European journal of radiology
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The aim of this study was to investigate the maximum height, area under the curve (AUC) and full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the aortic input function (AIF) in renal dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies. We evaluated the significance of choice of size for regions of interest (ROI) in the aorta, reproducibility and inter-observer agreement of AIF measurements in healthy volunteers for renal DCE-MRI studies. ⋯ Paired t-tests for inter-observer comparison on the pooled 30 DCE-MRI studies, showed good correlations (correlation coefficients >0.85) with no significant differences (p-values >0.82) when comparing the peak value, AUC and FWHM of the AIFs. Thus the results were operator independent. The size of the aortic ROIs significantly affected all measured parameters of the AIF (p-values <0.039). However, correlation coefficients when comparing AIF 1 and AIF 2 were high for all evaluated AIF parameters (correlation coefficients >0.88), indicating a similar shape and temporal dynamic of the passage of the contrast agent through the aorta. When comparing the intra-individual DCE-MRI studies for each volunteer all AIF parameters had p-values >0.22 and correlation coefficients <0.82, with the exception of the FWHM, which had a correlation coefficient of 0.96 showing a significant variation in AIF parameters in the same volunteer on different days.
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Clinical Trial
Coil embolization of internal mammary artery injured during central vein catheter and cardiac pacemaker lead insertion.
This study describes several cases of endovascular coil embolization of the proximal internal mammary artery injured by blind approach to the subclavian vein for central venous catheter or pacemaker lead insertion. ⋯ Transarterial coil embolization is a feasible and efficient method in treating acute bleeding and pseudoaneurysm of the IMA and should be considered if mediastinal hematoma or hemathorax occurs after blind puncture of the subclavian vein.
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Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of active inflammatory changes of the sacroiliac joint (SIJ) in spondyloarthritis (SpA) is performed with short tau inversion recovery (STIR) sequences and fat-saturated T1-weighted fast spin-echo (FSE) sequences after administration of gadolinium-based contrast medium (T1/Gd). The aim of the present study was to compare these two pulse sequences in terms of diagnosis, diagnostic confidence, and quantification of inflammatory changes. ⋯ STIR sequences alone are sufficient for establishing a reliable diagnosis and quantify the amount of inflammation in active sacroiliitis. A contrast-enhanced study is dispensable in patients with established disease or in the setting of clinical follow-up studies. However, a contrast-enhanced MR sequence is beneficial to ensure maximum diagnostic confidence when patients with early sacroiliitis are examined.
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The aim of this study was to assess the safety and the efficacy of radiofrequency thermal ablation (RFA) for pain relief and analgesics use reduction in two patients with painful bone metastases from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). ⋯ RFA provides a potential alternative method for palliation of painful osteolytic metastases from HCC; the procedure is safe, and the pain relief is substantial.
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The international consensus on treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) involves early initiation of disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) for which a reliable identification of early disease is mandatory. Conventional radiography of the joints is considered the standard method for detecting and quantifying joint damage in RA. ⋯ In order to allow early treatment initiation and optimal guidance of the therapeutic strategy, there is a need for methods which are capable of early detection of inflammatory joint changes. In this review, we will discuss available data, advantages, limitations and potential future of MRI in RA.