Vascular imaging

INTRODUCTION: Mutations of the phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) gene have been associated with a spectrum of disorders called PTEN hamartoma tumor syndrome, which predisposes the individual to develop various types of tumors and vascular anomalies. Its phenotypic spectrum includes Cowden syndrome (CS), Bannayan-Riley-Ruvalcaba syndrome (BRRS), Proteus syndrome, autism spectrum disorders (ASD), some sporadic cancers, Lhermitte-Duclos disease (LDD), and various types of associated vascular anomalies...

INTRODUCTION: Hyperpolarized 129 Xe MRI and spectroscopy is a rapidly growing technique for assessing lung function, with applications in a wide range of obstructive, restrictive, and pulmonary vascular disease. However, normal variations in 129 Xe measures of gas exchange across healthy subjects are not well characterized, presenting an obstacle to differentiating disease processes from the consequences of expected physiological heterogeneity. Here, we use multivariate models to evaluate the role of age, sex, and BMI in a range of commonly used 129 Xe measures of gas exchange...

Intra-operative navigation has revolutionized spinal instrumentation. The O-arm (a mobile X-ray system; Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN) is uniquely capable of enabling visualization of the spine in axial planes. The application of this technology is wide yet underutilized in terms of its capacity to image spinal vascular anatomy. We completed a retrospective chart review of the following case studies. A 24-year-old neurologically intact female presented with a Jefferson fracture without vertebral artery dissection after a motor vehicle accident...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Thyroid cancer, though relatively uncommon among all cancer types, stands as the primary form of endocrine tumor. Over the last 20 years, there has been a significant uptick in its occurrence. Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), which is well-differentiated, emerges as the dominant subtype, in regions where iodine levels are deemed adequate. The study aimed to study the clinicopathological profile of patients diagnosed with thyroid malignancies at the Muslim Educational Society (MES) Medical College Perinthalmanna...

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Iatrogenic injury of the vertebral artery (VA) in the context of surgical approaches to the cervical spine has been cited as a relatively rare complication with varying degrees of severity ranging from minimal injury to acute stroke and can result in death. It is estimated that ~50% of cases of iatrogenic VA injury are preventable after postoperatively examining a patient's preoperative imaging. Despite the low incidence (<2%) of this complication, the potential associated morbidity demonstrates the importance of meticulous preoperative vascular consideration...

BACKGROUND: As lip enhancement using filler has grown in popularity, practitioners have sought to identify methods of injection that achieve aesthetically pleasing results while avoiding adverse events such as arterial injury due to intravascular injection. OBJECTIVES: The primary objective of this study is to establish a safe injection technique for creating appealing, proportionate, and aesthetically pleasing lips while elevating the lip corners using filler. The author investigated the pathway of the labial artery using sonography and devised a 9-point injection technique (9-PIT) to reliably achieve fashionable lips...

Radiological imaging to examine intracranial blood vessels is critical for preoperative planning and postoperative follow-up. Automated segmentation of cerebrovascular anatomy from Time-Of-Flight Magnetic Resonance Angiography (TOF-MRA) can provide radiologists with a more detailed and precise view of these vessels. This paper introduces a domain generalized artificial intelligence (AI) solution for volumetric monitoring of cerebrovascular structures from multi-center MRAs. Our approach utilizes a multi-task deep convolutional neural network (CNN) with a topology-aware loss function to learn voxel-wise segmentation of the cerebrovascular tree...

Photon-counting detector (PCD) CT enables routine virtual-monoenergetic image (VMI) reconstruction. We evaluated the performance of an automatic VMI energy level (keV) selection tool on a clinical PCD-CT system in comparison to an automatic tube potential (kV) selection tool from an energy-integrating-detector (EID) CT system from the same manufacturer. &#xD;Approach: Four torso-shaped phantoms (20-50 cm width) containing iodine (2, 5, and 10-mg/cc) and calcium (100 mg/cc) were scanned on PCD-CT and EID-CT...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to evaluate the choroidal structure in the early stage of Type 2 diabetic retinopathy (DR). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included patients with nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) without edema ( n = 30, NPDR group), patients with diabetes without retinopathy ( n = 30, No DR group), and healthy subjects ( n = 33, control group). Choroidal thickness (CT), total choroidal area (TCA), luminal area (LA), stromal area (SA), and choroidal vascularity index (CVI) were evaluated...

INTRODUCTION: We investigated the association between white matter hyperintensities (WMH) and regional cortical thickness, amyloid and tau deposition, and synaptic density in the WMH-connected cortex using multimodal images. METHODS: We included 107 participants (59 with Alzheimer's disease [AD]; 27 with mild cognitive impairment; 21 cognitively normal controls) with amyloid beta (Aβ) positivity on amyloid positron emission tomography (PET). The cortex connected to WMH was identified using probabilistic tractography...

PURPOSE: To investigate and compare the dynamic positron emission tomography (PET) imaging with [18 F]Alfatide II Imaging and [11 C]Methionine ([11 C]MET) in orthotopic rat models of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), and to assess the utility of [18 F]Alfatide II in detecting and evaluating neoangiogenesis in GBM. METHODS: [18 F]Alfatide II and [11 C]MET were injected into the orthotopic GBM rat models (n = 20, C6 glioma cells), followed by dynamic PET/MR scans 21 days after surgery of tumor implantation...

Microvascular endothelial cells (MVECs) have many critical roles, including control of vascular tone, regulation of thrombosis, and angiogenesis. Significant heterogeneity in endothelial cell (EC) genotype and phenotype depends on their vascular bed and host disease state. The ability to isolate MVECs from tissue-specific vascular beds and individual patient groups offers the opportunity to directly compare MVEC function in different disease states. Here, using subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) taken at the time of insertion of cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIED), we describe a method for the isolation of a pure population of functional human subcutaneous adipose tissue MVEC (hSATMVEC) and an experimental model of hSATMVEC-adipocyte cross-talk...

Endovascular treatment of complex vascular anomalies shifts the risk of open surgical procedures to the benefit of minimally invasive endovascular procedural solutions. Complex open surgical procedures used to be the only option for the treatment of a myriad of conditions like pulmonary and aortic valve replacement as well as cerebral aneurysm repair. However, due to advancements in catheter-delivered devices and operator expertise, these procedures (along with many others) can now be performed through minimally invasive procedures delivered through a central or peripheral vein or artery...

This study prepared and evaluated polymeric polybutylcyanoacrylate (PBCA) nanoparticles (NPs) that can be used as a new agent for contrast-enhanced intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging with drug delivery capacity. The nanoformulation was successfully developed using suspension polymerisation and characterised in terms of size, size distribution, zeta potential, morphology, stability, toxicity effects, imaging effects and drug release study. The results showed that the nanoparticles were round and hollow, with a particle diameter of 215...

Diabetes, a severe metabolic disease characterized by chronic hypoglycemia, poses debilitating and life-threatening risks of microvascular and macrovascular complications, including blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, and limb amputation. Addressing these complications is paramount, urging the development of interventions targeting diabetes-associated vascular dysfunctions. To effectively combat diabetes, a comprehensive understanding of the pathological mechanisms underlying complications and identification of precise therapeutic targets are imperative...

Background: Hypofractionated radiotherapy (hRT) can induce a T cell-mediated abscopal effect on non-irradiated tumor lesions, especially in combination with immune checkpoint blockade (ICB). However, clinically, this effect is still rare, and ICB-mediated adverse events are common. Lenalidomide (lena) is an anti-angiogenic and immunomodulatory drug used in the treatment of hematologic malignancies. We here investigated in solid tumor models whether lena can enhance the abscopal effect in double combination with hRT...

BACKGROUND: Camrelizumab, a programmed death 1 (PD-1) inhibiting antibody, has demonstrated efficacy in various malignancies and received approval in multiple countries. Despite its therapeutic benefits, camrelizumab is associated with a unique spectrum of immune-related adverse effects (irAEs), predominantly reactive cutaneous capillary endothelial proliferation (RCCEP). However, visceral manifestations of such endothelial proliferations, particularly hepatic cavernous hemangiomas, have not been extensively documented...

Anastomosing hemangioma (AH) is rare and a newly recognized variant of capillary hemangioma that is mostly found in the genitourinary tract. Additionally, AH is sometimes difficult to diagnose without pathological specimens. It is difficult to diagnose preoperatively due to the lack of specific clinical and radiologic appearance. The present report describes the imaging features from a radiological perspective and outlines the clinicopathologic features and treatment options. A 67-year-old woman was referred to Dokkyo Medical University Saitama Medical Center (Koshigaya, Japan) for a retroperitoneal tumor that was identified at a medical checkup 4 years prior...

BACKGROUND: Vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) is a major cause of cognitive impairment in the elderly and a co-factor in the development and progression of most neurodegenerative diseases. With the continuing development of neuroimaging, multiple markers can be combined to provide richer biological information, but little is known about their diagnostic value in VCI. METHODS: A total of 83 subjects participated in our study, including 32 patients with vascular cognitive impairment with no dementia (VCIND), 21 patients with vascular dementia (VD), and 30 normal controls (NC)...

Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is an unusual skin tumor that has a significant rate of distant and local metastases. It is known that primary MCC of the eyelid usually occurs at the upper eyelid. Here we report an unusual case of MCC metastasis to the eyelid. A 63-year-old male was diagnosed with MCC three years earlier after initially presenting with a mass in his right thigh. After histopathological diagnosis, the patient received medical therapy. During treatment, he developed multiple distant metastases and a firm, purple, vascularized lesion on the upper eyelid...