Evaluation of placenta in patients with gestational diabetes using shear wave elastography and superb microvascular imaging.

BACKGROUND: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a common disease, and the placenta shows various functional and morphological changes in these patients. Superb microvascular imaging (SMI) and shear wave elastography (SWE) are innovative ultrasound (US) methods that provide detailed information about tissue vascularization and elasticity. PURPOSE: To evaluate placental changes in patients with GDM with SMI and SWE methods. MATERIAL AND METHODS: For this case-control study, 20 healthy and 20 women with GDM were included. Women at >21 weeks of pregnancy were evaluated with SMI and SWE by two independent radiologists. Mean SMI values and mean SWE values from three different region of interest-based measurements were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: We identified that the mean SMI and SWE value ​​of the GDM group was found to be significantly higher than that of the control group (P = 0.002, P = 0.001 respectively). Using a receiver operating characteristic curve, the cutoff value of the SMI ratio, which maximizes the prediction of the presence of GDM, was 0.1234279750 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.625-0.920), the SWE cut-off value was 15.5 kPa (95% CI = 0.794-0.989). CONCLUSION: We have demonstrated that evaluation with SMI and SWE might allow quantitative assessment of the morphological changes of placentas in women with GDM. We believe that the use of innovative methods such as SMI and SWE in addition to conventional US examinations in daily practice and studies will provide significant clinical benefits to patient management.

Assessment of common extensor tendon vascularization using superb microvascular imaging: a potential tool in the evaluation of extracorporeal shock wave therapy and therapeutic ultrasound effectiveness in lateral epicondylitis.

BACKGROUND: Lateral epicondylitis, also known as tennis elbow, is the most common elbow pain in the adult age group. PURPOSE: To evaluate common extensor tendon (CET) vascularity with superb microvascular imaging (SMI) before and after extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) and ultrasound (US) treatment in patients with lateral epycondylitis and to compare the effects of two different treatments on tendon vascularity. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Patients with lateral epycondylitis were divided into two groups; 30 patients were treated with ESWT (group 1) and 30 patients were treated with therapeutic US (group 2). We performed a high-frequency (14-MHz) linear array transducer to evaluate tendon anatomy and vascularity before and after treatment in both groups. RESULTS: The decrease in Patient-Rated Tennis Elbow Evaluation (PRTEE) score after treatment was statistically significant compared to pre-treatment for both groups (P < 0.001). Likewise, the decrease in visual analog scale (VAS) score after treatment was statistically significant compared to pre-treatment for both groups (P < 0.001). A significant difference was found between the CET SMI values of group 1 and group 2 after treatment, according to the chi-square test (P < 0.001). In the post-treatment VAS and PRTEE comparison of both groups, the score reduction in group 1 was higher than in group 2, and this decrease was statistically significant (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: We can evaluate CET vascularization with the SMI method as a new potential diagnostic tool in comparing the effectiveness of different treatments in cases of lateral epicondylitis.

Acute effect of resistance exercise at different velocities on stiffness and vascularity of the biceps brachii muscle: a preliminary study.

BACKGROUND: Resistance exercise can be defined as the percentage of maximal strength (%1 repetition maximum) used for a particular exercise. Shear wave elastography (SWE) is a robust and novelty imaging technique that provides information regarding tissue stiffness. Superb microvascular imaging (SMI) is a non-irradiating technique that can provide quantitative measurement of muscle blood flow non-invasively. PURPOSE: To compare the acute effects of low- and high-velocity resistance exercise on stiffness and blood flow in the biceps brachii muscle (BBM) using SWE and SMI. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This prospective study included 60 healthy men (mean age=28.9 years; age range=26-34 years). BBM stiffness was measured by using SWE at rest, after low- and high-velocity resistance exercise, and muscle blood flow was also evaluated by SMI. Resistance exercise was performed using a dumbbell with a mass adjusted to 70%-80% of one-repetition maximum. RESULTS: The stiffness values increased significantly from resting to high- and low-velocity resistance exercises. There was no significant difference between the elastography values of the BBM after the high- and low-velocity resistance exercise. The blood flow increased significantly from resting to high- and low-velocity resistance exercises. Blood flow increase after low-velocity exercise was significantly higher compared to high-velocity exercise. CONCLUSION: While muscle stiffness parameters and blood flow significantly increased from resting after both high- and low-velocity resistance exercises, blood flow significantly increased after low-velocity exercise compared to high-velocity exercise. This can mean that metabolic stress, an important trigger for muscle development, is more likely to occur in low-velocity exercise.

The Diagnostic Value of Superb Microvascular Imaging in Prediction of Uterine Artery Embolization Treatment Response in Uterine Leiomyomas.

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to determine if superb microvascular imaging (SMI) can predict response to uterine artery embolization (UAE) as compared with power Doppler ultrasound. METHODS: The blood flow and the volume of the dominant leiomyoma was evaluated by power Doppler ultrasonography (PDUS) and SMI 1 day before and 3 months after the UAE procedure. SMI and PDUS blood flow were classified to 4 grades of vascularity. The change in fibroid volume in Grades 0-2 (hypovascular group) was compared to the hypervascular Grade 3 group. RESULTS: Twenty-eight women (mean age, 40.9 years; range, 33-53 years) were examined with PDUS and SMI before and 3 months after UAE. The volume reduction was statistically significantly higher hypervascular group (P < .05). When we accept 30% or more volume reduction as a good response to UAE, the positive predictive value, negative predictive value, sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of SMI were 100, 64, 73.6, 100, and 82.1%, respectively. There was excellent agreement between the two blinded observers in SMI measurements. CONCLUSIONS: SMI, with its high reproducibility, provides further microvessel information than PDUS in uterine fibroids. It may be a useful tool in prediction of response to UAE treatment and improve counseling and patient selection for UAE versus medical or surgical treatment options.

Anatomical variations of the circle of Willis in children.

BACKGROUND: The morphology of the circle of Willis in adults has been thoroughly discussed in scientific literature. However, the morphology of the circle of Willis in pediatric patients is under-researched. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to establish reference data for the morphology and variations of the circle of Willis in a population consisting of all pediatric age subgroups and to evaluate the possible temporal evolution of the circle of Willis in pediatric patients along with the variations between pediatric and adult populations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Our patient cohort included 263 pediatric patients ages 1-215 months. A total of 273 magnetic resonance (MR) angiography images were retrospectively analyzed for all circle of Willis vessels to compare the incidence of complete cases and variation frequency based on gender and age group. RESULT: In our study of 273 MR angiograms from all age ranges in the pediatric population, we found a 56.1% circle of Willis completion rate. Overall completion rates were statistically significantly higher in the toddler and preschool age groups. The lowest completion rate was in the newborn-infant group (40%). CONCLUSION: Circle of Willis completion rates and variations in pediatric populations are similar to those in adult populations; completion rates rise in toddler and preschooler age groups and decline as children grow into the school-age and adolescent period.

CT visual quantitative evaluation of hypertensive patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Potential influence of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors / angiotensin receptor blockers on severity of lung involvement.

OBJECTIVE: There is not enough data on the effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs)/angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) on lung involvement in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia and hypertension (HT). Our aim was to compare the lung involvement of the HT patients hospitalized for COVID-19 using ACEIs/ARBs with the patients taking other anti-HT medications. METHODS: : Patients who have a diagnosis of HT among the patients treated for laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 between 31 March 2020 and 28 May 2020 were included in the study. One hundred and twenty-four patients were divided into two as ACEIs/ARBs group (n = 75) and non-ACEIs/ARBs group (n = 49) according to the anti-HT drug used. The chest CT involvement areas of these two groups were evaluated quantitatively by two observers including all lobes, and total severity score (TSS) was calculated. These TSS values were compared between drug groups and clinical groups. RESULTS: In clinical classification; there were 4 (%3.2) asymptomatic, 5 (4.0%) mild type, 92 (74.1%) common type, 14 (11.3%) severe type, 9 (7.3%) critical type patients. ACEI/ARB group's TSS (mean±SD, 7.74 ± 3.54) was statistically higher than other anti-HT medication group (mean±SD, 4.40 ± 1.89) (p < .001). Likewise, severe-critical clinical type's TSS (mean±SD, 9.17 ± 3.44) was statistically higher than common type (mean±SD, 5.76 ± 3.07) (p < .001). Excellent agreement was established between the two blinded observers in the TSS measurements. CONCLUSIONS: Quantitative evaluation of CT and TSS score can give an idea about the clinical classification of the patient. TSS is higher in ACEI/ARB group than non-ACEIs/ARBs group.

Iatrogenic gluteus medius muscle insertion injury while trochanteric entry nailing due to trochanteric fractures: a comparative study in forty patients with gray-scale ultrasound and shear-wave elastography.

INTRODUCTION: Trochanteric entry nailing potentially causes damage to the gluteus medius (GM) tendon. The aim of this study is to determine the amount of iatrogenic damage to the tendon during reaming by measuring the thickness and stiffness of the GM muscle in patients with trochanteric fractures who are treated with trochanteric entry nails using gray-scale ultrasound (GSUS) and shear-wave elastography (SWE). METHODS: Thickness and stiffness values of bilateral GM muscles in 40 patients with trochanteric fractures treated with PFN-A were measured using GSUS and SWE at post-operative sixth week or later. Harris Hip Scores and bilateral active hip abduction measurements of the patients were recorded. The data was analyzed using statistical methods to assess the extent and amount of iatrogenic injury that occurred during trochanteric entry. RESULTS: Mean age of the patients was 70. Thirty-three fractures occurred with low-energy trauma. In the SWE evaluation, there was no statistically significant difference between ipsi- and contralateral GM muscle thickness measurements or ipsi- and contralateral GM muscle stiffness measurements. Also, the difference between the clinical evaluation results of the ipsi- and contralateral hip functions was not statistically significant. DISCUSSION: In this study, we used the Harris Hip Score and hip abduction range of motion in addition to SWE and GSUS in order to assess the patients' functional status. There are studies in the literature that report significant injury to the GM tendon with cephalomedullary nailing. The majority of these studies are cadaver studies with only clinically irrelevant or uncertain evidence. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the potential negative effects of the iatrogenic damage to the bone-tendon junction during nailing, by measuring the stiffness (consistency) and atrophy of the GM muscle alongside the functional evaluation. CONCLUSION: We have found no statistically significant difference between operated and intact side GM muscles in terms of stiffness, atrophy, and functional evaluation in patients with TFs treated using PFN-A. The results of our study should not be interpreted as trochanteric entry nailing does not cause any damage on the GM tendon.

The relationship between computed tomographic obstruction index and pulmonary vein cross-sectional area in acute pulmonary embolism.

PURPOSE: To investigate whether the increased obstruction of the pulmonary arteries was associated with reduced pulmonary vein areas in acute pulmonary embolism (APE). METHOD: We retrospectively analyzed a consecutive series of computed tomography pulmonary angiography studies of 107 patients with APE and 101 controls without APE between November 2010 and January 2019. The control and patient groups were compared with each other for differences between the mean cross-sectional areas of pulmonary veins. Further analysis was conducted by dividing the patient group into high-risk patients (≥ 20%) and low-risk patients (< 20%) according to the pulmonary arterial obstruction index. The mean cross-sectional area of the pulmonary veins in these two groups was compared. RESULTS: The mean cross-sectional areas of the 4 pulmonary veins at the ostium level (CSAPV) were significantly lower for the patient group (mean: 102.6 mm2) compared with the control group (111.8 mm2) (p < 0.001). CSAPV cutoff value for determining the diagnosis of APE that maximized the accuracy was 109.12 mm2 (AUC = 0.721; 95% CI 0.649-0.794); its sensitivity and specificity were 78.2% and 69.2%, respectively. CSAPV cutoff value for differentiating high-risk APE that maximized the accuracy was 102.6 mm2 (AUC = 0.634; 95% CI 0.525-0.743); its sensitivity and specificity were 61.9% and 53.8%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: There is a negative correlation between the CSAPV and thrombotic material burden in the pulmonary arteries of patients with APE. Hence, the CSAPV can be used as a diagnostic tool in the evaluation of the presence and severity of pulmonary embolism.

Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Transthoracic Echocardiography: Investigation of Concordance between the Two Methods for Measurement of the Cardiac Chamber.

Background and objectives: Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging is the gold standard method for the detection of ventricular volumes and myocardial edema/scar. Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) imaging is primarily used in the evaluation of cardiac functions and chamber dimensions. This study aims to investigate whether the chamber diameter measurements are concordant with each other in the same patient group who underwent TTE and CMR. Materials and Methods: The study included 41 patients who underwent TTE and CMR imaging. Ventricular and atrial diameter measurements from TTE-derived standard parasternal long axis and apical four-chamber views and CMR-derived three- and four-chamber views were recorded. The concordance between the two methods was compared using intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) and Bland-Altman plots. Results: Of the patients, 25 (61%) were male and the mean age was 48.12 ± 16.79. The mean ICC for LVDD between CMR observers was 0.957 (95% CI: 0.918-0.978), while the mean ICC between CMR and TTE measurements were 0.849 (95% CI: 0.709-0.922) and 0.836 (95% CI: 0.684-0.915), respectively. The mean ICC for the right ventricle between CMR observers was 0.985 (95% CI: 0.971-0.992), while the mean ICC between CMR and TTE measurements were 0.869 (95% CI: 0.755-0.930) and 0.892 (95% CI: 0.799-0.942), respectively. Passing-Bablok Regression and Bland-Altman plots indicated high concordance between the two methods. Conclusions: TTE and CMR indicated high concordance in chamber diameter measurements for which the CMR should be considered in patients for whom optimal evaluation with TTE could not be performed due to their limitations.

Three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography vs cardiac magnetic resonance in the assessment of planimetric mitral valve area in rheumatic mitral stenosis.

AIM: Rheumatic heart disease is a common cause of valvular disease, especially in developing countries. Echocardiography is the gold standard investigation modality for cardiac valves. In rheumatic mitral stenosis (MS), three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography (3D TEE) provides better alignment of the image plane at the mitral tips and more accurate and reproducible planimetric measurement of mitral valve area (MVA). Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) is a new method that provides evaluation of cardiac anatomy and function noninvasively. Previous studies showed strong correlation between planimetric MVA measured by two-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography and CMR. We aimed to compare the planimetric MVAs assessed by 3D TEE and CMR in rheumatic MS patients. To best of our knowledge, this is the first study that compares 3D TEE and CMR for the assessment of the planimetric MVA in rheumatic MS. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated 28 rheumatic MS patients who underwent 3D TEE and ECG-gated CMR. 3D TEE planimetric MVAs were measured manually by multiplanar reconstruction (MPR) method and CMR planimetric MVAs were measured manually on short-axis cine images. Then, 3D TEE and CMR measurements were compared. RESULTS: A total of 28 patients' (mean age 44 ± 12, 82.1% female) planimetric 3D TEE MVAs (1.00 ± 0.20 cm2 ) and CMR MVAs (1.04 ± 0.17 cm2 ) were found to be highly correlated (P < 0.0001, r: 0.744) with Pearson correlation analysis. Bland-Altman analysis showed strong agreement between two techniques. CONCLUSION: For the diagnosis and the follow-up of rheumatic MS, planimetric CMR MVA is an alternative noninvasive method which highly correlates with planimetric 3D TEE MVA.

An unusual cause of chest pain: An isolated huge cardiac hydatid cyst.

Hydatid disease is a human parasitic infection caused by the larval stage of Echinococcus granulosus. The most common locations for hydatid cysts are the liver and lungs. Cardiac involvement is rare, and isolated cardiac hydatid cysts are even more unusual. We report the case a 48-year-old female patient with an isolated huge cardiac hydatid cyst involving both the left ventricular free wall and the pericardium, and presenting with atypical chest pain. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound 46:262-264, 2018.

Evaluation of the Tibial Nerve with Shear-Wave Elastography: A Potential Sonographic Method for the Diagnosis of Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy.

Purpose To evaluate the value of shear-wave elastography (SWE) in the detection of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) of the tibial nerve. Materials and Methods This study was approved by the institutional review board, and written informed consent was obtained from all study participants. The study included 20 diabetic patients with DPN (10 men, 10 women), 20 diabetic patients without DPN (eight men, 12 women), and 20 healthy control subjects (nine men, 11 women). The tibial nerve was examined at 4 cm proximal to the medial malleolus with gray-scale ultrasonography and SWE. The nerve cross-sectional area (in square centimeters) and the mean nerve stiffness (in kilopascals) within the range of the image were recorded. Inter- and intrareader variability, differences among groups, and correlation of clinical and electrophysiologic evaluation were assessed with intraclass correlation coefficients, the Mann Whitney U test, and the Wilcoxon signed rank test. Results Between diabetic patients with and diabetic patients without DPN, mean age (60 years [range, 38-79 years] vs 61 years [range, 46-75 years], respectively), mean duration of diabetes (10 years [range, 1-25 years] vs 10 years [range, 2-26 years]), and mean body mass index (31.4 kg/m2 [range, 24.7-48.1 kg/m2] vs 29.8 kg/m2 [range, 22.9-44.0 kg/m2]) were not significantly different. Diabetic patients without DPN had significantly higher stiffness values on the right side compared with control subjects (P < .001). Patients with DPN had much higher stiffness values on both sides compared with both diabetic patients without DPN (P < .001) and healthy control subjects (P < .001). A cutoff value of 51.0 kPa at 4 cm proximal to the medial malleolus revealed a sensitivity of 90% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 75.4%, 96.7%) and a specificity of 85.0% (95% CI: 74.9%, 91.7%). Conclusion Tibial nerve stiffness measurements appear to be highly specific in the diagnosis of established DPN. The increased stiffness in subjects without DPN might indicate that the nerve is affected by diabetes. © RSNA, 2016 Online supplemental material is available for this article.

Is There Any Difference Between Seminomas and Nonseminomatous Germ Cell Tumors on Shear Wave Elastography? A Preliminary Study.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ability of shear wave elastography (SWE) to differentiate seminomas from nonseminomatous germ cell tumors. METHODS: Approval for this retrospective study was obtained from the local Ethics Committee of Istanbul University Cerrahpasa Medical School. Fifteen patients with malignant testicular lesions were examined by grayscale sonography, color or power Doppler sonography, and SWE between February 2011 and October 2015. The size of each lesion, Doppler signal parameters, echogenicity, presence of microlithiasis, unifocality or multifocality, and histopathologic findings were the main factors evaluated. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 33 years (range, 25-55 years). There were no differences between seminomas and nonseminomatous germ cell tumors in terms of Doppler signals, echogenicity, microlithiasis, or focality. Only the homogeneous and heterogeneous echogenicity patterns differed significantly. However, a significant difference was evident in SWE-derived quantitative data. CONCLUSIONS: Seminomas and nonseminomatous germ cell tumors do not differ significantly on grayscale or Doppler sonography, except in terms of homogeneity. However, SWE seems to differentiate seminomas from nonseminomatous germ cell tumors.

Median nerve stiffness measurement by shear wave elastography: a potential sonographic method in the diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome.

OBJECTIVES: To measure the median nerve (MN) stiffness by quantitative shear wave elastography (SWE) at the carpal tunnel inlet and to determine whether SWE can be used in the diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). METHODS: The study included 37 consecutive patients (60 wrists) with a definitive diagnosis of CTS and 18 healthy volunteers (36 wrists). The MN cross-sectional area (CSA) by ultrasound and stiffness by SWE were studied. The difference between CTS patients and controls, and the difference among subgroups based on electrodiagnostic tests were studied by the Student's t test. Interobserver variability and ROC analysis were performed. RESULTS: The MN stiffness was significantly higher in the CTS group (66.7 kPa) when compared to controls (32.0 kPa) (P < 0.001), and higher in the severe or extreme severity group (101.4 kPa) than the mild or moderate severity group (55.1 kPa) (P < 0.001). A 40.4-kPa cut-off value on SWE revealed sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV and accuracy of 93.3%, 88.9%, 93.3%, 88.9% and 91.7%, respectively. Interobserver agreement was excellent for SWE measurements. CONCLUSIONS: Median nerve stiffness at the carpal tunnel inlet is significantly higher in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome, for whom shear wave elastography appears to be a highly reproducible diagnostic technique. KEY POINTS: • Clinical examination is important for diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome • Shear wave elastography (SWE) offers new clinical opportunities within diagnostic ultrasound • SWE is highly reproducible in evaluation of median nerve stiffness • Median nerve stiffness is significantly increased in carpal tunnel syndrome • Elastography could become useful in diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome.

Apical thrombus mimicking ventricular septal rupture.

A 51-year-old man with chest pain was admitted to the emergency department. The patient was taken to the coronary angiography lab with a diagnosis of inferior myocardial infarction.

The Role of 68 Ga PSMA Imaging in Evaluating Adrenal Lesions in Prostate Cancer Patients.

Objectives Gallium-68 prostate-specific membrane antigen ( 68 Ga-PSMA) imaging is valuable for staging because an accurate diagnosis, metastatic or nonmetastatic for prostate cancer patients, is required for deciding to treatment approaches and prognostic assessment. The aim of this study was primarily to distinguish between benign and metastatic adrenal gland lesions detected during 68 Ga-PSMA positron emission tomography (PET)/CT imaging, to evaluate the presence of factors predicting its development, and then to determine the life expectancy of patients with metastatic adrenal lesions. Materials and Methods We performed a database search for PET/CT records generated from June 2016 to February 2021 for "adrenal gland" in report for patients who underwent 68 Ga-PSMA examination with prostate cancer patients. Results Twenty-three patients (10 benign and 13 metastatic) were included in this study. The total prostate-specific antigen, adrenal gland size, adrenal gland density, and maximum standardized uptake (SUVmax) values are significantly different between groups ( p < 0.05). On receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, the SUVmax cutoff value > 6.8 provided both sensitivity and specificity of 100%. However, with 29 mm as the adrenal gland size cutoff and 21.2 as Hounsfield unit, the sensitivity and specificity were 56.2 and 92.3%, and 93.8 and 92.3%, respectively. The survival of the benign and metastatic groups was compared and a statistically significant difference was found ( p = 0.006). The presence of pelvic lymph nodes was statistically negatively affected the surveillance between the groups. Conclusion The presence of atypical metastases such as adrenal gland is not insignificant in prostate cancer patients. Because of this degree of impact on patient management, accurate staging by imaging with 68 Ga-PSMA should be an integral part of prostate cancer management.

Evaluation of the factors affecting survival and local recurrence in thigh soft tissue sarcomas.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the factors affecting local recurrence and survival in patients with soft-tissue sarcomas located in the thigh. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This retrospective cross-sectional study evaluated 41 soft tissue sarcoma patients (21 males, 20 females; mean age: 57.9±13.7 years; range, 18 to 90 years) with thigh involvement between January 2010 and December 2020. All surgical intervention was performed by one surgeon with an experience of 15 years in orthopedic oncologic surgery. Epidemiological, radiological, histopathological, and metabolic features, as well as surgical and oncological treatments and prognoses, were assessed. The data was statistically analyzed to determine factors affecting local recurrence and survival in these cases, staged using Enneking and the American Joint Committee on Cancer classifications. RESULTS: Liposarcomas were the most common type of tumor (39%), followed by undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcomas (32%). Tumors >10 cm were associated with decreased survival rates. High-grade tumors, tumor necrosis, Ki-67 index >20%, and positive surgical margins were also associated with lower survival rates. Metastatic patients had significantly lower survival rates. Local recurrence was significantly more frequent in patients with positive surgical margins. Survival rates were significantly lower in metastatic patients. CONCLUSION: There are many factors that affect local recurrence and survival of soft tissue sarcomas. The size of the mass, the presence of necrosis, a high Ki-67 index, positive surgical margins, and the presence of metastasis are the main factors that should be taken into consideration.

Comparison of the Efficacy of Percutaneous Microwave Ablation Therapy versus Laparoscopic Partial Nephrectomy for Early-Stage Renal Tumors.

This study aimed to compare the efficacy of percutaneous microwave ablation therapy (MWAT) and laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (LPN) in early-stage renal cell carcinoma (RCC) classified as T1a; a retrospective analysis was conducted on patients treated between January 2017 and November 2023. Oncological outcomes, radiological recurrence, length of stay (LOS), and costs were evaluated. The study included 110 patients, with no significant differences between the two groups regarding residual tumors, local tumor progression, and disease-free survival rates (p > 0.05). The LPN group showed significantly lower pre/postoperative serum urea and creatinine and higher estimated glomerular filtration rate values, whereas the MWA group experienced significantly lower mean costs, complication rates, LOS in the hospital, and procedure durations (p ≤ 0.05). However, post-procedure residual tumors and local tumor progression rates did not differ significantly between the LPN and MWAT groups (p > 0.05). MWAT is as effective as LPN for T1a RCC lesions. In addition, MWAT has lower costs than LPN and is a cost-effective treatment method. Therefore, MWAT minimizes hospital stay and complications and since the oncological results are similar to LPN, it might be considered as the first choice of treatment in young patients.

A Stent Misplaced in the Septal Perforating Artery: Right Ventricular Fistula, Interventricular Septal Hematoma, and Right Ventricular Outflow Tract Obstruction. / Um Stent Mal Colocado na Artéria Septal Perfurante: Fístula Ventricular Direita, Hematoma do Septo Interventricular e Obstrução da Via de Saída do Ventrículo Direito.

Coronary-cameral fistulas, though mostly regarded as congenital entities, have also been encountered as complications of major traumas and percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs).1 On the other hand, interventricular septal (IVS) hematoma might potentially arise mostly during retrograde chronic total occlusion (CTO) interventions and has a benign course in this context.2 Herein, we describe a challenging PCI complication (and its management strategy) presenting with IVS hematoma, right ventricular fistula, and right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) obstruction due to a misimplanted coronary stent in the septal perforating artery (SPA).

As fístulas coronário-camerais, embora consideradas em sua maioria como entidades congênitas, também têm sido encontradas como complicações de grandes traumas e intervenções coronárias percutâneas (ICPs).1 Por outro lado, o hematoma do septo interventricular (SIV) pode potencialmente surgir principalmente durante intervenções de oclusão total crônica retrógrada (OTC) e tem um curso benigno nesse contexto.2 Aqui, descrevemos uma complicação desafiadora da ICP (e sua estratégia de manejo) apresentando hematoma do SIV, fístula ventricular direita e obstrução da via de saída do ventrículo direito (VSVD) devido a um stent coronário mal implantado na artéria septal perfurante (ASP).