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Abstract We investigate the oceanic and ionospheric response in New Caledonia‐New Zealand and Chile‐Argentina to the 15 January 2022 Hunga‐Tonga volcanic eruption. For the first time, we highlight a reversed response in the oceans and in the ionosphere in terms of the amplitudes. The sea‐surface fluctuations due to the passage of the atmospheric Lamb wave (i.e., air‐sea wave) were not remarkable while the related ionospheric perturbation was considerable. Reversely, the eruption‐induced tsunami (“regular” tsunami) caused major variations in sea‐surface heights (∼1 m near the volcano and ∼2 m along the Chilean coastline), whereas the associated ionospheric perturbation was quite small. The observed large‐amplitude ionospheric response due to Lamb waves propagation is difficult to explain, and the coupling between the Lamb wave and the ionosphere is not well‐understood yet. For the first time, we estimate the delay between the Lamb waves and their signatures in the ionosphere to be ∼12–20 min.

Indoor mapping is an essential process in several applications such as the visualization of space and its utilization, security and resource planning, emergency planning and location-based alerts and, last but not least, indoor navigation. In this work, a completely free and open-source (FOS) approach to map indoor environments, and to navigate through them, is presented. Our tests were carried out within Sapienza University of Rome public buildings; in detail, Letters and Philosophy faculty and Engineering faculty indoor environments were mapped. To reach this goal, only open source software such as Quantum GIS (QGIS) and open-source platforms like Open Street Map (OSM) and its indoor viewer, Open Level Up (OLU) were adopted. A database of indoor environments of the two faculties, completely compatible with OLU, was created through QGIS. In this way, a public territorial information system of classrooms, offices and laboratories is accessible to everyone who can, hence, add or modify the information, following the principle of crowdsourcing and of Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI). The developed procedure is now standard and its outputs accepted by the OSM community. Hence, the long-term developments of this project are the proposal for the volunteered and cooperative indoor mapping and design of strategic buildings and infrastructures (hospitals, schools, public offices, shopping centers, stations, airports etc.), starting from the available information (indoor layouts) and knowledge acquired through experience of people who normally work inside them and/or visit them frequently. In this context it is possible to state that the development of VGI for internal maps for strategic buildings, infrastructures and denied GNSS environments, not only supports and improves internal and external navigation without interruption, but can also have a significant positive impact on security and emergency management.

La patologia infiammatoria ed ostruttiva delle ghiandole salivari riconosce molteplici eziologie con coinvolgimento del parenchima ghiandolare e/o del sistema escretore. Il quadro clinico è essenziale per indirizzare lintegrazione diagnostica con adeguate metodiche di imaging. Sulla base dellanamnesi e dellesame obiettivo, possono riconoscersi quattro scenari clinici: (1) tumefazione acuta generalizzata delle ghiandole salivari maggiori; (2) tumefazione acuta di ununica ghiandola salivare maggiore; (3) tumefazione cronica generalizzata delle ghiandole salivari maggiori associata o meno a xerostomia; (4) tumefazione cronica o persistente di una singola ghiandola salivare maggiore. Lalgoritmo diagnostico per la scelta della metodica di imaging più appropriata dipende quindi dallo scenario clinico. Limaging è essenziale per confermare la diagnosi clinica, per definire lestensione della patologia ed identificare eventuali complicanze. Le metodiche di imaging disponibili includono lecografia, la tomografia computerizzata e la risonanza magnetica, anche con scialografia RM.

Il tumore fibroso solitario (SFT) è una neoplasia rara, benigna, di origine mesenchimale che generalmente origina nella pleura ma che raramente può coinvolgere altre sedi al di fuori degli spazi sierosi (mediastino, polmone, fegato, tiroide); il coinvolgimento laringeo è molto raro con solo pochi casi riportati in letteratura. Riportiamo un caso di SFT in una paziente di 41 anni con coinvolgimento della laringe sopraglottica. La sintomatologia è comparsa con disfonia e modesta odinofagia da 2 anni; L’esame fibrolaringoscopico ha evidenziato una massa sottomucosa con coinvolgimento della sovraglottide di sinistra e della parete mediale del seno piriforme. L’RMN rappresenta l’esame principale per escludere altre diagnosi (schwannoma, paragangliome ed emangioma) e per una corretta stadiazione mentre l’immunoistochimica e l’analisi citomorfologica (bcl-2 e CD34 positiva nel 90% dei casi) è la base per una diagnosi definitiva. La chirurgia (endoscopica o cielo aperto) è la prima scelta di trattamento e l’obbiettivo è un bilancio tra la radicalità oncologica e la funzione d’organo; nel caso riportato l’approccio è stato a cielo aperto per il volume della massa tumorale. La prognosi è buona e solo in alcuni casi (specialmente nei SFT pleurici) il comportamento biologico del tumore può essere di tipo maligno.

Deep learning solutions have rapidly emerged for EEG decoding, achieving state-of-the-art performance on a variety of decoding tasks. Despite their high performance, existing solutions do not fully address the challenge posed by the introduction of many hyperparameters, defining data pre-processing, network architecture, network training, and data augmentation. Automatic hyperparameter search is rarely performed and limited to network-related hyperparameters. Moreover, pipelines are highly sensitive to performance fluctuations due to random initialization, hindering their reliability. Here, we design a comprehensive protocol for EEG decoding that explores the hyperparameters characterizing the entire pipeline and that includes multi-seed initialization for providing robust performance estimates. Our protocol is validated on 9 datasets about motor imagery, P300, SSVEP, including 204 participants and 26 recording sessions, and on different deep learning models. We accompany our protocol with extensive experiments on the main aspects influencing it, such as the number of participants used for hyperparameter search, the split into sequential simpler searches (multi-step search), the use of informed vs. non-informed search algorithms, and the number of random seeds for obtaining stable performance. The best protocol included 2-step hyperparameter search via an informed search algorithm, with the final training and evaluation performed using 10 random initializations. The optimal trade-off between performance and computational time was achieved by using a subset of 3-5 participants for hyperparameter search. Our protocol consistently outperformed baseline state-of-the-art pipelines, widely across datasets and models, and could represent a standard approach for neuroscientists for decoding EEG in a trustworthy and reliable way., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) have emerged as a powerful tool for data-driven learning on various graph domains. They are usually based on a message-passing mechanism and have gained increasing popularity for their intuitive formulation, which is closely linked to the Weisfeiler-Lehman (WL) test for graph isomorphism to which they have been proven equivalent in terms of expressive power. In this work, we establish new generalization properties and fundamental limits of GNNs in the context of learning so-called identity effects, i.e., the task of determining whether an object is composed of two identical components or not. Our study is motivated by the need to understand the capabilities of GNNs when performing simple cognitive tasks, with potential applications in computational linguistics and chemistry. We analyze two case studies: (i) two-letters words, for which we show that GNNs trained via stochastic gradient descent are unable to generalize to unseen letters when utilizing orthogonal encodings like one-hot representations; (ii) dicyclic graphs, i.e., graphs composed of two cycles, for which we present positive existence results leveraging the connection between GNNs and the WL test. Our theoretical analysis is supported by an extensive numerical study., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

2-deoxy-2-[ 18 F]-fluoro-D-glucose (2-[ 18 F]FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) plays a crucial role in the management of lymphoma in different settings, such as staging disease, assessing response to therapy, predicting prognosis, and planning RT. Beside visual analysis, several semiquantitative parameters were introduced to study lymphoma with promising results. These parameters can represent different disease characteristics, like body composition (such as sarcopenic index), dissemination of disease (Dmax), tumor burden (including metabolic tumor volume) and texture features. All these parameters showed promising results, especially in terms of prognosis (progression free survival and overall survival), but lack of standardization and shared methodology remains a big issue. Advances in PET-based biomarkers are on the horizon, yet their integration into clinical decision-making is currently hindered by methodological limitations that require resolution through confirmatory prospective validation in specific patient groups. This review highlights studies demonstrating the prognostic and predictive value of these semiquantitative parameters in lymphoma, while also discussing their potential applicability in clinical practice., 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. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision., (Copyright © 2024 Albano, Ravanelli, Durmo, Versari, Filice, Rizzo, Racca, Pizzuto, Bertagna and Annunziata.)

Purpose To determine the prevalence of mitral annular disjunction (MAD) in patients undergoing cardiac MRI for various clinical indications and to assess the association of MAD with arrhythmia, mitral valve prolapse (MVP), and myocardial alteration. Materials and Methods This study analyzed data from a retrospective observational registry of consecutive patients undergoing cardiac MRI for different clinical indications. Cardiac MRI examinations were performed from January 2019 to June 2019 at 13 Italian hospitals. Images underwent double reading by expert cardiac radiologists from the enrolling center and the core laboratory to assess the presence of MAD. Presence and maximum length of MAD and its association to MVP pattern, functional and structural myocardial alteration, and arrhythmia were evaluated using nonparametric and parametric tests. Logistic regression models were used to identify predictors of arrhythmia. Results Cardiac MRI studies from 2611 consecutive patients (1730, 66% male; median age, 53 years; IQR, 39-65 years) were evaluated. Prevalence of MAD was 5.44% (142 of 2611). MAD was an incidental finding in 74.6% (106 of 142) of patients. Patients with MAD had a higher prevalence of arrhythmias compared with patients without MAD (40% [57 of 142] vs 18% [444 of 2469]; P < .001). Patients with MAD and bileaflet MVP showed a longer MAD compared with patients with single-leaflet or absent MVP (median, 7 mm [IQR, 3-9.5 mm] vs 4 mm [IQR, 3-5 mm]; P < .001), a higher prevalence of systolic curling (75% [21 of 28] vs 30.7% [35 of 114]; P < .001), higher extracellular volume values (30% [IQR, 28%-32%] vs 27% [IQR, 25%-30%]; P = .04), and a higher prevalence of arrhythmia (64.2% [18 of 28] vs 34.2% [39 of 114]; P = .006). MAD length of at least 5 mm was an independent predictor of arrhythmia (odds ratio 3.96; 95% CI: 1.93, 8.15; P < .001). Conclusion MAD was a frequent incidental finding on cardiac MRI scans from a multicenter registry. MAD length of at least 5 mm and coexisting bileaflet MVP showed a higher risk of arrhythmia. Keywords: MR Imaging, Cardiac, Mitral Annular Disjunction Supplemental material is available for this article. ©RSNA, 2024.

Purpose: The impact of dietary counseling on body composition in early breast cancer patients (EBC) treated with aromatase inhibitors (AIs) is uncertain. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of a diet counseling program on weight, BMI, total and regional body composition in patients treated with AIs., Methods: This observational study involved 194 EBC patients, of which 97 attended a 6-month personalized counseling program, based on Mediterranean diet principles (cohort A) and 97 did not (cohort B). Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan was used to measure the total and regional fat and lean body mass, before (baseline) and after at least 18 months of AI-therapy., Results: Weight and BMI increased significantly, on the average, in cohort B, but not in cohort A. In the cohorts A and B, fat mass increased by 10 % and 7.7 % respectively, while lean mass decreased by 3.3 % and 2.6 % from before to after AI therapy, without statistically significant differences between them using the Mann-Whitney test. The changes in body composition were greater in premenopausal than in postmenopausal women at cancer diagnosis. The proportion of patients with sarcopenia, obesity and sarcopenic obesity increased from before to after AI therapy, similarly in both cohorts., Conclusions: Patients treated with AIs reported an increase in fat mass and a decrease in lean mass, and consequently an increase in sarcopenia and obesity, regardless of the participation in a dietary counseling program. A combined dietary counseling and physical exercise program may be necessary for preventing these unfavourable changes in these patients., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background/objectives: Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma (AdCC) is a rare malignant salivary gland tumor, with high rates of recurrence and distant metastasis. This study aims to stratify patients Relapse-Free Survival (RFS) using a combined model of clinical and radiomic features from preoperative MRI., Methods: This retrospective study included patients with primary AdCC who underwent surgery and adjuvant radiotherapy. Segmentations were manually performed by two head and neck radiologists. Radiomic features were extracted using the 3D Slicer software. Descriptive statistics was performed. A Survival Random Forest model was employed to select which radiological feature predict RFS. Cox proportional hazards models were constructed using clinical, radiological variables or both. Synthetic data augmentation was applied to address the small sample size and improve model robustness. Models were validated on real data and compared using the C-index and Prediction Error Curves (PEC)., Results: Three Cox models were developed: one with clinical features (C-index = 0.67), one with radiomic features (C-index = 0.68), and one combining both (C-index = 0.77). The combined clinical-radiomic model had the highest predictive accuracy and outperformed models based on clinical or radiomic features. The combined model also exhibited the lowest mean Brier score in PEC analysis, indicating better predictive performance., Conclusions: This study demonstrate that a combined radiomic-clinical model can predict RFS in AdCC patients. This model may provide clinicians a valuable tool in patient's management and may aid in personalized treatment planning.

Deep learning has revolutionized EEG decoding, showcasing its ability to outperform traditional machine learning models. However, unlike other fields, EEG decoding lacks comprehensive open-source libraries dedicated to neural networks. Existing tools (MOABB and braindecode) prevent the creation of robust and complete decoding pipelines, as they lack support for hyperparameter search across the entire pipeline, and are sensitive to fluctuations in results due to network random initialization. Furthermore, the absence of a standardized experimental protocol exacerbates the reproducibility crisis in the field. To address these limitations, we introduce SpeechBrain-MOABB, a novel open-source toolkit carefully designed to facilitate the development of a comprehensive EEG decoding pipeline based on deep learning. SpeechBrain-MOABB incorporates a complete experimental protocol that standardizes critical phases, such as hyperparameter search and model evaluation. It natively supports multi-step hyperparameter search for finding the optimal hyperparameters in a high-dimensional space defined by the entire pipeline, and multi-seed training and evaluation for obtaining performance estimates robust to the variability caused by random initialization. SpeechBrain-MOABB outperforms other libraries, including MOABB and braindecode, with accuracy improvements of 14.9% and 25.2% (on average), respectively. By enabling easy-to-use and easy-to-share decoding pipelines, our toolkit can be exploited by neuroscientists for decoding EEG with neural networks in a replicable and trustworthy way., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have demonstrated efficacy in the treatment of recurrent and/or metastatic (RM) head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) Keynote 048 highlighted the relevance of PD-L1 Combined Positive Score (CPS) as a predictive biomarker for ICIs treatment, but challenges persist regarding ideal assessment and concordance between primary and relapsing tumor has not been determined., Material and Methods: This is a retrospective multicentric study that included HNSCC patients with locoregional and/or metastatic relapses after curative treatment. Histological samples of primary tumors and corresponding relapses were collected. The primary objective was to evaluate PD-L1 CPS concordance between primary and recurrent tumors, with secondary objective of exploring the impact of clinical-pathological variables., Results: Out of 86 evaluated patients, 30 cases were excluded due to insufficient histological material, with a final enrollment of 56 patients. Concordance analysis revealed a 66.1% agreement in PD-L1 CPS between primary and recurrent tumors. Only 3.6% of cases exhibited a change from negative to positive PD-L1 CPS status, and 7.2% showed the reverse. Factors analyzed, including primary tumor site, treatment modality, and recurrence type, did not significantly influence PD-L1 CPS concordance level., Conclusion: While significant changes in PD-L1 CPS expression are rare, the study underscores the importance of confirmatory biopsies on relapse. However, reliance on archival tumor tissue for initial PDL1 assessment may be considered in cases where obtaining additional biopsies poses risks to patients or urgent therapeutic decisions are required., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: [PB: participation to advisory board or conference honoraria for: Merck, Sanofi-Regeneron, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Sun Pharma, Angelini, Nestlè, Elevar. Other authors have nothing to declare]., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Radiomics is an emerging field that utilizes quantitative features extracted from medical images to predict clinically meaningful outcomes. Validating findings is crucial to assess radiomics applicability. We aimed to validate previously published magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) radiomics models to predict oncological outcomes in oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC)., Materials and Methods: Retrospective multicentric study on OTSCC surgically treated from 2010 to 2019. All patients performed preoperative MRI, including contrast-enhanced T1-weighted (CE-T1), diffusion-weighted sequences and apparent diffusion coefficient map. We evaluated overall survival (OS), locoregional recurrence-free survival (LRRFS), cause-specific mortality (CSM). We elaborated different models based on clinical and radiomic data. C-indexes assessed the prediction accuracy of the models., Results: We collected 112 consecutive independent patients from three Italian Institutions to validate the previously published MRI radiomic models based on 79 different patients. The C-indexes for the hybrid clinical-radiomic models in the validation cohort were lower than those in the training cohort but remained > 0.5 in most cases. CE-T1 sequence provided the best fit to the models: the C-indexes obtained were 0.61, 0.59, 0.64 (pretreatment model) and 0.65, 0.69, 0.70 (posttreatment model) for OS, LRRFS and CSM, respectively., Conclusion: Our clinical-radiomic models retain a potential to predict OS, LRRFS and CSM in heterogeneous cohorts across different centers. These findings encourage further research, aimed at overcoming current limitations, due to the variability of imaging acquisition, processing and tumor volume delineation., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: This study evaluates the repeatability and reproducibility of fat-fraction percentage (FF%) in whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (WB-MRI) of prostate cancer patients with bone metastatic hormone naive disease., Methods: Patients were selected from the database of a prospective phase-II trial. The treatment response was assessed using the METastasis Reporting and Data System for Prostate (MET-RADS-P). Two operators identified a Small Active Lesion (SAL, <10 mm) and a Large Active Lesion (LAL, ≥10 mm) per patient, performing manual segmentation of lesion volume and the largest cross-sectional area. Measurements were repeated by one operator after two weeks. Intra- and inter-reader agreements were assessed via Interclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) on first-order radiomics features., Results: Intra-reader ICC showed high repeatability for both SAL and LAL in a single slice (SS) and volumetric (VS) measurements with values ranging from 0.897 to 0.971. Inter-reader ICC ranged from 0.641 to 0.883, indicating moderate to good reproducibility. Spearman's rho analysis confirmed a strong correlation between SS and VS measurements for SAL (0.817) and a moderate correlation for LAL (0.649). Both intra- and inter-rater agreement exceeded 0.75 for multiple first-order features across lesion sizes., Conclusion: This study suggests that FF% measurements are reproducible, particularly for larger lesions in both SS and VS assessments.

Imaging of the larynx and hypopharynx is frequently requested to assess the extent of neoplasms beyond the field of view of endoscopic evaluation. The combination of optical and cross-sectional imaging allows tumors to be classified according to AJCC/UICC guidelines. A thorough understanding of laryngeal and hypopharyngeal anatomy is crucial to guide the radiological eye along the possible pathways of the spread of diseases and to guide differential diagnoses. Computed tomography (CT) has been the first cross-sectional imaging technique used to evaluate the larynx and hypopharynx; its spatial resolution combined with volumetric capability and the use of injectable contrast medium made CT the working horse in the assessment of neoplastic and inflammatory diseases. In the last two decades, magnetic resonance (MR) supported CT in the most challenging cases, when the optimal contrast resolution due to the multisequence portfolio is needed to assess the neoplastic involvement of laryngeal cartilages, paraglottic space(s), and extra laryngeal spread. The aim of this paper is to give a comprehensive radiological overview of larynx and hypopharynx complex anatomy, combining in vivo images, anatomical sections, and images of ex vivo specimens., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Objective: Detection of laryngeal cartilage invasion is of great importance in staging of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). The role of prognosticators in locally advanced laryngeal cancer are still widely debated. This study aimed to assess the impact of volume of thyroid cartilage infiltration, as well as other histopathologic variables, on patient survival., Materials and Methods: We retrospectively analysed 74 patients affected by pT4 LSCC and treated with total laryngectomy between 2005 and 2021 at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery of the University of Brescia, Italy. We considered as potential prognosticators histological grade, perineural (PNI) and lympho-vascular invasion (LVI), thyroid cartilage infiltration, and pTN staging. Pre-operative CT or MRI were analysed to quantify the volume of cartilage infiltration using 3D Slicer software., Results: The 1-, 3-, and 5-year disease free survivals (DFS) were 76%, 66%, and 64%, respectively. Using machine learning models, we found that the volume of thyroid cartilage infiltration had high correlation with DFS. Patients with a higher volume (>670 mm 3 ) of infiltration had a worse prognosis compared to those with a lower volume., Conclusions: Our study confirms the essential role of LVI as prognosticator in advanced LSCC and, more innovatively, highlights the volume of thyroid cartilage infiltration as another promising prognostic factor., (Copyright © 2024 Società Italiana di Otorinolaringoiatria e Chirurgia Cervico-Facciale, Rome, Italy.)

Purpose: In clinical practice the assessment of the "vocal cord-arytenoid unit" (VCAU) mobility is crucial in the staging, prognosis, and choice of treatment of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). The aim of the present study was to measure repeatability and reliability of clinical assessment of VCAU mobility and radiologic analysis of posterior laryngeal extension., Methods: In this multi-institutional retrospective study, patients with LSCC-induced impairment of VCAU mobility who received curative treatment were included; pre-treatment endoscopy and contrast-enhanced imaging were collected and evaluated by raters. According to their evaluations, concordance, number of assigned categories, and inter- and intra-rater agreement were calculated., Results: Twenty-two otorhinolaryngologists evaluated 366 videolaryngoscopies (total evaluations: 2170) and 6 radiologists evaluated 237 imaging studies (total evaluations: 477). The concordance of clinical rating was excellent in only 22.7% of cases. Overall, inter- and intra-rater agreement was weak. Supraglottic cancers and transoral endoscopy were associated with the lowest inter-observer reliability values. Radiologic inter-rater agreement was low and did not vary with imaging technique. Intra-rater reliability of radiologic evaluation was optimal., Conclusions: The current methods to assess VCAU mobility and posterior extension of LSCC are flawed by weak inter-observer agreement and reliability. Radiologic evaluation was characterized by very high intra-rater agreement, but weak inter-observer reliability. The relevance of VCAU mobility assessment in laryngeal oncology should be re-weighted. Patients affected by LSCC requiring imaging should be referred to dedicated radiologists with experience in head and neck oncology., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: Postoperative imaging after nasopharyngeal endoscopic resection (NER) and skull base reconstruction is quite challenging due to the complexity of the post-surgical and regional anatomy. Methods: In this retrospective observational study, we included patients treated with NER from 2009 to 2019 and submitted to Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) 6 and 12 months after surgery. A radiologist with 15 years of experience analyzed all MRI scans. Results: A total of 50 patients were considered in this study, 18 of whom were excluded due to imaging unavailability, and 16 of whom were not considered due to major complications and/or persistent disease. Sixteen patients were evaluated to identify the expected findings. Inflammatory changes were observed in 16/64 subsites, and regression of these changes was observed in 8/64 at 1 year. Fibrosis was observed in 5/64 subsites and was unmodified at 1 year. The nasoseptal flap showed homogeneous enhancement at 6 months (100%) and at 1 year. The temporo-parietal fascia flap (TPFF) showed a decrease in the T2- signal intensity of the mucosal layer in 57% of the patients at 1 year and a decrease in enhancement in 43%. Conclusions: Identifying the expected findings after NER and skull base reconstruction has a pivotal role in the identification of complications and recurrence.

The clinical applicability of radiomics in oncology depends on its transferability to real-world settings. However, the absence of standardized radiomics pipelines combined with methodological variability and insufficient reporting may hamper the reproducibility of radiomic analyses, impeding its translation to clinics. This study aimed to identify and replicate published, reproducible radiomic signatures based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), for prognosis of overall survival in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients. Seven signatures were identified and reproduced on 58 HNSCC patients from the DB2Decide Project. The analysis focused on: assessing the signatures' reproducibility and replicating them by addressing the insufficient reporting; evaluating their relationship and performances; and proposing a cluster-based approach to combine radiomic signatures, enhancing the prognostic performance. The analysis revealed key insights: (1) despite the signatures were based on different features, high correlations among signatures and features suggested consistency in the description of lesion properties; (2) although the uncertainties in reproducing the signatures, they exhibited a moderate prognostic capability on an external dataset; (3) clustering approaches improved prognostic performance compared to individual signatures. Thus, transparent methodology not only facilitates replication on external datasets but also advances the field, refining prognostic models for potential personalized medicine applications., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Purpose of Review: Laryngeal cancer (LC) is a highly aggressive malignancy of the head and neck and represents about 1-2% of cancer worldwide.Treatment strategies for LC aim both to complete cancer removal and to preserve laryngeal function or maximize larynx retention.Predicting with high precision response to induction chemotherapy (IC) is one of the main fields of research when considering LC, since this could guide treatment strategies in locally advanced LC., Recent Findings: Radiomics is a noninvasive method to extract quantitative data from the whole tumor using medical imaging. This signature could represent the underlying tumor heterogeneity and phenotype.During the last five years, some studies have highlighted the potential of radiomics in the pretreatment assessment of LC, in the prediction of response to IC, and in the early assessment of response to radiation therapy. Although these represent promising results, larger multicentric studies are demanded to validate the value of radiomics in this field., Summary: The role of radiomics in laryngeal preservation strategies is still to be defined. There are some early promising studies, but the lack of validation and larger multicentric studies limit the value of the papers published in the literature and its application in clinical practice., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: To investigate the potential reconstruction of complex maxillofacial defects using computer-aided design 3D-printed polymeric scaffolds by defining the production process, simulating the surgical procedure, and explore the feasibility and reproducibility of the whole algorithm., Methods: This a preclinical study to investigate feasibility, reproducibility and efficacy of the reconstruction algorithm proposed. It encompassed 3 phases: (1) scaffold production (CAD and 3D-printing in polylactic acid); (2) surgical simulation on cadaver heads (navigation-guided osteotomies and scaffold fixation); (3) assessment of reconstruction (bone and occlusal morphological conformance, symmetry, and mechanical stress tests)., Results: Six cadaver heads were dissected. Six types of defects (3 mandibular and 3 maxillary) with different degree of complexity were tested. In all case the reconstruction algorithm could be successfully completed. Bone morphological conformance was optimal while the occlusal one was slightly higher. Mechanical stress tests were good (mean value, 318.6 and 286.4 N for maxillary and mandibular defects, respectively)., Conclusions: Our reconstructive algorithm was feasible and reproducible in a preclinical setting. Functional and aesthetic outcomes were satisfactory independently of the complexity of the defect., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Open partial horizontal laryngectomies (OPHLs) represent a valuable therapeutic option for tumors of the intermediate T-category and, in selected cases, for locally advanced tumors with low-volume extra-laryngeal extension. The eligibility of patients treated with this type of surgery has increased with the introduction of the modular approach to OPHL planning. This strategy follows the introduction of the classification proposed by the European Laryngological Society, based on the extent of horizontal resection. Optimization of the selection is the result of a meticulous work-up process involving close cooperation between experienced surgeons and radiologists, followed by final quality control by pathologists. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging are study methods whose pearls and pitfalls are well known, especially when performed at a high level of expertise. In this paper, based on the experience of two high-volume centers, a checklist of 20 questions addressed by the surgeon to the radiologist before planning an OPHL was proposed. Considerations regarding case selection are reported for each of the questioned parameters. A very simple question-and-answer process is easy to understand and mainly addressed by less experienced colleagues who wish to increase their knowledge and skills in performing this type of surgery., 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. The reviewer RS declared a past collaboration with the author CP to the handling editor., (Copyright © 2024 Crosetti, Succo, Sapino, Bertotto, Cirillo, Petracchini, Fondello, Arrigoni, Tascone, Piazza, Farina and Ravanelli.)