Performance of thoracic ultrasonography compared with chest radiography for the detection of rib fractures using computed tomography as a reference standard.

OBJECTIVE: Although there is growing evidence that ultrasonography is superior to X-ray for rib fractures' detection, X-ray is still indicated as the most appropriate method. This has partially been attributed to a lack of studies using an appropriate reference modality. We aimed to compare the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasonography and X-ray in the detection of rib fractures, considering CT as the reference standard. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Within a 2.5-year period, all consecutive patients with clinically suspected rib fracture(s) following blunt chest trauma and available posteroanterior/anteroposterior X-ray and thoracic CT were prospectively studied and planned to undergo thoracic ultrasonography, by a single operator. All imaging examinations were evaluated for cortical rib fracture(s), and their location was recorded. The cartilaginous rib portions were not assessed. CTs and X-rays were evaluated retrospectively. Concomitant thoracic/extra-thoracic injuries were assessed on CT. Comparisons were performed with the Mann-Whitney U test and Fisher's exact test. RESULTS: Fifty-nine patients (32 males, 27 females; mean age, 53.1 ± 16.6 years) were included. CT, ultrasonography, and X-ray (40 posteroanterior/19 anteroposterior views) diagnosed 136/122/42 rib fractures in 56/54/27 patients, respectively. Ultrasonography and X-ray had sensitivity of 100%/40% and specificity of 89.7%/30.9% for rib fractures' detection. Ultrasound accuracy was 94.9% compared to 35.4% for X-rays (P < .001) in detecting individual rib fractures. Most fractures involved the 4th-9th ribs. Upper rib fractures were most commonly overlooked on ultrasonography. Thoracic cage/spine fractures and haemothorax represented the most common concomitant injuries. CONCLUSION: Ultrasonography appeared to be superior to X-ray for the detection of rib fractures with regard to a reference CT.

Developing a Radiomics Atlas Dataset of normal Abdominal and Pelvic computed Tomography (RADAPT).

Atlases of normal genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics have been published in an attempt to understand the biological phenotype in health and disease and to set the basis of comprehensive comparative omics studies. No such atlas exists for radiomics data. The purpose of this study was to systematically create a radiomics dataset of normal abdominal and pelvic radiomics that can be used for model development and validation. Young adults without any previously known disease, aged > 17 and ≤ 36 years old, were retrospectively included. All patients had undergone CT scanning for emergency indications. In case abnormal findings were identified, the relevant anatomical structures were excluded. Deep learning was used to automatically segment the majority of visible anatomical structures with the TotalSegmentator model as applied in 3DSlicer. Radiomics features including first order, texture, wavelet, and Laplacian of Gaussian transformed features were extracted with PyRadiomics. A Github repository was created to host the resulting dataset. Radiomics data were extracted from a total of 531 patients with a mean age of 26.8 ± 5.19 years, including 250 female and 281 male patients. A maximum of 53 anatomical structures were segmented and used for subsequent radiomics data extraction. Radiomics features were derived from a total of 526 non-contrast and 400 contrast-enhanced (portal venous) series. The dataset is publicly available for model development and validation purposes.

Generative adversarial networks for spine imaging: A critical review of current applications.

PURPOSE: In recent years, the field of medical imaging has witnessed remarkable advancements, with innovative technologies which revolutionized the visualization and analysis of the human spine. Among the groundbreaking developments in medical imaging, Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) have emerged as a transformative tool, offering unprecedented possibilities in enhancing spinal imaging techniques and diagnostic outcomes. This review paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the use of GANs in spinal imaging, and to emphasize their potential to improve the diagnosis and treatment of spine-related disorders. A specific review focusing on Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) in the context of medical spine imaging is needed to provide a comprehensive and specialized analysis of the unique challenges, applications, and advancements within this specific domain, which might not be fully addressed in broader reviews covering GANs in general medical imaging. Such a review can offer insights into the tailored solutions and innovations that GANs bring to the field of spinal medical imaging. METHODS: An extensive literature search from 2017 until July 2023, was conducted using the most important search engines and identified studies that used GANs in spinal imaging. RESULTS: The implementations include generating fat suppressed T2-weighted (fsT2W) images from T1 and T2-weighted sequences, to reduce scan time. The generated images had a significantly better image quality than true fsT2W images and could improve diagnostic accuracy for certain pathologies. GANs were also utilized in generating virtual thin-slice images of intervertebral spaces, creating digital twins of human vertebrae, and predicting fracture response. Lastly, they could be applied to convert CT to MRI images, with the potential to generate near-MR images from CT without MRI. CONCLUSIONS: GANs have promising applications in personalized medicine, image augmentation, and improved diagnostic accuracy. However, limitations such as small databases and misalignment in CT-MRI pairs, must be considered.

Convolutional neural networks for the differentiation between benign and malignant renal tumors with a multicenter international computed tomography dataset.

OBJECTIVES: To use convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for the differentiation between benign and malignant renal tumors using contrast-enhanced CT images of a multi-institutional, multi-vendor, and multicenter CT dataset. METHODS: A total of 264 histologically confirmed renal tumors were included, from US and Swedish centers. Images were augmented and divided randomly 70%:30% for algorithm training and testing. Three CNNs (InceptionV3, Inception-ResNetV2, VGG-16) were pretrained with transfer learning and fine-tuned with our dataset to distinguish between malignant and benign tumors. The ensemble consensus decision of the three networks was also recorded. Performance of each network was assessed with receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves and their area under the curve (AUC-ROC). Saliency maps were created to demonstrate the attention of the highest performing CNN. RESULTS: Inception-ResNetV2 achieved the highest AUC of 0.918 (95% CI 0.873-0.963), whereas VGG-16 achieved an AUC of 0.813 (95% CI 0.752-0.874). InceptionV3 and ensemble achieved the same performance with an AUC of 0.894 (95% CI 0.844-0.943). Saliency maps indicated that Inception-ResNetV2 decisions are based on the characteristics of the tumor while in most tumors considering the characteristics of the interface between the tumor and the surrounding renal parenchyma. CONCLUSION: Deep learning based on a diverse multicenter international dataset can enable accurate differentiation between benign and malignant renal tumors. CRITICAL RELEVANCE STATEMENT: Convolutional neural networks trained on a diverse CT dataset can accurately differentiate between benign and malignant renal tumors. KEY POINTS: • Differentiation between benign and malignant tumors based on CT is extremely challenging. • Inception-ResNetV2 trained on a diverse dataset achieved excellent differentiation between tumor types. • Deep learning can be used to distinguish between benign and malignant renal tumors.

Ultrasound-guided hydrodilatation for adhesive capsulitis: capsule-preserving versus capsule-rupturing technique.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical efficacy of capsule-rupturing versus capsule-preserving ultrasound-guided hydrodilatation in patients with shoulder adhesive capsulitis (AC). To determine potential factors affecting the outcome over a 6-month follow-up. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Within a 2-year period, 149 consecutive patients with AC were prospectively enrolled and allocated into (i) group-CR, including 39 patients receiving hydrodilatation of the glenohumeral joint (GHJ) with capsular rupture and (ii) group-CP, including 110 patients treated with GHJ hydrodilatation with capsular preservation. Demographics, affected shoulder, and AC grade were recorded. Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) questionnaire and visual analog scale (VAS) were used for clinical assessment at baseline/1/3/6 months. Comparisons were performed with Mann-Whitney U test and Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Linear regression was used to identify predictors of outcome. P value < 0.05 defined significance. RESULTS: DASH and VAS scores in both groups improved significantly compared to baseline (P < 0.001) and were significantly lower in the CP compared to CR group at all time-points following intervention (P < 0.001). Capsule rupture was a significant predictor of DASH score at all time-points (P < 0.001). DASH scores correlated to initial DASH score at all time-points (P < 0.001). DASH/VAS scores at 1 month were correlated to the AC grade (P = 0.025/0.02). CONCLUSION: GHJ hydrodilatation results in pain elimination and functional improvement till the mid-term in patients with AC, with improved outcome when adopting the capsule-preserving compared to the capsule-rupturing technique. Higher initial DASH score is predictive of impaired functionality in the mid-term.

Performance of Ultrasonography in the Diagnosis of Acute Colonic Diverticulitis.

OBJECTIVES: Computed tomography is regarded as the reference-standard imaging modality for the assessment of acute left-sided colonic diverticulitis (ALCD). However, its utility may be impaired by cost issues, limited availability, radiation exposure, and contrast-related adverse effects. Ultrasonography is increasingly advocated as an alternative technique for evaluating ALCD, although there is variation regarding its accuracy in disease diagnosis and staging and in determining alternative diagnoses. The aim of this study was to assess the performance of ultrasonography in diagnosing ALCD, differentiating complicated from non-complicated disease and defining alternative diseases related to left lower quadrant pain. METHODS: Within a 2-year period, all consecutive adult patients with clinically suspected ALCD and available abdominal computed tomography were prospectively evaluated and planned to undergo an abdominal ultrasonographic examination, tailored to the assessment of left lower quadrant. Computed tomography (CT) was regarded as the reference standard. RESULTS: A total of 132 patients (60 males, 72 females; mean age: 61.3 ± 11 years) were included. The sensitivity, specificity, and area under curve of ultrasonography for diagnosing ALCD were 88.6, 84.9, and 86.8%, with positive and negative predictive values of 89.7 and 83.3%, respectively. The method had sensitivity, specificity, and area under curve of 77.8, 100, and 88.9%, respectively, for defining complicated disease. The area under the curve for the identification of alternative diseases in patients with left lower quadrant pain was 90.9%. CONCLUSIONS: Ultrasonography has high diagnostic accuracy for diagnosing ALCD, differentiating complicated from non-complicated disease and establishing alternative diagnoses related to left lower quadrant pain. A low threshold to get a CT should be maintained as not to miss cases that may mimic ALCD.

Deep learning enables the differentiation between early and late stages of hip avascular necrosis.

OBJECTIVES: To develop a deep learning methodology that distinguishes early from late stages of avascular necrosis of the hip (AVN) to determine treatment decisions. METHODS: Three convolutional neural networks (CNNs) VGG-16, Inception ResnetV2, InceptionV3 were trained with transfer learning (ImageNet) and finetuned with a retrospectively collected cohort of (n = 104) MRI examinations of AVN patients, to differentiate between early (ARCO 1-2) and late (ARCO 3-4) stages. A consensus CNN ensemble decision was recorded as the agreement of at least two CNNs. CNN and ensemble performance was benchmarked on an independent cohort of 49 patients from another country and was compared to the performance of two MSK radiologists. CNN performance was expressed with areas under the curve (AUC), the respective 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and precision, and recall and f1-scores. AUCs were compared with DeLong's test. RESULTS: On internal testing, Inception-ResnetV2 achieved the highest individual performance with an AUC of 99.7% (95%CI 99-100%), followed by InceptionV3 and VGG-16 with AUCs of 99.3% (95%CI 98.4-100%) and 97.3% (95%CI 95.5-99.2%) respectively. The CNN ensemble the same AUCs Inception ResnetV2. On external validation, model performance dropped with VGG-16 achieving the highest individual AUC of 78.9% (95%CI 51.6-79.6%) The best external performance was achieved by the model ensemble with an AUC of 85.5% (95%CI 72.2-93.9%). No significant difference was found between the CNN ensemble and expert MSK radiologists (p = 0.22 and 0.092 respectively). CONCLUSION: An externally validated CNN ensemble accurately distinguishes between the early and late stages of AVN and has comparable performance to expert MSK radiologists. CLINICAL RELEVANCE STATEMENT: This paper introduces the use of deep learning for the differentiation between early and late avascular necrosis of the hip, assisting in a complex clinical decision that can determine the choice between conservative and surgical treatment. KEY POINTS: • A convolutional neural network ensemble achieved excellent performance in distinguishing between early and late avascular necrosis. • The performance of the deep learning method was similar to the performance of expert readers.

Application of an in-hospital, surgeon-led anti-osteoporotic medication algorithm in patients with hip fractures improves persistence to medication and can prevent the second fragility fracture.

INTRODUCTION: Secondary fracture prevention is an essential part of hip fracture treatment. Despite this, many patients are discharged without the appropriate anti-osteoporotic medication. The aim of this study is to report the outcomes of the application of an in-hospital, surgeon-led anti-osteoporotic medication algorithm to patients with hip fractures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective cohort study followed patients with hip fractures who were treated at a tertiary referral hospital between 2020 and 2022. At discharge, anti-osteoporotic medication according to the Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Osteosynthesefragen (AO) Foundation algorithm was prescribed to all patients. Multivariate Cox regression analysis was used to investigate the risks of non-persistence to medication and of secondary fracture. RESULTS: Two hundred thirteen consecutive patients were prospectively followed. Mean follow-up was 17.2 ± 7.1 months. Persistence to medication at 2 years was 58% (95%CI 51-65%). A secondary osteoporotic fracture occurred in 1/126 (0.8%) persistent patients and 9/87 (11.4%) non-persistent patients. Multivariable Cox regression analysis confirmed that persistence to medication was significantly associated with a lower risk of secondary fracture (cause-specific hazard ratio [csHR] 0.05; 95%CI 0.01-0.45; p = 0.007). CONCLUSION: The application of the surgeon-led AO Foundation algorithm enables the in-hospital initiation of anti-osteoporotic treatment, leading to better persistence to medication and decreased incidence of secondary osteoporotic fractures.

Long-Term Outcomes of Ultrasound-Guided Hydrodistension for Adhesive Capsulitis: A Prospective Observational Study.

Ultrasound-guided hydrodistention has been established as an effective minimally invasive treatment option for glenohumeral joint adhesive capsulitis (AC). Nonetheless, the long-term outcomes of the procedure have not yet been established. A total of 202 patients with AC were prospectively recruited and followed up for a total of 2 years. Pain and functionality were assessed with the use of the visual analogue scale (VAS) and the disabilities of the arm, shoulder, and hand (DASH) score, respectively, at the beginning and the end of the follow-up period. The relapse of AC over the 2-year period and the effect of diabetes were also evaluated in the treatment cohort. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare mean scores at the two time points, and Cox survival analysis and χ2 test were used to assess the effect of diabetes on AC relapse. VAS and DASH scores were significantly lower at 2 years compared with the beginning of the follow-up period (p < 0.001). Diabetes was diagnosed in 38/202 patients (18.8%) and was found to be significantly associated with recurrence of the disease (p < 0.001). In conclusion, in this observational study, we have demonstrated that ultrasound-guided hydrodistention is linked to excellent long-term outcomes for the treatment of AC, which are significantly worse in patients with diabetes.

A pilot radiometabolomics integration study for the characterization of renal oncocytic neoplasia.

Differentiating benign renal oncocytic tumors and malignant renal cell carcinoma (RCC) on imaging and histopathology is a critical problem that presents an everyday clinical challenge. This manuscript aims to demonstrate a novel methodology integrating metabolomics with radiomics features (RF) to differentiate between benign oncocytic neoplasia and malignant renal tumors. For this purpose, thirty-three renal tumors (14 renal oncocytic tumors and 19 RCC) were prospectively collected and histopathologically characterised. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI) was used to extract metabolomics data, while RF were extracted from CT scans of the same tumors. Statistical integration was used to generate multilevel network communities of -omics features. Metabolites and RF critical for the differentiation between the two groups (delta centrality > 0.1) were used for pathway enrichment analysis and machine learning classifier (XGboost) development. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves and areas under the curve (AUC) were used to assess classifier performance. Radiometabolomics analysis demonstrated differential network node configuration between benign and malignant renal tumors. Fourteen nodes (6 RF and 8 metabolites) were crucial in distinguishing between the two groups. The combined radiometabolomics model achieved an AUC of 86.4%, whereas metabolomics-only and radiomics-only classifiers achieved AUC of 72.7% and 68.2%, respectively. Analysis of significant metabolite nodes identified three distinct tumour clusters (malignant, benign, and mixed) and differentially enriched metabolic pathways. In conclusion, radiometabolomics integration has been presented as an approach to evaluate disease entities. In our case study, the method identified RF and metabolites important in differentiating between benign oncocytic neoplasia and malignant renal tumors, highlighting pathways differentially expressed between the two groups. Key metabolites and RF identified by radiometabolomics can be used to improve the identification and differentiation between renal neoplasms.

Radiomics for the Detection of Active Sacroiliitis Using MR Imaging.

Detecting active inflammatory sacroiliitis at an early stage is vital for prescribing medications that can modulate disease progression and significantly delay or prevent debilitating forms of axial spondyloarthropathy. Conventional radiography and computed tomography offer limited sensitivity in detecting acute inflammatory findings as these methods primarily identify chronic structural lesions. Conversely, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is the preferred technique for detecting bone marrow edema, although it is a complex process requiring extensive expertise. Additionally, ascertaining the origin of lesions can be challenging, even for experienced medical professionals. Machine learning (ML) has showcased its proficiency in various fields by uncovering patterns that are not easily perceived from multi-dimensional datasets derived from medical imaging. The aim of this study is to develop a radiomic signature to aid clinicians in diagnosing active sacroiliitis. A total of 354 sacroiliac joints were segmented from axial fluid-sensitive MRI images, and their radiomic features were extracted. After selecting the most informative features, a number of ML algorithms were utilized to identify the optimal method for detecting active sacroiliitis, leading to the selection of an Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) model that accomplished an Area Under the Receiver-Operating Characteristic curve (AUC-ROC) of 0.71, thus further showcasing the potential of radiomics in the field.

Machine Learning Integrating 99mTc Sestamibi SPECT/CT and Radiomics Data Achieves Optimal Characterization of Renal Oncocytic Tumors.

The increasing evidence of oncocytic renal tumors positive in 99mTc Sestamibi Single Photon Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography (SPECT/CT) examination calls for the development of diagnostic tools to differentiate these tumors from more aggressive forms. This study combined radiomics analysis with the uptake of 99mTc Sestamibi on SPECT/CT to differentiate benign renal oncocytic neoplasms from renal cell carcinoma. A total of 57 renal tumors were prospectively collected. Histopathological analysis and radiomics data extraction were performed. XGBoost classifiers were trained using the radiomics features alone and combined with the results from the visual evaluation of 99mTc Sestamibi SPECT/CT examination. The combined SPECT/radiomics model achieved higher accuracy (95%) with an area under the curve (AUC) of 98.3% (95% CI 93.7-100%) than the radiomics-only model (71.67%) with an AUC of 75% (95% CI 49.7-100%) and visual evaluation of 99mTc Sestamibi SPECT/CT alone (90.8%) with an AUC of 90.8% (95%CI 82.5-99.1%). The positive predictive values of SPECT/radiomics, radiomics-only, and 99mTc Sestamibi SPECT/CT-only models were 100%, 85.71%, and 85%, respectively, whereas the negative predictive values were 85.71%, 55.56%, and 94.6%, respectively. Feature importance analysis revealed that 99mTc Sestamibi uptake was the most influential attribute in the combined model. This study highlights the potential of combining radiomics analysis with 99mTc Sestamibi SPECT/CT to improve the preoperative characterization of benign renal oncocytic neoplasms. The proposed SPECT/radiomics classifier outperformed the visual evaluation of 99mTc Sestamibii SPECT/CT and the radiomics-only model, demonstrating that the integration of 99mTc Sestamibi SPECT/CT and radiomics data provides improved diagnostic performance, with minimal false positive and false negative results.

Post-mortem CT radiomics for the prediction of time since death.

OBJECTIVES: Post-mortem interval (PMI) estimation has long been relying on sequential post-mortem changes on the body as a function of extrinsic, intrinsic, and environmental factors. Such factors are difficult to account for in complicated death scenes; thus, PMI estimation can be compromised. Herein, we aimed to evaluate the use of post-mortem CT (PMCT) radiomics for the differentiation between early and late PMI. METHODS: Consecutive whole-body PMCT examinations performed between 2016 and 2021 were retrospectively included (n = 120), excluding corpses without an accurately reported PMI (n = 23). Radiomics data were extracted from liver and pancreas tissue and randomly split into training and validation sets (70:30%). Following data preprocessing, significant features were selected (Boruta selection) and three XGBoost classifiers were built (liver, pancreas, combined) to differentiate between early (< 12 h) and late (> 12 h) PMI. Classifier performance was assessed with receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves and areas under the curves (AUC), which were compared by bootstrapping. RESULTS: A total of 97 PMCTs were included, representing individuals (23 females and 74 males) with a mean age of 47.1 ± 23.38 years. The combined model achieved the highest AUC reaching 75% (95%CI 58.4-91.6%) (p = 0.03 compared to liver and p = 0.18 compared to pancreas). The liver-based and pancreas-based XGBoost models achieved AUCs of 53.6% (95%CI 34.8-72.3%) and 64.3% (95%CI 46.7-81.9%) respectively (p > 0.05 for the comparison between liver- and pancreas-based models). CONCLUSION: The use of radiomics analysis on PMCT examinations differentiated early from late PMI, unveiling a novel image-based method with important repercussions in forensic casework. CLINICAL RELEVANCE STATEMENT: This paper introduces the employment of radiomics in forensic diagnosis by presenting an effective automated alternative method of estimating post-mortem interval from targeted tissues, thus paving the way for improvement in speed and quality of forensic investigations. KEY POINTS: • A combined liver-pancreas radiomics model differentiated early from late post-mortem intervals (using a 12-h threshold) with an area under the curve of 75% (95%CI 58.4-91.6%). • XGBoost models based on liver-only or pancreas-only radiomics demonstrated inferior performance to the combined model in predicting the post-mortem interval.

Radiomics Analysis for Multiple Myeloma: A Systematic Review with Radiomics Quality Scoring.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is one of the most common hematological malignancies affecting the bone marrow. Radiomics analysis has been employed in the literature in an attempt to evaluate the bone marrow of MM patients. This manuscript aimed to systematically review radiomics research on MM while employing a radiomics quality score (RQS) to accurately assess research quality in the field. A systematic search was performed on Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus. The selected manuscripts were evaluated (data extraction and RQS scoring) by three independent readers (R1, R2, and R3) with experience in radiomics analysis. A total of 23 studies with 2682 patients were included, and the median RQS was 10 for R1 (IQR 5.5-12) and R3 (IQR 8.3-12) and 11 (IQR 7.5-12.5) for R2. RQS was not significantly correlated with any of the assessed bibliometric data (impact factor, quartile, year of publication, and imaging modality) (p > 0.05). Our results demonstrated the low quality of published radiomics research in MM, similarly to other fields of radiomics research, highlighting the need to tighten publication standards.

The role of MRI and Ultrasonography in Diagnosis and Treatment of Glenohumeral Joint Adhesive Capsulitis.

Adhesive capsulitis is a common disorder of the glenohumeral joint. Delayed diagnosis is the result of overlapping signs and symptoms with other disorders affecting the shoulder. Typically, the disease shows gradual progression of pain and loss of the range of motion. The hallmark of the physical examination is limitation of both passive and active motion without any associated degenerative changes on plain radiographs. Conservative and/or surgical treatments have shown conflicting results. Poor outcome may be related to co-morbid factors mainly including prolonged immobilization, rotator cuff pathology and diabetes mellitus among others. This review will present the current literature data on the natural history and pathophysiology of the disease, and will highlight the role of imaging in the prompt and accurate diagnosis as well as in the imaged-guided treatment with emphasis on ultrasonography.

Imaging of Anatomical Variants Around the Hip.

Considering the current widespread use of imaging as an integral part of managing hip pain, variable hip geometries and anatomical variants are increasingly being detected. These variants are commonly found in the acetabulum and proximal femur, as well as the surrounding capsule-labral tissues. The morphology of specific anatomical spaces confined by the proximal femur and the bony pelvis may also vary significantly among individuals. Familiarity with the spectrum of imaging appearances of the hip is necessary to identify variant hip morphologies with or without potential clinical relevance and reduce an unnecessary work-up and overdiagnosis. We describe anatomical variations and variable morphologies of the bony structures comprising the hip joint and the soft tissues, around the hip. The potential clinical significance of these findings is further analyzed in conjunction with the patient's profile.

Ultrasound-guided hydrodistension for adhesive capsulitis: a longitudinal study on the effect of diabetes on treatment outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: The effect of diabetes on adhesive capsulitis (AC) and its impact on the outcomes of ultrasound (US)-guided hydrodistension of the glenohumeral joint are still unclear. We aimed to identify predictors of US-guided hydrodistension outcomes, while assessing the performance of the method in diabetic compared to non-diabetic patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 135 patients with AC who underwent US-guided hydrodistension were prospectively included. Demographics and factors linked to chronic inflammation and diabetes were recorded and patients were followed-up for 6 months. Functionality and pain were evaluated with the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) and the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score. Statistical analysis was performed with Mann-Whitney U test, linear, and binary logistic regression. RESULTS: Diabetes was identified in 25/135 patients (18.5%). Diabetic patients had worse DASH and VAS score at presentation (P < 0.0001) and presented with a higher grade of AC (P < 0.0001) and lower range of motion (P < 0.01) compared to non-diabetics. Higher DASH (P = 0.025) and VAS scores (P = 0.039) at presentation were linked to worse functionality at 6 months. Presence and duration of diabetes, and the number of hydrodistension repeats, correlated with worse VAS and DASH scores at 6 months. The number of procedure repeats was the only independent predictor of complete pain resolution at 6 months (OR 0.418, P = 003). CONCLUSION: Diabetes is linked to more severe AC at presentation and worse outcomes in patients undergoing US-guided hydrodistension. In resistant cases, repeating the intervention is independently linked to worse outcomes for at least 6 months post-intervention.

Ultrasound-Guided Hydrodistension for Adhesive Capsulitis: Is There Any Adjunct Effect of Immediate Post-Procedural Manipulation Over Instructed Physical Therapy?

OBJECTIVES: To compare the additive value of immediate post-procedural manipulation versus physiotherapy, following ultrasound (US)-guided hydrodistention of the glenohumeral joint (GHJ) in patients with adhesive capsulitis (AC) and define predictors of outcome. METHODS: Within a 19-month period, 161 consecutive patients with AC were prospectively enrolled and allocated to two groups according to treatment, based on patients' individual preferences: 1) group-I, US-guided hydrodistension plus immediate post-procedural manipulations and 2) group-II, US-guided hydrodistension plus supervised physiotherapy program. The Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) questionnaire and a visual analog scale (VAS) were used for clinical assessment at baseline (immediately after treatment), 1, 3, and 6 months. Comparisons were performed with Mann-Whitney U test and Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Linear regression was used to identify predictors of outcome. P value <.05 defined significance. RESULTS: GHJ hydrodistension with manipulation or physiotherapy was linked to clinical improvement at all follow-up time-points. DASH scores of group-I remained constantly lower than DASH scores of group-II at all time-points (P < .001). VAS scores were lower in group-I than group-II at 1 and 3 months (P < .001 and P = .0019, respectively). Both groups had improved to a similar degree with respect to pain at 6 months (P = .29). The performance of post-interventional manipulations was predictive of improved shoulder functionality (as assessed with DASH scores) at all time-points, while low-grade disease and milder symptoms at presentation were associated with improved short-term pain. CONCLUSIONS: Immediate post-procedural manipulations appeared to be superior to physiotherapy following GHJ hydrodistension for AC in terms of shoulder functionality during a 6-month follow-up period. Post-interventional manipulations, the stage of AC and lower DASH and VAS scores at presentations were predictive of improved outcome.

Deep Learning for the Differential Diagnosis between Transient Osteoporosis and Avascular Necrosis of the Hip.

Differential diagnosis between avascular necrosis (AVN) and transient osteoporosis of the hip (TOH) can be complicated even for experienced MSK radiologists. Our study attempted to use MR images in order to develop a deep learning methodology with the use of transfer learning and a convolutional neural network (CNN) ensemble, for the accurate differentiation between the two diseases. An augmented dataset of 210 hips with TOH and 210 hips with AVN was used to finetune three ImageNet-trained CNNs (VGG-16, InceptionResNetV2, and InceptionV3). An ensemble decision was reached in a hard-voting manner by selecting the outcome voted by at least two of the CNNs. Inception-ResNet-V2 achieved the highest AUC (97.62%) similar to the model ensemble, followed by InceptionV3 (AUC of 96.82%) and VGG-16 (AUC 96.03%). Precision for the diagnosis of AVN and recall for the detection of TOH were higher in the model ensemble compared to Inception-ResNet-V2. Ensemble performance was significantly higher than that of an MSK radiologist and a fellow (P < 0.001). Deep learning was highly successful in distinguishing TOH from AVN, with a potential to aid treatment decisions and lead to the avoidance of unnecessary surgery.

Research in Musculoskeletal Radiology: Setting Goals and Strategic Directions.

The future of musculoskeletal (MSK) radiology is being built on research developments in the field. Over the past decade, MSK imaging research has been dominated by advancements in molecular imaging biomarkers, artificial intelligence, radiomics, and novel high-resolution equipment. Adequate preparation of trainees and specialists will ensure that current and future leaders will be prepared to embrace and critically appraise technological developments, will be up to date on clinical developments, such as the use of artificial tissues, will define research directions, and will actively participate and lead multidisciplinary research. This review presents an overview of the current MSK research landscape and proposes tangible future goals and strategic directions that will fortify the future of MSK radiology.