Indirect computed tomography venography: a report of vascular opacification.

The clinical utility of indirect computed tomography venography (CTV) of the legs, performed after computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA), to evaluate for deep venous thrombosis (DVT) remains a subject of ongoing debate. Visualization of DVT on CTV requires adequate opacification of venous blood. The objective of this study is to measure the Hounsfield unit (HU) clot-to-blood gradient on CTV and CTPA. Secondary analysis of computed tomography images from a prospective clinical trial was performed. All images were interpreted independently by a radiologist. Using the "region of interest" tool feature of the picture archiving and communication system, observers measured the HU of blood and thrombus on CTPA and CTV, using a structured anatomic approach. Interobserver coefficient of variability (CV%) was examined in all disease-positive cases and in a random sample of 25 disease-negative cases. One hundred seventy-nine patients were enrolled; and 23 had pulmonary embolus (PE) without DVT (13%), one had DVT without PE (0.6%), and 18 had both (10%), leaving 137 (77%) who had no venous thromboembolism (VTE). For the 137 patients with no VTE, the mean (+/-standard deviation) HU values measured for contrast-containing blood with no thrombus were as follows: left and right main pulmonary arteries (MPA), 291+/-73 and 291+/-76; left and right common femoral vein (CFV), 92+/-17 and 88+/-19; and left and right popliteal vein (PV), 87+/-20 and 84+/-20. On CTPA, the HU measured from the filling defects interpreted as acute PE was 5+/-20, suggesting a between-group HU gradient of 250 or 471% for MPA (PE-to-blood). On CTV, the HU for DVT was 63, suggesting a gradient of 27 HU or 43% for CFV (DVT-to-blood) and 23 HU or 37% for PV (DVT-to-blood). Interobserver CV% were: left and right MPA, 5+/-4.0% and 7+/-5.4%; left and right CFV, 7+/-6.8% and 7+/-7.3%; left and right PV, 7+/-8.4%, 6+/-8.2%, and 32+/-27.1% for PE thrombus, and 20+/-30.5% for DVT thrombus. CTV imaging produces a very small HU gradient between clot and blood in leg veins. These findings highlight the importance of ancillary radiological findings in assessing presence of DVT on CTV.

Systematic review of emergency physician-performed ultrasonography for lower-extremity deep vein thrombosis.

OBJECTIVES: The authors performed a systematic review to evaluate published literature on diagnostic performance of emergency physician-performed ultrasonography (EPPU) for the diagnosis and exclusion of deep venous thrombosis (DVT). METHODS: Structured search criteria were used to query MEDLINE and EMBASE, followed by a hand search of published bibliographies. Relevance and inclusion criteria required prospective investigation of emergency department (ED) outpatients with suspected DVT; diagnostic evaluations had to consist of EPPU followed by criterion standard (radiology-performed) imaging. Two authors independently extracted data from included studies; study quality was assessed utilizing a validated tool for quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies (QUADAS). Pooled data were analyzed using an unweighted summary receiver-operating-characteristic (SROC) curve; sensitivity and specificity were estimated using a random effects model. RESULTS: The initial search yielded 1,162 publications. Relevance screening and selection yielded six articles including 936 patients. Four of the six studies reported adequate blinding but a number of other methodologic flaws were identified. A random effects model yielded an overall sensitivity of 0.95 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.87 to 0.99) and specificity of 0.96 (95% CI = 0.87 to 0.99). CONCLUSIONS: Systematic review of six studies suggests that EPPU may be accurate for the diagnosis of DVT compared with radiology-performed ultrasound (US). However, given the methodologic limitations identified among the primary studies, the estimates of diagnostic test performance may be overly optimistic. Further research into EPPU for suspected DVT is needed before it can be adopted into routine clinical practice.

Right coronary artery distribution of myocardial bridging: an unusual case presenting with ST-Elevation myocardial infarction.

Myocardial bridging has been observed to provoke symptoms in association with strenuous physical activity and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy; more recently, bridging has been thought to cause coronary vasospasm. Autopsy findings tend to reveal higher incidences of bridging than do angiography series, but both show an almost uniform predilection for left coronary artery distribution--especially in regard to bridging that manifests itself clinically. Herein, we report an unusual case of myocardial bridging with right coronary artery distribution and important clinical implications for physicians' management of similar cases in the future.