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Objectives: To investigate whether subendocardial and transmural myocardial infarction can be identified and differentiated using the peak circumferential and longitudinal strains measured by fast strain-encoded (SENC).Methods: Nineteen patients with ischemic heart diseases underwent imaging with fast SENC and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) MRI at 3 T. Fast SENC measurements were performed in three short-axis slices (basal, mid-ventricular and apical levels) and one long-axis view (four-chamber) to assess peak longitudinal and circumferential systolic strains.Results: All patients showed myocardial infarction with an average of 7 positive LGE segments. A total of 304 segments for longitudinal strains (LS) and 114 segments for circumferential strains (CS) could be analysed. Positive LGE segments showed lower peak CS and LS compared with the no LGE segments (P < 0.0001 for both). Segments with subendocardial infarction showed reduced CS and LS compared with the no LGE segments (P < 0.0001 for both). There was a significant difference in CS between subendocardial and transmural infarct segments (P = 0.03), but no significant difference in LS between them (P = 0.64).Conclusions: Fast SENC can identify old myocardial infarction and differentiate subendocardial from transmural infarction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In 2018, diagnostic criteria were introduced for IgG4-related periaortitis/periarteritis and retroperitoneal fibrosis (PA/RPF). This study assessed the existing criteria and formulated an improved version., Methods and Results: Between August 2022 and January 2023, we retrospectively analyzed 110 Japanese patients diagnosed with IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) involving cardiovascular and/or retroperitoneal manifestations, along with 73 non-IgG4-RD patients ("mimickers") identified by experts. Patients were stratified into derivation (n=88) and validation (n=95) groups. Classification as IgG4-RD or non-IgG4-RD was based on the 2018 diagnostic criteria and various revised versions. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated using experts' diagnosis as the gold standard for the diagnosis of true IgG4-RD and mimickers. In the derivation group, the 2018 criteria showed 58.5% sensitivity and 100% specificity. The revised version, incorporating "radiologic findings of pericarditis", "eosinophilic infiltration or lymphoid follicles", and "probable diagnosis of extra-PA/-RPF lesions", improved sensitivity to 69.8% while maintaining 100% specificity. In the validation group, the original and revised criteria had sensitivities of 68.4% and 77.2%, respectively, and specificities of 97.4% and 94.7%, respectively., Conclusions: Proposed 2023 revised IgG4-related cardiovascular/retroperitoneal disease criteria show significantly enhanced sensitivity while preserving high specificity, achieved through the inclusion of new items in radiologic, pathological, and extra-cardiovascular/retroperitoneal organ categories.

We herein report a 47-year-old man who presented with progressive paraparesis. Imaging revealed a right upper pulmonary nodule, massive bilateral adrenal metastases, thoracolumbar vertebral osteolysis, and subcutaneous nodules. A biopsy of the right buttock nodule revealed a poorly differentiated metastatic carcinoma with high programmed cell death-ligand 1 expression and extensive chromosomal rearrangements. The patient died 10 days after the initiation of pembrolizumab treatment. Autopsy findings confirmed pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma with extensive metastases. Quantification of chromosomal rearrangements revealed a jump-up mutation from the normal karyotype, followed by a further incremental increase in the degree of deviation.

Background: Recurrent esophageal cancer (EC) has a poor prognosis. However, the recurrence patterns and therapeutic outcomes after definitive chemoradiotherapy (CRT) are not fully understood. We analyzed survival and prognostic factors associated with post-definitive CRT recurrent EC., Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 71 consecutive patients with post-definitive CRT EC recurrence between 2008 and 2021 at our institution. Recurrence was locoregional, distant, and combined in 42 (59%), 18 (25%), and 11 (16%) patients, respectively. The median time from definitive CRT to recurrence was 8.3 months. Treatment modalities included local therapy, systemic therapy, and palliative care. Overall survival (OS) after recurrence was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards models., Results: The median follow-up time from recurrence was 7.1 months, and the median survival time (MST) was 12.5 months. In the univariate analysis, longer time to recurrence, earlier stage at initial treatment, surgical tolerance at initial diagnosis, treatment modalities, and oligo-recurrence were associated with a better prognosis. The MST of the local therapy, systemic therapy, and palliative care groups were not reached, 11.8 months and 4.1 months, respectively (P < 0.001). In the multivariate analysis, treatment modalities and oligo-recurrence emerged as independent prognostic factors (P < 0.001 and P = 0.009)., Conclusions: Aggressive local therapy should be considered to improve the prognosis for patients with oligo-recurrence and/or indication of local therapy to treat recurrent EC., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the frequency of COVID-19 vaccine-induced reactive change and potential factors including blood type correlated with increased FDG uptake on positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT)., Materials and Methods: We evaluated 284 patients who underwent PET/CT between June and September 2021 and had a known history of COVID-19 vaccination. Information on the injection site, vaccine type, and adverse reactions was obtained. We visually assessed the presence or absence of accumulation in the axillary and supraclavicular lymph nodes and the deltoid muscles. We measured the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) using semi-quantitative analysis., Results: Our study included 158 males and 126 females aged 16-94. The median time between vaccination and PET/CT was 9 and 42 days for patients who had received their first and second doses, respectively. We observed axillary lymph node accumulation, supraclavicular lymph node accumulation, and deltoid muscle accumulation in 98 (SUVmax 1.07-25.1), nine (SUVmax 2.28-14.5), and 33 cases (SUVmax 0.93-7.42), respectively. In cases with axillary lymph node (P = 0.0057) or deltoid muscle (P = 0.047) accumulation, the shorter the time since vaccination, the higher the FDG accumulation. Patients with axillary lymph node accumulation were significantly younger (P < 0.0001) and had a significantly higher frequency of adverse reactions such as fever (P < 0.0001) and myalgia (P = 0.002). No significant relationship was observed between blood type and the frequency of FDG accumulation. Logistic regression analysis also showed that age, gender, days since vaccination, and adverse reactions such as fever and myalgia were important factors for axillary lymph node accumulation., Conclusion: Our study found that FDG accumulation in the axillary lymph nodes and deltoid muscle was higher within a shorter time after vaccination, and axillary lymph node accumulation was higher in young patients, females, and those with adverse reactions of fever and myalgia. No significant relationship was observed between blood type and the frequency of FDG accumulation. Confirming the vaccination status, time since vaccination, and the presence of adverse reactions before PET may reduce false positives., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to The Author(s) under exclusive licence to The Japanese Society of Nuclear Medicine.)

Purpose: Several reporting systems have been proposed for providing standardized language and diagnostic categories aiming for expressing the likelihood that lung abnormalities on CT images represent COVID-19. We developed a machine learning (ML)-based CT texture analysis software for simple triage based on the RSNA Expert Consensus Statement system. The purpose of this study was to conduct a multi-center and multi-reader study to determine the capability of ML-based computer-aided simple triage (CAST) software based on RSNA expert consensus statements for diagnosis of COVID-19 pneumonia., Methods: For this multi-center study, 174 cases who had undergone CT and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for COVID-19 were retrospectively included. Their CT data were then assessed by CAST and consensus from three board-certified chest radiologists, after which all cases were classified as either positive or negative. Diagnostic performance was then compared by McNemar's test. To determine radiological finding evaluation capability of CAST, three other board-certified chest radiologists assessed CAST results for radiological findings into five criteria. Finally, accuracies of all radiological evaluations were compared by McNemar's test., Results: A comparison of diagnosis for COVID-19 pneumonia based on RT-PCR results for cases with COVID-19 pneumonia findings on CT showed no significant difference of diagnostic performance between ML-based CAST software and consensus evaluation (p > 0.05). Comparison of agreement on accuracy for all radiological finding evaluations showed that emphysema evaluation accuracy for investigator A (AC = 91.7%) was significantly lower than that for investigators B (100%, p = 0.0009) and C (100%, p = 0.0009)., Conclusion: This multi-center study shows COVID-19 pneumonia triage by CAST can be considered at least as valid as that by chest expert radiologists and may be capable for playing as useful a complementary role for management of suspected COVID-19 pneumonia patients as well as the RT-PCR test in routine clinical practice., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background: During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan, access to reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing was limited. All patients with COVID-19 required hospitalization, and isolation of suspected COVID-19 patients had not yet been implemented. With the recently acquired evidence on COVID-19, it is important to develop a risk stratification system for isolation rooms in the context of limited resources for better resource management., Objective: This study aimed to develop and validate a COVID-19 risk-scoring strategy, the Fukuchi-Manabe score, to safely stratify and manage isolation rooms, personal protective equipment (PPE), and RT-PCR testing in the context of limited RT-PCR testing and a short supply of PPE., Methods: This single-center prospective study consecutively enrolled suspected COVID-19 adult inpatients between March 1 and August 31, 2020. The primary and secondary outcomes were a positive RT-PCR test and the occurrence of nosocomial infections during the study period, respectively. Factors related to patient history, symptoms, chest computed tomography findings, and laboratory data suggestive of COVID-19 were scored, totaled, and divided into four categories ("probable," "possible," "less likely," and "non-suspicious") based on the likelihood of COVID-19. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were evaluated for each probability category., Findings: Twenty of 224 inpatients were positive on the RT-PCR test, including 18 "probable" patients (90.0%), one "possible" patient, and one "less likely" patient. The area under the curve (AUC) (95% confidence interval: 0.841-0.977), sensitivity, and specificity were 0.909, 90.0%, and 80.4%, respectively. The positive and negative predictive values and accuracy for the "probable" category were 0.90, 0.80, and 0.82, respectively. The mean and standard deviation of AUCs, validated by bootstrap analysis, were 0.910±0.034. No nosocomial infections were observed., Conclusion: The Fukuchi-Manabe score will be helpful when other novel pathogens emerge in the future before the availability of genetic testing methods., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright © 2024, Fukuchi et al.)

Computed tomography late enhancement (CT-LE) is emerging as a non-invasive technique for cardiac diagnosis with wider accessibility compared to MRI, despite its typically lower contrast-to-noise ratio. Optimizing CT-LE image quality necessitates a thorough methodology addressing contrast administration, timing, and radiation dose, alongside a robust understanding of extracellular volume (ECV) quantification methods. This review summarizes CT-LE protocols, clinical utility, and advances in ECV measurement through both single-energy and dual-energy CT. It also highlights photon-counting detector CT technology as an innovative means to potentially improve image quality and reduce radiation exposure., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest No author declared a conflict of interest with respect to this manuscript. Other potentially competing interests were provided in detail separately., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Contrast-enhanced CT and MR angiography are widely used for follow-up of visceral artery aneurysms after coil embolization. However, potential adverse reactions to contrast agents and image deterioration due to susceptibility artifacts from the coils are major drawbacks of these modalities. Herein, we introduced a novel non-contrast-enhanced MR angiography technique using ultra-short TE combined with a modified signal targeting alternating radio frequency with asymmetric inversion slabs, which could provide a serial hemodynamic vascular image with fewer susceptibility artifacts for follow-up after coil embolization.

Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: N.O.-M. receives payments for lectures from Bayer Yakuhin, Ltd and Canon Medical Systems.

Background: The differences in pre- and early post-procedural blood flow dynamics between the two major types of bioprosthetic valves, the balloon-expandable valve (BEV) and self-expandable valve (SEV), in patients with aortic stenosis (AS) undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), have not been investigated. We aimed to investigate the differences in blood flow dynamics between the BEV and SEV using four-dimensional flow cardiovascular magnetic resonance (4D flow CMR)., Methods: We prospectively examined 98 consecutive patients with severe AS who underwent TAVR between May 2018 and November 2021 (58 BEV and 40 SEV) after excluding those without CMR because of a contraindication, inadequate imaging from the analyses, or patients' refusal. CMR was performed in all participants before (median interval, 22 [interquartile range (IQR) 4-39] days) and after (median interval, 6 [IQR 3-6] days) TAVR. We compared the changes in blood flow patterns, wall shear stress (WSS), and energy loss (EL) in the ascending aorta (AAo) between the BEV and SEV using 4D flow CMR., Results: The absolute reductions in helical flow and flow eccentricity were significantly higher in the SEV group compared in the BEV group after TAVR (BEV: - 0.22 ± 0.86 vs. SEV: - 0.85 ± 0.80, P < 0.001 and BEV: - 0.11 ± 0.79 vs. SEV: - 0.50 ± 0.88, P = 0.037, respectively); there were no significant differences in vortical flow between the groups. The absolute reduction of average WSS was significantly higher in the SEV group compared to the BEV group after TAVR (BEV: - 0.6 [- 2.1 to 0.5] Pa vs. SEV: - 1.8 [- 3.5 to - 0.8] Pa, P = 0.006). The systolic EL in the AAo significantly decreased after TAVR in both the groups, while the absolute reduction was comparable between the groups., Conclusions: Helical flow, flow eccentricity, and average WSS in the AAo were significantly decreased after SEV implantation compared to BEV implantation, providing functional insights for valve selection in patients with AS undergoing TAVR. Our findings offer valuable insights into blood flow dynamics, aiding in the selection of valves for patients with AS undergoing TAVR. Further larger-scale studies are warranted to confirm the prognostic significance of hemodynamic changes in these patients., (© 2023. Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance.)

Objective: This study aimed to compare the contribution of 18 F-fluorodepxyglucose (FDG) positron (PET)/ computed tomography (CT) acquisition of early and delayed scans in patients with cardiac sarcoidosis (CS)., Methods: Twenty-three patients with CS (median age: 69 years; 11 women) were retrospectively evaluated using dual-phase FDG PET/CT. All patients were instructed to consume a low-carbohydrate diet followed by fasting for 18 h before FDG injection to reduce physiological myocardial uptake. PET/CT was acquired at 60 min (early) and 100 min (delayed) after FDG administration. Focal and focal on diffuse uptake on visual analysis was considered positive for CS. A semi-quantitative analysis was performed using the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of the cardiac lesion and the mean SUV (SUVmean) of the blood pool., Results: Significant myocardial FDG uptake was observed in 21 patients (91.3%) in the early acquisition group and in 23 patients in the delayed scan group (100%). Compared to the early scan, the delayed scan showed a significantly higher SUVmax of the cardiac lesion [median, 4.0; IQR (interquartile range, 2.9 to 7.0) vs. 5.8 (IQR 3.7 to 10.1); P = 0.0030] and a significantly lower SUVmean of blood pool [median, 1.3 (IQR, 1.2 to 1.4) vs. 1.1 (IQR, 0.9 to 1.2); P < 0.0001]., Conclusion: Delayed FDG PET/CT acquisition improves detection accuracy in patients with CS compared to early scans with washout of the blood pool activity. Therefore, it can contribute to a more accurate assessment of CS., (© 2023. The Author(s) under exclusive licence to The Japanese Society of Nuclear Medicine.)

Several liver fibrotic markers are associated with prognosis in patients with heart failure (HF). However, the optimal markers for outcome prediction remain unclear. This study aimed to simultaneously investigate the prognostic value of liver fibrotic markers and the associations between these markers and clinical parameters in patients with HF without organic liver disease. We prospectively examined 211 consecutive patients with chronic HF between April 2018 and August 2021, excluding those with organic liver disease, using liver magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound. A total of 7 representative liver fibrotic markers were measured in all patients. The primary outcome of interest was the composite of all-cause death and hospitalization for worsening HF. During a median follow-up period of 747 (interquartile range 465 to 1,042) days, the primary outcome occurred in 45 patients. Patients with higher hyaluronic acid and type III procollagen N-terminal peptide (P-III-P) levels showed a significantly higher incidence of the primary outcome than those without (p <0.001 and p = 0.005, respectively). The multivariable Cox regression analysis revealed that hyaluronic acid and P-III-P levels were independently associated with the risk of adverse events (hazard ratio 1.84, 95% confidence interval 1.18 to 2.87 and hazard ratio 2.89, 95% confidence interval 1.32 to 6.34, respectively) even after adjustment for a mortality prediction model, whereas the other 5 markers were not associated with the primary outcome. In conclusion, among the representative liver fibrotic markers, hyaluronic acid and P-III-P might be the optimal markers for outcome prediction in patients with HF., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Evaluation of liver stiffness (LS) by magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) is useful for estimating right atrial pressure (RAP) in patients with heart failure (HF). However, its prognostic implications are unclear. We sought to investigate whether LS measured by MRE (LS-MRE) could predict clinical outcomes in patients with HF., Methods: We prospectively examined 207 consecutive HF patients between April 2018 and May 2021 after excluding those with organic liver disease. All patients underwent 3.0-T MRE. The primary outcome of interest was the composite of all-cause death and hospitalisation for HF., Results: During a median follow-up period of 720 (interquartile range [IQR] 434-1013) days, the primary outcome occurred in 44 patients (21%), including 15 (7%) all-cause deaths and 29 (14%) hospitalisations for HF. The patients were divided into two groups according to median LS-MRE of 2.54 (IQR 2.34-2.82) kPa. Patients with higher LS-MRE showed a higher incidence of the primary outcome compared to those with lower LS-MRE (p < 0.001). Multivariable Cox regression analyses revealed that LS-MRE value was independently associated with the risk of adverse events (hazard ratio 2.49, 95% confidence interval 1.46-4.24). In multivariable linear regression, RAP showed a stronger correlation with LS-MRE (β coefficient = 0.31, p < 0.001) compared to markers related to liver fibrosis., Conclusions: In patients without chronic liver disease and presenting with HF, elevated LS-MRE was independently associated with worse clinical outcomes. Elevated LS-MRE may be useful for risk stratification in patients with HF and without chronic liver disease., Key Points: • Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) is an emerging non-invasive imaging technique for evaluating liver stiffness (LS) which can estimate right atrial pressure. • Elevated LS-MRE, which mainly reflects liver congestion, was independently associated with worse clinical outcomes in patients with heart failure. • The assessment of LS-MRE would be useful for stratifying the risk of adverse events in heart failure patients without chronic liver disease., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to European Society of Radiology.)

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the diagnostic value of planar 99m Tc-pyrophosphate (PYP) imaging at 1 and 3 h after tracer administration in patients with suspected transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis (ATTR-CA) using SPECT as a reference standard. We also tested whether blood pool activity of PYP is associated with renal dysfunction., Methods: PYP images of 109 consecutive patients with suspected ATTR-CA were retrospectively reviewed. The myocardial PYP uptake was visually graded on a scale of 0 to 3 and quantified with the heart-to-contralateral (H/CL) ratio in accordance with the current expert consensus recommendations. The diagnostic value of planar images for identifying positive PYP SPECT was assessed by a receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis with the area under the curve (AUC). The uptake ratios of the ascending and descending aorta, left atrium, and trapezius muscle divided by the liver uptake were measured on SPECT images and compared to the renal function., Results: A total of 41 patients (38%) had myocardial PYP uptake on SPECT images. In comparison with the visual scores on 1-h anterior planar images, those on 3-h anterior planar images had lower sensitivity (80.5% vs. 97.6%) and higher specificity (86.8% vs. 55.9%) for identifying positive PYP SPECT. The ROC analysis showed that the combination of visual scores on both 1-h and 3-h anterior planar images had significantly higher AUC values in comparison with 1-h anterior planar images alone (0.90 [95% CI 0.83-0.94] vs. 0.83 [95% CI 0.75-0.88]; P < 0.001), which was comparable to the AUC values on 3-h anterior planar images alone (0.88 [95% CI 0.80-0.92]; P = 0.071). In comparison with visual scores on 1-h or 3-h anterior planar images alone, the combination of visual scores and H/CL ratio did not significantly improve the diagnostic value for identifying positive PYP SPECT (P = 0.73 and P = 0.50, respectively). The uptake ratios of ascending aorta/liver, descending aorta/liver, left atrium/liver, and trapezius muscle/liver were not significantly associated with the serum creatinine level or estimated glomerular filtration rate (P > 0.05 for all)., Conclusions: In the assessment of ATTR-CA using PYP imaging, visual scores on 3-h anterior planar images for identifying positive PYP SPECT had lower sensitivity and higher specificity in comparison with those on 1-h anterior planar images. The diagnostic value of the visual scores on 1-h and 3-h anterior planar images was not improved by adding the H/CL ratio. Blood pool activity of PYP was not significantly associated with renal dysfunction., (© 2022. The Author(s) under exclusive licence to The Japanese Society of Nuclear Medicine.)

Rationale and Objectives: Atherosclerosis of the aorta is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular mortality and vascular events. We aim to describe the prevalence and distribution of non-calcified atherosclerotic plaque in the descending aorta as quantified by noncontrast cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) in a community-dwelling cohort of adults., Materials and Methods: We used CMR to quantify noncalcified aortic plaque in 1726 participants (aged 65 ± 9 years, 46.7% men) from the Cohort Study Offspring cohort. ECG-gated, fat-suppressed, T2-weighted, black blood turbo spin echo sequence was used to acquire 36 transverse slices covering the descending aorta from just below the arch to the aortoiliac bifurcation. Plaque was defined as discrete luminal protrusions ≥1 mm; these were manually traced, then summed to determine total descending aortic plaque (DAP) and segmental thoracic and abdominal aortic plaque (TAP, AAP). Participants were stratified by sex and age group (<55, 55-64, 65-74, ≥75y). A healthy referent group (without clinical cardiovascular disease, smoking, diabetes, impaired renal function; (N = 768, 43.8% men) was used to determine upper 90th percentile cutpoints for DAP and AAP which were then applied to the overall study cohort., Results: Prevalence of DAP was similar between men (47.3%) and women (48.9%), p = 0.50, as was AAP prevalence (men: 44.5%, women: 46.7%, p = 0.16); TAP was less prevalent in both sexes (men: 8.9%, women: 7.1%, p = 0.15). Both prevalence and burden of DAP, AAP and TAP increased with advancing age., Conclusion: Noncalcified plaque prevalence, visualized on CMR, in community-dwelling adults is similar between the sexes, and both prevalence and burden of aortic plaque increase with greater age., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Background: Determinants of exercise intolerance in a phenotype of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) with normal left ventricular (LV) structure have not been fully elucidated., Methods: Cardiopulmonary exercise testing and exercise-stress echocardiography were performed in 44 HFpEF patients without LV hypertrophy. Exercise capacity was determined by peak oxygen consumption (peak VO 2 ). Doppler-derived cardiac output (CO), transmitral E velocity, systolic (LV-s') and early diastolic mitral annular velocities (e'), systolic pulmonary artery (PA) pressure (SPAP), tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE), and peak systolic right ventricular (RV) free wall velocity (RV-s') were measured at rest and exercise. E/e' and TAPSE/SPAP were used as an LV filling pressure parameter and RV-PA coupling, respectively., Results: During exercise, CO, LV-s', RV-s', e', and SPAP were significantly increased (p < 0.05 for all), whereas E/e' remained unchanged and TAPSE/SPAP was significantly reduced (p < 0.001). SPAP was higher and TAPSE/SPAP was lower at peak exercise in patients showing lower-half peak VO 2 . In univariable analyses, LV-s' (R = 0.35, p = 0.022), SPAP (R = -0.40, p = 0.008), RV-s' (R = 0.47, p = 0.002), and TAPSE/SPAP (R = 0.42, p = 0.005) were significantly correlated with peak VO 2 . In multivariable analyses, not only SPAP, but also TAPSE/SPAP independently determined peak VO 2 even after the adjustment for clinically relevant parameters., Conclusions: In HFpEF patients without LV hypertrophy, altered RV-PA coupling by exercise could be associated with exercise intolerance, which might not be caused by elevated LV filling pressure., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest There is no conflict of interest to disclose relating to the present study., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A flow-diverter (FD) device is a well-established tool for the treatment of unruptured intracranial aneurysms. Time-of-flight (TOF) MR angiography (MRA) is widely used for postoperative assessment after the treatment with FD; however, it cannot fully visualize intra-aneurysmal and intrastent flow signals due to the magnetic susceptibility from the FD. Recently, the utility of MRA with ultra-short TE (UTE) sequence and arterial spin labeling technique in assessing the therapeutic efficacy of intracranial aneurysms treated with metallic devices has been reported, but long image acquisition time is one of the drawbacks of this method. Herein, we introduce a novel UTE MRA using the subtraction method that enables the reduction in susceptibility artifacts with a short image acquisition time.

Dynamic myocardial computed tomography perfusion (DM-CTP) has good diagnostic accuracy for identifying myocardial ischemia as compared with both invasive and noninvasive reference standards. However, DM-CTP has not yet been implemented in the routine clinical examination of patients with suspected or known coronary artery disease. An important hurdle in the clinical dissemination of the method is the development of the DM-CTP acquisition protocol and image analysis. Therefore, the aim of this article is to provide a review of critical parameters in the design and execution of DM-CTP to optimize each step of the examination and avoid common mistakes. We aim to support potential users in the successful implementation and performance of DM-CTP in daily practice. When performed appropriately, DM-CTP may support clinical decision making. In addition, when combined with coronary computed tomography angiography, it has the potential to shorten the time to diagnosis by providing immediate visualization of both coronary atherosclerosis and its functional relevance using one single modality., Competing Interests: Mathias B. Møller has received grants from The Research Council of Rigshopitalet anm The Research Council of the Heart Center, Rigshospitalet. Joanne D. Schuijf is an employee of Canon Medical Systems Europe. Noriko Oyama-Manabe has received grants from, Canon Medical Systems Corporation, and from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI # 26461780, has activities as a consultant for Canon Medical Systems, and received payment for lectures from Daiichi-Sankyo, Philips Medical Systems, Eisai, Bayer Healthcare, GE Healthcare, Nihon Medi-Physics Co. Ltd and Canon Medical Systems. Jørgen T. Kühl has received funding from the Research Council of Rigshospitalet. Jesper J. Linde has received grants from The Danish Research Foundation and The Research Council of Rigshospitalet. Klaus F. Kofoed AP Moller og hustru Chastine McKinney Mollers Fond, The John and Birthe Meyer Foundation, The Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation, The Lundbeck Foundation, GE Healthcare, Canon Medical Systems, The Danish Heart Foundation, The University of Copenhagen, and is on the Speakers Bureau of Canon Medical Systems Corporation. The remaining authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

We report a case of a deep femoral artery aneurysm with a ligated proximal artery that was successfully managed with endovascular therapy. An 84-year-old male was referred to our institute with a history of surgical resection of a left ruptured deep femoral artery aneurysm wherein another aneurysm was found on the peripheral side. Proximal artery ligation of the peripheral lesion was performed. The residual aneurysm had gradually enlarged after surgery, and contrast-enhanced computed tomography showed contrast effects in the aneurysm that extended to the distal artery. The aneurysm was successfully treated by direct percutaneous puncture embolization with N -butyl-cyanoacrylate., Competing Interests: Disclosure StatementThe authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (© 2022 The Editorial Committee of Annals of Vascular Diseases.)

Objective: Semi-quantitative positron emission tomography (PET) values, such as the maximum standardized uptake value (SUV max ), are widely used to identify malignant lesions and evaluate the response to treatment. The image quality of ring-shaped dedicated breast positron emission tomography (dbPET) has been known to decrease the closer it is to the detector's edge. This study aimed to investigate the effect of radioactivity (RI) outside the detector field of view (FOV) on the image quality of the ring-shaped dbPET., Methods: A breast phantom containing the left myocardium, which was prepared using a 3D printer, filled with 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) solution with various RI concentration ratios (RCRs) of myocardium to background and scanned with the edge of an apex positioned exactly in line with the edge of the FOV of the dbPET scanner. The phantom image quality was visually and quantitatively evaluated. Following the phantom study, left-right breast differences (the left breast uptake ratio to the right breast (LUR)) on clinical dbPET images of 74 women were quantitatively evaluated. The relationships between these parameters, clinical indices, and FDG uptake in the left myocardium on PET/computed tomography (CT) images were analyzed., Results: The phantom study showed that the higher the RCR of the myocardium and the closer it is to the top edge of the phantom, the higher is the pixel value of the dbPET images. In a clinical study, LUR was significantly correlated with myocardial SUV max (r = 0.96, p < 0.0001) and metabolic myocardial volume (r = 0.63, p = 0.001) for whole-body PET/CT imaging. Although no significant correlations were found between LUR and age (r = 0.05, p = 0.6865), body mass index (r = 0.03, p = 0.8178), or distance between the left myocardial apex and chest wall (r = 0.16, p = 0.1667)., Conclusions: FDG uptake in the myocardium affected dbPET images of the left breast, especially near the chest wall. Further, the effect of RI outside the FOV, such as in the myocardium, must be considered in the quantitative evaluation of breast cancer using dbPET., (© 2022. The Author(s) under exclusive licence to The Japanese Society of Nuclear Medicine.)

Background Arterial arteriosclerosis and atherosclerosis reflect vascular disease, the subclinical detection of which allows opportunity for cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention. Larger cohort studies simultaneously quantifying anatomic thoracic and abdominal aortic pathologic abnormalities are lacking in the literature. Purpose To investigate the association of aortic wall area (AWA) and atherosclerotic plaque presence and burden as measured on MRI scans with incident CVD in a community sample. Materials and Methods In this prospective cohort study, participants in the Framingham Heart Study Offspring Cohort without prevalent CVD underwent 1.5-T MRI (between 2002-2005) of the descending thoracic and abdominal aorta with electrocardiogram-gated axial T2-weighted black-blood acquisitions. The wall thickness of the thoracic aorta was measured at the pulmonary bifurcation level and used to calculate the AWA as the difference between cross-sectional vessel area and lumen area. For primary or secondary analyses, multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to examine the association of aortic MRI measures with risk of first-incident CVD events or stroke and coronary heart disease, respectively. Results In 1513 study participants (mean age, 64 years ± 9 [SD]; 842 women [56%]), 223 CVD events occurred during follow-up (median, 13.1 years), of which 97 were major events (myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, or CVD death). In multivariable analysis, thoracic AWA and prevalent thoracic plaque were associated with incident CVD (hazard ratio [HR], 1.20 per SD unit [95% CI: 1.05, 1.37] [ P = .006] and HR, 1.63 [95% CI: 1.12, 2.35] [ P = .01], respectively). AWA and prevalent thoracic plaque were associated with increased hazards: 1.32 (95% CI: 1.07, 1.62; P = .01) and 2.20 (95% CI: 1.28, 3.79; P = .005), for stroke and coronary heart disease, respectively. Conclusion In middle-aged community-dwelling adults, thoracic aortic wall area (AWA), plaque prevalence, and plaque volumes measured with MRI were independently associated with incident cardiovascular disease, with AWA associated in particular with stroke, and plaque associated with coronary heart disease. Clinical trial registration no. NCT00041418 © RSNA, 2022 Online supplemental material is available for this article . See also the editorial by Peshock in this issue.

Background: Pancreatic atrophy after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is one of the symptoms associated with chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Although pancreatic atrophy has been considered to cause exocrine insufficiency and weight loss, it is not yet clear what kinds of recipients can be expected to recover their body weight (BW) or pancreatic thickness. In addition, the effect of pancreatic atrophy on the prognosis has not been clarified., Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 170 recipients who received allogeneic bone marrow transplantation or peripheral blood stem cell transplantation, and evaluated them using the CT scan images obtained closest to 1, 2, 3, and 4 years after HCT., Results: Fifty-five recipients (32.4%) demonstrated pancreatic atrophy, and 11 (20%) of them recovered their pancreatic thickness. While recipients without pancreatic atrophy gradually recovered their BW (P < 0.001), those with atrophy did not (P = 0.12). Moderate and severe chronic GVHD tended to be slightly more common in the atrophy group (47.3% vs 38.3%), whereas the pancreatic thickness tended to recover in these recipients (30.8% vs 10.3%). HCT from a female donor to a male recipient showed superior pancreatic recovery compared to other donor and recipient sex combinations. Pancreatic atrophy treated as a significantly associated with inferior survival (HR 4.91, P < 0.001) and an increased risk of non-relapse mortality (HR 8.75, P < 0.001)., Conclusions: These results suggest that it is important to monitor pancreatic thickness after HCT. Further prospective investigations are warranted to clarify the significance of pancreatic atrophy on clinical outcomes., (© 2022. Japanese Society of Gastroenterology.)

Purpose: To assess the diagnostic performance of the tumor contact length (TCL) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) for predicting extraprostatic extension (EPE) of prostate cancer with capsular abutment (CA)., Methods: Ninety-three patients with biopsy-proven prostate cancer underwent 3-Tesla MRI, including diffusion-weighted imaging (b value = 0, 2000 s/mm 2 ) and radical prostatectomy. Two experienced radiologists, blinded to the clinicopathological data, retrospectively assessed the presence of CA on T2-weighted imaging (T2WI). TCL on T2WI and ADC values were measured on detecting CA in prostate cancer. We used the receiver operating characteristic curves to assess the diagnostic performance of TCL and ADC values for predicting EPE., Results: CA was present in 58 prostate cancers among 93 patients. The cut-off value for TCL was 6.9 mm, which yielded an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.75. This corresponded to a sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 84.2%, 61.5%, and 69.0%, respectively. The cut-off value for ADC was 0.63 × 10 -3 mm 2 /s, which yielded an AUC of 0.76. This, in turn, corresponded to a sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 84.2%, 59.0%, and 67.2%, respectively. The combined cut-off value of TCL and ADC yielded an AUC of 0.82. The specificity (84.6%) and accuracy (81.0%) of the combined value were superior to their individual values (P < 0.05)., Conclusion: A combination of TCL and ADC values provided high specificity and accuracy for detecting EPE of prostatic cancer with CA.

Background: Although screening with 12-lead electrocardiography and transthoracic echocardiography for cardiac involvement has been recommended for patients with biopsy-proven extracardiac sarcoidosis, cardiac sarcoidosis has been reported even in patients with normal electrocardiography and echocardiography findings. We investigated the prevalence and characteristics of these patient cohorts., Methods: We studied 112 consecutive patients (age, 55±17 years, 64% females) with biopsy-proven extracardiac sarcoidosis who had undergone 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging for cardiac sarcoidosis evaluation. The patients were categorised as those showing normal findings both in electrocardiography and transthoracic echocardiography (normal group) and those showing abnormal findings in one or both examinations (abnormal group)., Results: 33 (29%) and 79 (71%) patients were categorised into the normal and abnormal groups, respectively, of which 6 (18%) and 43 (54%) patients, respectively, were diagnosed with cardiac sarcoidosis (p<0.01). Of these six patients in the normal group, two with multiple-organ sarcoidosis showed clinical deterioration of cardiac involvement and required steroid therapy; three with small cardiac involvement showed natural remission over follow-up assessments; and one underwent steroid therapy and showed an improvement in the left ventricular ejection fraction to within normal limits., Conclusions: The prevalence of cardiac sarcoidosis in patients with biopsy-proven extracardiac sarcoidosis and normal electrocardiography and transthoracic echocardiography findings was ∼20%. Electrocardiography and transthoracic echocardiography may not detect cardiac sarcoidosis in patients without conduction and morphological abnormalities. However, some of these patients may subsequently show clinically manifested cardiac sarcoidosis. Physicians should be mindful of this population., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: None declared., (Copyright ©The authors 2022.)

4D flow MRI allows time-resolved 3D velocity-encoded phase-contrast imaging for 3D visualization and quantification of aortic and intracardiac flow. Radiologists should be familiar with the principles of 4D flow MRI and methods for evaluating blood flow qualitatively and quantitatively. The most substantial benefits of 4D flow MRI are that it enables the simultaneous comprehensive assessment of different vessels, and that retrospective analysis can be achieved in all vessels in any direction in the field of view, which is especially beneficial for patients with complicated congenital heart disease (CHD). For aortic valvular diseases, new parameters such as wall shear stress and energy loss may provide new prognostic values for 4D flow MRI. In this review, we introduce the clinical applications of 4D flow MRI for the visualization of blood flow and quantification of hemodynamic metrics in the setting of aortic valvular disease and CHD, including intracardiac shunt and coronary artery anomaly.

This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of ultrasonographic parameters as an indicator for predicting regional nerve block success. Ultrasound-guided sciatic nerve block was performed in seven dogs using either 2% mepivacaine (nerve-block group) or saline (sham-block group). The cross-sectional area (CSA), nerve blood flow (NBF), and shear wave velocity (SWV) of the sciatic nerve (SWV N ), SWV of the biceps femoris muscle (SWV M ), and their ratio (SWV NMR ) were measured at 0, 30, 60, and 90 min after the nerve block as well as the change rate of each parameter from the baseline. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to determine the diagnostic value of each parameter in the prediction of nerve block success. No significant changes were observed in the CSA or NBF in association with the nerve block. The SWV N and SWV NMR in the nerve-block group were significantly higher than those in the sham-block group at 90 min and at 30, 60, and 90 min, respectively (p < 0.05). The change rates of SWV N and SWV NMR in the nerve-block group were significantly higher than those in the sham-block group at all time points (p < 0.05). The ROC curve analysis showed that SWV N had a moderate diagnostic accuracy (area under the curve [AUC], 0.779), whereas SWV NMR and change rates of SWV N and SWV NMR had a high diagnostic accuracy (AUC, 0.947, 0.998, and 1.000, respectively). Ultrasonographic evaluation of the SWV N and SWV NMR could be used as indicators for predicting nerve block success., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of ultra-short echo time magnetic resonance imaging (UTE MRI) in the assessment of pulmonary arteriovenous malformation (PAVM)., Methods: Eighteen consecutive patients (mean [± standard deviation] age, 48.6 ± 16.8 years) with 46 untreated PAVMs who underwent and thin-section computed tomography (CT) and UTE MRI with a 1.5-Tesla and 3-Tesla unit were retrospectively assessed. Two radiologists evaluated the diagnostic capabilities of UTE MRI for the detection and classification of PAVMs with reference to CT. Sensitivity, specificity, and kappa statistics were calculated with reference to CT. We also compared the differences in PAVM measurements between CT and MRI., Results: The sensitivity and specificity of UTE-MRI for the detection of PAVMs were 89.1% and 100%, respectively, for reader 1 and 87.0% and 100%, respectively, for reader 2. In the classification of PAVMs, inter-modality agreement in reader 1 and 2 were both substantial (κ = 0.78 and 0.69, respectively). The measurements of the PAVM feeding artery and sac on CT and MRI were strongly correlated in both readers 1 and 2 (R 2  = 0.981 and 0.983, respectively). Both readers 1 and 2 slightly underestimated the diameter of the PAVM feeding artery and sac on UTE MRI (p < 0.001)., Conclusion: This study indicates that UTE MRI is a feasible and promising modality for noninvasive assessment of PAVMs., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)