Journal of Thoracic Imaging

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary vein sign (PVS) indicates abnormal pulmonary venous flow on computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) is a frequent finding in proximal chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). PVS's occurrence in distal CTEPH and correlation to disease severity is unknown. Using right heart catheterization data, we evaluated the relationship between PVS and CTEPH disease distribution and severity. MATERIALS AND METHOD: A total of 93 consecutive CTEPH cases with both CTPA and right heart catheterization were identified in this retrospective multi-institutional study...

PURPOSE: Quantitative biomarkers from chest computed tomography (CT) can facilitate the incidental detection of important diseases. Atrial fibrillation (AFib) substantially increases the risk for comorbid conditions including stroke. This study investigated the relationship between AFib status and left atrial enlargement (LAE) on CT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 500 consecutive patients who had undergone nongated chest CTs were included, and left atrium maximal axial cross-sectional area (LA-MACSA), left atrium anterior-posterior dimension (LA-AP), and vertebral body cross-sectional area (VB-Area) were measured...

PURPOSE: Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are at risk of cardiac disease including antimalarial-induced cardiomyopathy (AMIC). The purpose of this study is to evaluate cardiac magnetic resonance imaging parametric mapping findings in SLE patients with AMIC and investigate the relationship of T1/T2 mapping to antimalarial (AM) treatment duration. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All patients with SLE who had undergone cardiac magnetic resonance imaging with T1/T2 mapping for evaluation of suspected cardiac disease between 2018 and 2021 were evaluated and compared with healthy controls...

PURPOSE: To assess the association between interstitial lung abnormalities (ILAs) and worse outcome in patients affected by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) disease (COVID-19)-related pneumonia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included patients older than 18 years, who were admitted at the emergency department between February 29 and April 30, 2020 with findings of COVID-19 pneumonia at chest computed tomography (CT), with positive reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction nasal-pharyngeal swab for SARS-CoV-2, and with the availability of prepandemic chest CT...

Ischemic heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death and disability worldwide. For the diagnosis of ischemic heart disease, some form of cardiac stress test involving exercise or pharmacological stimulation continues to play an important role, despite advances within modalities like computer tomography for the noninvasive detection and characterization of epicardial coronary lesions. Among noninvasive stress imaging tests, cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) combines several capabilities that are highly relevant for the diagnosis of ischemic heart disease: assessment of wall motion abnormalities, myocardial perfusion imaging, and depiction of replacement and interstitial fibrosis markers by late gadolinium enhancement techniques and T1 mapping...

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PURPOSE: To evaluate the accuracy of a deep learning-based computer-aided detection (CAD) system in identifying active pulmonary tuberculosis on chest radiographs (CRs) of patients with positive interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA) results in different scenarios of clinical implementation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We collected the CRs of consecutive patients with positive IGRA results. Findings of active pulmonary tuberculosis on CRs were independently evaluated by the CAD and a thoracic radiologist, followed by interpretation using the CAD...

PURPOSE: Shortened injection durations are not recommended in step-and-shoot coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA). We aimed to evaluate the image quality of CCTA performed using bodyweight-adjusted iodinated contrast media (ICM) with different injection durations to generate an optimized ICM administration protocol to acquire convincible image quality in step-and-shoot CCTA. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 200 consecutive patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD) were enrolled in group A (N=50, 350 mgI/mL, bodyweight×0...

PURPOSE: To assess automated coronary artery calcium (CAC) and quantitative emphysema (percentage of low attenuation areas [%LAA]) for predicting mortality and lung cancer (LC) incidence in LC screening. To explore correlations between %LAA, CAC, and forced expiratory value in 1 second (FEV1) and the discriminative ability of %LAA for airflow obstruction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Baseline low-dose computed tomography scans of the BioMILD trial were analyzed using an artificial intelligence software...

PURPOSE: To explore the role of quantitative plaque analysis and fractional flow reserve (CT-FFR) derived from coronary computed angiography (CCTA) in evaluating plaque progression (PP). METHODS: A total of 248 consecutive patients who underwent serial CCTA examinations were enrolled. All patients' images were analyzed quantitatively by plaque analysis software. The quantitative analysis indexes included diameter stenosis (%DS), plaque length, plaque volume (PV), calcified PV, noncalcified PV, minimum lumen area (MLA), and remodeling index (RI)...

PURPOSE: The present study investigates the diagnostic efficiency of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values in differentiating between malignant and benign cavitary lesions on diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective study included 45 consecutive patients identified with a cavitary lung lesion with a wall thickness of ≥5 mm on thoracic computed tomography in our clinic between 2020 and 2022, and who underwent thoracic DWI within 1 week of their original computed tomography...

Antimalarial-induced cardiomyopathy is under-recognized in clinical practice and there is limited data on the evolution of cardiac imaging abnormalities after cessation of anti-malarial therapy. In this case series of 9 patients with antimalarial-induced cardiomyopathy, follow-up cardiac magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated interval increase in late gadolinium enhancement extent in 89% of patients and interval decrease in left ventricular ejection fraction in all, despite cessation of anti-malarial therapy...

PURPOSE: The Italian Registry of Contrast Material use in Cardiac Computed Tomography (iRCM-CCT) is a multicenter, multivendor, observational study on the use of contrast media (CM) in patients undergoing cardiac computed tomography (CCT). The aim of iRCM-CCT is to assess image quality and safety profile of intravenous CM compounds. MATERIALS AND METHODS: iRCM-CCT enrolled 1842 consecutive patients undergoing CCT (≥50 per site) at 20 cluster sites with the indication of suspected coronary artery disease...

PURPOSE: To confirm that the image quality of coronary computed tomography (CT) angiography with a low tube voltage (80 to 100 kVp), iterative reconstruction, and low-concentration contrast agents (iodixanol 270 to 320 mgI/mL) was not inferior to that with conventional high tube voltage (120 kVp) and high-concentration contrast agent (iopamidol 370 mgI/mL). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective, multicenter, noninferiority, randomized trial enrolled a total of 318 patients from 8 clinical sites...

PURPOSE: Computed tomography-guided transthoracic biopsy (CTTB) is a minimally invasive procedure with a high diagnostic yield for a variety of thoracic diseases. We comprehensively assessed a large CTTB cohort to predict procedural and patient factors associated with the risk of complications. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The medical record and computed tomography images of 1430 patients who underwent CTTB were reviewed individually to obtain clinical information and technical procedure factors...

To compare computed tomography (CT)-based radiologic features in patients, who are diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma with the pathologically detected spread of tumor cells through air spaces (STAS positive [STAS+]) and those with no STAS. PubMed, Embase, and Scopus databases were systematically searched for observational studies (either retrospective or prospective) of patients with lung adenocarcinoma that had compared CT-based features between STAS+ and STAS-negative cases (STAS-). The pooled effect sizes were reported as odds ratio (OR) and weighted mean difference (WMD)...

BACKGROUND: Increased pericoronary adipose tissue (PCAT) attenuation derived from coronary computed tomography (CT) angiography (CTA) relates to coronary inflammation and cardiac mortality. We aimed to investigate the association between CT-derived characterization of different cardiac fat compartments and myocardial ischemia as assessed by computed fractional flow reserve (FFRCT). METHODS: In all, 133 patients (median 64 y, 74% male) with coronary artery disease (CAD) underwent CTA including FFRCT measurement followed by invasive FFR assessment (FFRINVASIVE)...

Prospective head-to-head comparison of coronary calcium scores between standard computed tomography (CT) and photon-counting CT show no significant differences, while photon-counting CT administers substantially lower radiation dose.

PURPOSE: To identify imaging parameters that can help in the diagnosis of cardiac tamponade on non-electrocardiogram (ECG)-gated computed tomography (CT) of the chest. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective analysis of 64 patients who had undergone CT and echocardiography for evaluation of cardiac tamponade. Of 64 patients, 34 were diagnosed with tamponade and underwent pericardiocentesis for further diagnosis and treatment. CT measurements obtained were: pericardial effusion (PeEff) pocket size in 6 locations (anterior, posterior, superior, inferior, right, and left lateral), pericardial thickening, diameters of the coronary sinus, upper superior vena cava, lower superior vena cava, and inferior vena cava...

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the optimal measurement site of coronary-computed tomography angiography-derived fractional flow reserve (FFRCT) for the assessment of coronary artery disease (CAD) in the whole clinical routine practice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective multicenter study included 396 CAD patients who underwent coronary-computed tomography angiography, FFRCT, and invasive FFR. FFRCT was measured at 1 cm (FFRCT-1 cm), 2 cm (FFRCT-2 cm), 3 cm (FFRCT-3 cm), and 4 cm (FFRCT-4 cm) distal to coronary stenosis, respectively...