Can ultrasonography be used to differentiate parathyroid masses abutting the thyroid gland from thyroid masses extending into the parathyroid area?

AIM: To determine the ultrasonographic (US) features that could help to distinguish between parathyroid masses abutting the thyroid gland and thyroid masses extending into the parathyroid area. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two blinded readers retrospectively evaluated the US images of 76 histopathologically confirmed parathyroid masses abutting the thyroid gland and 34 thyroid masses extending into the parathyroid area. Maximal diameter, transverse diameter/anterior-posterior diameter (T/AP) ratio, longitudinal diameter/AP diameter (L/AP) ratio, margin, shape, echogenicity, echotexture, and echogenic interface were evaluated and compared between the two groups. RESULTS: Echogenic interface (p<0.001) and L/AP ratio (p<0.001) were statistically significant US features that differentiated parathyroid and thyroid masses. Other US features did not show any significant differences between the two groups. Interobserver agreement was excellent for all US features. Sensitivity/specificity of the presence of echogenic interface and L/AP ratio >2.0 were 85.5%/100% and 43.2%/82.4% in distinguishing parathyroid from thyroid masses, respectively. CONCLUSION: The presence of an echogenic interface and L/AP ratio >2.0 were useful US features for differentiating parathyroid masses abutting the thyroid gland from thyroid masses extending into theparathyroid area.

The 100 most-cited and 100 most-mentioned COVID-19-related radiological articles: a comparative bibliometric analysis.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to identify the 100 most-cited and 100 most-mentioned coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19)-related radiological articles and compare their characteristics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched the Web of Science and Altmetric.com using the search terms "COVID," "COVID-19," "Coronavirus," "SARS-CoV-2," "nCoV," and "pandemic" to identify the most-cited and most-mentioned COVID-19-related articles. We identified the top 100 most-cited and 100 most-mentioned articles in the field of radiology, regardless of their publication journal. We extracted the information from the listed articles and compared the characteristics between the most-cited and most-mentioned. RESULTS: Thirty (30%) articles were featured in the lists of the most-cited and most-mentioned articles. The comparison of the 100 most-cited and most-mentioned articles on each list showed that the most frequently cited articles were published in November 2020 and before (p < .001), originated from China (p < .001), covered the topic of diagnosis of COVID-19 (p < .001), and were related to the subspecialty of pulmonary imaging (p < .001); the most frequently mentioned articles were published in December 2020 and after (p < .001), originated from the USA (p < .001), covered the topic of diagnosis of sequelae of COVID-19 (p = .013) and post-vaccination complications (p < .001), and were related to the subspecialties of cardiac imaging (p < .001) and neuroradiology (p < .013). CONCLUSION: Significant differences were observed in publication date, country of origin, topic, and subspecialty of scientific knowledge related to COVID-19 in the field of radiology, between citation and public dissemination. CLINICAL RELEVANCE STATEMENT: This bibliometric analysis compares the 100 most-cited and 100 most-mentioned COVID-19-related radiologic articles, aiming to provide valuable insights into the patterns of knowledge dissemination during the pandemic era. KEY POINTS: • Thirty articles were featured on the lists of the 100 most-cited and 100 most-mentioned COVID-19-related articles. • The 70 unique most-cited articles more frequently originated from China (48.6%), while the unique most-mentioned articles more frequently originated from the USA (51.4%) (p < 0.001). • The 70 unique most-mentioned articles were more frequently related to cardiac imaging (25.7% vs.0%, p < 0.001) and neuroradiology (15.7% vs. 1.4%, p < 0.005) compared to the unique most-mentioned articles.

Scientific Publications on Thyroid Ultrasound between 2001 and 2020: Differences in Research Characteristics by Disciplines.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the characteristics and trends of scientific publications on thyroid ultrasound (US) from 2001 to 2020, specifically examining the differences among disciplines. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The MEDLINE database was searched for scientific articles on thyroid US published between 2001 and 2020 using the PubMed online service. The evaluated parameters included year of publication, type of document, topic, funding, first author's specialty, journal name, subject category, impact factor, and quartile ranking of the publishing journal, country, and language. Relationships between the first author's specialty (radiology, internal medicine, surgery, otorhinolaryngology, and miscellaneous) and other parameters were analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 2917 thyroid US publications were published between 2001 and 2020, which followed an exponential growth pattern, with an annual growth rate of 11.6%. Radiology produced the most publications (n = 1290, 44.2%), followed by internal medicine (n = 716, 24.5%), surgery (n = 409, 14.0%), and otorhinolaryngology (n = 171, 5.9%). Otorhinolaryngology and internal medicine published significantly more case reports than radiology (p < 0.001, each). Radiology published a significantly higher proportion of publications on imaging diagnosis (p < 0.001 for all) and a significantly lower proportion of publications on biopsy (p < 0.001 for all) than the other disciplines. Publications produced by radiology authors were less frequently published in Q1 journals than those from other disciplines (p < 0.005 for internal medicine and miscellaneous disciplines and < 0.01 for surgery and otorhinolaryngology). China contributed the greatest number of publications (n = 622, 21.3%), followed by South Korea (n = 478, 16.4%) and the United States (n = 468, 16.0%). CONCLUSION: Radiology produced the most publications for thyroid US than any other discipline. Radiology authors published more notably on imaging diagnosis compared to other topics and in journals with lower impact factors compared to authors in other disciplines.

Lymphangitis Carcinomatosa in Neck Soft Tissue: Computed Tomography Findings With Emphasis on Differentiation From Cellulitis.

OBJECTIVE: Lymphangitis carcinomatosa (LC) is a rare form of metastasis. The purposes of this study were to evaluate computed tomography (CT) findings associated with LC in neck soft tissue and to determine those that were useful in distinguishing LC from cellulitis. METHODS: Contrast-enhanced CT images of 26 patients with pathologically confirmed LC (n = 5) and clinically proven cellulitis (n = 21) were reviewed retrospectively. The following CT findings were evaluated and compared between the 2 groups: subcutaneous fat infiltration, enlargement of muscle, thick irregular enhancement of the superficial cervical fascia, grouping of micronodules, focal intramuscular enhancement, localized fluid collection, and nodular skin thickening. RESULTS: Thick irregular enhancement of the superficial cervical fascia (80.0% vs 0%, P < 0.0005), grouping of micronodules (60.0% vs 0%, P < 0.005), and focal intramuscular enhancement (60.0% vs 4.8%, P < 0.05) were significantly more frequent in LC than in cellulitis. Other findings did not show statistical significance between both groups. CONCLUSIONS: When soft tissue swelling is present in the neck with either thick irregular enhancement of the superficial cervical fascia, grouping of micronodules, or focal intramuscular enhancement, the possibility of LC should be considered especially in patients with underlying malignancy.

A comprehensive analysis of self-corrected publications in the imaging literature.

BACKGROUND: The characteristics of self-corrected publications have not been fully evaluated. PURPOSE: To evaluate the annual number and characteristics of self-corrected publications in the imaging literature within the last 20 years. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We searched MEDLINE (via PubMed) using the following keyword: ("Published Erratum" [Publication Type] OR "Corrected and Republished Article" [Publication Type]) in the imaging literature to identify all self-corrected publications in which initial versions of articles were published during 1999-2018. Extracted data included: date of publication of the original version; date of correction notification; the time interval between initial publication and correction; journal name; journal impact factor (IF); type of articles; number of authors; country of origin; and location of errors. Journals were divided into four quartiles (Q1-Q4) based on their IF. RESULTS: A total of 1071 self-corrected publications were identified, representing 0.30% of all papers published in the imaging literature. Trend analysis showed exponential growth of the number and rate of self-corrected publications during 1999-2018. The median (range) time interval from initial publication to correction was 120 days (0-7755 days). The rate of self-corrected publications in Q4 journals (0.17%) was significantly lower than those in Q1 (0.35%, P<0.0001), Q2 (0.26%, P=0.0007), and Q3 (0.30%, P<0.0001) journals. Additionally, 80.8% of self-corrected publications were original articles, 29.2% were from the USA, and 30.7% were corrected for author information (name, affiliation, and email address). CONCLUSION: Self-corrected publications in the imaging literature have increased exponentially during 1999-2018 and author information was the most common location of error correction.

Prognosis after Curative Resection of Single Hepatocellular Carcinoma with A Focus on LI-RADS Targetoid Appearance on Preoperative Gadoxetic Acid-Enhanced MRI.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prognostic implications of preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with a focus on those with targetoid appearance based on the Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LI-RADS), as well as known microvascular invasion (MVI) features. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study included 242 patients (190 male; mean age, 57.1 years) who underwent surgical resection of a single HCC (≤ 5 cm) as well as preoperative gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI between January 2012 and March 2015. LI-RADS category was assigned, and the LR-M category was further classified into two groups according to rim arterial-phase hyperenhancement (APHE). The imaging features associated with MVI were also assessed. The overall survival (OS), recurrence-free survival (RFS), and their associated factors were evaluated. RESULTS: Among the 242 HCCs, 190 (78.5%), 25 (10.3%), and 27 (11.2%) were classified as LR-4/5, LR-M with rim APHE, and LR-M without rim APHE, respectively. LR-M with rim APHE (vs. LR-4/5; hazard ratio [HR] for OS, 5.48 [p = 0.002]; HR for RFS, 2.09 [p = 0.042]) and tumor size (per cm increase; HR for OS, 6.04 [p = 0.009]; HR for RFS, 1.77 [p = 0.014]) but not MVI imaging features (p > 0.05) were independent factors associated with OS and RFS. Compared to the 5-year OS and RFS rates in the LR-4/5 group (93.9% and 66.8%, respectively), the LR-M with rim APHE group had significantly lower rates (68.0% and 45.8%, respectively, both p < 0.05), while the LR-M without rim APHE group did not significantly differ in the survival rates (91.3% and 80.2%, respectively, both p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Further classification of LR-M according to the presence of rim APHE may help predict the postoperative prognosis of patients with a single HCC.

Geometric parameters on MRA source images to differentiate small Proximal Posterior communicating artery aneurysms from Infundibular dilation.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: We aimed to assess the accuracy of magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) in the differentiation of small aneurysms versus infundibular dilations (IDs) at the internal carotid artery-posterior communicating artery (ICA-PComA) junction, emphasizing the role of MRA axial source images. METHODS: This retrospective study consisted of 83 focal arterial protrusions at ICA-PComA junction in 76 patients who underwent both MRA and digital subtraction angiography (DSA)/3-dimensional rotational angiography (3DRA). The diagnostic performance of MRA for differential diagnosis of aneurysm from ID was calculated using DSA/3DRA interpretation as the standard of reference. In addition, long-axis diameter, short-axis diameter, long-axis diameter/short-axis diameter (L/S) ratio, and angle of lesion (angle of the long-axis of lesion with respect to the x-axis) measured on MRA source images were compared between aneurysms and IDs. RESULTS: Sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of MRA for distinguishing aneurysms from IDs were 74.4% (57.9-87.0%) to 76.9% (60.7-88.9%), 93.2% (81.3-98.6%) to 95.5% (84.5-99.4%), and 85.5% (76.1-92.3%), respectively. Significant differences were found for the long-axis diameter (P < .001), short-axis diameter (P < .001), L/S ratio (P < .05), and angle of the lesion (P < .001) on MRA axial source images between aneurysms and IDs. The angle of the lesion had the highest discriminatory ability (area under the curve = .966 [.902-.994]) to differentiate aneurysms from IDs. An angle of lesion >60° was 89.7% (75.8-97.1%) sensitive and 100% (92.0-100.0%) specific for diagnosis of aneurysm. CONCLUSIONS: MRA is a useful imaging modality for distinguishing between aneurysm and ID at the ICA-PComA junction. Furthermore, geometric parameters on MRA axial source images can provide added value in their differentiation.

The Most Widely Disseminated COVID-19-Related Scientific Publications in Online Media: A Bibliometric Analysis of the Top 100 Articles with the Highest Altmetric Attention Scores.

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global pandemic. This study's aim was to identify and characterize the top 100 COVID-19-related scientific publications, which had received the highest Altmetric Attention Scores (AASs). Hence, we searched Altmetric Explorer using search terms such as "COVID" or "COVID-19" or "Coronavirus" or "SARS-CoV-2" or "nCoV" and then selected the top 100 articles with the highest AASs. For each article identified, we extracted the following information: the overall AAS, publishing journal, journal impact factor (IF), date of publication, language, country of origin, document type, main topic, and accessibility. The top 100 articles most frequently were published in journals with high (>10.0) IF (n = 67), were published between March and July 2020 (n = 67), were written in English (n = 100), originated in the United States (n = 45), were original articles (n = 59), dealt with treatment and clinical manifestations (n = 33), and had open access (n = 98). Our study provides important information pertaining to the dissemination of scientific knowledge about COVID-19 in online media.

Mediastinal Lymph Node Metastasis from Head and Neck Cancer: Predictive Factors and Imaging Features.

Purpose: To assess the predictive factors and describe the imaging features of mediastinal lymph node (MLN) metastases in patients with head and neck cancer. Materials and Methods: We compared the clinical features and disease characteristics (sex, age, site of primary tumor, histologic type, history of prior treatments, TNM stages, and metastasis in cervical LNs) of patients with head and neck cancers between the MLN metastasis and no MLN metastasis groups. We also evaluated the chest CT (distribution and maximum dimension of the largest LN) and PET/CT (maximum standardized uptake value) features of MLN metastases based on the MLN classification. Results: Of the 470 patients with head and neck cancer, 55 (11.7%) had MLN metastasis, involving 150 mediastinal stations. Hypopharynx cancer, recurrent tumor, T4 stage, N2/N3 stages, and M1 stage were found to be significant predicting factors for MLN metastasis. The most common location of MLN metastasis was ipsilateral station 2 (upper paratracheal LNs, 36.4%), followed by ipsilateral station 11 (interlobar LNs, 27.3%) and ipsilateral station 10 (hilar LNs, 25.5%). Conclusion: Metastasis to MLNs should be considered in patients with head and neck cancer, especially in cases that are associated with a hypopharyngeal cancer, recurrent tumor, and high TNM stages.

Characteristics of the Most Cited, Most Downloaded, and Most Mentioned Articles in General Medical Journals: A Comparative Bibliometric Analysis.

We compared the characteristics of the most cited, most downloaded, and most mentioned (the highest Altmetric Attention Score) articles published in general medical journals. We identified the 640 most frequently cited, 662 most frequently downloaded, and 652 most mentioned articles from 48 general medical journals. A comparison was made of the following characteristics of articles in the most cited, most downloaded, and most mentioned articles: medical specialty, publication type, country of origin, year of publication, and accessibility. There was only a 2.5% overlap in these three groups. Original articles were the more frequent among the most mentioned articles, whereas reviews, case reports, and guidelines/consensus statements were more frequent among the most downloaded articles. The most cited articles were more frequently published in 2010 and before, whereas the most downloaded articles were published in 2017-2018. The most mentioned articles were more frequently open-access articles, compared to the most downloaded articles. The most cited were more frequently older, the most downloaded were more frequently recent and educational, and the most mentioned were more frequently original and open-access articles. The results of our study may provide insights into various measures of article impact.

Intra-parotid lymph node metastasis in patients with non-cutaneous head and neck cancers: clinical and imaging features for differentiation from simultaneous parotid primary tumor.

BACKGROUND: Although uncommon, intra-parotid lymph node (IPLN) metastasis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of parotid masses in patients with head and neck cancers. PURPOSE: To compare the clinical and imaging features of IPLN metastases from head and neck cancers and simultaneous parotid primary tumors. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A retrospective review of 2199 patients with non-parotid head and neck cancers revealed 63 patients who also underwent parotidectomy during curative resection of head and neck cancer. After exclusion of direct extension to the parotid gland from adjacent primary tumors (n = 12) and IPLN metastases from skin cancer (n = 5), the final study group was composed of 46 patients, including 26 (1.2%) with 33 IPLN metastases and 20 (0.9%) with 24 simultaneous parotid primary tumors. We compared clinical features of patients (sex, age, site of primary tumor, histologic type, history of prior treatment for malignancy, TNM stages, side of parotid lesion, multiplicity, and metastasis in ipsilateral cervical LNs) and the CT (location in parotid gland, maximum dimension, margins, and central necrosis or cystic change) and 18F-FDG PET/CT (maximum standardized uptake value) findings. RESULTS: Ipsilateral level II LN metastasis was more frequent in the IPLN metastasis group than in the simultaneous parotid primary tumor group (73.1% vs. 35.0%, P < 0.05). Imaging features such as location in parotid gland, maximum dimension, margins, central necrosis or cystic change, and maximum standardized uptake value showed no significant differences between the two groups. CONCLUSION: CT and PET/CT findings of IPLN metastasis are indistinguishable from simultaneous parotid primary tumor in patients with head and neck cancers.

Analysis of the altmetric top 100 articles with the highest altmetric attention scores in medical imaging journals.

PURPOSE: Alternative metrics (altmetrics) provides a complementary measure of the impact of scientific articles. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize the top 100 articles with the highest Altmetric attention score (AAS) in medical imaging journals. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched for AASs articles published in 116 journals in the subject category "Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Medical Imaging" using the Web of Science. We determined the top 100 articles with the highest AAS using the Altmetric.com database, and then analyzed them with regard to the publishing journal, year, country of origin, type of article, subspecialty, main topic, and imaging technique. RESULTS: The top 100 articles were published in 18 imaging journals, led by Radiology (47%). These articles were published from 2016 to 2018 (94%). Most of the articles were from the United States (62%) and were original clinical studies (59%). The most common subspecialties and imaging technique of study were neuroimaging (30%) and MRI (35%). The main topics of articles were brain disease and function (30%). CONCLUSION: Our study presents a detailed list and analysis of the top 100 articles with the highest AAS in imaging literature, which provides unique characteristics representing the public's attention in this field.

Top-cited articles versus top Altmetric articles in nuclear medicine: a comparative bibliometric analysis.

BACKGROUND: The impact of any scientific article has traditionally been measured by the number of citations received. More recently, alternative metrics (altmetrics) reflect the digital dissemination of knowledge across the online mediasphere. PURPOSE: To evaluate and compare the characteristics of top-cited articles with those of top Altmetric articles related to nuclear medicine (NM). MATERIAL AND METHODS: We performed a search of the Web of Science and Altmetric databases using 114 search terms to identify the 50 top-cited and 50 top Altmetric articles, respectively, in the field of NM. We then compared the following characteristics of the selected articles: publication type; journal category; country of origin; year of publication; topic; imaging modality; and accessibility. Chi-square tests were performed for statistical analysis. RESULTS: There were no overlaps between the 50 top-cited and 50 top Altmetric articles. In general, compared to the leading Altmetric articles in this field, the cited articles were: more frequently review works published in NM and radiology journals (76% vs. 13%, P = 0.000); published in or before 2005 (84% vs. 0%, P = 0.000); the majority were related to oncology (56% vs. 44%, P = 0.000); and originated from the Netherlands (12% vs. 0%, P = 0.000). Compared to the top-cited articles, the leading Altmetric articles were: more frequently original articles published in other clinical field journals (54% vs. 0%, P = 0.000); primarily published between 2016 and 2018 (70% vs. 0%, P = 0.000); focused on neurology (50% vs. 22%, P = 0.000); and originated from the UK (18% vs. 2%, P = 0.000). CONCLUSION: Citation counts and Altmetric scores represent unique perspectives for evaluating the impact of NM research.

256-row multislice CT angiography in the postoperative evaluation of cerebral aneurysms treated with titanium clips: using three-dimensional rotational angiography as the standard of reference.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the diagnostic accuracy of 256-row multislice computed tomographic angiography (CTA) compared with three-dimensional rotational angiography (3DRA) in the postoperative evaluation of cerebral aneurysms treated with titanium clips. METHODS: A total of 128 patients (42 men, 86 women; mean age, 57.6 years) with 143 cerebral aneurysms treated using titanium clips underwent both CTA and 3DRA. Two reviewers retrospectively evaluated the following parameters on CTA and 3DRA: (1) residual/recurrent aneurysm (absent or present), (2) patency of parent artery (patent or occluded/severe stenotic (> 70%)), and (3) patency of adjacent branch (patent or occluded/absent). RESULTS: A total of 24 residual/recurrent aneurysms were detected by 3DRA. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of CTA for the detection of residual/recurrent aneurysms were 83.3%, 100%, and 97.2% for reviewer 1 and 79.2%, 100%, and 96.5% for reviewer 2, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of CTA for the evaluation of patency of parent artery were 100%, 100%, and 100%, respectively, for both reviewers. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of CTA for evaluation of the patency of adjacent branch were 85.1%, 100%, and 92.3% for reviewer 1 and 82.4%, 100%, and 90.9% for reviewer 2, respectively. CONCLUSION: A 256-row multislice CTA is a valuable non-invasive tool for assessment of cerebral aneurysms treated with titanium clips. KEY POINTS: • A 256-row multislice CTA is an accurate imaging technique for the postoperative assessment of cerebral aneurysms treated with titanium clips. • Sensitivity of CTA for the detection of residual/recurrent aneurysms was 79-83% compared with 3DRA. • CTA is still limited in detecting residual/recurrent aneurysms of < 2 mm and small adjacent branches.

Radiological Clinical Practice Guidelines Published in the Last Decade: A Bibliometric Analysis.

OBJECTIVES: To provide a comprehensive review of radiological clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) and to establish their characteristics and impact in the field of radiology. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A MEDLINE search was performed for CPGs in which at least half of the authors were from the radiology or imaging department. The following information was extracted from each CPG: year of publication, journal, provider, number of authors, number of pages, number of references, collaboration, country of origin, radiological subspecialty, imaging modality used, topic, source of funding, and number and pattern of citations. RESULTS: In total, 120 radiological CPGs published between July 2006 and June 2016 were identified. One hundred nine (90.8%) radiological CPGs were published in radiology journals, 96 (80.0%) were provided by the scientific community, 108 (90.0%) were collaborative studies, 64 (53.3%) originated from the United States, 36 (30.0%) were concerned with the field of vascular/interventional radiology, 38 (31.7%) used combined imaging techniques, 52 (43.3%) were focused on interpretation and management, and 118 (98.4%) were not funded. Radiological CPGs included a median of 8 authors, 9 pages, and 49 references. The median number of citations and annual citations were 18 (range, 0-540) and 3.5 (range, 0-75.6), respectively. CONCLUSION: Our study presents several interesting insights into the characteristics and impact of radiological CPGs.

The most mentioned neurointervention articles in online media: a bibliometric analysis of the top 101 articles with the highest altmetric attention scores.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Alternative metrics (altmetrics), based on mentions in online media, is a new tool that can help to identify the most influential articles to diverse public audiences. This article aimed to determine the 100 most mentioned articles in the field of neurointervention and to analyze their characteristics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We selected the 808 journals that were considered journals potentially publishing articles on neurointervention. We also selected articles using keywords. Using the Altmetric.com search tool, we identified the 101 most mentioned neurointervention articles based on the highest altmetric attention scores (AASs) within selected journals and articles. Each article was evaluated for several characteristics including AAS, number of citations, journal title, journal category, impact factor of the journal, year of publication, authorship, country, type of document, and topic. RESULTS: The AASs for the top 101 articles ranged from 1586 to 39. Stroke published the largest number of articles (19.8%) followed by the New England Journal of Medicine (17.8%). The majority of articles were published in multidisciplinary journals (38.6%), were published in 2017-2018 (43.6%), originated from the USA (54.5%), were original articles (66.3%), and dealt with intra-arterial thrombolysis or thrombectomy for acute ischemic stroke (58.4%). Tudor G Jovin was the most prolific author, authoring 18 of the most mentioned neurointervention articles CONCLUSIONS: This study presents a detailed list of the 101 most mentioned neurointervention articles in online media, thus providing useful information on the dissemination of neurointervention research to the general public.

Detection of loco-regional recurrence in malignant head and neck tumors: a comparison of CT, MRI, and FDG PET-CT.

BACKGROUND: The early and accurate detection of local or regional recurrence of head and neck tumor is critically important. PURPOSE: To compare the diagnostic accuracy of contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT), contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)-CT, alone and in combination, in detecting the locoregional recurrence of malignant head and neck tumor. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 93 patients with loco-regional recurrence of malignant head and neck tumors underwent CT, MRI, and PET-CT within 30 days before surgery. CT, MRI, and PET-CT for each patient were retrospectively reviewed to determine the presence of recurrent tumors in the primary site on a patient-by-patient basis and that of regional lymph nodes on a level-by-level basis. The diagnostic accuracy of CT, MRI, and PET-CT, alone and combined, were accessed with the postoperative histopathological findings or with 12-month follow-up results as the standard of reference. RESULTS: The sensitivity/specificity/and accuracy of CT, MRI, and PET-CT for the detection of primary site recurrence was 89.9/85.7/89.3%, 94.9/85.7/93.6%, and 97.5/92.9/96.8%, respectively. The sensitivity/specificity/accuracy of CT, MRI, and PET-CT for the detection of nodal recurrence was 66.3/99.4/92.4%, 74.7/99.4/94.2%, and 85.5/94.9/93.0%, respectively. MRI + PET-CT achieved the best performance in the receiver operating characteristics curve analysis (Az value = 0.958 for primary site recurrence and 0.929 for nodal recurrence). CONCLUSION: MRI + PET-CT offered the highest diagnostic performance in the detection of loco-regional recurrence of malignant head and neck tumor, compared with CT, MRI, PET-CT, and other combinations including CT.

Diagnostic performance of CT, MRI, and their combined use for the assessment of the direct cranial or intracranial extension of malignant head and neck tumors.

BACKGROUND: Preoperative radiological evaluation of the cranial or intracranial extension of malignant head and neck tumors is critical in the planning of curative surgery. PURPOSE: To assess the diagnostic accuracy of computed tomography (CT) combined with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), compared to CT or MRI alone in diagnosing the direct cranial or intracranial extension of malignant head and neck tumors, using histopathologic results as the reference standard. MATERIAL AND METHODS: CT and MRI images in 41 patients with malignant head and neck tumors abutting the skull were retrospectively reviewed. The images were evaluated for the presence or absence of skull invasion (erosion/destruction of the skull), dural invasion (nodular dural enhancement), and brain invasion (enhancing brain lesion with or without brain swelling/edema). The results of the CT alone, MRI alone, and CT combined with MRI were compared with the histopathologic findings. RESULTS: Of the 41 patients studied, ten had no invasion, eight had skull invasion, 17 had dural invasion, and six had brain invasion by tumor. The sensitivity/specificity/accuracy of CT alone, MRI alone, and CT combined with MRI for diagnosing intracranial extension were 78.0%/100%/94.5%, 85.4%/80.5%/93.9%, and 95.1%/100%/98.8%, respectively. The sensitivity of CT combined with MRI was significantly higher than those of CT alone ( P = 0.0156) and MRI alone ( P = 0.0313). CONCLUSION: CT combined with MRI is a more sensitive tool for the diagnosis of the direct cranial or intracranial extension of malignant head and neck tumors than CT alone and MRI alone.

The 100 top-cited articles focused on magnetic resonance: a bibliometric analysis.

BACKGROUND: The number of citations that an article has received can be used to evaluate its impact on a particular research area. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to identify and characterize the 100 top-cited articles focused on magnetic resonance (MR). MATERIAL AND METHODS: We determined the 100 top-cited articles on MR via the Scopus database, using the search term. The following information was recorded for each article: year of publication; journal title; impact factor of journal; number of citations; number of annual citations; authorship; department; institution; country; type of article; topic; MR protocol; and disease. RESULTS: The number of citations for the 100 top-cited articles was in the range of 898-5679 (median = 1342.5) and the number of annual citations was in the range of 19.7-372.4 (median = 60.9). The 100 top-cited articles were published in 46 journals, led by Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (n = 13). The majority of articles were published in 1990-1999 (n = 53), originated in the United States (n = 69), were original articles (n = 81), and dealt with the clinical application of MR (n = 57). The Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital (n = 5) was the leading institution. The majority of articles did not use any specific protocol (n = 51) and was not associated with any specific disease (n = 56). CONCLUSION: Our study presents a detailed list and analysis of the 100 top-cited articles on MR, which provides an insight into historical development in this field.

The most downloaded and most cited articles in radiology journals: a comparative bibliometric analysis.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate and compare the characteristics of the most downloaded and most cited articles in radiology journals. METHODS: We selected 41 radiology journals that provided lists of both the most downloaded and most cited articles on their websites, and identified the 596 most downloaded articles and 596 most cited articles. We compared the following characteristics of the most downloaded and most cited articles: year of publication, journal title, department of the first author, country of origin, publication type, radiologic subspecialty, radiologic technique and accessibility. RESULTS: Compared to the most cited articles, the most downloaded articles were more frequently review articles (36.1% vs 17.1%, p < 0.05), case reports (5.9% vs 3.2%, p < 0.05), guidelines/consensus statements (5.4% vs 2.7%, p < 0.05), editorials/commentaries (3.7% vs 0.7%, p < 0.05) and pictorial essays (2.0% vs 0.2%, p < 0.05). Compared to the most cited articles, the most downloaded articles more frequently originated from the UK (8.7% vs 5.0%, p < 0.05) and were more frequently free-access articles (46.0% vs 39.4%, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Educational and free-access articles are more frequent among the most downloaded articles. KEY POINTS: • There was only small overlap between the most downloaded and most cited articles. • Educational articles were more frequent among the most downloaded articles. • Free-access articles are more frequent among the most downloaded articles.