Assessment of CT angiographic findings in comparison with echocardiography findings of chest among patients with aortic arch anomalies.

The objective of this study was to examine the findings of computed tomographic (CT) angiography in patients with aortic arch anomalies in comparison with transthoracic echocardiography findings who referred to a private imaging center in Tehran during 2009-2012. The cases included 203 patients with clinical symptoms or echocardiogram of congenital heart disease to assess the presence of aortic arch anomalies among patients referred to imaging center. This study is a retrospective study based on the CT angiographic findings in comparison with transthoracic echocardiography findings of chest among patients with aortic arch anomalies. In this study, 203 patients with congenital anomalies were enrolled in the study, among those, 107 patients were men and 96 were female. The most common anomaly of the aortic arch was found to be coarctation (19.7%), followed by right sided arch with mirror image branching (19.2%). Furthermore, the most common cardiac anomalies associated with aortic arch anomalies were VSD, PA and PDA. The sensitivity and specificity of transthoracic echocardiography in the diagnosis of aortic arch anomalies was 59% and 100% in comparison with CT angiography. In addition, the agreement between the two methods (kappa) in the diagnosis of aortic arch anomalies was 0.72. But, transthoracic echocardiography is the first diagnostic method for patients with congenital heart disease. In some patients, the ability of this method was limited to the detection of coronary artery anomalies and thoracic vessels. Therefore, CT is used for morphological evaluation of congenital heart disease (CHD) due to its main advantages including fast acquisition time, large anatomical coverage, high speed, and great spatial resolution. Moreover, CT is essential for proper evaluation of CHD regarding its high spatial and temporal resolution.

Computed tomography features of pulmonary nocardiosis in immunocompromised and immunocompetent patients.

BACKGROUND: Nocardiosis primarily occurs in the setting of immunocompromising conditions. However, it may also occur in immunocompetent patients. We described computed tomography features of pulmonary nocardiosis and compared immunocompetent and immunocompromised patients. MATERIAL/METHODS: CT images of 25 patients (Mean age of 39.5 years; 76% male) with pulmonary nocardiosis proved by bronchoalveolar lavage or biopsy were reviewed by two experienced pulmonary radiologists and detailed findings were reported on. Fourteen patients (56%) were immunocompetent, while 44% had an underlying immunocompromising condition, including chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) (n=4), diabetes mellitus (DM) (n=2), malignancy (n=2), HIV (n=1), concomitant CGD and DM (n=1), and steroid therapy for nephrotic syndrome (n=1). RESULTS: Most patients had bilateral involvement with no zonal predominance. Multiple pulmonary nodules (96%) were the most common CT findings, followed by consolidation (76%) and cavity (52%). Other findings included bronchiectasis (48%), pleural thickening (40%), ground glass opacity (32%), mass-like consolidation (20%), intrathoracic lymphadenopathy (16%), pleural effusion (12%), reticular infiltration (4%), and pericardial effusion (4%). There was no statistically significant difference in the CT findings of immunocompromised and immunocompetent groups. CONCLUSIONS: Pulmonary nocardiosis presents mainly as multiple pulmonary nodules, consolidations, and cavity in both immunocompromised and immunocompetent patients. However, these features are more suggestive of nocardiosis in the setting of an underling immunocompromised condition.

Association of Pre-Eclampsia with Carotid Artery Intima⁻Media Thickness and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.

Atherosclerosis and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are considered important complications of pre-eclampsia. This study was conducted to determine the association of pre-eclampsia with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and the association of pre-eclampsia with bilateral intima⁻media thickness (IMT; right and left), separately. Twenty-one pregnant women with pre-eclampsia and 21 normal pregnant women were enrolled in the present study. The right and left intima⁻media thicknesses of carotid arteries were evaluated using Doppler sonography. The diagnosis of NAFLD was based on sonography. Linear and binary logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate the association between pre-eclampsia and related outcomes. The mean right IMT was determined as 0.60 ± 0.07 mm in women with pre-eclampsia and 0.51 ± 0.08 mm in normal pregnant women (p = 0.001). On the other hand, the mean left IMT was 0.59 ± 0.09 mm in women with pre-eclampsia and 0.50 ± 0.10 mm in normal pregnant women (p = 0.003). The frequencies of NAFLD in women with pre-eclampsia and normal pregnant women were found to be 66.7% and 23.8% respectively (p = 0.006). Multivariate linear regression analysis revealed an association between pre-eclampsia and right (p = 0.014) and left (p = 0.019) IMT, without removing the effects of other confounding variables. Binary regression analysis (multivariate) did not confirm an independent association between pre-eclampsia and NAFLD. Pre-eclampsia exhibited a direct and independent association with right and left IMT. Although the prevalence of NAFLD was significantly higher in women with pre-eclampsia, pre-eclampsia was not an independent predictor for NAFLD.