Real time evaluation of monolateral clubfoot with sonoelastography.

PURPOSE: This study was undertaken to assess the feasibility of real-time elastosonography (RTE) of Achilles tendon in the clinical evaluation of a cohort of children affected by unilateral clubfoot, not surgically treated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty patients affected by unilateral clubfoot were evaluated. The study group consisted of 8 males and 12 females (mean age, 16 ± 7.3 months), all treated with the Ponseti method. Children were divided into two groups according to age: group 1 aged 0-18 months, and group 2 aged 18-60 months. Any further systemic pathological conditions were considered exclusion criteria. For each subject, RTE examination of the Achilles tendons was performed bilaterally, and then regions of interest (ROIs) were positioned. RESULTS: In children aged 0-18 months, the mean value ROI 1/mean value ROI 2 ratio was 2.0 ± 0.18 and it showed a statistically significant difference if compared to the same ratio from healthy tendons, 2.5 ± 0.17 (p < 0.05). In group 2 (children aged 18-60 months) the mean ROI 1/mean value ROI 2 ratio value was 1.8 ± 0.27, compared to a 2.04 ± 0.21 (p < 0.05) ratio in healthy tendons. CONCLUSION: RTE is a feasible, reliable and easily performed technique that allows an accurate study of the mechanical properties of Achilles tendon in children with clubfoot.

Efficacy of systemic thrombolysis within 4.5 h from stroke symptom onset: a single-centre clinical and diffusion-perfusion 3T MRI study.

PURPOSE: The efficacy of thrombolytic treatment with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) within 3 h from stroke onset has been extensively supported by randomised placebo-controlled multicentre trials. In our single-centre study, we investigated the efficacy of intravenous (IV) administration of rt-PA within 4.5 h of stroke onset, in terms of clinical and radiological outcome, using a 3T magnetic resonance (MR) scanner in a cohort of patients similar to that of multicentre clinical trials. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Consecutive patients treated with IV rt-PA were compared with an historical cohort of untreated patients (controls). Inclusion criteria were: (1) infarction of the middle cerebral artery territory, (2) eligibility for IV rt-PA treatment, and (3) 3T perfusion- and diffusion-weighted MR imaging and MR angiography performed within 4.5 h and repeated after 5-7 days. Stroke severity was assessed with the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS). Growth of the DWI lesion, saved hypoperfused tissue, and clinical outcome was assessed and compared in treated patients and controls. RESULTS: Forty-three patients treated with rt-PA and 69 controls were eligible for the analysis. Treated patients showed higher percentages of saved hypoperfused tissue (75 vs. 40 %; p = 0.009), vessel recanalisation (65 vs. 27.5%; p = 0.003), and haemorrhagic transformation (21 vs. 7%; p = 0.004), without any clinically significant haemorrhages. Furthermore, treated patients had a significant improvement of NIHSS at 24 h (p < 0.001), at discharge (p ≤ 0.001), and at the 3-month clinical evaluation (p < 0.001), while similar rates of both treated patients and controls achieved a 3-month modified Rankin scale ≤ 2 (62 and 65%; p = 0.7). CONCLUSION: Treatment with IV rt-PA within 4.5 h of stroke onset preserves a significant amount of brain tissue from final infarction, and increases the possibility of early and late clinical improvement.

A Prospective Evaluation of Tru-Cut Biopsy and Fine-needle Aspiration Cytology in Male Breast Cancer Detection.

BACKGROUND: Male breast-cancer (MBC) is often diagnosed late. Our purpose was to evaluate fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) versus Tru-Cut biopsy (TCNB) in MBC diagnosis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Men with suspicious breast lesions were prospectively enrolled; 54 met the inclusion criteria and underwent FNAC and TCNB. FNAC, TCNB and gold-standard results were compared. RESULTS: Unsatisfactory results were 11.1% after FNAC and none after TCNB (p=0.027). After gold-standard evaluation, the diagnosis of FNAC and TCNB was confirmed, respectively, in 63.0% and 98.1% and changed in 37.0% and 1.9% (p<0.001). The malignancy rate after FNAC, TCNB and surgery were, respectively, 25.9%, 33.3% and 35.1% (FNAC vs. TCNB p=0.5276, FNAC vs. surgery p=0.404; TCNB vs. surgery p=1). Among invasive carcinomas, 93.8% were identified by FNAC vs. 87.5% by TCNB (p=1); all ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) were detected after TCNB and none after FNAC (p=0.1). CONCLUSION: FNAC leads to a significantly higher number of inadequate samplings and seems to be subject to increased DCIS misdiagnoses. TCNB correlated better to the final histological report.

Diagnostic evaluation of a case of lingual thyroid ectopia.

Thyroid ectopia can occur when the process of thyroid embryogenesis fails. Here, we present the case of a 30-year-old woman with thyroid ectopia that was discovered during magnetic resonance imaging of cervical spine for referred neck pain. Imaging revealed the presence of an encapsulated mass at the base of her tongue. The patient was not symptomatic for any compression of the airways. Diagnosis of ectopic lingual thyroid was confirmed by (99m)TC scintigraphy. Incidental diagnosis of thyroid ectopia in asymptomatic adult patients is rare, and it should be considered on diagnostic imaging in case of an anterior midline cervical mass.

Relevance of computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging for penile metastasis after prostatectomy: uncommon case report and brief review of the literature.

Penile metastasis from prostate cancer represents a rare condition, associated with poor prognosis. In the literature, authors have reported less than 500 cases of secondary penile cancers, and among these cases of metastases, only 33% are from prostate cancer. Overall reported rate of survival is about 1-24 months. Here, we present an uncommon case of penile metastasis from prostatic adenocarcinoma, with particular focus on the role of computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging in diagnosis and follow-up.

Structured multidisciplinary discussion of HRCT scans for IPF/UIP diagnosis may result in indefinite outcomes.

Recent ATS/ERS/JRS/ALAT guidelines for the diagnosis and management of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) have defined key features and specific high-resolution computerized tomography (HRCT) patterns for the diagnosis of UIP. The aim is the sorting of patients with suspected IPF into three subgroups, confident, possible or inconsistent with UIP patterns, after a multidisciplinary discussion (MDD). Specialists in respiratory diseases, radiologists and pathologists should reach IPF diagnosis based on either patients' clinical, radiological and laboratory data, either submitting patients to surgical biopsy. After ATS/ERS/JRS/ALAT recommendations have been applied, it has been identified a subgroup of patients showing uniform apical-basal distribution of honeycombing and reticular abnormalities that could not be categorized as confident, or possible nor inconsistent with UIP. These patients were subsequently diagnosed with IPF after MDD and lung biopsy. Inclusion of this pattern in the recommendation for IPF diagnosis would be worth considering.

Real time evaluation of monolateral clubfoot with sonoelastography. Preliminary results.

PURPOSE: to assess the real time elastosonography (RTE) as a primary diagnostic tool for the evaluation of mechanical properties of Achilles tendons in patients affected by not surgically treated monolateral clubfoot. MATERIALS AND METHOD: six patients were evaluated, four males and two females, mean age 1.2 ± 1.3 months, treated with Ponseti method, and afterward, they underwent RTE examination of the Achilles tendon in club-foot. A following ROI (region of interest) was positioned on the distal third of the tendon and the obtained data was examined retrospectively. RESULTS: in the examined cohort of patients, the mean value ROI 1/mean value ROI 2 ratio was 2.0 ± 0.18, with an increased red area in the RTE evaluation of the affected tendon, while in the contralateral foot the mean observed value was 2.50 ± 2.1. CONCLUSION: RTE is a feasible and simple technique, which allows the study of the mechanical properties of Achilles tendons in children with clubfoot.