Radiology
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To investigate in vivo severity and topographic distribution of brain white matter (WM) fiber bundle atrophy in patients with Friedreich ataxia, a condition characterized by an uneven involvement of brain WM, and to correlate such findings with the clinical status of the patients. ⋯ Findings of this study show that it is feasible to obtain in vivo atrophy estimates of specific brain WM fiber bundles in patients with Friedreich ataxia and that such estimates correlate with patients' clinical status. This approach has the potential to provide new information that is likely to improve the understanding of the pathophysiology of inherited ataxias.
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To evaluate the use of time-resolved magnetic resonance (MR) angiography in the presurgical localization of the artery of Adamkiewicz prior to reimplantation of the feeding intercostal artery, lumbar artery, or both during aortic aneurysm repair. ⋯ The artery of Adamkiewicz and the anterior spinal artery can be identified and differentiated from the GARV even in patients with substantially altered hemodynamics by using time-resolved 3.0-T MR angiography.
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To determine the effect of a computerized radiology order entry system rule that prevented nonclinician support staff from completing orders for outpatient computed tomographic, magnetic resonance imaging, and nuclear medicine examinations that received initial low-yield decision support scores in the order entry system. ⋯ A simple change in the business logic of the order entry system resulted in a substantially decreased rate of low-yield imaging examinations and a markedly increased percentage of tests personally ordered by clinicians.
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To systematically examine whether abandoning daily routine chest radiography would adversely affect outcomes, such as mortality and length of stay (LOS), and identify a subgroup in which daily routine chest radiography might be beneficial. ⋯ Systematic but unselective daily routine chest radiography can likely be eliminated without increasing adverse outcomes in adult patients in ICUs. Further studies are necessary to identify the specific patient population that would benefit from daily routine chest radiographs.
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To prospectively determine whether cardiac-gated multidetector computed tomography (CT) allows visualization of aortic valve leaflets after bioprosthetic aortic valve replacement (AVR), to provide an accurate method for measuring the aortic valve opening, and to provide morphologic and functional information regarding the mechanism underlying poor function of the bioprosthetic valve. ⋯ Sixty-four-section CT can help accurately measure AVA in bioprosthetic AVR compared with EOA at TTE. It can also show morphologic abnormalities and reduced leaflet motion in a dysfunctional bioprosthesis, thereby potentially unraveling the mechanism of dysfunction.