The Prevalence of Sarcopenia in Patients with Solid Tumors Differs Across Regions: A Systematic Review.

Objective: The purpose of the meta-analysis was to compare the prevalence of sarcopenia on staging computed tomography (CT) in patients with solid tumors in different world regions. Materials and Methods: MEDLINE, Embase, and SCOPUS literature databases were screened for prevalence of sarcopenia in oncologic patients up to December 2022. Two hundred eighty studies met the inclusion criteria. The methodological quality of the involved studies was checked according to the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Studies instrument. Results: Two hundred eighty studies with 81,885 patients were included. The prevalence of sarcopenia among all patients was 35.5%. Prevalence of sarcopenia was higher in Europe (45.6%) and North America (41.2%) than in Asia (29.6%). Prevalence rates for the curative cohort were similar in all three regions, with 43.7% in Europe, 41.3% in North America, and 37.4% in Asia. In the palliative cohort, sarcopenia prevalence was higher in Europe (55.7%) and Asia (45.7%) than in North America (34.0%). In the European cohort, prostate cancer (73.9%), esophageal cancer (74.2%), pancreatic cancer (62.5%), and renal cell cancer (65.3%) showed high prevalence rates of sarcopenia. Applied cutoff values differed among regions. Conclusion: Our study shows that prevalence rates for sarcopenia of patients with solid tumors differ between regions and are different for curative and palliative settings. European studies demonstrate high prevalence rates for both settings. There is need for regional harmonization of sarcopenia definitions.

Pleural and pericardial effusions as prognostic factors in patients with acute pulmonary embolism: a multicenter study.

PURPOSE: The prognostic role of pleural and pericardial effusion in patients with acute pulmonary embolism (PE) is still unclear with a trend for worse clinical outcome. The aim of the present study was to demonstrate the prognostic role of pleural and pericardial effusion in patients with acute PE in a large multicentre setting. METHODS: The investigated patient sampled was retrospectively comprised of 1082 patients (494 female, 45.7%) with a mean age of 63.8 years ± 15.8. In every case, contrast enhanced computed tomography (CT) pulmonalis angiography was analyzed to diagnose and quantify the pleural and pericardial effusion. The 30-day mortality was the primary endpoint of this study. RESULTS: A total of 127 patients (11.7%) died within the 30-day observation period. Pleural effusion was identified in 438 patients (40.5%) and pericardial effusion was identified in 196 patients (18.1%). The presence of pleural effusion was associated with 30-day mortality, HR = 2.78 (95%CI1.89-4.0), p < 0.001 (univariable analysis), and HR = 2.52 (95%CI1.69-3.76), p < 0.001 (multivariable analysis). The pleural effusion width and density were not associated with 30-day mortality. The presence of pericardial effusion was not associated with 30-day mortality in multivariable analysis, HR = 1.28 (95%CI 0.80-2.03), p = 0.29. CONCLUSIONS: Pleural effusion is a common finding in patients with acute pulmonary embolism, occurring in 40.5% of cases, and is a prognostic imaging finding associated with 30-day mortality. The presence of pleural effusion alone, regardless of volume or density, has been shown to be prognostic and should be included in CT reports. The prognostic role of pericardial effusion is limited.

Body composition parameters in initial CT imaging of mechanically ventilated trauma patients: Single-centre observational study.

BACKGROUND: Body composition parameters provide relevant prognostic significance in critical care cohorts and cancer populations. Published results regarding polytrauma patients are inconclusive to date. The goal of this study was to analyse the role of body composition parameters in severely injured trauma patients. METHODS: All consecutive patients requiring emergency tracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation before initial computed tomography (CT) at a level-1 trauma centre over a 12-year period (2008-2019) were reanalysed. The analysis included CT-derived body composition parameters based upon whole-body trauma CT as prognostic variables for 30-day mortality, intensive care unit length of stay (ICU LOS) and mechanical ventilation duration. RESULTS: Four hundred seventy-two patients (75% male) with a median age of 49 years, median injury severity score of 26 and 30-day mortality rate of 22% (104 patients) met the inclusion criteria and were analysed. Regarding body composition parameters, 231 patients (49%) had visceral obesity, 75 patients had sarcopenia (16%) and 35 patients had sarcopenic obesity (7.4%). After adjustment for statistically significant univariable predictors age, body mass index, sarcopenic obesity, visceral obesity, American Society of Anesthesiologists classification ≥3, injury severity score and Glasgow Coma Scale ≤ 8 points, the Cox proportional hazard model identified sarcopenia as significant prognostic factor of 30-day mortality (hazard ratio 2.84; 95% confidence interval 1.38-5.85; P = 0.004), which was confirmed in Kaplan-Meier survival analysis (log-rank P = 0.006). In a subanalysis of 363 survivors, linear multivariable regression analysis revealed no significant associations of body composition parameters with ICU LOS and duration of mechanical ventilation. CONCLUSIONS: In a multivariable analysis of mechanically ventilated trauma patients, CT-defined sarcopenia was significantly associated with 30-day mortality whereas no associations of body composition parameters with ICU LOS and duration of mechanical ventilation were observed.

Impact of radiomics features, pulmonary emphysema score and muscle mass on the rate of pneumothorax and chest tube insertion in CT-guided lung biopsies.

Iatrogenic pneumothorax is a relevant complication of computed tomography (CT)-guided percutaneous lung biopsy. The aim of the present study was to analyze the prognostic significance of texture analysis, emphysema score and muscle mass derived from CT-imaging to predict postinterventional pneumothorax after CT-guided lung biopsy. Consecutive patients undergoing CT-guided percutaneous lung biopsy between 2012 and 2021 were analyzed. Multivariate logistic regression analysis included clinical risk factors and CT-imaging features to detect associations with pneumothorax development. Overall, 479 patients (178 females, mean age 65 ± 11.7 years) underwent CT-guided percutaneous lung biopsy of which 180 patients (37.5%) developed pneumothorax including 55 patients (11.5%) requiring chest tube placement. Risk factors associated with pneumothorax were chronic-obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (p = 0.03), age (p = 0.02), total lung capacity (p < 0.01) and residual volume (p = 0.01) as well as interventional parameters needle length inside the lung (p < 0.001), target lesion attached to pleura (p = 0.04), and intervention duration (p < 0.001). The combined model demonstrated a prediction accuracy of the occurrence of pneumothorax with an AUC of 0.78 [95%CI: 0.70-0.86] with a resulting sensitivity 0.80 and a specificity of 0.66. In conclusion, radiomics features of the target lesion and the lung lobe CT-emphysema score are predictive for the occurrence of pneumothorax and need for chest insertion after CT-guided lung biopsy.

Diagnostic accuracy and reliability of CT-based Node-RADS for colon cancer.

OBJECTIVE: The Node-RADS classification was recently published as a classification system to better characterize lymph nodes in oncological imaging. The present analysis investigated the diagnostic benefit of the Node-RADS classification of staging computed tomography (CT) images to categorize and stage lymph nodes in patients with colon cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All patients were surgically resected and the lymph nodes were histopathological analyzed. All investigated lymph nodes were scored in accordance to the Node-RADS classification by two experienced radiologists. Interreader variability was assessed with Cohen's kappa analysis, discrimination analysis was performed with Mann-Whitney-U test and diagnostic accuracy was assessed with receiver-operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis. RESULTS: Overall, 108 patients (n = 49 females, 45.3%) with a mean age of 70.08 ± 14.34 years were included. In discrimination analysis, the total Node-RADS score showed statistically significant differences between N- and N + stage (for reader 1: mean 1.89 ± 1.09 score for N- versus 2.93 ± 1.62 score for N+, for reader 2: 1.33 ± 0.48 score for N- versus 3.65 ± 0.94 score for N+, p = 0.001, respectively). ROC curve analysis for lymph node discrimination showed an area under the curve of 0.68. A threshold value of 2 resulted in a sensitivity of 0.62 and a specificity of 0.71. CONCLUSION: Node-RADS score derived from staging CT shows only limited diagnostic accuracy to correctly predict nodal positivity in colon cancer. The interreader variability seems to be high and should question the clinical translation for this tumour entity.

Impact of quantitative CT texture analysis on the outcome of CT-guided bone biopsy.

Texture analysis can provide new imaging-based biomarkers. Texture analysis derived from computed tomography (CT) might be able to better characterize patients undergoing CT-guided percutaneous bone biopsy. The present study evaluated this and correlated texture features with bioptic outcome in patients undergoing CT-guided bone biopsy. Overall, 123 patients (89 female patients, 72.4 %) were included into the present study. All patients underwent CT-guided percutaneous bone biopsy with an 11 Gauge coaxial needle. Clinical parameters and quantitative imaging features were investigated. Random forest classifier was used to predict a positive biopsy result. Overall, 69 patients had osteolytic metastasis (56.1 %) and 54 had osteoblastic metastasis (43.9 %). The overall positive biopsy rate was 72 %. The developed radiomics model demonstrated a prediction accuracy of a positive biopsy result with an AUC of 0.75 [95 %CI 0.65 - 0.85]. In a subgroup of breast cancer patients, the model achieved an AUC of 0.85 [95 %CI 0.73 - 0.96]. In the subgroup of non-breast cancer patients, the signature achieved an AUC of 0.80 [95 %CI 0.60 - 0.99]. Quantitative CT imaging findings comprised of conventional and texture features can aid to predict the bioptic result of CT-guided bone biopsies. The developed radiomics signature aids in clinical decision-making, and could identify patients at risk for a negative biopsy.

Prevalence and prognostic role of thoracic lymphadenopathy in Covid-19. / Prävalenz und prognostische Rolle der thorakalen Lymphadenopathie bei Covid-19.

PURPOSE: The prevalent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has spread throughout the world and is considered a serious threat to global health. The prognostic role of thoracic lymphadenopathy in COVID-19 is unclear. The aim of the present meta-analysis was to analyze the prognostic role of thoracic lymphadenopathy for the prediction of 30-day mortality in patients with COVID-19. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The MEDLINE library, Cochrane, and SCOPUS databases were screened for associations between CT-defined features and mortality in COVID-19 patients up to June 2021. In total, 21 studies were included in the present analysis. The quality of the included studies was assessed by the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. The meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3. Heterogeneity was calculated by means of the inconsistency index I2. DerSimonian and Laird random-effect models with inverse variance weights were performed without any further correction. RESULTS: The included studies comprised 4621 patients. The prevalence of thoracic lymphadenopathy varied between 1 % and 73.4 %. The pooled prevalence was 16.7 %, 95 % CI = (15.6 %; 17.8 %). The hospital mortality was higher in patients with thoracic lymphadenopathy (34.7 %) than in patients without (20.0 %). The pooled odds ratio for the influence of thoracic lymphadenopathy on mortality was 2.13 (95 % CI = [1.80-2.52], p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of thoracic lymphadenopathy in COVID-19 is 16.7 %. The presence of thoracic lymphadenopathy is associated with an approximately twofold increase in the risk for hospital mortality in COVID-19. KEY POINTS: · The prevalence of lymphadenopathy in COVID-19 is 16.7 %.. · Patients with lymphadenopathy in COVID-19 have a higher risk of mortality during hospitalization.. · Lymphadenopathy nearly doubles mortality and plays an important prognostic role.. CITATION FORMAT: · Bucher AM, Sieren M, Meinel F et al. Prevalence and prognostic role of thoracic lymphadenopathy in Covid-19. Fortschr Röntgenstr 2024; DOI: 10.1055/a-2293-8132.

Epicardial adipose tissue defined by initial polytrauma CT of mechanically ventilated trauma patients: retrospective single-center cohort study to predict short-term outcomes.

PURPOSE: Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) detected by computed tomography (CT) is associated with morbidity and mortality in patients with COVID-19 and other critical care patient cohorts, whereas their prognostic relevance in trauma patients remains unclear. The present study explored associations with four potential short-term outcomes in trauma patients. METHODS: All consecutive trauma patients requiring emergency tracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation before initial whole-body CT imaging at a level-1 trauma center over a 12-year period (2008-2019) were reanalyzed for this study. EAT was measured semiquantitatively in initial CT and analyzed regarding associations with 24-hour and 30-day mortality using Cox proportional hazard models. In survivors, associations of EAT with intensive care unit length of stay (ICU LOS) and mechanical ventilation duration were analyzed using linear regression analyses. RESULTS: Four hundred fifty-five patients (74.7% male) with a median age of 49 years, and a median injury severity score (ISS) of 26 points were analyzed. In univariable analysis, EAT index was significantly associated with 24-hour and 30-day mortality (p = 0.007, and p = 0.013, respectively). After adjustment for significant predictors age, body mass index, and ISS, no significant associations were confirmed (p = 0.622, and p = 0.903, respectively). In a subanalysis of 353 survivors, EAT index was significantly associated with ICU LOS and mechanical ventilation duration in univariable analyses (p = 0.031, and p = 0.014, respectively), but not in multivariable analyses (p = 0.81 and p = 0.46, respectively). CONCLUSION: EAT index was associated with short-term outcomes in severely injured trauma patients, which not remained significant in multivariable analysis, suggesting that its prognostic capability is limited.

Short-term mortality prediction in acute pulmonary embolism: Radiomics values of skeletal muscle and intramuscular adipose tissue.

BACKGROUND: Acute pulmonary embolism (APE) is a potentially life-threatening disorder, emphasizing the importance of accurate risk stratification and survival prognosis. The exploration of imaging biomarkers that can reflect patient survival holds the potential to further enhance the stratification of APE patients, enabling personalized treatment and early intervention. Therefore, in this study, we develop computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) radiomic signatures for the prognosis of 7- and 30-day all-cause mortality in patients with APE. METHODS: Diagnostic CTPA images from 829 patients with APE were collected. Two hundred thirty-four features from each skeletal muscle (SM), intramuscular adipose tissue (IMAT) and both tissues combined (SM + IMAT) were calculated at the level of thoracic vertebra 12. Radiomic signatures were derived using 10 times repeated three-fold cross-validation on the training data for SM, IMAT and SM + IMAT for predicting 7- and 30-day mortality independently. The performance of the radiomic signatures was then evaluated on held-out test data and compared with the simplified pulmonary embolism severity index (sPESI) score, a well-established biomarker for risk stratification in APE. Predictive accuracy was assessed by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) with a 95% confidence interval (CI), sensitivity and specificity. RESULTS: The radiomic signatures based on IMAT and a combination of SM and IMAT (SM + IMAT) achieved moderate performance for the prediction of 30-day mortality on test data (IMAT: AUC = 0.68, 95% CI [0.57-0.78], sensitivity = 0.57, specificity = 0.73; SM + IMAT: AUC = 0.70, 95% CI [0.60-0.79], sensitivity = 0.74, specificity = 0.54). Radiomic signatures developed for predicting 7-day all-cause mortality showed overall low performance. The clinical signature, that is, sPESI, achieved slightly better performance in terms of AUC on test data compared with the radiomic signatures for the prediction of both 7- and 30-day mortality on the test data (7 days: AUC = 0.73, 95% CI [0.67-0.79], sensitivity = 0.92, specificity = 0.16; 30 days: AUC = 0.74, 95% CI [0.66-0.82], sensitivity = 0.97, specificity = 0.16). CONCLUSIONS: We developed and tested radiomic signatures for predicting 7- and 30-day all-cause mortality in APE using a multicentric retrospective dataset. The present multicentre work shows that radiomics parameters extracted from SM and IMAT can predict 30-day all-cause mortality in patients with APE.

[Pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors : Current review]. / Pulmonale neuroendokrine Tumoren : Aktuelle Übersicht.

CLINICAL ISSUE: Neuroendocrine neoplasms of the lung are a heterogenous tumor group. The pathological classification comprises diffuse idiopathic pulmonary neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia, classic neuroendocrine tumors, and neuroendocrine carcinoma. Classic neuroendocrine tumors include typical and atypical carcinoid tumors. DIAGNOSTIC WORK-UP: Imaging plays an important role in diagnosis and can help in identifying the tumor biology. Overall, this tumor group is rare, comprising less than 2% of all thoracic tumors. PRACTICAL RECOMMENDATIONS: In the current review, the various tumors are presented and important aspects regarding pathological classification, imaging modalities, and treatment are described.

Impact of CT texture analysis on complication rate in CT-guided liver biopsies.

Aim of the study: Texture analysis derived from computed tomography (CT) involves quantitative imaging parameters characterizing possible valuable associations with clinical purposes. Their prognostic capability in patients undergoing percutaneous CT-guided liver biopsy to identify associations with postinterventional bleeding complications and biopsy success is not sufficiently explored. Material and methods: Three hundred fifteen patients (124 female, 39%) with a mean age of 62.5 ±10.2 years underwent percutaneous CT-guided liver biopsy and were analyzed regarding clinical, procedure-related, and CT texture features. Results: Thirty patients (9.5%) presented with bleeding after biopsy (including two requiring interventional treatment), whereas 46 patients (14.6%) had negative biopsy successes. Distance of lesion from liver capsule was statistically significantly different in patients with and without bleeding (p = 0.015). Several texture features were statistically significantly different between the groups, S(0,1)SumAverg having the highest significance (p = 0.004). Regarding unsuccessful biopsy results, liver fibrosis was the only clinical feature with statistical significance (p = 0.049). Only two texture features (S(4,-4)InvDfMom and Teta3) were statistically different between the groups according to the biopsy result. Conclusions: Several CT texture features of the target lesion and the length from the capsule to the lesion were associated with bleeding complications after CT-guided percutaneous liver biopsy. This could be used to identify patients at risk at the beginning of the procedure.

MRI Texture Analysis of Inguinal Lymph Node Metastasis in Vulvar Cancer - Associations With Histopathology.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Texture analysis is a quantitative imaging technique that provides novel biomarkers beyond conventional image reading. This study aimed to investigate the correlation between texture parameters and histopathological features of lymph nodes in patients with vulvar cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Overall, nine female patients (mean age 70.1±13.4 years, range=39-87 years) were included in the analysis. All patients had squamous cell carcinomas and underwent upfront surgery with inguinal lymph node resection. Immunohistochemical assessment was performed using several markers of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition. The presurgical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was analyzed with the MaZda package. RESULTS: In discrimination analysis, several parameters derived from T1-weighted images showed statistically significant differences between non-metastatic and metastatic lymph nodes. The highest statistical significance was reached by the texture feature "S(0,3)InvDfMom" (p=0.016). In correlation analysis, significant associations were found between MRI texture parameters derived from both T1-weighted and T2-weighted images and the investigated histopathological features. Notably, S(0,3)InvDfMom derived from T1-weighted images highly correlated with the Vimentin-score (r=0.908, p=0.001). CONCLUSION: Several associations between MRI texture analysis and immunohistochemical parameters were identified in metastasized lymph nodes of cases with vulvar cancer.

The Apparent Diffusion Coefficient of the Paraspinal and Psoas Muscles Are of Prognostic Relevance in Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma Undergoing Transarterial Radioembolization.

Background/Aim: Transarterial radioembolization (TARE) is a treatment option for early or intermediate stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Sarcopenia is defined as loss of muscle strength and quality which can be estimated by imaging modalities and has been associated with prognosis and treatment response in HCC patients. Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values derived from diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) can reflect the tissue composition and might be better to determine muscle changes of sarcopenia than the standard method of computed tomography (CT). The present study sought to elucidate ADC values of the abdominal wall muscles as a prognostic factor in patients undergoing TARE. Patients and Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed between 2016 and 2020. Overall, 52 patients, 9 women (17.3%) and 43 men (82.7%), with a mean age of 69±8.5 years were included into the analysis. In every case, the first pre-interventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) including DWI was used to measure the ADC values of paraspinal and psoas muscle. The 12-month survival after TARE was used as the primary study outcome. Results: Overall, 40 patients (76.9%) of the patient cohort died within the 12-month observation period. Mean overall survival was 10.9 months after TARE for all patients. Mean ADC values for all muscles were 1.31±0.13×10-3mm2/s. The ADC values of the paraspinal muscles were statistically significantly higher compared to the ADC values of the psoas muscles (p=0.0031). A positive correlation was identified between mean ADC and the thrombocyte count (r=0.37, p=0.005) and serum bilirubin (r=-0.30, p=0.03). In the multivariate Cox regression analysis, the mean ADC values of all muscles were associated with the survival after 12 months (HR=0.98, 95% CI=0.97-0.99, p=0.04). Conclusion: ADC values of the abdominal wall muscles could be used as a prognostic biomarker in patients with HCC undergoing TARE. These preliminary results should be confirmed by further studies using external validation cohorts and other treatment modalities.

Fat tissue quantity, waist circumference or waist-to-hip ratio in patients with chronic kidney disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

The BMI predicts mortality and cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the general population, while in patients with end-stage chronic kidney disease (CKD) a high BMI is associated with improved survival, a phenomenon referred to as the "obesity paradox". While BMI is easy to determine and helps to categorize patients, it does not differentiate between fat tissue, lean tissue and bone mass. As the BMI may be altered in CKD, e.g. by muscle wasting, we determined in this meta-analysis (i) the association of mortality with fat tissue quantity in CKD and (ii) the association of mortality with abdominal obesity (as measured by waist circumference (WC) or waist-to-hip ratio (WHR)) in CKD. We systematically reviewed databases for prospective or retrospective cohort studies. In eleven studies with 23,523 patients the association between mortality and high fat tissue quantity in CKD was calculated. The pooled hazard ratio (HR) for this association in the CKD group in the dialysis group 0.91 (CI 0.84- 0.98, p = 0.01) which is comparable to the HR for the association with BMI. The HR in patients without dialysis was 0.7 (95% CI 0.53- 0.93, p = 0.01), suggesting a better risk prediction of high fat tissue content with mortality as compared to higher BMI with mortality in patients with CKD without dialysis. Importantly, both BMI and fat tissue quantity in CKD are described by the "obesity paradox": the higher the fat tissue content or BMI, the lower the mortality risk. In thirteen studies with 55,175 patients the association between mortality and high WC or WHR in CKD (with or without dialysis) was calculated. We observed, that the HR in the WHR group was 1.31 (CI 1.08-1.58, p = 0.007), whereas the overall hazard ratio of both groups was 1.09 (CI 1.01-1.18, p = 0.03), indicating that a higher abdominal obesity as measured by WHR is associated with higher mortality in CKD. Our analysis suggests gender-specific differences, which need larger study numbers for validation. This meta-analysis confirms the obesity paradox in CKD using fat tissue quantity as measure and further shows that using abdominal obesity measurements in the routine in obese CKD patients might allow better risk assessment than using BMI or fat tissue quantity. Comparable to the overall population, here, the higher the WHR, the higher the mortality risk.

Portal venous contrast enhancement ratio of the adrenal glands and spleen as prognostic marker of mortality in patients with acute mesenteric ischemia.

PURPOSE: Contrast enhancement of the adrenal gland defined by computed tomography (CT) was previously analyzed as a prognostic factor for critically ill patients in various diseases. However, no study investigated this quantitative parameter in patients with acute mesenteric ischemia. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of the contrast enhancement of the adrenal glands in patients with clinically suspected AMI. METHODS: All patients with clinically suspected AMI were retrospectively assessed between 2016 and 2020. All patients underwent surgical exploration after CT imaging. Overall, 134 patients (52 female patients, 38.8%) with a mean age of 69.2 ± 12.4 years were included into the present analysis. For all patients, the preoperative CT was used to calculate the contrast media enhancement of the adrenal glands and the spleen. RESULTS: A total of 27 patients (18.5%) died within the first 24 h and over the following 30-day 94 patients (68.6%) died. There were statistically significant differences regarding the mean values for adrenal-to-spleen ratio for 24-h mortality (p = 0.001) and 30-day mortality (p = 0.004), whereas the radiodensity of the inferior vena cava and the radiodensity of the spleen was statistically significant between survivors and non-survivors after 30 days (p = 0.037 and p = 0.028, respectively). In Cox regression analysis, mean adrenal radiodensity was associated with 24-h mortality (HR 1.09, 95% CI 1.02-1.16, p = 0.01) but not with 30-day mortality (HR 1.03, 95% CI 0.99-1.07, p = 0.13). CONCLUSION: The contrast media enhancement of the adrenal gland is associated with the 24-h and 30-day mortality in patients with AMI. However, the prognostic relevance for translation into clinical routine needs to be validated in other cohorts.

Standardization of a CT Protocol for Imaging Patients with Suspected COVID-19-A RACOON Project.

CT protocols that diagnose COVID-19 vary in regard to the associated radiation exposure and the desired image quality (IQ). This study aims to evaluate CT protocols of hospitals participating in the RACOON (Radiological Cooperative Network) project, consolidating CT protocols to provide recommendations and strategies for future pandemics. In this retrospective study, CT acquisitions of COVID-19 patients scanned between March 2020 and October 2020 (RACOON phase 1) were included, and all non-contrast protocols were evaluated. For this purpose, CT protocol parameters, IQ ratings, radiation exposure (CTDIvol), and central patient diameters were sampled. Eventually, the data from 14 sites and 534 CT acquisitions were analyzed. IQ was rated good for 81% of the evaluated examinations. Motion, beam-hardening artefacts, or image noise were reasons for a suboptimal IQ. The tube potential ranged between 80 and 140 kVp, with the majority between 100 and 120 kVp. CTDIvol was 3.7 ± 3.4 mGy. Most healthcare facilities included did not have a specific non-contrast CT protocol. Furthermore, CT protocols for chest imaging varied in their settings and radiation exposure. In future, it will be necessary to make recommendations regarding the required IQ and protocol parameters for the majority of CT scanners to enable comparable IQ as well as radiation exposure for different sites but identical diagnostic questions.