Consideraciones teóricas sobre la radiografía digital como medio diagnóstico / Theoretical considerations on digital radiography as a diagnostic mean i: en

Durante las últimas décadas el proceso de obtención de imágenes médicas digitales ha avanzado tecnológicamente, de tal modo que estas se han vuelto indispensables en el reconocimiento de numerosas enfermedades y en la aplicación de diferentes terapéuticas; sin embargo, la implementación de la radiología digital constituye un reto para los profesionales de esta rama que no posean una completa preparación, por lo que es necesario desarrollar estrategias coherentes para facilitar su uso. En este trabajo se ofrecen algunas consideraciones teóricas sobre la radiografía digital como medio diagnóstico, lo cual supone un cambio en el ejercicio de los profesionales de esta especialidad, quienes requieren actualizar sus conocimientos en relación con esta técnica, con el fin de perfeccionar su desempeño y establecer diagnósticos certeros que conduzcan a tratamientos eficaces, y así lograr el bienestar y la calidad de vida de la población.

During the last decades the process of obtaining digital medical images has advanced technologically, in such a way that they have become indispensable in the recognition of numerous diseases and in the application of different treatments; however, the implementation of digital radiography constitutes a challenge for professionals in this branch who do not have a complete training, so it is necessary to develop coherent strategies to facilitate its use. This paper offers some theoretical considerations about digital radiography as a diagnostic means, which implies a change in the practice of professionals in this specialty, who need to update their knowledge in relation to this technique, in order to get better their performance and establish accurate diagnoses that lead to effective treatments, and thus achieve the welfare and quality of life in the population.

Tumor microenvironment gene expression profiles associated to complete pathological response and disease progression in resectable NSCLC patients treated with neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has improved pathological responses and survival rates compared with chemotherapy alone, leading to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of nivolumab plus chemotherapy for resectable stage IB-IIIA NSCLC (AJCC 7th edition) without ALK or EGFR alterations. Unfortunately, a considerable percentage of tumors do not completely respond to therapy, which has been associated with early disease progression. So far, it is impossible to predict these events due to lack of knowledge. In this study, we characterized the gene expression profile of tumor samples to identify new biomarkers and mechanisms behind tumor responses to neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy and disease recurrence after surgery. METHODS: Tumor bulk RNA sequencing was performed in 16 pretreatment and 36 post-treatment tissue samples from 41 patients with resectable stage IIIA NSCLC treated with neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy from NADIM trial. A panel targeting 395 genes related to immunological processes was used. Tumors were classified as complete pathological response (CPR) and non-CPR, based on the total absence of viable tumor cells in tumor bed and lymph nodes tested at surgery. Differential-expressed genes between groups and pathway enrichment analysis were assessed using DESeq2 and gene set enrichment analysis. CIBERSORTx was used to estimate the proportions of immune cell subtypes. RESULTS: CPR tumors had a stronger pre-established immune infiltrate at baseline than non-CPR, characterized by higher levels of IFNG, GZMB, NKG7, and M1 macrophages, all with a significant area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) >0.9 for CPR prediction. A greater effect of neoadjuvant therapy was also seen in CPR tumors with a reduction of tumor markers and IFNγ signaling after treatment. Additionally, the higher expression of several genes, including AKT1, BST2, OAS3, or CD8B; or higher dendritic cells and neutrophils proportions in post-treatment non-CPR samples, were associated with relapse after surgery. Also, high pretreatment PD-L1 and tumor mutational burden levels influenced the post-treatment immune landscape with the downregulation of proliferation markers and type I interferon signaling molecules in surgery samples. CONCLUSIONS: Our results reinforce the differences between CPR and non-CPR responses, describing possible response and relapse immune mechanisms, opening the possibility of therapy personalization of immunotherapy-based regimens in the neoadjuvant setting of NSCLC.

Association of lumbar disc degeneration with low back pain in middle age in the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966.

BACKGROUND: Although it has been suggested that lumbar disc degeneration (LDD) is a significant risk factor for low back pain (LBP), its role remains uncertain. Our objective was to clarify the association between LDD and LBP and whether mental distress modifies the association. METHODS: Participants of a birth cohort underwent 1.5-T lumbar magnetic resonance imaging at the age of 47. The association between the sum score of LDD (Pfirrmann classification, range 0-15) and LBP (categorized into "no pain", "mild-to-moderate pain", "bothersome-and-frequent pain") was assessed using logistic regression analysis, with sex, smoking, body mass index, physical activity, occupational exposure, education, and presence of Modic changes and disc herniations as confounders. The modifying role of mental distress (according to the Hopkins Symptom Check List-25 [HSCL-25], the Beck Depression Inventory and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale) in the association was analyzed using linear regression. RESULTS: Of the study population (n = 1505), 15.2% had bothersome and frequent LBP, and 29.0% had no LBP. A higher LDD sum score increased the odds of belonging to the "mild-to-moderate pain" category (adjusted OR corresponding to an increase of one point in the LDD sum score 1.11, 95% CI 1.04-1.18, P = 0.003) and the "bothersome-and-frequent pain" category (adjusted OR 1.20, 95% CI 1.10-1.31, P < 0.001), relative to the "no pain" category. Mental distress significantly modified the association between LDD and LBP, as a linear positive association was consistently observed among individuals without mental distress according to HSCL-25 (adjusted B 0.16, 95% CI 0.07-0.26, P < 0.001), but not among individuals with higher mental distress. CONCLUSIONS: LDD was significantly associated with both mild-to-moderate and bothersome-and-frequent LBP. However, the co-occurrence of mental distress diminished the association between LDD and LBP bothersomeness. Our results strongly suggest that mental symptoms affect the pain experience.

Atrial fibrillation in patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation is associated with increased mortality

BACKGROUND Atrial fibrillation (AF) is common in patients with aortic valve stenosis undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implanta tion (TAVI). We compared clinical outcomes between TAVI patients with baseline AF versus TAVI patients without AF. METHODS The CENTER study is an international collaboration including 12,381 patients treated with transfemoral TAVI. This pooled analysis consists of patient level data from 10 different studies. End points were stroke and mortality rates at 30 days and 1 year after TAVI as defined by the Valve Academic Research Consortium. RESULTS Of the 12,381 patients, 58% were female, the mean age was 81.5 7.0 years, and the median logistic EuroSCORE was 14.4% (9.0%- 23.0%). A total of 3,354 patients (27%) had known baseline AF. In patients with AF, there was a trend toward higher in-hospital mor tality (5.3% vs 3.5%; relative risk [RR]: 1.18; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.99-1.41; P » 0.06). Moreover, 30-day mortality (7.1% vs 5.3%; RR: 1.35; 95% CI: 1.16-1.59; P < 0.001) as well as 1-year mortality (20.8% vs 15.3%; RR: 1.35; 95% CI: 1.23-1.52; P < 0.001) was higher in AF patients. In contrast, stroke rates were comparable in patients with versus without AF during hospital admission (2.2% vs 2.0%, P » 0.60), at 30 days (2.9% vs 2.4%, P » 0.18), and 1 year after TAVI (5.3% vs 5.1%, P » 0.75). Also, 30-day rates of myocardial infarction (0.8% vs 1.0%, P » 0.38) and major bleeding (7.6% vs 7.3%, P » 0.53) were similar between both patient groups. However, permanent pace makers were more frequently implanted in AF patients (14.8% vs 13.4%; RR: 1.11; 95% CI: 1.00-1.23; P » 0.05). CONCLUSION In this global study of >12,000 patients undergoing transfemoral TAVI, AF was associated with higher 30-day and 1-year mortality. Moreover, patients with AF more frequently required a permanent pacemaker. Although AF is a common condition in pa tients undergoing TAVI, it is undoubtedly not a benign arrhythmia. Therefore, our results underscore the evident need for further research in treatment options for patients with AF undergoing TAVI.

Magnetic resonance-guided ablation of liver tumors: A systematic review and pooled analysis.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to study the clinical outcomes of different types of magnetic resonance (MR)-guided ablation for the treatment of liver tumors by performing a systematic review and pooled analysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was performed for clinical trials published from January 1997 to October 2019 in PubMed, the Web of Science, Embase, and the Cochrane Library. Pooled analyses were performed to obtain the complete ablation (CA), complication, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) rates. RESULTS: Thirty studies were eligible, including four studies on MR-guided microwave ablation (MWA); 14 studies on MR-guided radiofrequency ablation (RFA); one study on both MR-guided MWA and RFA; eight studies on MR-guided, laser-induced thermotherapy (LITT); two studies on MR-guided percutaneous cryoablation (PC); and one study on MR-guided percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI). The CA rates in patients who underwent RFA, MWA, LITT, PC, and PEI were 95.60%, 98.86%, 77.78%, 47.92%, and 85.71%, respectively. The most frequent complications were pain (27.66%, 13/47) and postablation syndrome (27.66%, 13/47) in the PC group; pleural effusion (8.11%, 119/1,468) and subcapsular hematoma (2.25%, 33/1,468) in the LITT group; pleural effusion (2.67%, 2/75) in the MWA group; and subcapsular hematoma (4.18%, 20/478) and post-ablation syndrome (2.93%, 14/478) in the RFA group. There were few studies reporting PFS and OS. CONCLUSIONS: MR-guided ablation is a practicable alternative treatment for liver tumors, especially MR-guided RFA and MWA, which have high rates of CA and low occurrences of complications.

Neuroinfecciones en tiempos de COVID-19 / Neurological infections during the COVID-19 epidemic

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Estratificación basal de riesgo en pacientes mayores de 75 años con infarto y shock cardiogénico referidos para angioplastia primaria / Baseline risk stratification of patients older than 75 years with infarction and cardiogenic shock undergoing primary angioplasty

Introducción y objetivos: Los pacientes mayores de 75 años con infarto agudo de miocardio con elevación del segmento ST sometidos a angioplastia primaria en situación de shock cardiogénico sufren una gran mortalidad. La identificación previa al procedimento de variables predictoras de la posterior mortalidad sería muy útil para guiar la toma de decisiones. Métodos: Análisis del registro multicéntrico de angioplastia primaria en pacientes mayores de 75 años (ESTROFA MI+75), que incluye a 3.576 pacientes. Se analizaron las características y la evolución clínica del subgrupo con shock cardiogénico para identificar predictores de supervivencia a 1 año tras la angioplastia y elaborar un índice pronóstico. Se validó el índice en una cohorte independiente. Resultados: Se incluyó a 332 pacientes. Los predictores basales independientes fueron: la localización anterior (HR=2,8; IC95%, 1,4-6,0; p=0,005), una fracción de eyección<40% (HR=2,3; IC95%, 1,14-4,50; p=0,018) y un tiempo entre el inicio de los síntomas y la angioplastia >6 h (HR=3,2; IC95%, 1,6-7,5; p=0,001). Se diseñó un índice basado en estas variables (índice «6-ANT-40»). La supervivencia a 1 año fue del 54,5% de aquellos con índice 0, el 32,3% con índice 1, el 27,4% con índice 2 y el 17% con índice 3 (p=0,004, estadístico C=0,70). En una cohorte independiente de 124 pacientes, las supervivencias a 1 año fueron del 64,5, el 40,0, el 28,9 y el 22,2% respectivamente (p=0,008; estadístico C=0,68). Conclusiones: Un índice basado en simples variables clínicas previas al procedimiento (localización anterior, fracción de eyección<40%, demora >6 h) permite estimar la supervivencia tras una angioplastia primaria de los pacientes mayores con shock cardiogénico, y así ayudar en la toma de decisiones

Background and objectives: Patients older than 75 years with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction undergoing primary angioplasty in cardiogenic shock have high mortality. Identification of preprocedural predictors of short- and long-term mortality could be useful to guide decision-making and further interventions. Methods: We analyzed a nationwide registry of primary angioplasty in the elderly (ESTROFA MI+75) comprising 3576 patients. The characteristics and outcomes of the subgroup of patients in cardiogenic shock were analyzed to identify associated factors and prognostic predictors in order to derive a baseline risk prediction score for 1-year mortality. The score was validated in an independent cohort. Results: A total of 332 patients were included. Baseline independent predictors of mortality were anterior myocardial infarction (HR 2.8, 95%CI, 1.4-6.0; P=.005), ejection fraction<40% (HR 2.3, 95%CI, 1.14-4.50; P=.018), and time from symptom onset to angioplasty >6hours (HR 3.2, 95%CI, 1.6-7.5; P=.001). A score was designed that included these predictive factors (score "6-ANT-40"). Survival at 1 year was 54.5% for patients with score 0, 32.3% for score 1, 27.4% for score 2 and 17% for score 3 (P=.004, c-statistic 0.70). The score was validated in an independent cohort of 124 patients, showing 1-year survival rates of 64.5%, 40.0%, 28.9%, and 22.2%, respectively (P=.008, c-statistic 0.68). Conclusions: A preprocedural score based on 3 simple clinical variables (anterior location, ejection fraction<40%, and delay time >6 hours) may be used to estimate survival after primary angioplasty in elderly patients with cardiogenic shock and to guide preinterventional decision-making

Mechanical vibration does not systematically reduce the tremor in essential tremor patients.

Essential tremor (ET) is a major cause of disability and is not effectively managed in half of the patients. We investigated whether mechanical vibration could reduce tremor in ET by selectively recruiting afferent pathways. We used piezoelectric actuators to deliver vibratory stimuli to the hand and forearm during long trials (4 min), while we monitored the tremor using inertial sensors. We analyzed the effect of four stimulation strategies, including different constant and variable vibration frequencies, in 18 ET patients. Although there was not a clear homogeneous response to vibration across patients and strategies, in most cases (50-72%) mechanical vibration was associated with an increase in the amplitude of their tremor. In contrast, the tremor was reduced in 5-22% of the patients, depending on the strategy. However, these results are hard to interpret given the intrinsic variability of the tremor: during equally long trials without vibration, the tremor changed significantly in 67% of the patients (increased in 45%; decreased in 22%). We conclude that mechanical vibration of the limb does not have a systematic effect on tremor in ET. Moreover, the observed intrinsic variability of the tremor should be taken into account when designing future experiments to assess tremor in ET and how it responds to any intervention.

A phantom study comparing technical image quality of five breast tomosynthesis systems.

BACKGROUND: Digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) is a three-dimensional breast imaging method. DBT vendors employ various approaches in both image acquisition and data processing, which may affect image quality and radiation exposure to patients. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the performance of five DBT systems: Fujifilm Amulet Innovality (using both a standard mode and high-resolution mode), GE Senographe Essential, Hologic Selenia Dimensions, Planmed Clarity 3D, and Siemens Mammomat Inspiration. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The performance of each device and imaging technique was evaluated and compared by phantom measurements performed with four quality assurance phantoms. Technical image quality assessments consisted of measuring artefact extent, in-plane resolution, relative noise power spectrum, and geometric accuracy. RESULTS: Artefact spreading varied remarkably between the devices, and the full width at half maximum values of artefact spread functions varied from 3.5 mm to 10.7 mm. Noticeable in-plane resolution anisotropy, determined using modulation transfer function (MTF) analysis, was typically observed between tube travel direction and chest wall-nipple direction. The MTF50 varied from 1.1 mm-1 to 1.6 mm-1 and from 1.5 mm-1 to 4.1 mm-1 in the tube travel and chest wall-nipple directions, respectively. Moreover, distinctly different noise power spectra were observed between the systems. The geometric accuracy in every system was within 0.5%. CONCLUSION: Technical image quality assessments with image quality phantoms revealed remarkable differences in artefact spread, in-plane resolution, and noise properties between the DBT systems and imaging methods.

Smartwatch for the analysis of rest tremor in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Wearable technology used in Parkinson's disease (PD) research has become an increasing focus of interest in this field. Our group assessed the feasibility, clinical correlation, reliability, and acceptance of smartwatches in order to quantify arm resting tremors in PD patients. An Android application on a smartwatch was used to obtain raw data from the smartwatch's gyroscopes. Twenty-two PD patients were consecutively recruited and followed for 1 year. Arm rest tremors were video filmed and scored by two independent raters using the motor subscale of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS-III). The tremor intensity parameter was defined by the root mean square of the angular speed measured by the smartwatch at the wrist. Sixty-four smartwatch evaluations were completed. The Spearman coefficient among the mean of the resting tremor (UPDRS-III) scores and smartwatch measurements for tremor intensity was 0.81 (p < .001); smartwatch reliability to quantify tremors was checked by intraclass reliability coefficient with a resting tremor = 0.89, minimum detectable change = 59.03%. Good acceptance of the system was shown. Smartwatch use for PD tremor analysis is possible, reliable, well-correlated with clinical scores, and well-accepted by patients for clinical follow-up. The results from these experiments suggest that this commodity hardware has the potential to quantify PD patients' tremors objectively in a consulting-room.

Role of age and comorbidities in mortality of patients with infective endocarditis.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to analyse the characteristics of patients with IE in three groups of age and to assess the ability of age and the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) to predict mortality. METHODS: Prospective cohort study of all patients with IE included in the GAMES Spanish database between 2008 and 2015.Patients were stratified into three age groups:<65 years,65 to 80 years,and ≥ 80 years.The area under the receiver-operating characteristic (AUROC) curve was calculated to quantify the diagnostic accuracy of the CCI to predict mortality risk. RESULTS: A total of 3120 patients with IE (1327 < 65 years;1291 65-80 years;502 ≥ 80 years) were enrolled.Fever and heart failure were the most common presentations of IE, with no differences among age groups.Patients ≥80 years who underwent surgery were significantly lower compared with other age groups (14.3%,65 years; 20.5%,65-79 years; 31.3%,≥80 years). In-hospital mortality was lower in the <65-year group (20.3%,<65 years;30.1%,65-79 years;34.7%,≥80 years;p < 0.001) as well as 1-year mortality (3.2%, <65 years; 5.5%, 65-80 years;7.6%,≥80 years; p = 0.003).Independent predictors of mortality were age ≥ 80 years (hazard ratio [HR]:2.78;95% confidence interval [CI]:2.32-3.34), CCI ≥ 3 (HR:1.62; 95% CI:1.39-1.88),and non-performed surgery (HR:1.64;95% CI:11.16-1.58).When the three age groups were compared,the AUROC curve for CCI was significantly larger for patients aged <65 years(p < 0.001) for both in-hospital and 1-year mortality. CONCLUSION: There were no differences in the clinical presentation of IE between the groups. Age ≥ 80 years, high comorbidity (measured by CCI),and non-performance of surgery were independent predictors of mortality in patients with IE.CCI could help to identify those patients with IE and surgical indication who present a lower risk of in-hospital and 1-year mortality after surgery, especially in the <65-year group.

Baseline Risk Stratification of Patients Older Than 75 Years With Infarction and Cardiogenic Shock Undergoing Primary Angioplasty.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Patients older than 75 years with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction undergoing primary angioplasty in cardiogenic shock have high mortality. Identification of preprocedural predictors of short- and long-term mortality could be useful to guide decision-making and further interventions. METHODS: We analyzed a nationwide registry of primary angioplasty in the elderly (ESTROFA MI+75) comprising 3576 patients. The characteristics and outcomes of the subgroup of patients in cardiogenic shock were analyzed to identify associated factors and prognostic predictors in order to derive a baseline risk prediction score for 1-year mortality. The score was validated in an independent cohort. RESULTS: A total of 332 patients were included. Baseline independent predictors of mortality were anterior myocardial infarction (HR 2.8, 95%CI, 1.4-6.0 P=.005), ejection fraction<40% (HR 2.3, 95%CI, 1.14-4.50 P=.018), and time from symptom onset to angioplasty >6hours (HR 3.2, 95%CI, 1.6-7.5; P=.001). A score was designed that included these predictive factors (score "6-ANT-40"). Survival at 1 year was 54.5% for patients with score 0, 32.3% for score 1, 27.4% for score 2 and 17% for score 3 (P=.004, c-statistic 0.70). The score was validated in an independent cohort of 124 patients, showing 1-year survival rates of 64.5%, 40.0%, 28.9%, and 22.2%, respectively (P=.008, c-statistic 0.68). CONCLUSIONS: A preprocedural score based on 3 simple clinical variables (anterior location, ejection fraction<40%, and delay time >6 hours) may be used to estimate survival after primary angioplasty in elderly patients with cardiogenic shock and to guide preinterventional decision-making.

The Effect of Tissue Physiological Variability on Transurethral Ultrasound Therapy of the Prostate.

Therapeutic ultrasound is an investigational modality which could potentially be used for minimally invasive treatment of prostate cancer. Computational simulations were used to study the effect of natural physiological variations in tissue parameters on the efficacy of therapeutic ultrasound treatment in the prostate. The simulations were conducted on a clinical ultrasound therapy system using patient computed tomography (CT) data. The values of attenuation, perfusion, specific heat capacity and thermal conductivity were changed within their biological ranges to determine their effect on peak temperature andthermal dose volume. Increased attenuation was found to have the biggest effect on peak temperature with a 6.9%rise. The smallest effect was seen with perfusion with ±0.2% variation in peak temperature. Thermal dose was mostly affected by specific heat capacity which showed a 20.7% increase in volume with reduced heat capacity. Thermal conductivity had the smallest effect on thermal dose with up to 2.1% increase in the volume with reduced thermal conductivity. These results can be used to estimate the interpatient variation during the therapeutic ultrasound treatment of the prostate.

Transurethral ultrasound therapy of the prostate in the presence of calcifications: A simulation study.

PURPOSE: Transurethral ultrasound therapy is an investigational treatment modality which could potentially be used for the localized treatment of prostate cancer. One of the limiting factors of this therapy is prostatic calcifications. These attenuate and reflect ultrasound and thus reduce the efficacy of the heating. The aim of this study is to investigate how prostatic calcifications affect therapeutic efficacy, and to identify the best sonication strategy when calcifications are present. METHODS: Realistic computational models were used on clinical patient data in order to simulate different therapeutic situations with naturally occurring calcifications as well as artificial calcifications of different sizes (1-10 mm) and distances (5-15 mm). Furthermore, different sonication strategies were tested in order to deliver therapy to the untreated tissue regions behind the calcifications. RESULTS: The presence of calcifications in front of the ultrasound field was found to increase the peak pressure by 100% on average while the maximum temperature only rose by 9% during a 20-s sonication. Losses in ultrasound energy were due to the relatively large acoustic impedance mismatch between the prostate tissue and the calcifications (1.63 vs 3.20 MRayl) and high attenuation coefficient (0.78 vs 2.64 dB/MHz1.1 /cm), which together left untreated tissue regions behind the calcifications. In addition, elevated temperatures were seen in the region between the transducer and the calcifications. Lower sonication frequencies (1-4 MHz) were not able to penetrate through the calcifications effectively, but longer sonication durations (20-60 s) with selective transducer elements were effective in treating the tissue regions behind the calcifications. CONCLUSIONS: Prostatic calcifications limit the reach of therapeutic ultrasound treatment due to reflections and attenuation. The tissue regions behind the calcifications can possibly be treated using longer sonication durations combined with proper transducer element selection. However, caution should be taken with calcifications located close to sensitive organs such as the urethra, bladder neck, or rectal wall.

Improvement of mouse controlling in Essential tremor by a tremor filter: A case report.

The interaction with electronic devices is crucial in our technological society. Hand kinetic tremor complicates mouse driving in Essential tremor patients. To solve this issue some technological solutions are available and accessible online. We present a 71-year-old patient with prominent mouse controlling tremor who improved with one of these systems.