Incidence of bowel wall oedema on computed tomography exams and association with diarrhoea in renal cell carcinoma patients treated with sunitinib.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to retrospectively assess the incidence of bowel wall oedema on computed tomography (CT) in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) treated with sunitinib, and to investigate its association with diarrhoea. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of all RCC patients treated with sunitinib at our hospital between December 2005 and December 2011. The presence or absence of bowel wall oedema on these CT examinations was scored. The presence of diarrhoea preceding, during, or after sunitinib treatment was identified from the patient files and retrospectively graded. RESULTS: For 54 of 87 patients, bowel wall oedema was present on at least one CT examination. Of these 54 patients, the right-sided colonic segment was affected in 87%. Diarrhoea was the most common reported adverse event during treatment, with 58 patients (67%) having grade 1/2 diarrhoea and 9 patients (10%) having grade 3. There was a statistically significant correlation between the incidence of CT-scored bowel oedema and diarrhoea during sunitinib treatment (P = 0.004). CONCLUSIONS: This study shows a very high incidence of bowel wall oedema and a strong correlation between the incidence of bowel wall oedema and diarrhoea in patients treated with sunitinib. KEY POINTS: • Sunitinib is routinely used in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma. • Diarrhoea is the most common reported adverse event during sunitinib treatment. • Incidence of bowel oedema and diarrhoea during sunitinib treatment is correlated. • Radiologists should avoid misinterpretation of bowel oedema as infectious colitis.

Reproducibility and agreement of pharyngeal automated impedance manometry with videofluoroscopy.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Automated impedance manometry analysis (AIM) measures swallow function variables that define bolus timing, intrabolus pressure, contractile vigor, and bolus presence; these are combined to derive a swallow risk index (SRI) that is correlated with pharyngeal dysfunction and aspiration. We assessed intra-rater and inter-rater reproducibility of AIM analysis-derived variables; the diagnostic accuracy of AIM-based criteria for detecting aspiration was determined by using expertly scored videofluoroscopy as the standard. METHODS: Data on 50 bolus swallows of 10 mL each were randomly selected from a database of swallows that were simultaneously recorded with impedance, manometry, and videofluoroscopy. Data were divided into 5 subgroups of 10 swallows for analysis: 10 dysphagic liquid, 10 dysphagic liquid with aspiration, 10 dysphagic semisolid, 10 control liquid, and 10 control semisolid. Repeat analyses were performed by 10 observers with varying levels of expertise in manometry by using purpose-designed software (AIMplot). Swallow videos were scored by 4 experts by using the penetration-aspiration scale (PAS) score. Reproducibility of calculation of swallow function variables and the SRI and PAS was assessed by using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The majority consensus of expert PAS scores was used to dichotomously define aspiration (consensus PAS >3). Observer analyses were compared by Cohen κ statistical analysis. RESULTS: The intra-rater and inter-rater reproducibility of swallow function variables was high (SRI mean intra-rater ICC, 0.97 and mean inter-rater ICC, 0.91). SRI >15-20 was optimal for detecting the presence of aspiration during liquid bolus swallows with an almost perfect agreement with expert scoring of videofluoroscopy (κ > 0.8). CONCLUSIONS: AIM analysis has high intra-rater and inter-rater reproducibility, and among observers of varying expertise, SRI predicts the presence of aspiration.