Cardiovascular disease and brain health: Focus on white matter hyperintensities.

The Scrotal and Penile Imaging Working Group (SPI-WG) appointed by the board of the European Society of Urogenital Radiology (ESUR) has produced recommendations for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the scrotum. The SPI-WG searched for original and review articles published before September 2016 using the Pubmed and Medline databases. Keywords used were ‘magnetic resonance imaging’, 'testis or testicle or testicular', 'scrotum', 'intratesticular', 'paratesticular', 'extratesticular' 'diffusion-weighted', 'dynamic MRI'. Consensus was obtained among the members of the subcommittee. The expert panel proposed recommendations using Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine 2011 Levels of Evidence. The recommended MRI protocol should include T1-, T2-weighted imaging, diffusion-weighted imaging and dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI. Scrotal MRI can be clinically applied for lesion characterisation (primary), including both intratesticular and paratesticular masses, differentiation between germ-cell and non-germ-cell neoplasms (evolving), characterisation of the histological type of testicular germ cell neoplasms (TGCNs, in selected cases), local staging of TGCNs (primary), acute scrotum (in selected cases), trauma (in selected cases) and undescended testes (primary). The ESUR SPI-WG produced this consensus paper in which the existing literature on MRI of the scrotum is reviewed. The recommendations for the optimal imaging technique and clinical indications are presented. • This report presents recommendations for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the scrotum. • Imaging acquisition protocols and clinical indications are provided. • MRI is becoming established as a worthwhile second-line diagnostic tool for scrotal pathology.

MRI of the scrotum: Recommendations of the ESUR Scrotal and Penile Imaging Working Group.

To confirm feasibility and assess intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) to differentiate active sacroiliitis and ankylosing spondylitis.. Forty-one patients were divided into two groups, an active group (n = 20) and a chronic group (n = 21), according to the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) and laboratory parameters. In addition, 21 healthy volunteers were chosen as the control group. Tissue diffusivity (Dslow), perfusion fraction (f), and pseudo-diffusion coefficient (Dfast) values were obtained for all three groups. One-way analysis of variance and receiver operating characteristic analysis were performed for all parameters. There was good interobserver agreement on the measurements between the two observers. The optimal cut-off values (with respective AUC, sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, and negative likelihood ratio) between active and chronic groups were Dslow = 0.53 × 10−3 mm2/s (0.976, 90 %, 95.2 %, 18.9, 0.10) and f = 0.09 (0.545, 20 %, 95.5 %, 4.2, 0.84), and between chronic and control groups were Dslow = 0.22 × 10−3 mm2/s (0.517, 9.52 %, 100 %, no number, 0.9) and f = 0.09 (0.935, 95.24 %, 80.95 %, 5, 0.059). Dslow and f of IVIM diffusion-weighted (DW)-MRI in AS show a significant difference in the values of diffusion of water molecules and fractional perfusion-related volume among the three groups. • D
 slow
 can be used to differentiate the activity of AS. • With perfusion fraction, the sensitivity of differentiating the AS activity is improved. • IVIM DWI plays an important role in detecting the activity in patients with AS.

Detection of Active Sacroiliitis with Ankylosing Spondylitis through Intravoxel Incoherent Motion Diffusion-Weighted MR Imaging

Clinical and Histopathologic Ocular Findings in Disseminated Mycobacterium chimaera Infection after Cardiothoracic Surgery

In this review, we examine the evolution and application of various diagnostic modalities for varicoceles starting with venography, scintigraphy, and thermography and their role in the evaluation of a varicocele patient. Some of these methods have been supplanted by less invasive and more easily performed diagnostic modalities, especially ultrasound and Doppler examination of the scrotum. Advances in ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging hold the potential to expand the role of imaging beyond that of visual confirmation and characterization of varicoceles. The ability to identify the early indicators of testicular dysfunction based on imaging findings may have implications for the management of varicoceles in the future.

Diagnosis of clinical and subclinical varicocele: how has it evolved?

Purpose We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of multidetector computed tomography (CT) imaging in diagnosis of pleural exudates and transudates using attenuation values. Materials and methods This retrospective study included 106 patients who were diagnosed with pleural effusion between January 2010 and June 2012. After the patients underwent chest CT, thoracentesis was performed in the first week. The attenuation values of the pleural effusions were measured in all patients. Results According to Light's criteria, 30 of 106 patients with pleural effusions had transudates, and the remaining patients had exudates. The Hounsfield unit (HU) value of the exudates (median, 12.5; range, 4-33) was significantly higher than that of the transudates (median, 5; range, 2-15) (P = 0.001). Additionally, when evaluated by disease subgroups, congestive heart failure and empyema were predictable in terms of median HU values of the pleural effusions with high and moderate sensitivity and specificity values (84.6% and 81.2%, respectively; 76.9% and 66.7%, respectively). Compared with other patients, the empyema patients had significantly more loculation and pleural thickening. Conclusion CT attenuation values may be useful in differentiating exudates from transudates. Although there is an overlap in most effusions, exudate can be considered when the CT attenuation values are >15 HU. Because of overlapping HU values, close correlation with clinical findings is essential. Additional signs, such as fluid loculation and pleural thickness, should be considered and may provide further information for the differentiation.

/pdf/efficacy-of-ct-in-diagnosis-of-transudates-and-exudates-in-3wvylzvatb.pdf

Efficacy of CT in diagnosis of transudates and exudates in patients with pleural effusion.

OBJECTIVE. This preliminary study aimed to evaluate changes in apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of the testes in patients presenting with varicocele. SUBJECTS AND METHODS. This cross-sectional study included 25 consecutively recruited patients with varicocele and 25 healthy control volunteers. The ADC values were measured in all participants. Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests were used to test the normality of the data distributions, and the data were expressed as arithmetic means and SDs. A one-way analysis of variance with a post hoc Bonferroni test was used to analyze normally distributed continuous data. Independent sample Student t tests were used to compare continuous variables between two groups. Furthermore, a Pearson correlation coefficient analysis was used to examine the association of venous diameters with mean ADC values in patients with varicocele. A two-sided p value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Sensitivities, specificities, and areas under the curve were calculated fo...

https://www.ajronline.org/doi/pdf/10.2214/AJR.13.10594

Diffusion-weighted MRI of the testes in patients with varicocele: a preliminary study.

The use of DWI to assess spleen and liver quantitative ADC changes in the detection of liver fibrosis stages in chronic viral hepatitis.

The role of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in the classification of hepatic hydatid cysts

Background and Aim: Resistive index (RI) is an indirect measurement of blood flow resistance that can be used to evaluate vascular damage in ophthalmologic disease. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between RI values of orbital arteries using the color Doppler imaging (CDI) in geriatric hypertensive patients with or without retinopathy. Setting and Design: Designed as a cross-sectional study. Materials and Methods: We evaluated 60 geriatric patients with hypertension (Group 1) and 30 healthy subjects (Group 2). Further, the patients with hypertension were grouped into two: Group 1a consisted of patients with retinopathy ( n = 30), and group 1b consisted of patients without retinopathy ( n = 30). The mean RI values of ophthalmic artery (OA), central retinal artery (CRA), and posterior ciliary artery (PCA) were measured using CDI. Results: Compared to group 2, group 1 had significantly higher mean resistive index of PCA levels ( P = 0.017), whereas there were no statistical difference in mean resistive indexes of OA and CRA (both P > 0.05). Besides, there were no statistical difference in mean resistive indexes of OA, CRA, and PCA between the group 1a and group 1b ( P > 0.05 for all). Mean resistive indexes of OA, CRA, and PCA were significantly correlated with the duration of hypertension ( r = 0.268, P = 0.038; r = 0.315, P = 0.014; r = 0.324, P = 0.012, respectively). Conclusions: Our study indicates that RI might be a useful marker for the ocular hemodynamic of retinal vessels, provides morphologic and vascular information in hypertension and hypertensive retinopathy.

Fatıma Nurefşan Boyacı

Papers

Efficacy of CT in diagnosis of transudates and exudates in patients with pleural effusion.

Diffusion-weighted MRI of the testes in patients with varicocele: a preliminary study.

The use of DWI to assess spleen and liver quantitative ADC changes in the detection of liver fibrosis stages in chronic viral hepatitis.

The role of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in the classification of hepatic hydatid cysts

Evaluation of resistive index using color Doppler imaging of orbital arteries in geriatric patients with hypertension.