Effectiveness of COVID-19 Vaccines Over Time Against Clinical and Radiologic Outcomes Related to Severe SARS-CoV-2 Infection.

Background The impact of waning vaccine effectiveness on the severity of COVID-19-related findings discovered with radiologic examinations remains underexplored. Purpose To evaluate the effectiveness of vaccines over time against severe clinical and radiologic outcomes related to SARS-CoV-2 infections. Materials and Methods This multicenter retrospective study included patients in the Korean Imaging Cohort of COVID-19 database who were hospitalized for COVID-19 between June 2021 and December 2022. Patients who had received at least one dose of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine were categorized based on the time elapsed between diagnosis and their last vaccination. Adjusted multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to estimate vaccine effectiveness against a composite of severe clinical outcomes (invasive ventilation, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or in-hospital death) and severe radiologic pneumonia (≥25% of lung involvement), and odds ratios (ORs) were compared between patients vaccinated within 90 days of diagnosis and those vaccinated more than 90 days before diagnosis. Results Of 4196 patients with COVID-19 (mean age, 66 years ± 17 [SD]; 2132 [51%] women, 2064 [49%] men), the ratio of severe pneumonia since their most recent vaccination was as follows: 90 days or less, 18% (277 of 1527); between 91 and 120 days, 22% (172 of 783); between 121 and 180 days, 27% (274 of 1032); between 181 and 240 days, 32% (159 of 496); and more than 240 days, 31% (110 of 358). Patients vaccinated more than 240 days before diagnosis showed increased odds of severe clinical outcomes compared with patients vaccinated within 90 days (OR = 1.94 [95% CI: 1.16, 3.24]; P = .01). Similarly, patients vaccinated more than 240 days before diagnosis showed increased odds of severe pneumonia on chest radiographs compared with patients vaccinated within 90 days (OR = 1.65 [95% CI: 1.13, 2.40]; P = .009). No difference in odds of severe clinical outcomes (P = .13 to P = .68) or severe pneumonia (P = .15 to P = .86) were observed between patients vaccinated 91-240 days before diagnosis and those vaccinated within 90 days of diagnosis. Conclusion Vaccine effectiveness against severe clinical outcomes and severe pneumonia related to SARS-CoV-2 infection gradually declined, with increased odds of both observed in patients vaccinated more than 240 days before diagnosis. © RSNA, 2024 Supplemental material is available for this article. See also the editorial by Wells in this issue.

Association Between Fat Depletion and Prognosis of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: CT-Based Body Composition Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to present the results of our investigation of the prognostic value of adipopenia and sarcopenia in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). METHODS: Consecutive patients with ALS with abdominal computed tomography (CT) were retrospectively identified at a single tertiary hospital between January 2010 and July 2021. Deep learning-based volumetric CT body composition analysis software was used to obtain abdominal waist fat volume, fat attenuation, and skeletal muscle area at the L3 level, then normalized to the fat volume index (FVI) and skeletal muscle index (SMI). Adipopenia and sarcopenia were defined as the sex-specific lowest quartile and SMI reference values, respectively. The associations of CT-derived body composition parameters with clinical variables, such as body mass index (BMI) and creatinine, were evaluated by Pearson correlation analyses, and associations with survival were assessed using the multivariable Cox regression analysis. RESULTS: Eighty subjects (40 men, 65.5 ± 9.4 years of age) were investigated (median interval between disease onset and CT examination = 25 months). The mean BMI at the CT examination was 20.3 ± 4.3 kg/m2 . The BMI showed a positive correlation with both FVI (R = 0.70, p < 0.001) and SMI (R = 0.63, p < 0.001), and the serum creatinine level was associated with SMI (R = 0.68, p < 0.001). After adjusting for sex, age, King's stage, BMI, creatinine, progression rate, and sarcopenia, adipopenia was associated with shorter survival (hazard ratio [HR] = 5.94, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.01, 35.0, p = 0.049). In a subgroup analysis for subjects with nutritional failure (stage 4a), the HR of adipopenia was 15.1 (95% CI = 2.45, 93.4, p = 0.003). INTERPRETATION: Deep learning-based CT-derived adipopenia in patients with ALS is an independent poor prognostic factor for survival. ANN NEUROL 2023;94:1116-1125.

Association between body fat decrease during the first year after diagnosis and the prognosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: CT-based body composition analysis.

BACKGROUND: The prognostic role of changes in body fat in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) remains underexplored. We investigated the association between changes in body fat during the first year post-diagnosis and outcomes in patients with IPF. METHODS: This single-center, retrospective study included IPF patients with chest CT scan and pulmonary function test (PFT) at diagnosis and a one-year follow-up between January 2010 and December 2020. The fat area (cm2, sum of subcutaneous and visceral fat) and muscle area (cm2) at the T12-L1 level were obtained from chest CT images using a fully automatic deep learning-based software. Changes in the body composition were dichotomized using thresholds dividing the lowest quartile and others, respectively (fat area: -52.3 cm2, muscle area: -7.4 cm2). Multivariable Cox regression analyses adjusted for PFT result and IPF extent on CT images and the log-rank test were performed to assess the association between the fat area change during the first year post-diagnosis and the composite outcome of death or lung transplantation. RESULTS: In total, 307 IPF patients (69.3 ± 8.1 years; 238 men) were included. During the first year post-diagnosis, fat area, muscle area, and body mass index (BMI) changed by -15.4 cm2, -1 cm2, and - 0.4 kg/m2, respectively. During a median follow-up of 47 months, 146 patients had the composite outcome (47.6%). In Cox regression analyses, a change in the fat area < -52.3 cm2 was associated with composite outcome incidence in models adjusted with baseline clinical variables (hazard ratio [HR], 1.566, P = .022; HR, 1.503, P = .036 in a model including gender, age, and physiology [GAP] index). This prognostic value was consistent when adjusted with one-year changes in clinical variables (HR, 1.495; P = .030). However, the change in BMI during the first year was not a significant prognostic factor (P = .941). Patients with a change in fat area exceeding this threshold experienced the composite outcome more frequently than their counterparts (58.4% vs. 43.9%; P = .007). CONCLUSION: A ≥ 52.3 cm2 decrease in fat area, automatically measured using deep learning technique, at T12-L1 in one year post-diagnosis was an independent poor prognostic factor in IPF patients.

Effect of smoking on the diagnostic results and complication rates of percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association of smoking with the outcomes of percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy (PTNB). METHODS: In total, 4668 PTNBs for pulmonary lesions were retrospectively identified. The associations of smoking status (never, former, current smokers) and smoking intensity (≤ 20, 21-40, > 40 pack-years) with diagnostic results (malignancy, non-diagnostic pathologies, and false-negative results in non-diagnostic pathologies) and complications (pneumothorax and hemoptysis) were assessed using multivariable logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Among the 4668 PTNBs (median age of the patients, 66 years [interquartile range, 58-74]; 2715 men), malignancies, non-diagnostic pathologies, and specific benign pathologies were identified in 3054 (65.4%), 1282 (27.5%), and 332 PTNBs (7.1%), respectively. False-negative results for malignancy occurred in 20.5% (236/1153) of non-diagnostic pathologies with decidable reference standards. Current smoking was associated with malignancy (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 1.31; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.02-1.69; p = 0.03) and false-negative results (OR, 2.64; 95% CI: 1.32-5.28; p = 0.006), while heavy smoking (> 40 pack-years) was associated with non-diagnostic pathologies (OR, 1.69; 95% CI: 1.19-2.40; p = 0.003) and false-negative results (OR, 2.12; 95% CI: 1.17-3.92; p = 0.02). Pneumothorax and hemoptysis occurred in 21.8% (1018/4668) and 10.6% (495/4668) of PTNBs, respectively. Heavy smoking was associated with pneumothorax (OR, 1.33; 95% CI: 1.01-1.74; p = 0.04), while heavy smoking (OR, 0.64; 95% CI: 0.40-0.99; p = 0.048) and current smoking (OR, 0.64; 95% CI: 0.42-0.96; p = 0.04) were inversely associated with hemoptysis. CONCLUSION: Smoking history was associated with the outcomes of PTNBs. Current and heavy smoking increased false-negative results and changed the complication rates of PTNBs. CLINICAL RELEVANCE STATEMENT: Smoking status and intensity were independently associated with the outcomes of PTNBs. Non-diagnostic pathologies should be interpreted cautiously in current or heavy smokers. A patient's smoking history should be ascertained before PTNB to predict and manage complications. KEY POINTS: • Smoking status and intensity might independently contribute to the diagnostic results and complications of PTNBs. • Current and heavy smoking (> 40 pack-years) were independently associated with the outcomes of PTNBs. • Operators need to recognize the association between smoking history and the outcomes of PTNBs.

Utilizing fully-automated 3D organ segmentation for hepatic steatosis assessment with CT attenuation-based parameters.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the clinical utility of fully-automated 3D organ segmentation in assessing hepatic steatosis on pre-contrast and post-contrast CT images using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS)-proton density fat fraction (PDFF) as reference standard. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study analyzed 362 adult potential living liver donors with abdominal CT scans and MRS-PDFF. Using a deep learning-based tool, mean volumetric CT attenuation of the liver and spleen were measured on pre-contrast (liver(L)_pre and spleen(S)_pre) and post-contrast (L_post and S_post) images. Agreements between volumetric and manual region-of-interest (ROI)-based measurements were assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Bland-Altman analysis. Diagnostic performances of volumetric parameters (L_pre, liver-minus-spleen (L-S)_pre, L_post, and L-S_post) were evaluated for detecting MRS-PDFF ≥ 5% and ≥ 10% using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and compared with those of ROI-based parameters. RESULTS: Among the 362 subjects, 105 and 35 had hepatic steatosis with MRS-PDFF ≥ 5% and ≥ 10%, respectively. Volumetric and ROI-based measurements revealed ICCs of 0.974, 0.825, 0.992, and 0.962, with mean differences of -4.2 HU, -3.4 HU, -1.2 HU, and -7.7 HU for L_pre, S_pre, L_post, and S_post, respectively. Volumetric L_pre, L-S_pre, L_post, and L-S_post yielded areas under the ROC curve of 0.813, 0.813, 0.734, and 0.817 for MRS-PDFF ≥ 5%; and 0.901, 0.915, 0.818, and 0.868 for MRS-PDFF ≥ 10%, comparable with those of ROI-based parameters (0.735-0.818; and 0.816-0.895, Ps = 0.228-0.911). CONCLUSION: Automated 3D segmentation of the liver and spleen in CT scans can provide volumetric CT attenuation-based parameters to detect and grade hepatic steatosis, applicable to pre-contrast and post-contrast images. CLINICAL RELEVANCE STATEMENT: Volumetric CT attenuation-based parameters of the liver and spleen, obtained through automated segmentation tools from pre-contrast or post-contrast CT scans, can efficiently detect and grade hepatic steatosis, making them applicable for large population data collection. KEY POINTS: • Automated organ segmentation enables the extraction of CT attenuation-based parameters for the target organ. • Volumetric liver and spleen CT attenuation-based parameters are highly accurate in hepatic steatosis assessment. • Automated CT measurements from pre- or post-contrast imaging show promise for hepatic steatosis screening in large cohorts.

Usual Interstitial Pneumonia: Associations With Complications After Percutaneous Transthoracic Needle Lung Biopsy.

BACKGROUND. Changes in lung parenchyma elasticity in usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) may increase the risk for complications after percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy (PTNB) of the lung. OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this article was to investigate the association of UIP findings on CT with complications after PTNB, including pneumothorax, pneumothorax requiring chest tube insertion, and hemoptysis. METHODS. This retrospective single-center study included 4187 patients (mean age, 63.8 ± 11.9 [SD] years; 2513 men, 1674 women) who underwent PTNB between January 2010 and December 2015. Patients were categorized into a UIP group and non-UIP group by review of preprocedural CT. In the UIP group, procedural CT images were reviewed to assess for traversal of UIP findings by needle. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to identify associations between the UIP group and needle traversal with postbiopsy complications, controlling for a range of patient, lesion, and procedural characteristics. RESULTS. The UIP and non-UIP groups included 148 and 4039 patients, respectively; in the UIP group, traversal of UIP findings by needle was observed in 53 patients and not observed in 95 patients. The UIP group, in comparison with the non-UIP group, had a higher frequency of pneumothorax (35.1% vs 17.9%, p < .001) and pneumothorax requiring chest tube placement (6.1% vs 1.5%, p = .001) and lower frequency of hemoptysis (2.0% vs 6.1%, p = .03). In multivariable analyses, the UIP group with traversal of UIP findings by needle, relative to the non-UIP group, showed independent associations with pneumothorax (OR, 5.25; 95% CI, 2.94-9.37; p < .001) and pneumothorax requiring chest tube placement (OR, 9.55; 95% CI, 3.74-24.38; p < .001). The UIP group without traversal of UIP findings by needle, relative to the non-UIP group, was not independently associated with pneumothorax (OR, 1.18; 95% CI, 0.71-1.97; p = .51) or pneumothorax requiring chest tube placement (OR, 1.08; 95% CI, 0.25-4.72; p = .92). The UIP group, with or without traversal of UIP findings by needle, was not independently associated with hemoptysis. No patient experienced air embolism or procedure-related death. CONCLUSION. Needle traversal of UIP findings is a risk factor for pneumothorax and pneumothorax requiring chest tube placement after PTNB. CLINICAL IMPACT. When performing PTNB in patients with UIP, radiologists should plan a needle trajectory that does not traverse UIP findings, when possible.

Chest CT Findings in Hospitalized Patients with SARS-CoV-2: Delta versus Omicron Variants.

Background CT manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 may differ among variants. Purpose To compare the chest CT findings of SARS-CoV-2 between the Delta and Omicron variants. Materials and Methods This retrospective study collected consecutive baseline chest CT images of hospitalized patients with SARS-CoV-2 from a secondary referral hospital when the Delta and Omicron variants were predominant. Two radiologists categorized CT images according to the RSNA classification system for COVID-19 and visually graded pneumonia extent. Pneumonia, pleural effusion, and intrapulmonary vessels were segmented and quantified on CT images using a priori-developed neural networks, followed by reader confirmation. Multivariable logistic and linear regression analyses were performed to examine the associations between the variants and CT category, distribution, severity, and peripheral vascularity. Results In total, 88 patients with the Delta variant (mean age, 67 years ± 15 [SD]; 46 men) and 88 patients with the Omicron variant (mean age, 62 years ± 19; 51 men) were included. Omicron was associated with less frequent, typical peripheral bilateral ground-glass opacity (32% [28 of 88] vs 57% [50 of 88], P = .001), more frequent peribronchovascular predilection (38% [25 of 66] vs 7% [five of 71], P < .001), lower visual pneumonia extent (5.4 ± 6.0 vs 7.7 ± 6.6, P = .02), similar pneumonia volume (5% ± 1 vs 7% ± 11, P = .14), and a higher proportion of vessels with a cross-sectional area smaller than 5 mm2 relative to the total pulmonary blood volume (BV5%; 48% ± 11 vs 44% ± 8; P = .004). In adjusted analyses, Omicron was associated with a nontypical appearance (odds ratio, 0.34; P = .006), peribronchovascular predilection (odds ratio, 9.2; P < .001), and higher BV5% (ß = 3.8; P = .01) but similar visual pneumonia extent (P = .17) and pneumonia volume (P = .67) relative to the Delta variant. Conclusion At chest CT, the Omicron SARS-COV-2 variant showed nontypical peribronchovascular pneumonia and less pulmonary vascular involvement than did the Delta variant in hospitalized patients with similar disease severity. © RSNA, 2022 Online supplemental material is available for this article.

An Integrated Radiologic-Pathologic Understanding of COVID-19 Pneumonia.

This article reviews the radiologic and pathologic findings of the epithelial and endothelial injuries in COVID-19 pneumonia to help radiologists understand the fundamental nature of the disease. The radiologic and pathologic manifestations of COVID-19 pneumonia result from epithelial and endothelial injuries based on viral toxicity and immunopathologic effects. The pathologic features of mild and reversible COVID-19 pneumonia involve nonspecific pneumonia or an organizing pneumonia pattern, while the pathologic features of potentially fatal and irreversible COVID-19 pneumonia are characterized by diffuse alveolar damage followed by fibrosis or acute fibrinous organizing pneumonia. These pathologic responses of epithelial injuries observed in COVID-19 pneumonia are not specific to SARS-CoV-2 but rather constitute universal responses to viral pneumonia. Endothelial injury in COVID-19 pneumonia is a prominent feature compared with other types of viral pneumonia and encompasses various vascular abnormalities at different levels, including pulmonary thromboembolism, vascular engorgement, peripheral vascular reduction, a vascular tree-in-bud pattern, and lung perfusion abnormality. Chest CT with different imaging techniques (eg, CT quantification, dual-energy CT perfusion) can fully capture the various manifestations of epithelial and endothelial injuries. CT can thus aid in establishing prognosis and identifying patients at risk for deterioration.

Deep Learning for Estimating Lung Capacity on Chest Radiographs Predicts Survival in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.

Background Total lung capacity (TLC) has been estimated with use of chest radiographs based on time-consuming methods, such as planimetric techniques and manual measurements. Purpose To develop a deep learning-based, multidimensional model capable of estimating TLC from chest radiographs and demographic variables and validate its technical performance and clinical utility with use of multicenter retrospective data sets. Materials and Methods A deep learning model was pretrained with use of 50 000 consecutive chest CT scans performed between January 2015 and June 2017. The model was fine-tuned on 3523 pairs of posteroanterior chest radiographs and plethysmographic TLC measurements from consecutive patients who underwent pulmonary function testing on the same day. The model was tested with multicenter retrospective data sets from two tertiary care centers and one community hospital, including (a) an external test set 1 (n = 207) and external test set 2 (n = 216) for technical performance and (b) patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (n = 217) for clinical utility. Technical performance was evaluated with use of various agreement measures, and clinical utility was assessed in terms of the prognostic value for overall survival with use of multivariable Cox regression. Results The mean absolute difference and within-subject SD between observed and estimated TLC were 0.69 L and 0.73 L, respectively, in the external test set 1 (161 men; median age, 70 years [IQR: 61-76 years]) and 0.52 L and 0.53 L in the external test set 2 (113 men; median age, 63 years [IQR: 51-70 years]). In patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (145 men; median age, 67 years [IQR: 61-73 years]), greater estimated TLC percentage was associated with lower mortality risk (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.97 per percent; 95% CI: 0.95, 0.98; P < .001). Conclusion A fully automatic, deep learning-based model estimated total lung capacity from chest radiographs, and the model predicted survival in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. © RSNA, 2022 Online supplemental material is available for this article. See also the editorial by Sorkness in this issue.

Quantitative interstitial lung disease scores in idiopathic inflammatory myopathies: longitudinal changes and clinical implications.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate computer-aided quantitative scores from high-resolution CT (HRCT) images and determine their longitudinal changes and clinical significance in patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs)-related interstitial lung disease (IIMs-ILD). METHODS: The clinical data and HRCT images of 80 patients with IIMs who underwent serial HRCT scans at least twice were retrospectively analysed. Quantitative ILD (QILD) scores (%) were calculated as the sum of the extent of lung fibrosis, ground-glass opacity, and honeycombing. The individual time-estimated ΔQILD between two consecutive scans was derived using a linear approximation of yearly changes. RESULTS: The baseline median QILD (interquartile range) scores in the whole lung were 28.1% (19.1-43.8). The QILD was significantly correlated with forced vital capacity (r = -0.349, P = 0.002) and diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (r = -0.381, P = 0.001). For ΔQILD between the first two scans, according to the visual ILD subtype, QILD aggravation was more frequent in patients with usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) than non-UIP (80.0% vs 44.4%, P = 0.013). Multivariable logistic regression analyses identified UIP was significantly related to radiographic ILD progression (ΔQILD >2%, P = 0.015). Patients with higher baseline QILD scores (>28.1%) had a higher risk of lung transplantation or death (P = 0.015). In the analysis of three serial HRCT scans (n = 41), dynamic ΔQILD with four distinct patterns (improving, worsening, convex and concave) was observed. CONCLUSION: QILD changes in IIMs-ILD were dynamic, and baseline UIP patterns seemed to be related to a longitudinal progression in QILD. These may be potential imaging biomarkers for lung function, changes in ILD severity and prognosis in IIMs-ILD.

Prognostic value of deep learning-based fibrosis quantification on chest CT in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prognostic value of deep learning (DL)-driven CT fibrosis quantification in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). METHODS: Patients diagnosed with IPF who underwent nonenhanced chest CT and spirometry between 2005 and 2009 were retrospectively collected. Proportions of normal (CT-Norm%) and fibrotic lung volume (CT-Fib%) were calculated on CT using the DL software. The correlations of CT-Norm% and CT-Fib% with forced vital capacity (FVC) and diffusion capacity of carbon monoxide (DLCO) were evaluated. The multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) of CT-Norm% and CT-Fib% for overall survival were calculated with clinical and physiologic variables as covariates using Cox regression. The feasibility of substituting CT-Norm% for DLCO in the GAP index was investigated using time-dependent areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (TD-AUCs) at 3 years. RESULTS: In total, 161 patients (median age [IQR], 68 [62-73] years; 104 men) were evaluated. CT-Norm% and CT-Fib% showed significant correlations with FVC (Pearson's r, 0.40 for CT-Norm% and - 0.37 for CT-Fib%; both p < 0.001) and DLCO (0.52 for CT-Norm% and - 0.46 for CT-Fib%; both p < 0.001). On multivariable Cox regression, both CT-Norm% and CT-Fib% were independent prognostic factors when adjusted to age, sex, smoking status, comorbid chronic diseases, FVC, and DLCO (HRs, 0.98 [95% CI 0.97-0.99; p < 0.001] for CT-Norm% at 3 years and 1.03 [1.01-1.05; p = 0.01] for CT-Fib%). Substituting CT-Norm% for DLCO showed comparable discrimination to the original GAP index (TD-AUC, 0.82 [0.78-0.85] vs. 0.82 [0.79-0.86]; p = 0.75). CONCLUSION: CT-Norm% and CT-Fib% calculated using chest CT-based deep learning software were independent prognostic factors for overall survival in IPF. KEY POINTS: • Normal and fibrotic lung volume proportions were automatically calculated using commercial deep learning software from chest CT taken from 161 patients diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. • CT-quantified volumetric parameters from commercial deep learning software were correlated with forced vital capacity (Pearson's r, 0.40 for normal and - 0.37 for fibrotic lung volume proportions) and diffusion capacity of carbon monoxide (Pearson's r, 0.52 and - 0.46, respectively). • Normal and fibrotic lung volume proportions (hazard ratios, 0.98 and 1.04; both p < 0.001) independently predicted overall survival when adjusted for clinical and physiologic variables.

Deep Learning With Chest Radiographs for Making Prognoses in Patients With COVID-19: Retrospective Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: An artificial intelligence (AI) model using chest radiography (CXR) may provide good performance in making prognoses for COVID-19. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to develop and validate a prediction model using CXR based on an AI model and clinical variables to predict clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. METHODS: This retrospective longitudinal study included patients hospitalized for COVID-19 at multiple COVID-19 medical centers between February 2020 and October 2020. Patients at Boramae Medical Center were randomly classified into training, validation, and internal testing sets (at a ratio of 8:1:1, respectively). An AI model using initial CXR images as input, a logistic regression model using clinical information, and a combined model using the output of the AI model (as CXR score) and clinical information were developed and trained to predict hospital length of stay (LOS) ≤2 weeks, need for oxygen supplementation, and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The models were externally validated in the Korean Imaging Cohort of COVID-19 data set for discrimination and calibration. RESULTS: The AI model using CXR and the logistic regression model using clinical variables were suboptimal to predict hospital LOS ≤2 weeks or the need for oxygen supplementation but performed acceptably in the prediction of ARDS (AI model area under the curve [AUC] 0.782, 95% CI 0.720-0.845; logistic regression model AUC 0.878, 95% CI 0.838-0.919). The combined model performed better in predicting the need for oxygen supplementation (AUC 0.704, 95% CI 0.646-0.762) and ARDS (AUC 0.890, 95% CI 0.853-0.928) compared to the CXR score alone. Both the AI and combined models showed good calibration for predicting ARDS (P=.079 and P=.859). CONCLUSIONS: The combined prediction model, comprising the CXR score and clinical information, was externally validated as having acceptable performance in predicting severe illness and excellent performance in predicting ARDS in patients with COVID-19.

Correction: Deep Learning With Chest Radiographs for Making Prognoses in Patients With COVID-19: Retrospective Cohort Study.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.2196/42717.].

Erratum: Correction of Affiliations in the Article "Establishment of a Nationwide Korean Imaging Cohort of Coronavirus Disease 2019".

This corrects the article on p. e413 in vol. 35, PMID: 33258333.

Allergic-like Hypersensitivity Reactions to Gadolinium-based Contrast Agents: An 8-year Cohort Study of 154 539 Patients.

Background With the widespread use of gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs), the incidence of allergic-like hypersensitivity reactions (HSRs) to GBCAs is increasing. Research on the incidence and risk factors for HSRs to GBCAs is needed for their safe use. Purpose To determine the incidence of acute and delayed reactions to GBCAs and to discuss the risk factors and strategies for the prevention of HSRs to GBCAs. Materials and Methods All cases of HSRs to contrast media that occurred at the Seoul National University Hospital from July 1, 2012, to June 30, 2020, were assessed. Information including age, sex, GBCA type, onset, and severity of HSRs was retrospectively analyzed. Results Among the 331070 cases of GBCA exposure in 154539 patients, 1304 cases of HSRs (0.4%) were reported. Acute HSRs accounted for 1178 cases (0.4%), while 126 cases (0.04%) were delayed HSRs. While both premedication (odds ratio [OR] = 0.7, P = .041) and changing the type of GBCA (OR = 0.2, P < .001) showed preventative effects in patients with a history of acute HSRs, only premedication (OR = 0.2, P = .016) significantly reduced the incidence of HSRs in patients with a history of delayed reactions. The risk of an HSR to GBCA was higher in those with a history of an HSR to iodinated contrast media (OR = 4.6, P < .001). Conclusion The rate of hypersensitivity reactions (HSRs) to gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) was 0.4%. The absence of premedication, repeated exposures to the culprit GBCA, and a history of HSRs to iodinated contrast media and GBCAs were risk factors for HSRs to GBCAs. © RSNA, 2022 Online supplemental material is available for this article. See also the editorial by Kallmes and McDonald in this issue.

Preoperative percutaneous needle lung biopsy techniques and ipsilateral pleural recurrence in stage I lung cancer.

OBJECTIVES: A recent meta-analysis of individual patient data revealed that preoperative percutaneous transthoracic needle lung biopsy (PTNB) was associated with an increased risk of ipsilateral pleural recurrence in stage I lung cancer. This study aimed to examine whether particular PTNB techniques reduced the risk of pleural recurrence. METHODS: We retrospectively included 415 consecutive patients with stage I lung cancer who underwent preoperative PTNB and curative resection from 2009 through 2016. Detailed information was collected, including clinical, PTNB technique, radiologic, and pathologic characteristics of lung cancer. Cox regression analyses were performed to identify risk factors for pleural recurrence before and after propensity score matching. RESULTS: The overall follow-up period after PTNB was 62.1 ± 23.0 months, and ipsilateral pleural recurrence occurred in 40 patients. Before propensity score matching, age (p = 0.063), microscopic pleural invasion (p = 0.065), and pathologic tumor size (p = 0.016) tended to be associated with pleural recurrence in univariate analyses and subsequently were matched using a propensity score. After propensity score matching, multivariate analysis revealed that ipsilateral pleural recurrence was associated with a larger target size on computed tomography (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.498; 95% CI, 1.506-2.125; p = 0.023) and microscopic lymphatic invasion (HR = 3.526; 95% CI, 1.491-8.341; p = 0.004). However, no PTNB techniques such as needle gauge, biopsy, or pleural passage numbers were associated with a reduced risk of recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: No particular PTNB techniques were associated with reduced pleural seeding after PTNB in stage I lung cancer. Regardless of the technique, PTNB needs to be cautiously applied when early lung cancer is suspected, followed by curative treatment. KEY POINTS: • Age, microscopic pleural invasion, and pathologic tumor size tended to be associated with pleural recurrence in stage I lung cancer before propensity matching. • After propensity matching, pre-biopsy CT target size and microscopic lymphatic invasion were associated with pleural recurrence. • No particular PTNB techniques were associated with reduced pleural seeding in stage I lung cancer before and after propensity matching.

Automated segmentation of whole-body CT images for body composition analysis in pediatric patients using a deep neural network.

OBJECTIVES: To develop an automatic segmentation algorithm using a deep neural network with transfer learning applicable to whole-body PET-CT images in children. METHODS: For model development, we utilized transfer learning with a pre-trained model based on adult patients. We used CT images of 31 pediatric patients under 19 years of age (mean age, 9.6 years) who underwent PET-CT from institution #1 for transfer learning. Two radiologists manually labeled the skin, bone, muscle, abdominal visceral fat, subcutaneous fat, internal organs, and central nervous system in each CT slice and used these as references. For external validation, we collected 14 pediatric PET/CT scans from institution #2 (mean age, 9.1 years). The Dice similarity coefficients (DSCs), sensitivities, and precision were compared between the algorithms before and after transfer learning. In addition, we evaluated segmentation performance according to sex, age (≤ 8 vs. > 8 years), and body mass index (BMI, ≤ 20 vs. > 20 kg/m2). RESULTS: The algorithm after transfer learning showed better performance than the algorithm before transfer learning for all body compositions (p < 0.001). The average DSC, sensitivity, and precision of each algorithm before and after transfer learning were 98.23% and 99.28%, 98.16% and 99.28%, and 98.29% and 99.28%, respectively. The segmentation performance of the algorithm was generally not affected by age, sex, or BMI, except for precision in the body muscle compartment. CONCLUSION: The developed model with transfer learning enabled accurate and fully automated segmentation of multiple tissues on whole-body CT scans in children. KEY POINTS: • We utilized transfer learning with a pre-trained segmentation algorithm for adult to develop an algorithm for automated segmentation of pediatric whole-body CT. • This algorithm showed excellent performance and was not affected by sex, age, or body mass index, except for precision in body muscle.

Artificial intelligence system for identification of false-negative interpretations in chest radiographs.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the efficacy of an artificial intelligence (AI) system for the identification of false negatives in chest radiographs that were interpreted as normal by radiologists. METHODS: We consecutively collected chest radiographs that were read as normal during 1 month (March 2020) in a single institution. A commercialized AI system was retrospectively applied to these radiographs. Radiographs with abnormal AI results were then re-interpreted by the radiologist who initially read the radiograph ("AI as the advisor" scenario). The reference standards for the true presence of relevant abnormalities in radiographs were defined by majority voting of three thoracic radiologists. The efficacy of the AI system was evaluated by detection yield (proportion of true-positive identification among the entire examination) and false-referral rate (FRR, proportion of false-positive identification among all examinations). Decision curve analyses were performed to evaluate the net benefits of applying the AI system. RESULTS: A total of 4208 radiographs from 3778 patients (M:F = 1542:2236; median age, 56 years) were included. The AI system identified initially overlooked relevant abnormalities with a detection yield and an FRR of 2.4% and 14.0%, respectively. In the "AI as the advisor" scenario, radiologists detected initially overlooked relevant abnormalities with a detection yield and FRR of 1.2% and 0.97%, respectively. In a decision curve analysis, AI as an advisor scenario exhibited a positive net benefit when the cost-to-benefit ratio was below 1:0.8. CONCLUSION: An AI system could identify relevant abnormalities overlooked by radiologists and could enable radiologists to correct their false-negative interpretations by providing feedback to radiologists. KEY POINTS: • In consecutive chest radiographs with normal interpretations, an artificial intelligence system could identify relevant abnormalities that were initially overlooked by radiologists. • The artificial intelligence system could enable radiologists to correct their initial false-negative interpretations by providing feedback to radiologists when overlooked abnormalities were present.

Deep Learning-Based Automatic CT Quantification of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pneumonia: An International Collaborative Study.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to develop and validate the automatic quantification of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia on computed tomography (CT) images. METHODS: This retrospective study included 176 chest CT scans of 131 COVID-19 patients from 14 Korean and Chinese institutions from January 23 to March 15, 2020. Two experienced radiologists semiautomatically drew pneumonia masks on CT images to develop the 2D U-Net for segmenting pneumonia. External validation was performed using Japanese (n = 101), Italian (n = 99), Radiopaedia (n = 9), and Chinese data sets (n = 10). The primary measures for the system's performance were correlation coefficients for extent (%) and weight (g) of pneumonia in comparison with visual CT scores or human-derived segmentation. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate the association of the extent and weight with symptoms in the Japanese data set and composite outcome (respiratory failure and death) in the Spanish data set (n = 115). RESULTS: In the internal test data set, the intraclass correlation coefficients between U-Net outputs and references for the extent and weight were 0.990 and 0.993. In the Japanese data set, the Pearson correlation coefficients between U-Net outputs and visual CT scores were 0.908 and 0.899. In the other external data sets, intraclass correlation coefficients were between 0.949-0.965 (extent) and between 0.978-0.993 (weight). Extent and weight in the top quartile were independently associated with symptoms (odds ratio, 5.523 and 10.561; P = 0.041 and 0.016) and the composite outcome (odds ratio, 9.365 and 7.085; P = 0.021 and P = 0.035). CONCLUSIONS: Automatically quantified CT extent and weight of COVID-19 pneumonia were well correlated with human-derived references and independently associated with symptoms and prognosis in multinational external data sets.

Impact of Mediastinal Lymphadenopathy on the Severity of COVID-19 Pneumonia: A Nationwide Multicenter Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: We analyzed the differences between clinical characteristics and computed tomography (CT) findings in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to establish potential relationships with mediastinal lymphadenopathy and clinical outcomes. METHODS: We compared the clinical characteristics and CT findings of COVID-19 patients from a nationwide multicenter cohort who were grouped based on the presence or absence of mediastinal lymphadenopathy. Differences between clinical characteristics and CT findings in these groups were analyzed. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine the impact of mediastinal lymphadenopathy on clinical outcomes. RESULTS: Of the 344 patients included in this study, 53 (15.4%) presented with mediastinal lymphadenopathy. The rate of diffuse alveolar damage pattern pneumonia and the visual CT scores were significantly higher in patients with mediastinal lymphadenopathy than in those without (P < 0.05). A positive correlation between the number of enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes and visual CT scores was noted in patients with mediastinal lymphadenopathy (Spearman's ρ = 0.334, P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that mediastinal lymphadenopathy was independently associated with a higher risk of intensive care unit (ICU) admission (odds ratio, 95% confidence interval; 3.25, 1.06-9.95) but was not significantly associated with an increased risk of in-hospital death in patients with COVID-19. CONCLUSION: COVID-19 patients with mediastinal lymphadenopathy had a larger extent of pneumonia than those without. Multivariate analysis adjusted for clinical characteristics and CT findings revealed that the presence of mediastinal lymphadenopathy was significantly associated with ICU admission.