BMC medical imaging
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BMC medical imaging · Nov 2019
Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical Trial Observational StudyLocalising occult prostate cancer metastasis with advanced imaging techniques (LOCATE trial): a prospective cohort, observational diagnostic accuracy trial investigating whole-body magnetic resonance imaging in radio-recurrent prostate cancer.
Accurate whole-body staging following biochemical relapse in prostate cancer is vital in determining the optimum disease management. Current imaging guidelines recommend various imaging platforms such as computed tomography (CT), Technetium 99 m (99mTc) bone scan and 18F-choline and recently 68Ga-PSMA positron emission tomography (PET) for the evaluation of the extent of disease. Such approach requires multiple hospital attendances and can be time and resource intensive. Recently, whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (WB-MRI) has been used in a single visit scanning session for several malignancies, including prostate cancer, with promising results, providing similar accuracy compared to the combined conventional imaging techniques. The LOCATE trial aims to investigate the application of WB-MRI for re-staging of patients with biochemical relapse (BCR) following external beam radiotherapy and brachytherapy in patients with prostate cancer. ⋯ The LOCATE trial will compare WB-MRI versus the conventional imaging pathway including its cost-effectiveness, therefore informing the most accurate and efficient imaging pathway.
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BMC medical imaging · Jan 2012
Multicenter StudyBrain computer tomography in critically ill patients--a prospective cohort study.
Brain computer tomography (brain CT) is an important imaging tool in patients with intracranial disorders. In ICU patients, a brain CT implies an intrahospital transport which has inherent risks. The proceeds and consequences of a brain CT in a critically ill patient should outweigh these risks. The aim of this study was to critically evaluate the diagnostic and therapeutic yield of brain CT in ICU patients. ⋯ The results of this study show that the diagnostic and therapeutic yield of brain CT in critically ill patients is moderate. The development of guidelines regarding the decision rules for performing a brain CT in ICU patients is needed.
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BMC medical imaging · Dec 2011
Multicenter StudyAssessment of the impact of the scanner-related factors on brain morphometry analysis with Brainvisa.
Brain morphometry is extensively used in cross-sectional studies. However, the difference in the estimated values of the morphometric measures between patients and healthy subjects may be small and hence overshadowed by the scanner-related variability, especially with multicentre and longitudinal studies. It is important therefore to investigate the variability and reliability of morphometric measurements between different scanners and different sessions of the same scanner. ⋯ Our results confirm that for morphometry analysis with the current version of Brainvisa using data from multicentre or longitudinal studies, the scanner-related variability must be taken into account and where possible should be corrected for. We also suggest providing some flexibility to Brainvisa for a step-by-step analysis of the robustness of this package in terms of reproducibility of the results by allowing the bias corrected images to be imported from other packages and bias correction step be skipped, for example.
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BMC medical imaging · May 2009
Multicenter StudyProspective multi-centre Voxel Based Morphometry study employing scanner specific segmentations: procedure development using CaliBrain structural MRI data.
Structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging (sMRI) of the brain is employed in the assessment of a wide range of neuropsychiatric disorders. In order to improve statistical power in such studies it is desirable to pool scanning resources from multiple centres. The CaliBrain project was designed to provide for an assessment of scanner differences at three centres in Scotland, and to assess the practicality of pooling scans from multiple-centres. ⋯ Our results indicate the development of scanner specific priors for SPM can assist in pooling of scan resources from different research centres. This can facilitate improvements in the statistical power of quantitative brain imaging studies.
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BMC medical imaging · Jan 2008
Multicenter StudyDoes applying the Canadian Cervical Spine rule reduce cervical spine radiography rates in alert patients with blunt trauma to the neck? A retrospective analysis.
A cautious outlook towards neck injuries has been the norm to avoid missing cervical spine injuries. Consequently there has been an increased use of cervical spine radiography. The Canadian Cervical Spine rule was proposed to reduce unnecessary use of cervical spine radiography in alert and stable patients. Our aim was to see whether applying the Canadian Cervical Spine rule reduced the need for cervical spine radiography without missing significant cervical spine injuries. ⋯ Applying the Canadian Cervical Spine rule for neck injuries in alert and stable patients would have reduced the use of cervical spine radiographs without missing out significant cervical spine injuries. This relates to reduction in radiation exposure to patients and health care costs.