Challenges, Barriers, and Successes of Standardized Report Templates: Results of a Society of Interventional Radiology Survey.

Registry data are being increasingly used to establish treatment guidelines, set benchmarks, allocate resources, and make payment decisions. Although many registries rely on manual data entry, the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) is using automated data extraction for its VIRTEX registry. This process relies on participants using consistent terminology with highly structured data in physician-developed standardized reports (SR). To better understand barriers to adoption, a survey was sent to 3,178 SIR members. Responses were obtained from 451 interventional radiology practitioners (14.2%) from 92 unique academic and 151 unique private practices. Of these, 75% used structured reports and 32% used the SIR SR. The most common barriers to the use of these reports include SR length (35% of respondents), lack of awareness about the SR (31%), and lack of agreement on adoption within practices (27%). The results demonstrated insights regarding barriers in the use and/or adoption of SR and potential solutions.

Transarterial Yttrium-90 Radioembolization for Unresectable Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

PURPOSE: To investigate the overall efficacy and survival profile of yttrium-90 (90Y) radioembolization for unresectable intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis was completed using a random-effects model. Studies describing the use of 90Y for unresectable ICC were included. The disease control rate (DCR), downstaged-to-resectable rate, cancer antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) response rate, pooled median overall survival (OS), pooled median progression-free survival (PFS), and mean reported survival rates ranging from 3 to 36 months were evaluated. RESULTS: Twenty-one studies detailing a total of 921 patients were included. The overall DCR was 82.3% (95% confidence interval [CI], 76.7%-87.8%; I2 = 81%). In 11% of the cases, patients were downstaged to being surgically resectable (95% CI, 6.1%-15.9%; I2 = 78%). The CA19-9 response rate was 67.2% (95% CI, 54.5%-79.8%; I2 = 60%). From the time of radioembolization, PFS was 7.8 months (95% CI, 4.2-11.3 months; I2 = 94%) and median OS was 12.7 months (95% CI, 10.6-14.8 months; I2 = 62%). Lastly, the mean overall reported survival proportions were 84% at 3 months (standard deviation [SD], 10%), 69% at 6 months (SD, 16%), 47% at 12 months (SD, 19%), 31% at 18 months (SD, 21%), 30% at 24 months (SD, 19%), 21% at 30 months (SD, 27%), and 5% at 36 months (SD, 7%). CONCLUSIONS: Radioembolization with 90Y for unresectable ICC results in substantial downstaging, disease control, and survival.

Time to Catheter Angiography for Gastrointestinal Bleeding after Prior Positive Investigation Does Not Affect Bleed Identification.

OBJECTIVE: To determine, time to angiography for patients with positive gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) on prior investigation (endoscopy [ES], nuclear medicine [NM] Tc99m red blood cells (RBC) scan, or computed tomography angiography), affects angiographic bleed identification. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Visceral Angiograms performed from January 2012 to August 2017 were evaluated. Initial angiograms performed for GIB were included in the study. Exclusion criteria included recent abdominal surgery or procedure (30 days), empiric embolization (embolization without visualized active bleeding), and use of vasodilators, or subsequent angiogram. Timing and results of ES, NM Tc99m RBC scan, or computed tomography angiogram and catheter angiogram were recorded. In addition, age, gender, angiogram time, anti- platelet therapy, anti-coagulation therapy, bleed location, international normalized ratio, and units of packed RBCs received in the 24 h before catheter angiography were included in the study. RESULTS: One hundred and seventy angiograms were included in the final analysis. Forty-three angiograms resulted in the identification of an active bleed (68.9 years, and 67.4% male). All of these patients were embolized successfully. One hundred and twenty-seven angiograms failed to identify an active bleed (70.4 years, and 49.6% male). No significance was found across the two groups with respect to time from prior positive investigation. Receiver operating characteristic analysis demonstrated that units of packed RBCs received in the preceding 24 h were correlated with positive bleed identification on catheter angiography. CONCLUSION: Time to angiography from prior positive investigation, including ES, NM Tc99m RBC scan, or computed tomography angiogram does not correlate with positive angiographic outcomes. Increasing units of packed RBCs administered in the 24 h before angiogram do correlate with positive angiographic findings.

Pediatric cystic artery pseudoaneurysm embolization.

Cystic artery pseudoaneurysm is an exceedingly rare complication of biliary interventions, such as cholecystectomy, or cholecystitis [1]. Prompt intervention is often required due to their predisposition to bleeding. Ideal diagnosis and treatment would have the patient go directly to Interventional Radiology for angiography and embolization, followed by a short interval cholecystectomy [2, 3]. However, due to their low incidence patients often undergo several less invasive diagnostic tests prior to diagnosis [4]. Here we describe what we believe is the first reported pediatric case of a cystic artery pseudoaneurysm secondary to cholecystitis.

Mycotic Aneurysm of the Hepatic Artery: A Case Report and its Management.

Cholecystectomies are one of the most common surgical procedures performed in the United States, with complications being relatively common. We submit a case of a ruptured mycotic aneurysm of the hepatic artery, a complication of a recent cholecystectomy which was successfully treated with the use of transarterial thrombin.

Muscle atrophy as a consequence of rotator cuff tears: should we compare the muscles of the rotator cuff with those of the deltoid?

PURPOSE: The quantitative assessment of muscle atrophy has a degree of importance in prognosticating rotator cuff treatment. However, it has been conjectured that muscle fat increases with aging. Therefore, we thought that the quantitative assessment of the supraspinatous would be better if made in comparison with a standard of reference such as the deltoid. Consequently, we performed a two-part study, first evaluating supraspinatous changes compared with the deltoid in "normals" with aging, and second, determining if in patients with cuff tears the supraspinatous fat exceeds that of the deltoid. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In part 1, we studied 50 patients stratified by decade. In the first sitting, two blinded independent observers quantitatively graded the deltoid (with the supraspinatous obscured) and in the second sitting the same two observers quantitatively graded the supraspinatous (with the deltoid obscured). In part 2 of the study, we evaluated patients with moderate rotator cuff tears (>2 cm) and performed the same blinded, two-sitting, quantitative assessment (with the comparison muscle obscured). RESULTS: We found that muscle atrophy increases with age in patients without tears (0.011/0.028 U/year), although to a greater degree in the deltoid (p = 0.032). Also, in similarly aged patients, quantitative scores of the deltoid closely matched those of the supraspinatous (p = 0.071). Notably, however, in patients with large tears, the supraspinatous showed significant changes disproportionate to those of the deltoid, regardless of patient age (p = 0.044). CONCLUSION: In the presence of a normal rotator cuff, fatty infiltration increases with age. Age-related changes occur more frequently in the deltoid, verifying this muscle's potential as a standard of reference. With cuff tears, supraspinatous atrophy was disproportionate to that of the deltoid. Therefore, systematic assessment of supraspinatous muscle atrophy may be more reliable using the deltoid as a control for comparison than assessing it in isolation.