Computed Tomography Findings for Predicting Invasiveness of Lung Adenocarcinomas Manifesting as Pure Ground-Glass Nodules.

Purpose: To comprehensively evaluate qualitative and quantitative features for predicting invasiveness of pure ground-glass nodules (pGGNs) using multiplanar computed tomography. Methods: Ninety-three resected pGGNs (16 atypical adenomatous hyperplasia [AAH], 18 adenocarcinoma in situ [AIS], 31 minimally invasive adenocarcinoma [MIA], and 28 invasive adenocarcinoma [IA]) were retrospectively included. Two radiologists analyzed qualitative and quantitative features on three standard planes. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to identify features to distinguish the pre-invasive (AAH/AIS) from the invasive (MIA/IA) group. Results: Tumor size showed high area under the curve (AUC) for predicting invasiveness (.860, .863, .874, and .893, for axial long diameter [AXLD], multiplanar long diameter, mean diameter, and volume, respectively). The AUC for AXLD (cutoff, 11 mm) was comparable to that of the volume (P = .202). The invasive group had a significantly higher number of qualitative features than the pre-invasive group, regardless of tumor size. Six out of 59 invasive nodules (10.2%) were smaller than 11 mm, and all had at least one qualitative feature. pGGNs smaller than 11 mm without any qualitative features (n = 16) were all pre-invasive. In multivariable analysis, AXLD, vessel change, and the presence or number of qualitative features were independent predictors for invasiveness. The model with AXLD and the number of qualitative features achieved the highest AUC (.902, 95% confidence interval .833-.971). Conclusion: In adenocarcinomas manifesting as pGGNs on computed tomography, AXLD and the number of qualitative features are independent risk factors for invasiveness; small pGGNs (<11 mm) without qualitative features have low probability of invasiveness.

The effectiveness and safety of local pleural anesthesia for pain control in patients undergoing CT-guided transthoracic needle biopsy.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of pleural anesthesia for CT-guided transthoracic needle biopsy (TNB). METHODS: This retrospective study was performed between March 2019 and August 2019 in a tertiary care hospital. Patients undergoing CT-guided TNB received either (a) pleural and skin anesthesia (pleural anesthesia group) or (b) skin anesthesia only (skin anesthesia group). Pain score was reported on a 0-5 numeric rating scale, and pain scores 3-5 were classified as significant pain. The relationship between pleural anesthesia and pain score, significant pain, and pneumothorax was assessed by using multivariable linear and logistic regression models. RESULTS: A total of 111 patients (67 men, 66.0 ± 11.4 years) were included (pleural anesthesia group, 38; skin anesthesia group, 73). Pleural anesthesia group reported lower pain score (1.4 ± 1.0 vs. 2.3 ± 1.1, p < 0.001) and less frequent significant pain (18.4% [7/38] vs. 42.5% [31/73], p = 0.020) than skin anesthesia group. Pain score was negatively associated with pleural anesthesia (ß = -0.93, p < 0.001) and positively associated with procedure time (ß = 0.06, p < 0.001). Significant pain was negatively associated with pleural anesthesia (p = 0.004, adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 0.21 [95% confidence interval: 0.07, 0.61]) and positively associated with procedure time (p < 0.001, adjusted OR = 1.15 [95% confidence interval: 1.07, 1.24]). Pleural anesthesia was not associated with pneumothorax or chest tube placement (p = 0.806 and 0.291, respectively). CONCLUSION: Pleural anesthesia reduces subjective pain without increasing the risk of pneumothorax. KEY POINTS: • Local pleural anesthesia is a simple method that can be added to the conventional skin anesthesia for CT-guided transthoracic needle biopsy. • The addition of local pleural anesthesia can effectively reduce pain compared to the conventional skin anesthesia method. • This procedure is not associated with an increased risk of pneumothorax or chest tube placement.

Acute fibrinous and organizing pneumonia: Imaging features, pathologic correlation, and brief literature review✰.

Acute fibrinous and organizing pneumonia is a histopathologic entity of lung injury with the hallmark feature of intra-alveolar fibrin "balls." We report 2 cases of acute fibrinous and organizing pneumonia in patients without a significant medical history, who presented with cough and worsening dyspnea and experienced a fulminant course of disease progression with diffuse lung parenchymal abnormalities on chest computed tomography. These cases suggest that this rare histologic pattern of idiopathic interstitial pneumonias can be included in the differential diagnosis with other conditions leading to acute respiratory failure.

Castleman's disease presenting as a pleural tumor: a case report with CT findings.

Castleman's disease (CD) is an uncommon benign lymphoproliferative disorder which most commonly involves the mediastinum but rarely affects the pleura. We report a case of unicentric CD that presents as a pleural mass in a 45-year-old man, which was subsequently resected followed by an unexpected diagnosis on histologic examination. Although rare, CD should be included in the differential diagnosis of well-enhancing pleural mass.

Incidentally detected breast lesions on chest CT with US correlation: a pictorial essay.

With the increasing use of computed tomography (CT), incidental breast lesions are detected more frequently. When interpreting chest CT findings, it is important for radiologists to carefully review the breast to recognize any abnormal findings that could affect patient management. The purpose of this study is to discuss incidental breast lesions on chest CT with ultrasonography correlation that may be encountered in routine clinical practice.

Coronary artery vasculitis: assessment with cardiac multi-detector computed tomography.

Coronary artery vasculitis is rare and comprises an array of inflammatory diseases. It often results in severe and life-threatening complications, including coronary artery aneurysm, coronary artery stenosis, intraluminal thrombosis, and microcirculation abnormalities. These may occur at a young age and are often silent in the early phases. Invasive coronary angiography is the gold standard for diagnosing coronary artery disease (CAD); however, multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) is now widely regarded as a powerful non-invasive tool for the detection of CAD. It is important for clinicians to recognize the various CT findings associated with coronary artery vasculitis in order to promote accurate diagnosis and proper patient management. The purpose of this article is to present an overview of the conditions associated with coronary artery vasculitis, with an emphasis on etiology and cardiac MDCT diagnosis of CAD. Cardiac MDCT is clinically useful and can provide information for the accurate diagnosis and treatment of coronary vasculitis.

Needlescopic resection of small and superficial pulmonary nodule after computed tomographic fluoroscopy-guided dual localization with radiotracer and hookwire.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of a needlescopic resection for small and superficial pulmonary nodules after dual localization with radiotracer and hookwire. METHODS: Computed tomography (CT) fluoroscopy-guided dual marking with hookwire and (99m)Tc-phytate was performed on 36 small and superficial pulmonary nodules of 34 patients, just before the needlescopic procedure. This method was carried out through one introducer needle, after an initial single puncture. After detection of the hookwire-marked site through needlescopy, the precise lesion was confirmed using a thoracoscopic gamma probe by calculating the highest radioactivity. The pulmonary nodule was resected and diagnosed by pathologic examination. RESULTS: The mean size of the nodules was 12.5 ± 5.4 mm (range 3-20), and their mean distance from the pleural surface was 5.6 ± 5.8 mm (range 0-18.7). The time of the dual localization procedure was 10.8 ± 3.6 min (range 5-18). Pneumothorax was developed in 6 of 34 patients (17.6 %) after preoperative localization, but did not require any treatment. Seven hookwires dislodged during the operation. Nevertheless, radiotracer markings detected on a gamma probe guided a successful wedge resection without difficulty in all seven cases. All nodules were successfully resected under needlescopy, except conversion to the 5-mm-sized thoracoscopy in four patients due to pleural adhesion. CONCLUSIONS: Dual marking with radiotracer and hookwire under CT fluoroscopy is a safe and not time-consuming procedure, and has made needlescopy-assisted lung resection for small and superficial nodules or ground-glass opacity lesions easier, more convenient, and less hazardous.

Comparison of chest radiography, chest digital tomosynthesis and low dose MDCT to detect small ground-glass opacity nodules: an anthropomorphic chest phantom study.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of chest radiography (CXR), chest digital tomosynthesis (DT) and low dose multidetector computed tomography (LDCT) for the detection of small pulmonary ground-glass opacity (GGO) nodules, using an anthropomorphic chest phantom. METHODS: Artificial pulmonary nodules were placed in a phantom and a total of 40 samples of different nodule settings underwent CXR, DT and LDCT. The images were randomly read by three experienced chest radiologists. Free-response receiver-operating characteristics (FROC) were used. RESULTS: The figures of merit for the FROC curves averaged for the three observers were 0.41, 0.37 and 0.76 for CXR, DT and LDCT, respectively. FROC analyses revealed significantly better performance of LDCT over CXR or DT for the detection of GGO nodules (P < 0.05). The difference in detectability between CXR and DT was not statistically significant (P = 0.73). CONCLUSION: The diagnostic performance of DT for the detection of pulmonary small GGO nodules was not significantly different from that of CXR, but LDCT performed significantly better than both CXR and DT. DT is not a suitable alternative to CT for small GGO nodule detection, and LDCT remains the method of choice for this purpose. KEY POINTS: For GGO nodule detection, DT was not significantly different from CXR. DT is not a suitable alternative to CT for GGO nodule detection. LDCT is the method of choice for GGO nodule detection.

Coronary involvement in Churg-Strauss syndrome: a case report with CT findings.

We report a case of Churg-Strauss syndrome (CSS) associated with coronary artery involvement, as demonstrated on coronary CT angiography (CCTA), without specific cardiac symptoms. A 69-year-old male had an 8-year history of bronchial asthma and chronic sinusitis with hypereosinophilia (35 %), polyneuropathy, and a positive antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody titer, so he was diagnosed with CSS. The patient had no specific cardiac symptoms, but CCTA showed vasculitis and a saccular aneurysm involving the proximal coronary arteries. The 3-year follow-up CCTA demonstrated an increase in the extent of soft-tissue wall thickening and infiltration involving the coronary arteries. Although vasculitis of the major coronary arteries is not a prominent feature of CSS, our case suggests that the coronary arteries may also be targeted in this syndrome.

Relation of aortic calcification, wall thickness, and distensibility with severity of coronary artery disease: evaluation with coronary CT angiography.

BACKGROUND: Three known risk factors for aortic atherosclerosis predict the severity of coronary artery disease (CAD): aortic calcification (AC), aortic wall thickness (AWT), and aortic distensibility (AD). PURPOSE: To determine the relationship of AC, AWT, and AD with the severity of CAD. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 104 patients who underwent both coronary CT angiography (CCTA) and invasive coronary angiography were enrolled. The severity of CAD was assessed by three methods: the segment involvement score (SIS), the segment stenosis score (SSS), and the modified Gensini score (mG). We quantified AC using the Agatston method on low-dose ungated chest CT (LDCT). We measured AWT at the thickest portion of the descending thoracic aorta on CCTA. AD was calculated as the difference between the maximum and minimum areas of the ascending aorta and the pulse pressure. The relationships between the severity of CAD and the three aortic factors were assessed. RESULTS: The AC and AWT of the thoracic aorta were significantly higher in the occlusive CAD (OCAD) group (1984.21 ± 2986.10 vs. 733.00 ± 1648.71, P = 0.01; 4.13 ± 1.48 vs. 3.40 ± 1.01, P = 0.22). Patients with OCAD had more than one epicardial coronary artery with >50% luminal stenosis. The AC (r = 0.453 with SIS; r = 0.454 with SSS; r = 0.427 with mG) and the AWT (r = 0.279 with SIS; r = 0.324 with SSS; r = 0.304 with mG) were significantly correlated with all three methods, and the AD was negatively correlated with the SIS (r = - 0.221, P < 0.05, respectively) in the unadjusted model. After adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors, only the correlations between AC and all three methods assessing CAD remained significant. CONCLUSION: There are significant relationships between AC, AWT and AD and severity of CAD. In particular, AC measured on LDCT is the most consistent predictor of severity of CAD.

Detectability of low and intermediate or high risk prostate cancer with combined T2-weighted and diffusion-weighted MRI.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the incremental value of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in combination with T2-weighted imaging to detect low (Gleason score, ≤ 6) and intermediate or high risk (Gleason score, ≥ 7) prostate cancer. METHODS: Fifty-one patients who underwent MRI before prostatectomy were evaluated. Two readers independently scored the probability of tumour in eight regions of prostate on T2-weighted images (T2WI) and T2WI combined with apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps. Data were divided into two groups--low risk and intermediate or high risk prostate cancer--and correlated with histopathological results. Diagnostic performance parameters, areas under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUCs) and interreader agreement were calculated. RESULTS: For both readers, AUCs of combined T2WI and ADC maps were greater than those of T2WI in intermediate or high risk (reader 1, 0.887 vs. 0.859; reader 2, 0.732 vs 0.662, P < 0.05) prostate cancers, but not in low risk (reader 1, 0.719 vs 0.725; reader 2, 0.685 vs. 0.680, P > 0.05) prostate cancers. Weighted κ value of combined T2WI and ADC maps was 0.689. CONCLUSIONS: The addition of DWI to T2-weighted imaging improves the accuracy of detecting intermediate or high risk prostate cancers, but not for low risk prostate cancer detection. KEY POINTS: • Gleason scores influence diagnostic performance of MRI for prostate cancer detection. • Addition of DWI does not improve low risk prostate cancer detection. • Combined T2WI and DWI may help select intermediate or high risk patients.

"Pseudo washout" sign in high-flow hepatic hemangioma on gadoxetic acid contrast-enhanced MRI mimicking hypervascular tumor.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this article is to describe the "pseudo washout" sign of high-flow hepatic hemangioma that mimics hypervascular tumor on gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI. CONCLUSION: High-flow hemangiomas might show relatively low signal intensity because of gadoxetic acid contrast uptake in the surrounding normal liver parenchyma during the equilibrium (3-minute delay) phase. Such findings are called pseudo washout and can mimic hypervascular hepatic tumors. However, high-flow hemangioma can be diagnosed by observing bright signal intensity on T2-weighted imaging, arterial phase-dominant enhancement, pseudo washout sign during the equilibrium phase, and isointense or slightly increased signal intensity on subtraction images.