Correlation between C-reactive Protein and Morphology of Aortic Intramural Hematoma on CT Angiography.

Objectives To investigate the morphologic characteristics of intramural hematoma (IMH) on CT angiography (CTA), and evaluate the possible correlation of serum C-reactive protein (CRP) with morphologic characteristics of IMH. Material and Methods Forty-two patients who were initially diagnosed as IMH by aortic CTA and also had serum CRP examination on the same day of CTA were enrolled in this retrospective study, including 30 males and 12 females, with the mean age of 61 ± 14 years old. The volumetric CT data were retrospectively processed and analyzed on post-processing workstation. Based on the thickness of IMH and the length-area curve, the cross-sectional area of true lumen and total vessel were measured, the hematoma-vessel ratio (HVR) was calculated. Imaging characteristics were compared between patients who had pathological elevated CRP (> 0.8 mg/dl) and those did not. Spearman correlation analyses of CRP level and morphological characteristics of IMH were performed, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic validity of CRP. Results Of all 42 IMH patients, the mean serum CRP was 3.94 ± 4.71 mg/dl, and the mean HVR was 46.7%± 14.2%. HVR in patients with elevated CRP was significantly higher than those with normal CRP (49.7% ± 15.0% vs. 40.7% ± 10.5 %, P = 0.030). HVR was mildly correlated with CRP in all patients (r =0.48, P < 0.001). CRP levels differed neither between patients with Stanford type A and B (P = 0.207), nor between patients with and without intimal disruption (P = 0.230). To discriminate HVR > 47% (the mean value), the area under curve (AUC) were 0.700 (95% CI: 0.535-0.865) for CRP at a cutoff point of 3.55 mg/dl, with a sensitivity of 54.5% and a specificity of 90.0%. Conclusion CRP was mildly correlated with the severity of cross-sectional hematoma area of IMH, but not with Stanford types and the presence of intimal disruption.

Feasibility study of low tube voltage (80 kVp) coronary CT angiography combined with contrast medium reduction using iterative model reconstruction (IMR) on standard BMI patients.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the feasibility of low-tube-voltage (80 kVp) coronary CT angiography (CCTA) combined with contrast medium (CM) reduction and iterative model reconstruction (IMR) on patients with standard body mass index compared with clinical routine protocol. METHODS: Retrospectively gated helical CCTA scans were acquired using a 256-slice multi-slice CT (Brilliance iCT; Philips Healthcare, Cleveland, OH) on 94 patients with standard body mass index (20-25 kg m(-2)) who were randomly assigned into 2 groups. The scan protocol for Group 1 was 100 kVp and 600 mAs with 70 ml CM at an injection rate of 4.5-5.5 ml s(-1); images were reconstructed by a hybrid iterative reconstruction technique (iDose(4); Philips Healthcare). Group 2 was scanned at 80 kVp and 600 mAs with 35 ml CM at an injection rate of 3.5-4.5 ml s(-1); images were reconstructed with IMR. Objective measurements such as the mean image noise and contrast-to-noise ratio of the two groups were measured on CT images and compared using the paired t-test. In addition, a subjective image quality evaluation was performed by two radiologists who were blinded to the scan protocol, using a 5-point scale [1 (poor) to 5 (excellent)]. The results of the two groups were compared using Mann-Whitney U test. RESULTS: The iodine delivery rate of Group 2 was 1.0 ± 0.5 gI s(-1) compared with 2.1 ± 0.5 gI s(-1) in Group 1 resulting in a reduction of 52.4%. In addition, an effective radiation dose reduction of 56.4% was achieved in Group 2 (2.4 ± 1.2 mSv) compared with Group 1 (5.5 ± 1.4 mSv). The mean CT attenuation, contrast-to-noise ratio and image quality of all segments in Group 2 were significantly improved compared with those in Group 1 (all, p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The use of IMR along with a low tube voltage (80 kVp) combined with a low CM protocol for CCTA can reduce both radiation and CM dose with improved image quality. ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE: In this study, we used a novel knowledge-based IMR which remarkably reduced the image noise. We compared the quality of the images obtained when the tube voltage was reduced to 80 kVp and that of those obtained according to the clinical routine protocols to determine whether ultra-low-dose imaging plus IMR is feasible in CCTA scans. We found that a low dose protocol combined with 80 kVp and reduced CM for CCTA can reduce both radiation dose and CM dose with improved image quality by the use of IMR in non-obese patients.

CT characteristics and pathological implications of early stage (T1N0M0) lung adenocarcinoma with pure ground-glass opacity.

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the CT characteristics and pathological classification of early lung adenocarcinoma (T1N0M0) with pure ground-glass opacity (pGGO). METHODS: Ninety-four lesions with pGGO on CT in 88 patients with T1N0M0 lung adenocarcinoma were selected from January 2010 to December 2012. All lesions were confirmed by pathology. CT appearances were analyzed including lesion location, size, density, uniformity, shape, margin, tumour-lung interface, internal and surrounding malignant signs. Lesion size and density were compared using analysis of variance, lesion size also assessed using ROC curves. Gender of patients, lesion location and CT appearances were compared using χ²-test. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in gender, lesion location and density with histological invasiveness (P > 0.05). The ROC curve showed that the possibility of invasive lesion was 88.73% when diameter of lesion was more than 10.5 mm. There was a significant difference between lesion uniformity and histological invasiveness (P = 0.01). There were significant differences in margin, tumour-lung interface, air bronchogram with histological invasiveness ( P = 0.02,P = 0.00,P = 0.048). The correlation index of lesion size and uniformity was r = 0.45 (P = 0.00). CONCLUSIONS: The lesion size and uniformity, tumour-lung interface and the air bronchogram can help predict invasive extent of early stage lung adenocarcinoma with pGGO. KEY POINTS: • CT characteristics and pathological classification of pGGO lung adenocarcinoma smaller than 3 cm • The optimal cut-off value for discriminating preinvasive from invasive lesions was 10.5 mm • Uniformity was significant difference between histological subtypes and correlated with lesion size • Tumour margin, tumour-lung interface and air bronchogram showed different between histological types • No significant difference in gender, lesion location and density with histological subtypes.

Value of coronary computed tomography angiography in ruling out coronary artery disease before intermediate- and high-risk non-cardiac surgery.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the value of preoperative coronary computed tomographic angiography (CCTA) in the detection of coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients planned to undergo non-cardiac surgery at intermediate or high risk to avoid unnecessary invasive coronary angiography (ICA). METHODS: The study protocol was approved by our institutional review board and informed consent was given. In this prospective study, 157 consecutive patients who underwent CCTA before undergoing non-cardiac surgery at intermediate or high risk was involved. The non-cardiac surgery included high-risk surgery (17 patients) and intermediate-risk surgery (140 patients). Follow-up was performed in 6-11 months to define cardiac events described as acute coronary syndrome (ACS) or death secondary to ASC, arrhythmias, cardiac revascularization, or cardiac failure. χ(2) test was performed to compare the differences in incidence of cardiac events among patients who had undergone or who had not undergone preoperative ICA. RESULTS: CCTA was of diagnostic value in 145 of 157 patients. Thirty-seven of 145 had no CAD, and 88 of 145 had no significant CAD (<50% stenosis), and non-cardiac surgery was performed in them without preoperative ICA. No patients in those patients had postoperative ischemic events at follow-up; 20 had significant CAD (≥50% stenosis) and underwent surgery after preoperative ICA. CCTA was non-diagnostic in 12 patients who were referred for preoperative ICA, and 4 of 12 underwent surgery after PCI or CABG. There were no differences in cardiac events between patients who had undergone preoperative ICA and those who had not (P=0.45). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with planned non-cardiac surgery at medium or high risk of cardiovascular events, preoperative CCTA is an effective diagnostic tool for detecting CAD. Preoperative ICA can be safely avoided in patients with normal findings or with stenosis<50% in CCTA.

[Values of computed tomography angiogram in non-cardiac surgery planning and cardiac risk assessment of coronary atherosclerosis during perioperative period].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the values of detecting coronary atherosclerosis by computed tomography angiogram (CTA) on non-cardiac surgery planning and cardiac risk assessment of coronary atherosclerosis during perioperative period. METHODS: A total of 89 patients with suspected coronary heart disease (CHD) scheduled for non-cardiac surgery underwent coronary CTA to evaluate luminal stenosis and calculate calcification score. There were 56 males and 33 females with a mean age of 65.1 years. Operative sites included chests (n = 29), abdomens and pelvis (n = 26), large vessels (n = 3), bones and joints (n = 19) and other regions (n = 12). Reasons of abandoned or postponed surgery were documented to analyze the influence of CTA results on surgery planning. Cardiac events were recorded to assess the correlation with coronary atherosclerosis. RESULTS: Among them, 75 patients (84.27%) were diagnosed as atherosclerosis while 10 patients (11.24%) were negative; 2 patients had coronary artery bypass and another 2 had stent implantation. According to the results of CTA, 12 operations (13.48%) were canceled and 8 (8.98%) postponed after interventions. Severe stenosis of coronary lumen had significant effects on surgery planning (P = 0.003) while calcification score did not. In patients undergoing surgery as scheduled or after intervention, 1 had atrial fibrillation at post-operation. CONCLUSION: For the patients with suspected CHD scheduled for non-cardiac surgery, severity of coronary stenosis may greatly influence surgery planning. Preoperative coronary CTA may decrease the incidence of cardiac events during perioperative period.