Diagnostic and interventional imaging
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Diagn Interv Imaging · Nov 2014
ReviewThoracic dual energy CT: acquisition protocols, current applications and future developments.
Thanks to a simultaneous acquisition at high and low kilovoltage, dual energy computed tomography (DECT) can achieve material-based decomposition (iodine, water, calcium, etc.) and reconstruct images at different energy levels (40 to 140keV). Post-processing uses this potential to maximise iodine detection, which elicits demonstrated added value for chest imaging in acute and chronic embolic diseases (increases the quality of the examination and identifies perfusion defects), follow-up of aortic endografts and detection of contrast uptake in oncology. In CT angiography, these unique features are taken advantage of to reduce the iodine load by more than half. This review article aims to set out the physical basis for the technology, the acquisition and post-processing protocols used, its proven advantages in chest pathologies, and to present future developments.
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Diagn Interv Imaging · Sep 2014
Comparative StudyBlunt splenic injury: outcomes of proximal versus distal and combined splenic artery embolization.
To assess clinical outcomes of blunt splenic injuries (BSI) managed with proximal versus distal versus combined splenic artery embolization (SAE). ⋯ SAE had an excellent success rate with adverse events occurring in 65% of the patients and no significant differences found between the embolization techniques used. Proximal preventive embolization appears to protect in high-grade traumatic injuries.
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Diagn Interv Imaging · Jul 2014
New tumor ablation techniques for cancer treatment (microwave, electroporation).
Since the introduction of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for the treatment of liver tumors at the end of the 1990s, indications for local ablation techniques have been extended to other organs, in particular, the lungs, kidneys and bones. These techniques have also been improved, in particular to try and overcome the limitations of radiofrequency techniques, especially the significant decrease in complete ablation rates for tumors larger than 3cm and tumors that are contiguous to vessels larger than 3mm. Microwave ablation is a rapidly developing thermal ablation technique similar to RFA but with numerous differences. Electroporation, a non-thermal ablation technique with other possibilities, is in earlier stages of clinical development.
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Diagn Interv Imaging · Jun 2014
ReviewEndovascular treatment in patients with acute ischemic stroke: technical aspects and results.
Ischemic stroke is the primary cause of acquired disability in the world and its treatment is still a challenge. Intravenous (IV) thrombolysis with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) administered within 4½ hours of the onset of the symptoms is the only approved medical treatment in the acute phase of cerebral infarction. ⋯ In these situations, endovascular techniques are playing an increasing role in the treatment of these patients even though there is still no indisputable scientific proof of their efficacy. The priority at present is to finish the French THRACE study, but it is already time to think about the next one.