Academic radiology
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Impact of iodine delivery rate with varying flow rates on image quality in dual-energy CT of patients with suspected pulmonary embolism.
To prospectively compare four contrast material injection protocols for dual-energy computed tomography (CT) pulmonary angiography (DE-CTPA) in patients with suspected pulmonary embolism (PE). ⋯ Despite increased artifacts on iodine perfusion maps, highly concentrated iodinated contrast material combined with high flow rates provides improved diagnostic image quality and has the highest target-tract attenuation for DE-CTPA protocols.
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To quantitatively assess coronary atherosclerotic plaque composition in patients with acute non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) and patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD) by coronary computed tomography angiography (cCTA) correlated with virtual histology intravascular ultrasound (VH-IVUS). ⋯ Plaques of patients with acute NSTEMI and of patients with stable CAD cannot be differentiated by quantification of plaque components. cCTA and VH-IVUS differ in plaque component analysis.
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To develop an automated computed tomography angiography (CTA) imaging protocol that allows visualization of the whole brain vasculature and evaluate the clinical usefulness of the technique for delineation of intracranial vessels in patients with cerebrovascular disorders. ⋯ The whole brain vasculature would be clearly visualized by using the optimized automated CTA protocol. Our automated, single-source, dual-energy subtraction CTA protocol is a fully automated subtraction method that is capable of delineating major intracranial vessels as well as very small arteries.
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Given the significance of coronary artery disease as the most important socioeconomic health care problem in the Western World, the application of computer-aided simple triage (CAST) systems to this disease would be desirable. ⋯ The investigated CAST system for automatic stenosis detection can accurately identify patients with coronary artery stenosis ≥50% and may be of use as initial interpretation and triage of cCTA studies as well as a second reader for inexperienced readers, in absence of expert readers.
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To assess the validity and reliability of measuring mean aortic wall thickness (MAWT) of the ascending and descending aorta using cine steady-state free precession (SSFP) imaging compared to dark blood (DB) imaging. ⋯ MAWT determination in the ascending and descending aorta using cine SSFP sequences is highly valid and reliable compared to DB imaging.