La Radiologia medica
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La Radiologia medica · Sep 2012
Comparative StudyFollow-up in pulmonary sarcoidosis: comparison between HRCT and pulmonary function tests.
The authors assessed the clinical usefulness of high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) for monitoring sarcoidosis by comparing changes on HRCT with those on pulmonary function test (PFT) results over time. ⋯ Despite the small size of our study population, our results suggest that HRCT may provide clinicians with additional information about the evolution of sarcoidosis.
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La Radiologia medica · Sep 2012
Tracking target position variability using intraprostatic fiducial markers and electronic portal imaging in prostate cancer radiotherapy.
Modern radiotherapy has achieved substantial improvement in tumour control and toxicity rates by escalating the total dose to the target volume while sparing surrounding normal tissues. It has therefore become necessary to precisely track tumour position in order to minimise geometrical uncertainties due to setup errors and organ motion. We conducted this prospective evaluation of prostate cancer patients treated with image-guided conformal radiation therapy at our institution. We implanted three fiducial markers (gold seeds) within the prostatic gland in order to quantify daily target displacements and to generate specific margins around the clinical target volume (CTV) to create an appropriate planned target volume (PTV). ⋯ Prostate positional variability during a course of radiation treatment is strongly influenced by setup and organ motion. Organ tracking through fiducial markers and electronic portal imaging is able to reduce the spread of displacements, significantly contributing to improve the ballistic precision of radiation delivery.
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La Radiologia medica · Sep 2012
Role of multidetector CT angiography and contrast-enhanced ultrasound in redefining follow-up protocols after endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair.
Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) is an appealing alternative to computed tomography angiography (CTA) for the follow-up of patients who underwent endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR). We sought to evaluate the accuracy of CEUS compared with a particularly tailored protocol of CTA performed with a 64-row multidetector CT. ⋯ Patient management was not different following CEUS and CTA results. CTA cannot yet be completely replaced, but several limitations (radiation exposure, contrast agent) encourage redefining the routine follow-up imaging modality. We suggest an algorithm of surveillance alternating CTA and CEUS.