Glioblastoma and Internal Carotid Artery Calcium Score: A Possible Novel Prognostic Partnership?

Purpose: Clinical evidence suggests an association between comorbidities and outcome in patients with glioblastoma (GBM). We hypothesised that the internal carotid artery (ICA) calcium score could represent a promising prognostic biomarker in a competing risk analysis in patients diagnosed with GBM. Methods: We validated the use of the ICA calcium score as a surrogate marker of the coronary calcium score in 32 patients with lung cancer. Subsequently, we assessed the impact of the ICA calcium score on overall survival in GBM patients treated with radio-chemotherapy. Results: We analysed 50 GBM patients. At the univariate analysis, methyl-guanine-methyltransferase gene (MGMT) promoter methylation (p = 0.048), gross total tumour resection (p = 0.017), and calcium score (p = 0.011) were significant prognostic predictors in patients with GBM. These three variables also maintained statistical significance in the multivariate analysis. Conclusions: the ICA calcium score could be a promising prognostic biomarker in GBM patients.

Usefulness of MRI-based radiomic features for distinguishing Warthin tumor from pleomorphic adenoma: performance assessment using T2-weighted and post-contrast T1-weighted MR images.

Purpose: Differentiating Warthin tumor (WT) from pleomorphic adenoma (PA) is of primary importance due to differences in patient management, treatment and outcome. We sought to evaluate the performance of MRI-based radiomic features in discriminating PA from WT in the preoperative setting. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 81 parotid gland lesions (48 PA and 33 WT) on T2-weighted (T2w) images and 52 of them on post-contrast fat-suppressed T1-weighted (pcfsT1w) images. All MRI examinations were carried out on a 1.5-Tesla MRI scanner, and images were segmented manually using the software ITK-SNAP (www.itk-snap.org). Results: The most discriminative feature on pcfsT1w images was GLCM_InverseVariance, yielding area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity and specificity of 0.9, 86 % and 87 %, respectively. Skewness was the feature extracted from T2w images with the highest specificity (88 %) in discriminating WT from PA. Conclusion: Radiomic analysis could be an important tool to improve diagnostic accuracy in differentiating PA from WT.

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in COVID-19 patients: a pocket guide for radiologists.

During the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been proposed as a possible therapy for COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome. This pictorial review is intended to provide radiologists with up-to-date information regarding different types of ECMO devices, correct placement of ECMO cannulae, and imaging features of potential complications and disease evolution in COVID-19 patients treated with ECMO, which is essential for a correct interpretation of diagnostic imaging, so as to guide proper patient management.

Human, All Too Human? An All-Around Appraisal of the "Artificial Intelligence Revolution" in Medical Imaging.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has seen dramatic growth over the past decade, evolving from a niche super specialty computer application into a powerful tool which has revolutionized many areas of our professional and daily lives, and the potential of which seems to be still largely untapped. The field of medicine and medical imaging, as one of its various specialties, has gained considerable benefit from AI, including improved diagnostic accuracy and the possibility of predicting individual patient outcomes and options of more personalized treatment. It should be noted that this process can actively support the ongoing development of advanced, highly specific treatment strategies (e.g., target therapies for cancer patients) while enabling faster workflow and more efficient use of healthcare resources. The potential advantages of AI over conventional methods have made it attractive for physicians and other healthcare stakeholders, raising much interest in both the research and the industry communities. However, the fast development of AI has unveiled its potential for disrupting the work of healthcare professionals, spawning concerns among radiologists that, in the future, AI may outperform them, thus damaging their reputations or putting their jobs at risk. Furthermore, this development has raised relevant psychological, ethical, and medico-legal issues which need to be addressed for AI to be considered fully capable of patient management. The aim of this review is to provide a brief, hopefully exhaustive, overview of the state of the art of AI systems regarding medical imaging, with a special focus on how AI and the entire healthcare environment should be prepared to accomplish the goal of a more advanced human-centered world.

Interreader variability in prostate MRI reporting using Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System version 2.1.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the agreement among readers with different expertise in detecting suspicious lesions at prostate multiparametric MRI using Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS) version 2.1. METHODS: We evaluated 200 consecutive biopsy-naïve or previously negative biopsy men who underwent MRI for clinically suspected prostate cancer (PCa) between May and September 2017. Of them, 132 patients underwent prostate biopsy. Seven radiologists (four dedicated uro-radiologists and three non-dedicated abdominal radiologists) reviewed and scored all MRI examinations according to PI-RADS v2.1. Agreement on index lesion detection was evaluated with Conger's k coefficient, agreement coefficient 1 (AC1), percentage of agreement (PA), and indexes of specific positive and negative agreement. Clinical and radiological features that may influence variability were evaluated. RESULTS: Agreement in index lesion detection among all readers was substantial (AC1 0.738; 95% CI 0.695-0.782); dedicated radiologists showed higher agreement compared with non-dedicated readers. Clinical and radiological parameters that positively influenced agreement were PSA density ≥ 0.15 ng/mL/cc, pre-MRI high risk for PCa, positivity threshold of PI-RADS score 4 + 5, PZ lesions, homogeneous signal intensity of the PZ, and subjectively easy interpretation of MRI. Positive specific agreement was significantly higher among dedicated readers, up to 93.4% (95% CI 90.7-95.4) in patients harboring csPCa. Agreement on absence of lesions was excellent for both dedicated and non-dedicated readers (respectively 85.1% [95% CI 78.4-92.3] and 82.0% [95% CI 77.2-90.1]). CONCLUSIONS: Agreement on index lesion detection among radiologists of various experiences is substantial to excellent using PI-RADS v2.1. Concordance on absence of lesions is excellent across readers' experience. KEY POINTS: • Agreement on index lesion detection among radiologists of various experiences is substantial to excellent using PI-RADS v2.1. • Concordance between experienced readers is higher than between less-experienced readers. • Concordance on absence of lesions is excellent across readers' experience.