Comparison of Brain Activation According to fMRI Data in Patient with Depression (After Acute Coronary Syndrome and Somatically Healthy) and Healthy Volunteers.

Objective: The present study is devoted to the study of brain activation using fMRI in patients with depression (after acute coronary syndrome and somatically healthy) and in healthy volunteers. Method : The study enrolled a total of 51 patients: 11 with depression after acute coronary syndrome, 16 with primary depressive episode and recurrent depression without prior coronary event, and 24 with ACS without depression. The groups were matched by sex and age. The emotional information processing was evaluated with the Pennsylvania Test of Emotion Recognition. All patients underwent fMRI at the time of this test. The data processing was performed with SPM12 and xjView applications. Results: During the processing of emotional information in the depressed patients after ACS, specific activation zones in the frontal cortex (P < 0.001), right fusiform gyrus (P < 0.001), and right insular lobe were identified (P = 0.017). In the patients with primary depressive episode and recurrent depression without ACS, certain zones of activation were identified in frontal cortex (P < 0.001; 0.001), left fusiform gyrus (P < 0.001), occipital cortex (P < 0.001). In the patients who had ACS, without depression, some zones of activation were specified in the right middle occipital gyrus (P < 0.001), the right superior frontal gyrus (P = 0.088), and the putamen projection on the right (P < 0.001) and on the left (P = 0.009), as well as the left insular lobe (P = 0.015). Conclusion: The pathogenesis of depression is significantly associated with the peculiarities of processing emotionally significant information, regardless of the conditions under which it develops.

Top 100 most cited papers on diagnostic aids for oral cancer: A bibliometric analysis.

BACKGROUND: Oral cancer (OC) is a multifactorial disease that affects the oral cavity. The mortality rate is approximately 50 % and a high percentage of patients are diagnosed in advanced stages. Early diagnosis has been well demonstrated to improve overall survival, mainly when detected at a localized stage. Non-invasive techniques can help identify malignant features in real time, thus improving the path to diagnosis. This study aimed to perform a bibliometric analysis of the top 100 articles cited on diagnostic aids for oral cancer. METHODS: Articles from 2000 to 2023 in Scopus were scanned using five OC topic titles crossed with 27 diagnostic aid keywords. Duplicate manuscripts were eliminated using Microsoft Excel software and publications were ranked according to their citation count. This study selected and analyzed the top 100 most cited English-language papers. RESULTS: 86,676 citations were accumulated by the top 100 articles most cited. 2011 was the year with the highest number of publications with OC papers. The article with the most citations obtained a total of 30,832. The United States was the country with the most publications, with a total of 45, and UCLA was the institution with the most publications (7) among the top 100 most cited papers. CONCLUSIONS: This study identified the top 100 most cited articles on diagnostic aids for oral cancer. These results can help dentists, specialists, healthcare providers, and researchers become familiar with the most influential publications in this field.

A scoping review of the methods used in patients with liver cirrhosis to assess body composition and their nutritional findings.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Body composition (BC) assessment in cirrhosis has a wide variety of methods with no consensus on the best tools for each body component in patients with Liver Cirrhosis (LC). We aimed to conduct a systematic scoping review of the most frequent body composition analysis methods and nutritional findings published in liver cirrhosis patients. METHODS: We searched for articles in PubMed, Scopus, and ISI Web of Science databases. Keywords selected the BC methods and parameters in LC. RESULTS: Eleven methods were found. The most frequently used were computed tomography (CT) 47.5%, Bioimpedance Analysis 35%, DXA 32.5%, and anthropometry 32.5%. Up to 15 BC parameters were reported from each method. CONCLUSIONS: The vast heterogeneity in the results found during the qualitative analysis and imaging methods must reach a consensus to achieve a better clinical practice and improve nutritional treatment, as the physiopathology in LC compromises the nutritional status directly.

Recognition of Facial Emotion Expressions in Patients with Depressive Disorders: A Functional MRI Study.

BACKGROUND: The present study evaluated the cortical activation during emotional information recognition. METHODS: The study group included 16 patients with depression, and 16 healthy subjects were enrolled as a control group. Patients received eight weeks of antidepressant therapy. Functional MRI evaluated the cortical activation twice in the patient group and once in the control group. The fMRI task processed the emotional information with face demonstration from the PennCNP test battery. RESULTS: During the processing of emotional information, patients showed activation in the middle and the inferior frontal gyri, the fusiform gyrus, and the occipital cortex. After treatment, patients showed a significant decrease in the frontal cortex activation for negative face demonstration and no frontal activation for positive emotion recognition. The left superior temporal gyrus activation zone appeared in patients after treatment and in the control group. Healthy subjects showed more intense frontal cortex activation when processing neutral emotions and less when showing happy and sad faces. Activation zones in the amygdala and the insula and deactivation zones in the posterior cingulate cortex were revealed in the controls. CONCLUSION: This study confirms the hypothesis that anomalies in the processing of emotional stimuli can be a sign of a depressive disorder.

Impact Factor JUMPS After the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic: A Retrospective Study in Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging Journals.

ABSTRACT: One of the most widely applied methods for evaluating a research paper's quality is the impact factor (IF). The term JUMPS was applied to the IF in an article published in PubMed in 2021, describing an increase of more than 40% of IF. In this study, we aimed to compare the growth rate of IF JUMPS in Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging in the last 6 years. This retrospective study calculated the growth rate (JUMP) in IF from 2015 to 2020. We used the Friedman and Wilcoxon signed ranks tests to calculate the statistically significant difference in IF from 2015 to 2020 and the 2019 to 2020 difference. We classified JUMPS in negative growth rate, quartiles, and journals with >100%. Three journals had more than 100% IF growth rate during 2020 ( Zeitschrift fur Medizinische Physik , Journal of the Belgian Society of Radiology , and Ultrasound Quarterly ). A 76% to 100% growth rate was observed in another 4 journals (3.2%), and 8 journals (6.3%) depicted a 51% to 75% percentage of change. Repeated measures analyses showed a significant difference ( P < 0.001). During the COVID-19 pandemic, several journals in the Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging category increased their IF by 50%. Knowing the growing trends in this category might supplement the assessment of target journals for authors looking to submit their works.

Current MRI Methods for the Assessment of Pathologic Prostate: A Brief Review for Clinicians.

The application of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) have helped in different modalities for prostate cancer management, from early detection to treatment planning and follow-up, the evolution of MRI techniques allows to obtain not only anatomical but also functional information to take advantage of prostate cancer detection and staging while supplying prognostic and predictive biomarkers. This review presents conventional and advanced MRI techniques (known as multiparametric MRI) that allow functional and quantitative assessment of the normal prostate gland and its correlation with prostate cancer. Additional topics include the epidemiology of prostate cancer following the Global Burden Diseases Cancer Collaboration 2018, the clinical anatomy of the prostate gland, and the lower urinary tract; we also mention some aspects of the diagnosis performance in ultrasound. We end the review with a brief explanation about the anatomical foundation of external-beam planning radiotherapy.

MRI Visualization and Distribution Patterns of Foreign Modeling Agents: A Brief Pictorial Review for Clinicians.

Since the ancient Egyptians, people have always been worried about their physical appearance. Nowadays, for some cultures like Latin American, physical appearance depends on the context, and the concept of beauty is to have wider hips and more prominent buttocks. One way to achieve these goals is to inject foreign modelants that include some oils to modify certain body regions. Until today, the search continues to find a modelling agent that is nonteratogenic, noncarcinogenic, and not susceptible to infection and can stay at the spot where it was injected (not migration). This review is aimed at providing a brief, comprehensive assessment of the use of modeling agents and summarizes some key imaging features of filler-related complications. The topics of this review are historical data, epidemiology, classification of dermal fillers (xenografts, hyaluronic acid derivatives, autografts, homografts, synthetic materials), adverse reactions, imaging method used in the detection of injectable fillers, MRI patterns observed in complications of injectable fillers, and histological findings of immune response, treatment, and conclusions. We present several classifications of injectable fillers based on composition, degradation, and complications. Additionally, readers will find some representative cases of the most common locations of injectable fillers demonstrating their infiltrative MRI patterns.

Global research trends in COVID-19 with MRI and PET/CT: a scoping review with bibliometric and network analyses.

OBJECTIVE: To identify and evaluate the indexed studies that allow us to understand the implications of imaging studies in MRI and PET/CT related to COVID-19 research. METHODS: Scoping review. Articles in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science (WoS) were scanned from 2019 to 2021 with COVID-19, MRI, and PET-CT as keywords. EndNote software and manual checking removed the duplicated references. Our assessment includes citation, bibliometric, keyword network, and statistical analyses using descriptive statistics and correlations. Highlighted variables were publication year, country, journals, and authorship. RESULTS: Only 326 papers were included. The most cited article reached 669 cites; this number represented 21.71% of 3081 citations. The top-15 cited authors received 1787 citations, which represented 58% of the total cites. These authors had affiliations from ten countries (Belgium, China, France, Italy, Japan, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom (UK), and the USA). The top-30 journals were cited 2762 times, representing 89.65% of the total cites. Only five journals were cited more than 100 times; Int J Infect Dis had the most significant number of citations (674). Some of the unexpected keywords were encephalitis, stroke, microbleeds, myocarditis. CONCLUSION: COVID-19 pandemic is still spreading worldwide, and the knowledge about its different facets continues advancing. MRI and PET/CT are being used in more than 50% of the selected studies; research trends span seven categories, no only the diagnostic but others like socio-economic impact and pathogenesis Developed countries had an advantage by having hospitals with more resources, including MRI and PET/CT facilities in the same institution to supplement basic assessment in patients with COVID-19. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40336-021-00460-x.

Imaging Assessment of the Postoperative Spine: An Updated Pictorial Review of Selected Complications.

Imaging of the postoperative spine requires the identification of several critical points by the radiologist to be written in the medical report: condition of the underlying cortical and cancellous bone, intervertebral disc, and musculoskeletal tissues; location and integrity of surgical implants; evaluation of the success of decompression procedures; delineation of fusion status; and identification of complications. This article presents a pictorial narrative review of the most common findings observed in noninstrumented and instrumented postoperative spines. Complications in the noninstrumented spine were grouped in early (hematomas, pseudomeningocele, and postoperative spine infection) and late findings (arachnoiditis, radiculitis, recurrent disc herniation, spinal stenosis, and textiloma). Complications in the instrumented spine were also sorted in early (hardware fractures) and late findings (adjacent segment disease, hardware loosening, and implant migration). This review also includes a short description of the most used diagnostic techniques in postoperative spine imaging: plain radiography, ultrasound (US), computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance (MR), and nuclear medicine. Imaging of the postoperative spine remained a challenging task in the early identification of complications and abnormal healing process. It is crucial to consider the advantages and disadvantages of the imaging modalities to choose those that provide more accurate spinal status information during the follow-up. Our review is directed to all health professionals dealing with the assessment and care of the postoperative spine.

Reliability of coronary computed tomography angiography in acute coronary syndrome in an emergency setting.

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular computed tomography (cardiovascular CT) is currently used as a fast non-invasive method for the visualization of coronary plaques and walls and the assessment of lumen stenosis severity. Previous studies demonstrated the high negative predictive value of CT for the exclusion of coronary lumen stenoses. In this study we hypothesize that coronary CT angiography (CTA) represents a reliable method as diagnostic procedure in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) even in emergency settings. METHODS: 36 patients (51 lesions) with ACS who underwent cardiovascular CT, intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and invasive coronary angiography (ICA) within 48 h were included. The percentage of coronary stenoses were measured and compared by three methods. Influence of available predictors that can potentially affect the measurement results was assessed. RESULTS: Cardiac CTA provided comparable results to IVUS (mean difference -0.45%, PPV: 98%, NPV: 75%). ICA tends to estimate lower stenoses degrees than cardiac CTA and IVUS (mean difference 13.19% and 13.64%, respectively). The final diagnosis and positive remodeling did not lead to any significant influence on measurements. CONCLUSIONS: The cardiovascular CT results show that even in emergency settings it is possible to identify morphological changes as sequels of coronary artery sclerosis with comparable results to the reference method IVUS. Deviations of IVUS and cardiovascular CT from ICA are comparable and can to a large extent be explained by differences in the measurement technique.

Noninvasive Assessment of the Fractional Flow Reserve with the CT FFRc 1D Method: Final Results of a Pilot Study.

Background: Until recently, Russia did not utilize noninvasive fractional flow reserve (FFR) assessment. We developed an automated algorithm for noninvasive assessment of FFR based on a one-dimensional (1D) mathematical modeling. Objective: The research aims to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of this algorithm. Methods: The study enrolled 80 patients: 16 of them underwent 64-slice computed tomography - included retrospectively, 64 - prospectively, with a 640-slice CT scan. Specialists processed CT images and evaluated noninvasive FFR. Ischemia was confirmed if FFR < 0.80 and disproved if FFR ≥ 0.80. The prospective group of patients was hospitalized for invasive FFR assessment as a reference standard. If ischemic, patients underwent stent implantation. In the retrospective group, patients already had invasive FFR values.Statistical analysis was performed using GraphPad Prism 8. We compared two methods using a Bland-Altman plot and per-vessel ROC curve analysis. Considering the abnormality of distribution by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, we have used Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. Results: During data processing, three patients of the retrospective and 46 patients of the prospective group were excluded. The sensitivity of our method was 66.67% (95% CI: 46.71-82.03); the specificity was 78.95% (95% CI: 56.67-91.49), p = 0.0052, in the per-vessel analysis. In per-patient analysis, the sensitivity was 69.57% (95% CI: 49.13-84.40); the specificity was 87.50% (95% CI: 52.91-99.36), p = 0.0109. The area under the ROC curve in the per-vessel analysis was 77.52% (95% CI: 66.97-88.08), p < 0.0001. Conclusion: The obtained indices of sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV are, in general, comparable to those in other studies. Moreover, the noninvasive values of FFR yielded a high correlation coefficient with the invasive values. However, the AUC was not high enough, 77.52 (95% CI: 66.97-88.08), p < 0.0001. The discrepancy is probably attributed to the initial data heterogeneity and low statistical power.

Imaging methods used in the assessment of environmental disease networks: a brief review for clinicians.

BACKGROUND: Across the globe, diseases secondary to environmental exposures have been described, and it was also found that existing diseases have been modified by exposure to environmental chemicals or an environmental factor that has been found in their pathogenesis. The Institute of Medicine has shared a permanent concern related to the nations environmental health capacity since 1988. MAIN BODY: Contemporary imaging methods in the last 15 years started reporting alterations in different human systems such as the central nervous system, cardiovascular system and pulmonary system among others; evidence suggests the existence of a human environmental disease network. The primary anatomic regions, affected by environmental diseases, recently assessed with imaging methods include Brain (lead exposure, cerebral stroke, pesticide neurotoxicity), uses MRI, DTI, carotid ultrasonography and MRS; Lungs (smoke inhalation, organophosphates poisoning) are mainly assessed with radiography; Gastrointestinal system (chronic inflammatory bowel disease), recent studies have reported the use of aortic ultrasound; Heart (myocardial infarction), its link to environmental diseased has been proved with carotid ultrasound; and Arteries (artery hypertension), the impairment of aortic mechanical properties has been revealed with the use of aortic and brachial ultrasound. CONCLUSIONS: Environmental epidemiology has revealed that several organs and systems in the human body are targets of air pollutants. Current imaging methods that can assess the deleterious effects of pollutants includes a whole spectrum: radiography, US, CT and MRI. Future studies will help to reveal additional links among environmental disease networks.

Intensity and Distribution of Patchy Late Gadolinium Enhancement in Left Atrium in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation.

PURPOSE: Late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies were performed on healthy individuals to establish signal intensity thresholds for reproducible left atrial (LA) patchy LGE detection. Using established criteria, differences in LA patchy LGE between healthy volunteers (HV) and patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) or hypertension were analyzed. METHODS: Fifty-three patents with AF (mean age 56 years, 60% men), 25 patients with hypertension and no history of AF (mean age 54 years, 40% men), and 28 HV (mean age 50 years, 52% men) were enrolled in an observational, non-interventional, case-control prospective study. LA patchy LGE quantification was performed using LGE MRI (1.5 T scanner, voxel size 1.25x1.25x2.5 mm) and the custom-built software based on estimation of LA voxel image intensity ratio and comparison with threshold value obtained from HV data. RESULTS: Based on analysis of healthy individuals' data, the optimal threshold value for the left atrial patchy LGE quantification was determined at 1.38. Patients with AF had a higher extent of LA patchy LGE (9.1 [1.72; 18.58] %) than patients with hypertension (3.81 [0.57; 9.51] %) and HV (0.78 [0.05; 3.5] %). The predominant location of LA patchy LGE in AF was in the pulmonary vein ostia region, in hypertension - LA posterior wall, and in HV - lower part of LA posterior wall. In AF patients, the extent of LA patchy LGE correlated with LA end-diastolic volume (r=0.37) and LA ejection fraction (r=-0.4), in HV - with age (r=0.66) and LA end-diastolic volume (r=0.4). CONCLUSION: AF and hypertension are associated with higher extent and different location of LA patchy LGE compared to changes caused by natural aging. The extent of LA patchy enhancement correlates with LA dilatation.

One-Dimensional Mathematical Model-Based Automated Assessment of Fractional Flow Reserve in a Patient with Silent Myocardial Ischemia.

BACKGROUND Noninvasive assessment of the fractional flow reserve (FFR) in patients with coronary artery disease plays an important role in determining the need for revascularization. It is particularly relevant for patients with a borderline stenoses and painless myocardial ischemia. Our article describes the first clinical experience in the Russian Federation of using an automated method of noninvasive assessment of the fractional flow reserve (FFRct) with a one-dimensional (1-D) mathematical model in a patient with painless myocardial ischemia. CASE REPORT A 58-year-old male patient who underwent stent implantation in the left circumflex coronary artery (LCX) due to an acute non-ST-elevation posterior myocardial infarction had borderline stenoses of the left anterior descending artery (LAD). After stent implantation, there were no relapse angina symptoms on drug treatment, and according to our examination guideline for patients with borderline stenoses, a treadmill test was performed. The test was positive; therefore, FFR assessment was recommended, with coronary multi-slice CT being performed. The following results were obtained: FFRct LAD - 0.57; FFRct LCX - 0.88. An invasive assessment of FFR was also performed as a reference standard and revealed: FFR LAD - 0.6; FFR LCX - 0.88, and simultaneously a LAD percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) was performed. Three months later, the patient underwent a stress test, which revealed no evidence of induced ischemia. CONCLUSIONS Our method of noninvasive assessment of FFR has shown encouraging results, but we believe that larger-scale studies are needed to establish it as common clinical practice.

The Relationship Between Brown Adipose Tissue Content in Supraclavicular Fat Depots and Insulin Sensitivity in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Prediabetes.

BACKGROUND: The evaluation of brown adipose tissue (BAT) and its role in metabolism and obesity remains an important topic in the recent literature. This study evaluated the influence of the BAT triglyceride content measured by proton magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) and prediabetes on insulin sensitivity. METHODS: A total of 25 patients with DM2 and prediabetes (45.9 ± 10.1 years old, body mass index [BMI] of 31.6 ± 5.4 kg/m2) underwent anthropometric measurements (BMI), insulin sensitivity analysis (M value during euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance), proton MR spectroscopy, and blood tests (total cholesterol, low-density lipoproteins, high-density lipoproteins, and triglycerides). The relationship between the triglyceride content in the supraclavicular fat depot and insulin sensitivity, anthropometric measurements, and blood test results was assessed. RESULTS: The triglyceride content in the supraclavicular fat depot varied between 79.2% and 97.1% (mean: 92.6% ± 4.2%). The triglyceride content in the subcutaneous white adipose tissue of the neck was significantly higher (85.3%-99.3%; mean: 95.5% ± 2.9%; P = 0.0007). The triglyceride content in the supraclavicular fat depot exhibited a significantly moderate correlation with the BMI (r = 0.64; P = 0.0009). A significant weak negative correlation between the supraclavicular fat content and M value was revealed (r = -0.44; P = 0.002). Patients with high insulin resistance (IR) had a higher triglyceride content in the supraclavicular fat depot than patients with normal and lower IR (94.3% ± 2.0% vs. 90.4% ± 5.2%; P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Reducing the BAT content in the supraclavicular fat depot can influence the development of IR in patients with DM2 and prediabetes.