Observer agreement and clinical significance of chest CT reporting in patients suspected of COVID-19.

OBJECTIVES: To assess interobserver agreement and clinical significance of chest CT reporting in patients suspected of COVID-19. METHODS: From 16 to 24 March 2020, 241 consecutive patients addressed to hospital for COVID-19 suspicion had both chest CT and SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR. Eight observers (2 thoracic and 2 general senior radiologists, 2 junior radiologists, and 2 emergency physicians) retrospectively categorized each CT into one out of 4 categories (evocative, compatible for COVID-19 pneumonia, not evocative, and normal). Observer agreement for categorization between all readers and pairs of readers with similar experience was evaluated with the Kappa coefficient. The results of a consensus categorization were correlated to RT-PCR. RESULTS: Observer agreement across the 4 categories was good between all readers (κ value 0.61 95% CI 0.60-0.63) and moderate to good between pairs of readers (0.54-0.75). It was very good (κ 0.81 95% CI 0.79-0.83), fair (κ 0.32 95% CI 0.29-0.34), moderate (κ 0.56 95% CI 0.54-0.58), and moderate (0.58 95% CI 0.56-0.61) for the categories evocative, compatible, not evocative, and normal, respectively. RT-PCR was positive in 97%, 50%, 31%, and 11% of cases in the respective categories. Observer agreement was lower (p < 0.001) and RT-PCR positive cases less frequently categorized evocative in the presence of an underlying pulmonary disease (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Interobserver agreement for chest CT reporting using categorization of findings is good in patients suspected of COVID-19. Among patients considered for hospitalization in an epidemic context, CT categorized evocative is highly predictive of COVID-19, whereas the predictive value of CT decreases between the categories compatible and not evocative. KEY POINTS: • In patients suspected of COVID-19, interobserver agreement for chest CT reporting into categories is good, and very good to categorize CT "evocative." • Chest CT can participate in estimating the likelihood of COVID-19 in patients presenting to hospital during the outbreak, CT categorized "evocative" being highly predictive of the disease whereas almost a third of patients with CT "not evocative" had a positive RT-PCR in our study. • Observer agreement is lower and CTs of positive RT-PCR cases less frequently "evocative" in presence of an underlying pulmonary disease.

AI-driven quantification, staging and outcome prediction of COVID-19 pneumonia.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emerged in 2019 and disseminated around the world rapidly. Computed tomography (CT) imaging has been proven to be an important tool for screening, disease quantification and staging. The latter is of extreme importance for organizational anticipation (availability of intensive care unit beds, patient management planning) as well as to accelerate drug development through rapid, reproducible and quantified assessment of treatment response. Even if currently there are no specific guidelines for the staging of the patients, CT together with some clinical and biological biomarkers are used. In this study, we collected a multi-center cohort and we investigated the use of medical imaging and artificial intelligence for disease quantification, staging and outcome prediction. Our approach relies on automatic deep learning-based disease quantification using an ensemble of architectures, and a data-driven consensus for the staging and outcome prediction of the patients fusing imaging biomarkers with clinical and biological attributes. Highly promising results on multiple external/independent evaluation cohorts as well as comparisons with expert human readers demonstrate the potentials of our approach.

Ethylene Vinyl Alcohol Copolymer Embolization for Acute Renal Hemorrhage: Initial Experience in 24 Cases.

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) copolymer (Onyx, Medtronic) for embolization for acute renal hemorrhage. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Between October 2006 and June 2018, 24 consecutive patients were treated by embolization with EVOH copolymer for acute renal hemorrhage at Hôpital Bichat-Claude-Bernard. CT angiography was performed in all patients before treatment. Technical success was defined as the complete occlusion of the bleeding artery on final renal angiogram. Clinical success was defined as the absence of rebleeding after embolization. Complications mid procedure, infarcted renal area on final angiogram, and renal function 1 week after embolization were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS. Active bleeding was observed in all cases. The causes of acute renal hemorrhage were iatrogenic in 12 patients, vascular malformation in four patients, renal tumor in four patients, and unknown in four patients. EVOH copolymer was the sole embolic agent used in 16 patients. In eight patients, EVOH copolymer was used after persistent bleeding after embolization with coils. Technical and clinical success rates were 100%. No patient required surgery or new embolization during a mean follow-up period of 35 months (range, 6-86 months). No serious complications were attributable to EVOH copolymer. The mean infarcted renal area was 10% (range, 5-30%). Renal function, available for 16 (67%) patients, was not altered 1 week after embolization. CONCLUSION. EVOH copolymer is safe and effective for embolization of acute renal hemorrhage, either as a first-line embolic agent or after failure of coil embolization.

A 22-Year-Old Woman With Fever, Palpitations, and a Cardiac Mass.

CASE PRESENTATION: A 22-year-old woman was admitted to our department for fever of unknown origin. The patient reported intermittent fever and nonspecific abdominal pain for several years. Six months before admission she started complaining of palpitations and exertional dyspnea. She had no weight loss, chest pain, headache, or joint complaints. Medical history was unremarkable. She did not consume tobacco, alcohol, or illicit drugs. The patient was from Malia. She had lived in France for 4 years and did not report recent travel.

Pulmonary Arteriovenous Malformations: Safety and Efficacy of Microvascular Plugs.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to assess the safety and efficacy of microvascular plugs for the treatment of pulmonary arteriovenous malformations (PAVMs). MATERIALS AND METHODS: From July 2014 to March 2017, 22 consecutive patients with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia underwent treatment of PAVMs using microvascular plugs. The number, location, and type (simple or complex) of PAVM and the diameter of the feeding artery were assessed at angiography. Safety was evaluated by successful detachment and absence of migration of the microvascular plug after deployment. Efficacy was assessed by technical success, defined as immediate stasis in the feeding artery above the microvascular plug at the time of angiography, and by the persistence rate at 1-year follow-up CT. RESULTS: Thirty-nine PAVMs (36 simple and three complex) were treated with 52 microvascular plugs in 22 consecutive patients. Thirty-three PAVMs were undergoing initial treatment and six were undergoing retreatment after previous embolotherapy. All microvascular plugs were successfully detached. No microvascular plug migration was observed. The mean (± SD) feeding artery diameter was 2.3 ± 0.7 mm. Technical success was achieved for 51 of 52 (98%) microvascular plug deployments. Follow-up CT, which was available for 20 of 22 (91%) patients, with a mean delay of 12.6 ± 3.1 months, showed two persistent PAVMs (persistence rate, 6%), one due to recanalization through the microvascular plug and the other due to reperfusion from an untreated adjacent pulmonary feeding artery. CONCLUSION: Microvascular plugs are safe and effective for treatment of PAVMs, with a low persistence rate (6%) 1 year after treatment.