Chest CT-derived pulmonary artery enlargement at the admission predicts overall survival in COVID-19 patients: insight from 1461 consecutive patients in Italy.

OBJECTIVES: Enlarged main pulmonary artery diameter (MPAD) resulted to be associated with pulmonary hypertension and mortality in a non-COVID-19 setting. The aim was to investigate and validate the association between MPAD enlargement and overall survival in COVID-19 patients. METHODS: This is a cohort study on 1469 consecutive COVID-19 patients submitted to chest CT within 72 h from admission in seven tertiary level hospitals in Northern Italy, between March 1 and April 20, 2020. Derivation cohort (n = 761) included patients from the first three participating hospitals; validation cohort (n = 633) included patients from the remaining hospitals. CT images were centrally analyzed in a core-lab blinded to clinical data. The prognostic value of MPAD on overall survival was evaluated at adjusted and multivariable Cox's regression analysis on the derivation cohort. The final multivariable model was tested on the validation cohort. RESULTS: In the derivation cohort, the median age was 69 (IQR, 58-77) years and 537 (70.6%) were males. In the validation cohort, the median age was 69 (IQR, 59-77) years with 421 (66.5%) males. Enlarged MPAD (≥ 31 mm) was a predictor of mortality at adjusted (hazard ratio, HR [95%CI]: 1.741 [1.253-2.418], p < 0.001) and multivariable regression analysis (HR [95%CI]: 1.592 [1.154-2.196], p = 0.005), together with male gender, old age, high creatinine, low well-aerated lung volume, and high pneumonia extension (c-index [95%CI] = 0.826 [0.796-0.851]). Model discrimination was confirmed on the validation cohort (c-index [95%CI] = 0.789 [0.758-0.823]), also using CT measurements from a second reader (c-index [95%CI] = 0.790 [0.753;0.825]). CONCLUSION: Enlarged MPAD (≥ 31 mm) at admitting chest CT is an independent predictor of mortality in COVID-19. KEY POINTS: • Enlargement of main pulmonary artery diameter at chest CT performed within 72 h from the admission was associated with a higher rate of in-hospital mortality in COVID-19 patients. • Enlargement of main pulmonary artery diameter (≥ 31 mm) was an independent predictor of death in COVID-19 patients at adjusted and multivariable regression analysis. • The combined evaluation of clinical findings, lung CT features, and main pulmonary artery diameter may be useful for risk stratification in COVID-19 patients.

High-intensity focused ultrasound in breast pathology: non-invasive treatment of benign and malignant lesions.

Breast neoplasms are one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in women. Even if surgery is the treatment of choice, other forms of less invasive radical treatment are desirable. High-intensity focused ultrasound is already established as a valid non-invasive technique that ensures tumor ablation in various organs. The use of ultrasound or magnetic resonance guidance allows having some advantages such as the capability to treat tumors in moving organs or the possibility to have a real-time monitoring of the temperature increase. The aim of this paper is to report the use of high-intensity focused ultrasound technique with ultrasound and magnetic resonance guidance for the ablation of breast tumors, including both benign and malignant lesions.

MR-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound: current status of an emerging technology.

The concept of ideal tumor surgery is to remove the neoplastic tissue without damaging adjacent normal structures. High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) was developed in the 1940s as a viable thermal tissue ablation approach. In clinical practice, HIFU has been applied to treat a variety of solid benign and malignant lesions, including pancreas, liver, prostate, and breast carcinomas, soft tissue sarcomas, and uterine fibroids. More recently, magnetic resonance guidance has been applied for treatment monitoring during focused ultrasound procedures (magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound, MRgFUS). Intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging provides the best possible tumor extension and dynamic control of energy deposition using real-time magnetic resonance imaging thermometry. We introduce the fundamental principles and clinical indications of the MRgFUS technique; we also report different treatment options and personal outcomes.

Liver metastases from colorectal cancer treated with conventional and antiangiogenetic chemotherapy: evaluation with liver computed tomography perfusion and magnetic resonance diffusion-weighted imaging.

OBJECTIVE: The objectives of the study were to determine whether perfusion computed tomography (CT-p) and magnetic resonance diffusion-weighted imaging (MR-DWI) can allow evaluation of the effects of chemotherapy combined with antiangiogenetic treatment on liver metastases in patients with advanced colorectal cancer and to determine if changes in CT-p and MR-DWI correlate with the response to therapy as assessed by conventional Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST). METHODS: Eighteen patients with liver metastases from colorectal cancer underwent CT-p and MR-DWI before and 6 months after chemotherapy and antiangiogenetic treatment. Lesions were classified according to RECIST criteria (complete response [CR], partial response [PR], stable disease [SD], and progressive disease) and calculations of CT-p parameters including blood flow (BF), blood volume (BV), capillary permeability (CP), and MR-DWI apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values were performed; RECIST, CT-p, and MR-DWI measurements at baseline and follow-up were tested for statistically significant differences using the paired-samples t test. Baseline and follow-up perfusion parameters of the lesions were also compared on the basis of therapy response assessed by RECIST criteria using independent-samples t test. P < 0.05 was considered indicative of a statistically significant difference for all statistical test. RESULTS: Six patients (6/18; 33.3%) were classified as PR (), and the remaining 12 (12/18; 66.7%) were classified as SD. On a per-lesion basis, 2 (2/32; 6.3%) cannot be identified at follow-up, 6 (6/32; 18.8%) showed a decrease in size of more than 30%, and 24 (24/32; 75%) were substantially stable in size. No cases of progressive disease were demonstrated at follow-up. No statistically significant differences were demonstrated between PR, CR, and SD lesions for BF (P = 0.19), BV (P = 0.14), and ADC (P = 0.68) measurements, whereas CP was significantly higher in CR and PR lesions (P = 0.038). Considering differences between baseline and follow-up values, no statistically significant differences were noted between PR and CR lesions versus SD lesions for CT-p values (BF: P = 0.77; BV: P = 0.15; CP: P = 0.64). A statistically significant difference between PR and CR lesions and SD lesions was noted for ADC values (P = 0.047). CONCLUSION: Both CT-p and MR-DWI can detect therapy-induced modifications in lesion vascularization before significant changes in size are evident.