Chest X-ray findings in a large cohort of 1117 patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection: a multicenter study during COVID-19 outbreak in Italy.

To describe radiographic key patterns on Chest X-ray (CXR) in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection, assessing the prevalence of radiographic signs of interstitial pneumonia. To evaluate pattern variation between a baseline and a follow-up CXR. 1117 patients tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection were retrospectively enrolled from four centers in Lombardy region. All patients underwent a CXR at presentation. Follow-up CXR was performed when clinically indicated. Two radiologists in each center reviewed images and classified them as suggestive or not for interstitial pneumonia, recording the presence of ground-glass opacity (GGO), reticular pattern or consolidation and their distribution. Pearson's χ2 test for categorical variables and McNemar test (χ2 for paired data) were performed. Patients mean age 63.3 years, 767 were males (65.5%). The main result is the large proportion of positive CXR in COVID-19 patients. Baseline CXR was positive in 940 patients (80.3%), with significant differences in age and sex distribution between patients with positive and negative CXR. 382 patients underwent a follow-up CXR. The most frequent pattern on baseline CXR was the GGO (66.1%), on follow-up was consolidation (53.4%). The most common distributions were peripheral and middle-lower lung zone. We described key-patterns and their distribution on CXR in a large cohort of COVID-19 patients: GGO was the most frequent finding on baseline CXR, while we found an increase in the proportion of lung consolidation on follow-up CXR. CXR proved to be a reliable tool in our cohort obtaining positive results in 80.3% of the baseline cases.

Endovascular treatment of a ruptured pulmonary artery aneurysm in a patient with Behçet's disease using the Amplatzer Vascular Plug 4.

A pulmonary artery aneurysm is a common manifestation and the leading cause of mortality in Behçet's disease. We describe a case of spontaneous rupture of a pulmonary artery aneurysm that, due to the inadequacy of medical therapy and the disadvantages of surgery, became the ideal candidate for endovascular management and was successfully performed by using the Amplatzer Vascular Plug 4.

Occlusion of an intraosseous arteriovenous malformation with percutaneous injection of polymethylmethacrylate.

Primary intraosseous arteriovenous malformations are rare. Many minimally invasive procedures can be considered preoperative steps and/or definitive treatment. The case reported regards a young woman with a voluminous arteriovenous extratroncular infiltrating malformation of the humerus. She underwent several treatments, but none of them was completely occlusive. The last treatment consisted of direct percutaneous puncture of the intraosseous alteration and injection of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), which is normally used in percutaneous vertebroplasty. We obtained complete occlusion of the humerus lytic lesion. To the best of our knowledge, this represents the first case of intraosseous AVM treated by percutaneous injection of PMMA.

Sclerotherapy of peripheral venous malformations: a new technique to prevent serious complications.

Because of its extremely powerful sclerosing effect, in our experience, ethanol can be considered the most efficacious agent in the percutaneous treatment of peripheral venous malformations. To reduce the risk of ethanol reflux into the superficial veins or the central venous system, we developed a simple but very efficacious technique. After the time necessary to obtain the sclerosing effect, we drain the ethanol with the same needle used to inject. The purpose of this article is to describe the technique of sclerotherapy with 96% ethanol for peripheral venous malformations and its effectiveness in reducing the serious complications of alcohol.