Patterns of Growth of Tumors in Li-Fraumeni Syndrome by Imaging: A Case Series.

Although tumors of Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS) have a premalignant or dormant phase that could be exploited by early imaging detection, this has been underevaluated in the literature. We present a case series of patients with LFS followed by imaging over time to highlight patterns of growth of tumors and hotspots of missed tumors in this population. Clinical and imaging features were available for 29 tumors of 24 carriers of a germline TP53 pathogenic variant, developed between 1999 and 2023 were retrospectively reviewed in a single tertiary pediatric center. Imaging characteristics of tumors were evaluated with MRI, CT, and radiographs. Local invasion, time interval for developing primary cancer, and/or recurrent disease and metastasis, and factors that delayed the tumor diagnosis were assessed. In patients with multiple tumors the median time intervals for development of first, second, and third primary cancers were 45.9, 79.8, and 28.1 months, respectively. Hotspots of missed tumors included superficial soft tissues, areas close to bones, on the scalp, in tissues around the adrenal region and in small hypodense lesions on brain CT. In conclusion, the pattern of growth of tumors is variable and erratic in LFS patients with some tumors presenting with a dormant pattern.

Evaluating the Outcomes and Trainee Performance of a Canadian Medical Imaging Clinician Investigator Program.

Purpose: To measure the research productivity of trainees from the University of Toronto's Medical Imaging Clinician Investigator Program (MI-CIP) and comparing it with the research productivity of trainees from MI-non-CIP and General Surgery (GSx) Clinician Investigator Program. Methods: We identified residents who completed an MI-CIP, MI-non-CIP and GSx-CIP from 2006-2016. In each group of trainees, we assessed 3 research productivity outcomes with non-parametric tests before residency and at 7 years post-CIP completion/post-graduation. Research productivity outcomes include the number of total publications, the number of first-author publications, and the publication's average journal impact factor (IF). Results: We identified 11 MI-CIP trainees (male/female: 9 [82%]/2 [18%]), 74 MI-non-CIP trainees (46 [62%]/28 [38%]) and 41 GSx-CIP trainees (23 [56%]/18 [44%]). MI-CIP trainees had statistically significant higher research productivity than MI-non-CIP in all measured outcomes. The median (interquartile range, IQR) number of total publications of MI-CIP vs MI-non-CIP trainees was 5.0 (8.0) vs 1.0 (2.0) before residency and 6.0 (10.0) vs .0 (2.0) at 7 years post-CIP completion/post-graduation. The median (IQR) first-author publications of MI-CIP vs MI-non-CIP trainees was 2.0 (3.0) vs .0 (1.0) before residency and 2.0 (4.0) vs (.0) (1.0) at 7 years post-CIP completion/post-graduation. The median (IQR) average journal IF of MI-CIP vs MI-non-CIP trainees was 3.2 (2.0) vs .3 (2.4) before residency and 3.9 (3.2) vs .0 (2.6) at 7 years post-CIP completion/post-graduation. Between MI-CIP and GSx-CIP trainees, there were no significant differences in research productivity in all measured outcomes. Conclusion: MI-CIP trainees actively conducted research after graduation. These trainees demonstrated early research engagement before residency. The similar research productivity of MI-CIP vs GSx-CIP trainees shows initial success of MI-CIP trainees.

Systolic Compression of a Myocardial Bridged Coronary Artery and its Morphologic Characteristics: A Combination Study of Computed Tomography Angiography and Invasive Angiography.

BACKGROUND: Myocardial bridging (MB) is a congenital anomaly in which a segment of a major epicardial coronary artery courses through the myocardium. This anomaly can lead to myocardial ischemia, arrhythmia, and even death. The effectiveness of coronary computed tomographic angiography (CCTA) in the detection of MB and its morphological features, and the accuracy of invasive coronary angiography (ICA) in the evaluation of systolic compression have been shown in some prior studies. OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to evaluate the correlation between the depth and the length of MB as determined using CCTA, and the degree of luminal narrowing of the involved tunneled segment as calculated using the ICA. PATIENTS AND METHODS: For this study, 109 consecutive patients diagnosed with myocardial bridging using CCTA, and who had already undergone ICA, were studied. The depth and length of the MB was determined in the CCTA, while the degree of systolic compression was calculated in the ICA. The correlation between the depth and length of the MB and the systolic compression were then evaluated. RESULTS: The degree of systolic compression was found to be correlated with the depth of the MB. However, there was no correlation between the length of the MB and the degree of systolic compression. CONCLUSION: The systolic compression of the MB was influenced by the depth of the tunneled segment, not by its length.

Multifocal kaposiform hemangioendothelioma of soft tissue with bilateral pulmonary involvement in an adolescent.

Kaposiform hemangioendothelioma (KHE) is a rare, locally aggressive vascular tumor of intermediate malignancy with resemblance to Kaposi sarcoma. It occurs predominantly in pediatric age groups as a cutaneous lesion with focal infiltration into the adjacent soft tissue and bone. Although visceral involvement is very uncommon, several cases with bone, retroperitoneal, or mediastinal involvement have been described. KHE has been reported to occasionally occur in unusual sites such as the thymus, tonsils, larynx, paranasal sinuses, deltoid muscle, spleen, uterine cervix, thoracic spine, and even the breast. Multifocal KHE is an extremely rare entity with few reports available in the literature, none of which describes pulmonary involvement. Herein, we report a unique case of multifocal KHE in a 13-year-old boy presenting with a huge soft tissue mass in the upper extremity complicated by bilateral pulmonary nodules that developed into large, necrotic tumor masses.