accuracy of the aortic annulus.

Abstract Deep learning-based spectral CT imaging (DL-SCTI) is a novel type of fast kilovolt-switching dual-energy CT equipped with a cascaded deep-learning reconstruction which completes the views missing in the sinogram space and improves the image quality in the image space because it uses deep convolutional neural networks trained on fully sampled dual-energy data acquired via dual kV rotations. We investigated the clinical utility of iodine maps generated from DL-SCTI scans for assessing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In the clinical study, dynamic DL-SCTI scans (tube voltage 135 and 80 kV) were acquired in 52 patients with hypervascular HCCs whose vascularity was confirmed by CT during hepatic arteriography. Virtual monochromatic 70 keV images served as the reference images. Iodine maps were reconstructed using three-material decomposition (fat, healthy liver tissue, iodine). A radiologist calculated the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) during the hepatic arterial phase (CNRa) and the equilibrium phase (CNRe). In the phantom study, DL-SCTI scans (tube voltage 135 and 80 kV) were acquired to assess the accuracy of iodine maps; the iodine concentration was known. The CNRa was significantly higher on the iodine maps than on 70 keV images (p

Introduction Small liver tumours are difficult to identify during hepatectomy, which prevents curative tumour excision. Preoperative marking is a standard practice for small, deep-seated tumours in other solid organs; however, its effectiveness for liver tumours has not been validated. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of preoperative markings for curative resection of small liver tumours.Methods and analysis This is an open-label, single-arm, single-centre, phase II study. Patients with liver tumours of ≤15 mm requiring hepatectomy will be enrolled and will undergo preoperative marking by placing a microcoil near the tumour using either the percutaneous or transvascular approach. The tumours, including the indwelling markers, will be excised. The primary endpoint will be the successful resection rate of liver tumours, defined as achieving a surgical margin of ≥5 mm and ≤15 mm. Secondary endpoints will include the results of preoperative marking and hepatectomy.Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval for this trial was obtained from the Ethical Committee for Clinical Research of Hiroshima University, Japan. The results will be published at an academic conference or by submitting a paper to a peer-reviewed journal.Trial registration number jRCTs062220088.

Abstract Background Balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration (BRTO) is a treatment option for patients with gastric varices (GVs). This study aimed to clarify the clinical significance of portal hypertension estimated by the hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG), subsequent exacerbation of esophageal varices (EVs), and prognosis of patients who underwent BRTO for GVs. Methods Thirty-six patients with GVs treated with BRTO were enrolled in this study, and their HVPG was measured before (pre-HVPG) and on the day after BRTO (post-HVPG). After BRTO, patients were followed-up for a median interval of 24.5 (3–140) months. Clinical factors related to EVs exacerbation and prognosis after BRTO were retrospectively analyzed. Results Post-HVPG increased compared to pre-HVPG in 21 out of 36 patients (58%), and post-HVPG was overall significantly higher compared to pre-HVPG (P = 0.009). During the observation period, 19 patients (53%) developed EVs exacerbation, and the cumulative EVs exacerbation rates at 1, 3 and 5 years after BRTO were 27%, 67%, and 73%, respectively. Pre-HVPG was not related to EVs exacerbation, although elevation of post-HVPG to ≥ 13 mmHg (P

Abstract Background Mesenchymal-epithelial transition exon14 (METex14) skipping is one of the therapeutic driver oncogene mutations in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and can be treated with tepotinib and capmatinib. There is only one report on computed tomography (CT) findings of METex14 skipping-positive NSCLC, which shows that the primary tumor tends to have a large mass in the upper lobe, and extrathoracic metastases are common. This study examined the CT findings of METex14 skipping-positive NSCLC, focusing on the features of the margins and internal structures. Methods We consecutively included patients with METex14 skipping-positive NSCLC who were diagnosed between January 2018 and December 2020 at four independent institutions. We retrospectively reviewed the patient demographics and CT findings for tumor margins (invasion into surrounding tissue, lobulation, pleural indentation, spicula, and ground-glass opacity) and internal structures (air bronchograms, cavitation and internal low-density area). Results Fifteen patients with METex14 skipping-positive NSCLC were identified. Almost half of the patients were men (7/15; 46.7%), and their median age was 75.0 years. More than half were either current or former smokers (9/15; 60.0%). A vast majority of histological subtypes were adenocarcinoma (10/15; 66.7%), followed by pleomorphic carcinoma (3/15; 20.0%) and squamous cell carcinoma (2/15; 13.3%). With regard to CT findings, most primary tumors presented as masses larger than 30 mm (12/15; 80.0%) and were located in the upper lobes (12/15; 80.0%). Invasion into surrounding tissue and presence of internal low-density areas were observed in 60.0% (9/15) and 66.7% (10/15) of the primary tumors, respectively. Additionally, their frequencies increased to 72.7% (8/11) and 90.9% (10/11) in stage III/IV cases, respectively. In lymph node metastasis, internal low-density areas were observed in 8/10 cases (80.0%). Although these two CT features were rarely observed in distant metastases at diagnosis, they became apparent with progression of the metastatic tumor size. Conclusions METex14 skipping-positive NSCLC tumors tend to invade surrounding tissue and possess internal low-density areas. These CT findings might be characteristic of METex14 skipping-positive NSCLC.

Abstract T2 mapping allows quantification of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) ultrastructural degeneration. The study aimed to assess intra- and inter-examination reproducibility of T2 mapping for TMJ evaluation at 3.0 Tesla (T). Seventeen volunteers, regardless of temporomandibular disorder (TMD) diagnosis, received magnetic resonance (MR) examination at 3.0 T. T2 mapping was performed twice (> 5 min between sessions without repositioning) on 12 volunteers to ensure intra-examination reproducibility. Nine volunteers underwent two examinations (> 6 months) to ensure inter-examination reproducibility. The regions of interest (ROIs) of the articular disc and retrodiscal tissue were manually selected and calculated. The mean T2 values of the articular disc and retrodiscal tissue were 25.3 ± 3.0 and 30.0 ± 4.1 ms, respectively. T2 mapping showed excellent intra-examination intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) for both articular disc (0.923) and retrodiscal tissue (0.951). Very strong correlations (r) were observed in both articular disc (0.928) and retrodiscal tissue (0.953) (P

Abstract Background Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and macrovascular invasion (MVI) who receive systemic chemotherapy have a poor prognosis. This study aimed to determine if one-shot cisplatin (CDDP) chemotherapy via hepatic arterial infusion (HAI) combined with radiation therapy (RT) prior to systemic chemotherapy could improve the outcomes of these patients. Methods This study consisted of 32 HCC patients with the following eligibility criteria: (i) portal vein invasion 3/4 and/or hepatic vein invasion 2/3; (ii) received one-shot CDDP via HAI; (iii) received RT for MVI, (iv) a Child–Pugh score ≤ 7; and (v) an Eastern Clinical Oncology Group Performance Status score of 0 or 1. To determine the therapeutic effect, we collected information on patient characteristics and took contrast-enhanced computed tomography at the start of the therapy and every 2 to 4 months after the start of therapy. We evaluated the overall response of the tumor and tumor thrombosis according to modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors. We assessed patient data using the Mann–Whitney U and Fisher exact tests and evaluated overall survival and progression-free survival using the log-rank test. Results The overall response rate at the first evaluation performed a median of 1.4 weeks after HAI was 16% for the main intrahepatic tumor and 59% for the MVI. The best responses were the same as those of the first-time responses. The duration of median survival was 8.6 months, and progression-free survival of the main intrahepatic tumor was 3.2 months. Predictive factors for overall survival were the relative tumor volume in the liver and the first therapeutic response of MVI. There were no severe adverse events or radiation-induced hepatic complications. Conclusions One-shot CDDP via HAI and RT were well tolerated and showed immediate and favorable control of MVI. Thus, this combination shows potential as a bridging therapy to systemic chemotherapy.

Abstract We compared three-dimensional (3D) CT images of stabbing victims subjected to volume-rendering (VR) or global illumination-rendering (GIR), a new technique now available for the reconstruction of 3D CT images. It simulates the complete interactions of photons with the scanned object, thereby providing photorealistic images. The diagnostic value of the images was also compared with that of macroscopic photographs. We used postmortem 3D CT images of 14 stabbing victims who had undergone autopsy and CT studies. The 3D CT images were subjected to GIR or VR and the 3D effect and the smoothness of the skin surface were graded on a 5-point scale. We also compared the 3D CT images of 37 stab wounds with macroscopic photographs. The maximum diameter of the wounds was measured on VR and GIR images and compared with the diameter recorded at autopsy. The overall image-quality scores and the ability to assess the stab wounds were significantly better on GIR than VR images (median scores: VR = 3 vs GIR = 4, p

IntroductionHigh-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous stem cell transplant is the mainstay of treatment for multiple myeloma (MM). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ability of MRI-derived indices to predict mobilized hematopoietic stem cell yield.Materials and methodsIn this exploratory pilot work, we retrospectively analyzed 38 mobilization procedures for MM. Successful mobilization procedure was defined as a total yield of >4.0×106 CD34+ cells/kg. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify factors with a significant effect on successful mobilization from among clinical characteristics including number of prior lines of therapy, period from diagnosis to harvest, type of monoclonal protein (M protein); and radiological characteristics including total diffusion volume (tDV), median apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of tDV, and mean fat fraction of bone marrow calculated by MRI.ResultsUnivariate analyses showed that relatively poor mobilization was significantly associated with M protein of Bence-Jones type and with median ADC of tDV (P = 0.02 and P = 0.004, respectively). Multivariate analyses using these two indices showed that median ADC of tDV was a significant predictive factor for adequate mobilization (P = 0.01), with an area under the curve of 0.784 (cutoff value, 1.18×10-3 mm2/s; sensitivity, 72.7%; specificity, 87.5%).ConclusionThe present data indicate that median ADC of tDV is a predictive factor for relatively poor mobilization of hematopoietic stem cells in MM patients undergoing autologous stem cell transplant.

Abstract To detect muscle-invasive upper tract urothelial carcinoma, we evaluated the internal texture of the tumor using texture analysis of computed tomography images in 86 cases of upper tract urothelial carcinoma. The internal texture of the tumor was evaluated as the value of computed tomography attenuation number of the unenhanced image, and the median, standard deviation, skewness and kurtosis were calculated. Each parameter was compared with clinicopathological factors, and their associations with postoperative prognosis were investigated. Immunohistochemistry was performed to investigate the histological and molecular mechanisms of the inflammatory tumor microenvironment. The histogram of computed tomography attenuation number in non-muscle invasive tumor was single-peaked, whereas muscle invasive tumor showed a multi-peaked shape. In the parameters obtained by texture analysis, standard deviation was significantly associated with pathological stage (p

The global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to the rapid development of vaccines against this disease. Despite the success of the international vaccination program, adverse events following vaccination, and the mechanisms behind them, remain poorly understood. Here we present four cases of death following receipt of a second dose of COVID-19 vaccine, with no obvious cause identified at autopsy. Using RNA sequencing, we identified genes that were differentially expressed between our post-vaccination cases and a control group that died of blood loss and strangulation. Three hundred and ninety genes were found to be upregulated and 115 genes were downregulated in post-vaccination cases compared with controls. Importantly, genes involved in neutrophil degranulation and cytokine signaling were upregulated. Our results suggest that immune dysregulation occurred following vaccination. Careful observation and care may be necessary if an abnormally high fever exceeding 40°C occurs after vaccination, even with antipyretic drugs.

Background: The posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) is one of the essential stabilizers of the knee joint and it was demonstrated that its degenerative change related to the knee osteoarthritis (OA). We aimed to evaluate signal of the PCL in OA patients in comparison with healthy young and elderly volunteers using the ultra-short echo timeenhanced (UTE)-T2∗ mapping, and to validate these findings with histology. Methods: Thirty asymptomatic volunteers, 13 young people (younger group) and 17 elderly people (elder group), and 27 patients who had undergone total knee arthroplasty (OA group) were enrolled in this study. UTE-T2∗ maps of PCL were obtained from all participants. The PCL was divided into proximal, middle, and distal parts and the UTET2∗ values obtained from each part were compared among the groups. In OA group, the sacrificed PCLs were evaluated histologically in each part corresponding to the part of UTE-T2∗ maps and compared. Results: The UTE-T2∗ values in OA group were significantly higher than those in other groups except in distal part. In elder group, the UTE-T2∗ values were significantly higher than those in younger group only in the proximal part. Moreover, in OA group, the UTE-T2∗ values in proximal and middle parts were significantly higher than those in distal part. There was a moderate correlation between the UTE-T2∗ values and histological scores. Conclusions: The specific signal intensity pattern of the PCL in patients with OA was demonstrated using UTE-T2∗ mapping, and these findings were related to histological degenerated status of the PCL.

Background: Overall survival of patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with Vp4 (tumor thrombosis of the main trunk or bilobar of the portal vein) is extremely poor. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to clarify the prognosis of hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) combined with radiation therapy (RT) for advanced HCC with Vp4 and to analyze the factors that contribute to the prognosis. Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, 51 HCC patients who were treated with HAIC and RT for portal vein tumor thrombosis and met the following criteria were enrolled: (i) with Vp4; (ii) Child-Pugh score of 5–7; (iii) Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0 or 1; (iv) no history of systemic therapy; and (v) from September 2004 to April 2019. Results: Median overall survival and median progression-free survival were 12.1 and 4.2 months, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed >50% of relative tumor volume in the liver (HR, 3.027; p = 0.008) and extrahepatic spread with (HR, 3.773; p = 0.040) as significant and independent factors of OS. The total overall response rate (ORR) was 19.6%; ORR in main tumor was 13.7%; and ORR in Vp4 was 51.0%. None of the patients who received HAIC combined with RT for advanced HCC with Vp4 developed hepatic failure. This combination therapy of HAIC with RT was safe and well tolerated in all cases. Conclusion: Combination therapies of HAIC and RT might be good therapy for advanced HCC with Vp4.

Background and Purpose: To compare orbital quantitative data obtained by fast spin-echo iterative decomposition of water and fat with echo asymmetry and least-squares estimation (FSE-IDEAL) in patients with thyroid-associated orbitopathy (TAO) and healthy controls and to investigate the characteristics of these data in TAO patients. Materials and Methods: Twenty-two TAO patients (4 males and 18 females; median age 51.0 years) and 22 healthy subjects (5 males and 17 females; median age 50.5 years) underwent orbital T2-weighted FSE-IDEAL. The water fraction in orbital fat was defined as the signal intensity (SI) water / (SI water + SI fat). The orbital fat volume was measured on fat images. The degree of proptosis was evaluated using in-phase imaging. Mann–Whitney U test was used to compare these quantitative data in the two groups. In TAO patients we ascertained the correlation among these values with the Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. Results: In TAO patients, the water fraction (right and left, p = 0.04), fat volume (right and left, p = 0.03) and degree of proptosis (right and left, p

Objectives: In this phantom- and cadaver study we investigated the differences of coronary artery calcium (CAC) volume on ultra-high-resolution computed tomography (U-HRCT) scans and conventional CT. Methods: We scanned a coronary calcium phantom and the coronary arteries of five cadavers using U-HRCT in normal- and super-high resolution (NR, SHR) mode. The NR mode was similar to conventional CT; 896 detector channels, a matrix size of 512, and a slice thickness of 0.5 mm were applied. In SHR mode, we used 1792 detector channels, a matrix size of 1024, and a slice thickness of 0.25 mm. The CAC volume on NR- and SHR images were recorded. Differences in the physical- and the calculated CAC volume were defined as the error value and compared between NR- and SHR images of the phantom. Differences between the CAC volume on NR- and SHR scans of the cadavers were also recorded. Results: The mean error value was lower on SHR- than NR images of the phantom (14.0 %, SD 11.1 vs 20.1 %, SD 15.2, p = 0.01). The mean CAC volume was significantly higher on SHR- than NR images of the cadavers (153.4 mm3, SD 161.0 vs 144.7 mm3, SD 164.8, p

OBJECTIVES:To compare remission status at completion of chemotherapy for multiple myeloma (MM) with changes in total diffusion volume (tDV) calculated from whole-body diffusion-weighted imaging (WB-DWI) and fat fraction (FF) of lumbar bone marrow (BM) by modified Dixon Quant (mDixon Quant) soon after induction of chemotherapy, and to assess the predictive value of MRI. METHODS:Fifty patients (mean age, 66.9 ± 10.5 years) with symptomatic myeloma were examined before and after two cycles of chemotherapy. From WB-DWI data, tDV was obtained with the threshold for positive BM involvement. Mean FF was calculated from lumbar BM using the mDixon Quant sequence. At the completion of chemotherapy, patients were categorized into a CR/very good PR (VGPR) group (n = 15; mean age, 67.6 ± 10.3 years) and a PR, SD or PD group (n = 35; mean age, 69.1 ± 8.6 years). ROC curves were plotted to assess performance in predicting achievement of CR/VGPR. RESULTS:At second examination, serum M protein, β2-microglobulin, and tDV were significantly decreased and hemoglobin, mean ADC, and FF were significantly increased in the CR/VGPR group and serum M protein was significantly increased in the PR/SD/PD group. The general linear model demonstrated that percentage changes in FF and M protein contributed significantly to achieving CR/VGPR (P = 0.02, P = 0.04, respectively). AUCs of ROC curves were 0.964 for FF and 0.847 for M protein. CONCLUSIONS:Early change in FF of lumbar BM and serum M protein soon after induction of chemotherapy contributed significantly to prediction of CR/VGPR.

Abstract Background In patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), evidence is unclear as to whether hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) or sorafenib is superior. We performed a prospective, open-label, non-comparative phase II study to assess survival with HAIC or HAIC converted to sorafenib. Methods Fifty-five patients were prospectively enrolled. Patients received HAIC as a second course if they had complete response, partial response, or stable disease (SD) with an alpha fetoprotein (AFP) ratio 1 and a DCP ratio > 1 or disease progression. The primary endpoint was the 1-year survival rate. Secondary endpoints were the 2-year survival rate, HAIC response, survival rate among HAIC responders, progression-free survival, and adverse events. Results Of the 55 patients in the intent-to-treat population, the 1-year and 2-year survival rates were 64.0 and 48.3%, respectively. After the first course of HAIC, one (1.8%) patient showed complete response, 13 (23.6%) showed partial response, 30 (54.5%) had SD, and 10 (18.1%) patients had progressive disease. Twenty-three patients (41.8%) had SD with AFP ratios 1 and DCP ratios > 1. Thirty-seven patients (68.5%) were responders and 17 (30.9%) were non-responders to HAIC. In responders, the 1-year and 2-year survival rates were 78 and 62%, respectively. Conclusion Given the results of this study, this protocol deserves consideration for patients with advanced HCC. This trial was registered prospectively from December 12. 2012 to September 1. 2016.

This article describes a quantitative evaluation of visualizing small vessels using several image reconstruction methods in computed tomography. Simulated vessels with diameters of 1–6 mm made by 3D printer was scanned using 320-row detector computed tomography (CT). Hybrid iterative reconstruction (hybrid IR) and model-based iterative reconstruction (MBIR) were performed for the image reconstruction. Keywords: Computed tomography (CT), CT angiography, Image reconstruction, Hybrid iterative reconstruction, Model-based iterative reconstruction

This article contains the data showing illustrative examples of plaque classification on coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) and measurement of 18F-sodium fluoride (18F-NaF) uptake in coronary atherosclerotic lesions on positron emission tomography (PET). We divided the lesions into one of three plaque types on CCTA (calcified plaque, non-calcified plaque, partially calcified plaque). Focal 18F-NaF uptake of each lesion was quantified using maximum tissue-to-background ratio. This article also provides a representative case with a non-calcified coronary plaque detected on CCTA and identified on 18F-NaF PET/non-contrast computed tomography based on a location of a vessel branch as a landmark. These complement the data reported by Kitagawa et al. (2017) [1].

Background: The augmentation index (AI) obtained from applanation tonometry of the radial artery is technically the easiest and quickest of available methods for assessing arterial stiffness. We tested the hypothesis that the radial AI is associated with the extent of coronary artery calcium (CAC) as assessed by coronary computed tomography (CCT). Methods and Results: This study included 161 patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease undergoing central hemodynamic measurements and CCT. Radial AI was recorded and was corrected in accordance with heart rate (radial AI@75). Thirty-seven patients had no CAC (CAC score = 0), 85 had low-grade CAC (CAC score = 1–399), and 39 had high-grade CAC (CAC score ≥400). Coronary risk factors, except for age and serum creatinine, were similar among the three groups. There were significant differences in brachial systolic blood pressure (SBP) (p = 0.011) and radial AI@75 (%) (p = 0.006). Multivariate analysis showed that age (β = 0.27, p = 0.001), serum creatinine (β = 0.18, p = 0.03), and radial AI@75 (β = 0.24, p = 0.005) were significantly associated with ln (CAC score + 1), whereas brachial SBP was not. Additionally, serum creatinine (odds ratio: 11.91, 95% confidence interval: 1.46–112.0, p = 0.02) and radial AI@75 (per 10%) (odds ratio: 1.76, 95% confidence interval: 1.22–2.64, p = 0.002) were independent factors associated with high-grade CAC. Conclusions: Our results suggest that the radial AI is better for estimating CAC than brachial SBP in patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease.

Purpose: To investigate the utility of computed 3T diffusion-weighted imaging (c-DWI) for the diagnosis of non-complicated hepatic cysts with a focus on the T2 shine-through effect. Materials and methods: In 50 patients with non-complicated hepatic cysts we acquired one set of DWIs (b-value 0 and 1000 s/mm2) at 1.5T, and two sets at 3T (b-value 0 and 1000 s/mm2, TE 70 ms; b-value 0 and 600 s/mm2, TE 60 ms). We defined the original DWIs acquired with b = 1000 s/mm2 at 1.5T and 3T as “o-1.5T-1000” and “o-3T-1000”. c-DWIs were calculated with 3T DWI at b-values of 0 and 600 s/mm2. c-DWI with b = 1000 and 1500 s/mm2 were defined as “c-1000” and “c-1500”. Radiologists evaluated the signal intensity (SI) of the cysts using a 3-point score where 1 = not visible, 2 = discernible, and 3 = clearly visible. They calculated the contrast ratio (CR) between the cysts and the surrounding liver parenchyma on each DWIs and recorded the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) with a b-value = 0 and 1000 s/mm2 on 1.5T- and 3T DWIs. Results: Compared with o-1.5T-1000 DWI, the visual scores of all but the c-1500 DWIs were higher (p = 0.07 for c-1500- and p