AJR. American journal of roentgenology
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AJR Am J Roentgenol · Oct 2008
Therapeutic impact of CT of the appendix in a community hospital emergency department.
The purpose of this study was to prospectively evaluate the therapeutic impact of CT of the appendix in a community hospital. ⋯ CT of the appendix had an important therapeutic impact on patients presenting to a community hospital emergency department. The data suggest that CT can be withheld in patients in whom emergency clinicians rate the likelihood of appendicitis as unlikely but that CT findings are often of benefit even when appendicitis is judged to be very likely.
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AJR Am J Roentgenol · Oct 2008
CT angiography findings of the left atrium and right ventricle in patients with massive pulmonary embolism.
The purpose of this study was to show the imaging findings of the left atrium and right ventricle on CT angiography in patients with massive pulmonary embolism. ⋯ Massive pulmonary embolism can cause abrupt acute pulmonary arterial hypertension, right ventricular dysfunction, and decrease in left ventricular preload. Patients with these findings on CT angiography can have a poorer prognosis than those without these imaging findings. Consequently, recognizing anatomic changes such as right ventricular dilation or septal bowing, decrease in size of left atrium and pulmonary veins (a manifestation of decreased pulmonary venous return) would be useful for risk stratification at the time of massive pulmonary embolism.
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The purpose of this study was to prospectively evaluate the effect of the order of positions on sustained rectal pressure and factors affecting pain perceived by patients during air-insufflated CT colonography. ⋯ Sustained pressure in the air-insufflated colon was higher in the prone than in the supine position. Imaging in the prone position first results in a significant decrease in pressure in the latter phase and less pain. Pain was associated with pressure and diverticulosis.
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AJR Am J Roentgenol · Oct 2008
MRI artifact reduction and quality improvement in the upper abdomen with PROPELLER and prospective acquisition correction (PACE) technique.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the periodically rotated overlapping parallel lines with enhanced reconstruction (PROPELLER [BLADE in the MR systems from Siemens Medical Solutions]) with a respiratory compensation technique for motion correction, image noise reduction, improved sharpness of liver edge, and image quality of the upper abdomen. ⋯ With the BLADE technique, T2-weighted TSE images of the upper abdomen could provide reduced image artifacts including ghosting artifact and image noise and provide better image quality.