Role of non-contrast CT component of prostate-specific membrane antigen PET/CT scan in the detection of peripheral zone prostate cancer.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to look for feasibility of non-contrast CT (NCCT) in detecting peripheral zone prostate cancer (PCa). METHODS: A retrospective analysis included 50 biopsy-proven PCa patients between April 2019 and March 2022 who underwent staging whole body prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)/CT prior to treatment. The control subjects were 50 randomly selected adult male patients who underwent PET/CT for non-prostate malignancy during the same time period. Two readers independently calculated the Hounsfield unit (HU) of normal peripheral zone, central zone, and corresponding PSMA avid focus in cases. RESULTS: No significant difference was seen in the mean HU value of normal peripheral zone between cases and controls. Significant difference in the mean HU was seen between the PSMA avid focus in cases (40.1 ± 6.2) and normal peripheral zone of cases (28.2 ± 7.0) and controls (27.7 ± 5.8). No significant difference was found between the mean HU values of high-grade PCa and non-high-grade PCa. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis revealed a mean HU cut-off of ≥35 for detecting PCa with a sensitivity and specificity of 86% and 90%, respectively, between cases and controls (AUC 0.88). CONCLUSION: Detection of clinically significant PCa is possible on routinely performed NCCT scans. Radiologists should routinely look for and convey these findings to facilitate further work-up and early detection of PCa. ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE: Our study adds to the knowledge that NCCT scans performed for unrelated indications can serve as a screening tool for clinically significant PCa.

Imaging and Intervention in the Management of Vascular Complications Following Liver Transplantation.

Liver transplantation is the treatment of choice in majority of the patients with end stage liver disease. Vascular complication following liver transplantation is seen in around 7-13% of the patients and is associated with graft dysfunction and high morbidity and mortality. Early diagnosis and prompt treatment are crucial in management of these patients. Advances in interventional radiology have significantly improved the management of vascular complications using minimally invasive percutaneous approach. Endovascular management is preferred in patients with late hepatic artery thrombosis, or stenosis, whereas retransplantation, surgical revision, or endovascular management can be considered in patients with early hepatic artery thrombosis or stenosis. Hepatic artery pseudoaneurysm, arterioportal fistula, and splenic artery steal syndrome are often treated by endovascular means. Endovascular management is also preferred in patients with symptomatic portal vein stenosis, early portal vein thrombosis, and symptomatic late portal vein thrombosis, whereas surgical revision or retransplantation is preferred in patients with perioperative portal vein thrombosis occurring within 3 days of transplantation. Venoplasty with or without stent placement can be considered in patients with hepatic venous outflow tract or inferior vena cava obstruction. Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) may be required in transplant recipients who develop cirrhosis, often, secondary to disease recurrence, or chronic rejection. Indications for TIPS remain same in the transplant patients; however, major difference is altered vascular anatomy, for which adjunct techniques may be required to create TIPS.

Role of Inferior Vena Cava (IVC) Recanalization in Patients with Back Pain, Secondary to IVC Obstruction in Budd-Chiari Syndrome.

PURPOSE: To study the prevalence of back pain in patients of Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS) with inferior vena cava (IVC) obstruction, and to evaluate the role of IVC recanalization in resolution of back pain. METHODS: All patients with BCS and IVC obstruction who underwent IVC recanalization between January 2018 and October 2022 were included. Patients with degenerative spine disease or other identifiable causes for back pain were excluded; remaining patients were assessed for the presence of back pain. In patients with back pain, pain relief was assessed at 24 h following IVC recanalization. RESULTS: Fifty-eight patients with BCS and IVC occlusion were identified, of which six with degenerative spine diseases were excluded. Of the remaining 52 patients, 34 (65.4%) had back pain, with pain score between 3 and 9. Engorged epidural venous plexus on preprocedural imaging (p = 0.002), and degree of luminal narrowing (p = 0.021) had a significant association with back pain. Twenty-nine of thirty-four patients (85.3%) with back pain had pain relief immediately following IVC recanalization, more so in patients with engorged epidural venous plexus on preprocedural imaging (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Back pain is one of the under-reported symptoms of IVC obstruction in BCS. IVC recanalization by IVC angioplasty with or without stenting relieves back pain due to the decompression of engorged epidural veins.

Assessment of renal allograft rejection with diffusion tensor imaging.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the value of DTI in differentiation of renal allograft rejection from well-functioning stable allograft, using fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values. METHODS: In this prospective study, 22 transplant recipients with well-functioning stable allograft (group A) and 20 patients with renal allograft rejection (group B + C) were recruited over a period of 19 months from January 2018 to July 2019. DTI-MRI was performed in all the patients, and FA and ADC values were measured in cortical and medullary regions of the transplanted kidney. On biopsy, graft rejection was classified as acute (group B) (n = 7) and chronic graft rejection (group C) (n = 13) based on the BANNF scoring system. Statistical analysis was performed using STATA v.14.0. RESULTS: Statistically significant difference between group A and group B + C was noted for cortical (p < 0.001), and medullary (p = 0.003) FA values, and cortical (p = 0.020), and medullary (p = 0.046) ADC values. Cortical(p < 0.001) and Medullary(p = 0.020) FA values showed statistically significant difference between group A and group C, and cortical FA value(p = 0.012) also showed statistically significant difference between group B and group C. AUC (to differentiate between renal allograft rejection and well-functioning stable allograft) for cortical, and medullary FA values and cortical and medullary ADC values were 0.853(p < 0.001), 0.757(p = 0.004), 0.709(p = 0.021) and 0.736(p = 0.009), respectively. CONCLUSION AND ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE: DTI is a promising functional MRI technique for the non-invasive assessment of renal allograft function. Diffusion parameters, such as FA and ADC values, can be useful in the differentiation of renal allograft rejection from well-functioning stable allograft.

Prospective evaluation of PI-RADS v2 and quantitative MRI for clinically significant prostate cancer detection in Indian men - East meets West.

Purpose: To validate the detection of clinically significant prostate cancer (Gleason's score ≥7) by PI-RADS v2 and to assess the ability of quantitative MRI parameters to detect clinically significant prostate cancer (CSPCa) in Indian men. Methods: Adult men (n = 95) with serum PSA >4 ng/ml were prospectively evaluated with multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) followed by histopathological evaluation using systematic 12-core prostate biopsy in 69 patients and prostatectomy specimens in 26 patients, performed within six weeks of mpMRI. The imaging and the pathology were divided into 12 sectors per prostate. For the validation of PI-RADS v2, a cut-off of PI-RADS v2 score ≥ 3 and PI-RADS v2 score ≥ 4 were compared to histopathology as a reference standard. Further, quantitative parameters, apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), Ktrans, and Kep were correlated with the Gleason score and evaluated for their ability to distinguish between sectors with CSPCa and sectors without CSPCa. Results: PI-RADS score ≥ 4 showed higher specificity (89%) than PI-RADS score ≥ 3 (72.2%) at the cost of mild but not significant reduction of sensitivity (sensitivity-87.6% vs 91.9), (n = 1,140 sectors, 95 patients). PI-RADS v2 and quantitative parameters demonstrated the ability to discriminate sectors positive vs negative for CSPCa: AUC (area under the curve) for ADC was 0.928, PI-RADS v2 was 0.903, Ktrans was 0.897 and Kep was 0.695. Gleason score correlated well with PI-RADS (r = 0.74), ADC (r = -0.73) and Ktrans (r = 0.69). Conclusion: PI-RADS v2 is a reliable method for the detection and localization of clinically significant prostate cancer in Indian men, suggesting applicability beyond European or American demographics. Quantitative mpMRI parameters can detect clinically significant prostate cancer with similar test characteristics as PI-RADS v2.

Adrenocortical adenoma manifesting as Cushing's syndrome and pseudo-precocious puberty in a toddler.

Cushing's syndrome is a rare disease in the paediatric age group. Adrenocortical carcinomas (ACC) constitute the most common cause of Cushing's syndrome between 1 and 5 years of age. Often, adrenocortical carcinomas co-secrete other hormones such as androgens (testosterone), deoxy-corticosterone (DOCA), or 17-hydroxy-progesterone [17(OH)P] in addition to cortisol. This may manifest with symptoms and signs of precocious puberty along with Cushing's syndrome. It is rare for a benign adrenocortical adenoma to co-secrete androgens and other hormones in addition to cortisol. Differentiation between adenoma and carcinoma is difficult in all aspects: clinical, radiological, and histopathological. Here, we describe the case of a 2.5-year-old male child who presented with Cushing's syndrome and virilization. Although we suspected ACC clinically, the radiological and histopathological findings were suggestive of benign adrenocortical adenoma. Our case represents the diagnostic challenge that exists in paediatric adrenocortical tumours.

Atypical parathyroid adenoma: Severe manifestations in an adolescent girl.

INTRODUCTION: Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is a disease that is usually diagnosed in an asymptomatic state during routine biochemical screening. It generally manifests as a sporadic disease in post-menopausal women. However, in India and developing countries, we continue to see severe skeletal and renal manifestations of the disease. CASE REPORT: Herein, we describe the case of a 16-year-old adolescent girl who presented with severe manifestations of primary hyperparathyroidism. Biochemically, she had severe parathyroid hormone (PTH)-dependent hypercalcaemia with hypophosphataemia and vitamin D deficiency (serum total Ca - 18.5 mg/dl [8.5-10.5 mg/dl], serum PO4 - 1.9 mg/dl [2.5-4.5 mg/dl], serum ALP - 2015 IU/l [80-240 IU/l], serum 25[OH]D - 19.1 ng/ml [30-100 ng/ml] and serum iPTH > 5000 pg/ml [15-65 pg/ml]). Pre-operatively, she required management with saline diuresis, bisphosphonate, and calcitonin. After surgery, the patient had severe hungry bone syndrome (serum Ca - 4.1 mg/dl, serum PO4 - 2.1 mg/dl, serum ALP > 10,000 IU/l) that required treatment with calcium infusions for almost 3 months. Although the clinical and biochemical picture was suggestive of parathyroid carcinoma, histopathology revealed atypical parathyroid adenoma with low proliferative index. Atypical parathyroid adenoma is a term applied to a neoplasm with 'worrisome' features but not fulfilling the 'absolute histopathological criteria of malignancy'. CONCLUSIONS: Atypical parathyroid adenoma, a rare cause of PHPT, may be associated with severe manifestations. Although malignancy was not discerned in the immediate post-operative period, we plan to continue long-term follow-up of the patient to look for any signs of recurrence or development of parathyroid carcinoma.

Imaging update in spinal tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis is ancient disease known to mankind. Diagnosis and management of spinal tuberculosis has immensely improved in last few decades. Imaging, particularly MRI, plays important role in diagnosis of spinal tuberculosis and its complications. Four common imaging patterns of spinal tuberculosis include paradiscal type, central type, Anterior subligamentous type, and posterior type. Imaging also plays important role in differentiation of spinal tuberculosis from its mimics, particularly pyogenic spondylitis, and metastasis. Radiological interventions, such as CT guided vertebral biopsy, and percutaneous drainage of cold abscess, are commonly used in management of spinal tuberculosis. Monitoring of therapeutic response is often based on clinical evaluation and imaging. MRI is most common imaging modality used. Signs of healing include bony ankylosis, resolution of marrow edema, decrease in contrast enhancement, and fatty change with in bone marrow. PET CT is recently evaluated for response assessment with promising results. This review summarizes pathophysiology, clinical presentation, imaging features, radiological interventions, and response assessment in spinal tuberculosis.

Unveiling the confusion in renal fusion anomalies: role of imaging.

Renal fusion anomalies are common congenital anomalies of the urogenital tract and have their genesis in the early embryonic period. They are classified into partial fusion anomalies (e.g., crossed fused ectopia, and horseshoe kidney) and complete fusion anomalies (e.g., fused pelvic kidney). Horseshoe kidney is the most common renal fusion anomaly and is characterized by the presence of two distinct functioning kidneys on either side of the vertebral column, with fusion occurring at the inferior poles in majority of the cases. Crossed fused ectopia is characterized by the presence of an ectopic kidney that crosses the midline and fuses with the orthotopic contralateral kidney, whereas fused pelvic (pancake) kidney is a complete fusion anomaly characterized by extensive medial fusion of both kidneys in the pelvis. Fusion anomalies are often associated with abnormalities of renal rotation, migration, and vascular supply, which predispose the kidneys to a number of complications and create difficulty during retroperitoneal surgeries and interventions. They are also associated with other congenital abnormalities of the urogenital tract, gastrointestinal tract, cardiovascular system, and skeletal system. Hence, a thorough understanding of the etiopathogenesis and radiological features of fusion anomalies is important for directing patient management. This review summarizes the embryological basis, clinical presentation and imaging approach to renal fusion anomalies, followed by detailed anatomical and radiological description of the morphological types, and the complications associated with these anomalies.

Multiparametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 68Ga Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen Positron Emission Tomography-Computed Tomography, and Respective Quantitative Parameters in Detection and Localization of Clinically Significant Prostate Cancer in Intermediate- and High-Risk Group Patients: An Indian Demographic Study.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) and 68Ga prostate-specific membrane antigen positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PSMA PET-CT) and respective quantitative parameters (Ktrans - influx rate contrast, Kep - efflux rate constant, ADC - apparent diffusion coefficient, and SUVmax ratio - prostate SUVmax to background SUVmax ratio) in detection and localization of clinically significant prostate cancer (CSPCa) in D'Amico intermediate- and high-risk group patients (prostate-specific antigen [PSA] >10 ng/ml). METHODOLOGY: The study included thirty-three consecutive adult men with serum prostate specific antigen >10ng/ml, and systematic 12 core prostate biopsy proven prostate cancer. All the 33 patients, were evaluated with mpMRI, and 68Ga PSMA PET-CT. The biopsy specimens and imaging were evaluated for 12 sectors per prostate by a predetermined scheme. RESULTS: MpMRI Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System version 2 (PI-RADS v2) score ≥3 showed higher sensitivity than 68Ga PSMA PET-CT (96.3% vs. 82.4%), with similar specificity (54.5% vs. 54.5%) (n = 33 patients, 396 sectors). Combined use of MRI and 68Ga PSMA PET-CT in parallel increased sensitivity (99.5%) and NPV (98.7%) for detection of CSPCa and combined use of MRI and 68Ga PSMA PET-CT in series increased specificity (71.8%) and PPV (71.5%) (n = 33 patients, 396 sectors). ADC showed a strong negative correlation with Gleason score (r = -0.77), and the highest discriminative ability for detection and localization of CSPCa (area under curve [AUC]: 0.91), followed by Ktrans (r = 0.74; AUC: 0.89), PI-RADS (0.73; 0.86), SUVmax ratio (0.49; 0.74), and Kep (0.24; 0.66). CONCLUSION: MpMRI PI-RADS v2 score and 68Ga PSMA PET-CT (individually as well as in combination) are reliable tool for detection and localization of CSPCa. Quantitative MRI and 68Ga PSMA PET-CT parameters have potential to predict Gleason score and detect CSPCa.

Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Type 1 Syndrome: A Case Report and Review of Literature.

Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) or Wermer's syndrome is a genetic disease characterized by involvement of multiple endocrine glands, primarily involving parathyroid, pancreas, and pituitary. Other additional features include foregut carcinoids; non-functioning adrenal tumors; and skin lesions such as lipomas, collagenomas, and angiofibromas. Here, we describe our experience in managing a patient who presented to us with spontaneous episodes of hypoglycemia and was diagnosed with insulinoma. Detailed clinical and biochemical evaluation unraveled the diagnosis of MEN1 in the patient and her family members who constituted a large kindred. This case highlights the importance for evaluation of MEN1 in a patient or his/her family members in the setting of clinical and biochemical suspicion. In addition, we have also discussed the utility of the latest diagnostic and therapeutic modalities for management of MEN1.