. • The detectability of both simulated contrast-enhanced lesions was highest at 40 keV for all dual-energy CT platforms except for fast kV-switching platform.
  To estimate the number of patients who receive a cumulative effective dose (CED) of ≥ 100mSv from computed tomography (CT) in a single day or episode of care.
 
  We examined 28,870 patients who underwent 49,834 CT examinations in a tertiary care centre in Italy in 2.5years. Radiation exposures were retrieved from the hospital's automatic exposure monitoring system. Two cohorts were identified as those who received a CED of ≥ 100mSv in a single day and within a month starting from the first examination. Organ doses were estimated for the first cohort.
 
  Among the 1765 (6.1%) patients who received CED ≥ 100mSv in the observation period, 427 received a CED of ≥ 100mSv within a month (and 70 patients in a single day). This group represented 1.5% of all patients who underwent CT exams and 24% of those who received CED ≥ 100mSv in the observation period. The clinical indication for referral included cancer in 132 patients (31%) and non-oncological indications in 295 patients (69%). In 68/70 patients with CED > performed in a single episode of care in 1.5% of patients in a 2.5-year period. • In this study, the clinical indication for CT referral was non-oncological in 69% of patients. • The patient's prior radiation history should be provided to the referring physicians and the radiological medical practitioner to facilitate an appropriate decision-making process.
  To determine the short-term outcomes of discordant tumor assessments between DWI-MRI and endoscopy in patients with treated rectal cancer when tumor-bed diffusion restriction is present ("+DWI").
 
  In this HIPPA-compliant, IRB-approved retrospective study, rectal MRI and endoscopic reports were reviewed for patients with locally advanced primary rectal adenocarcinoma (LARC) treated with chemoradiotherapy or total neoadjuvant therapy and imaged between January 2016 and December 2019. Eligible patients had a +DWI and endoscopy within 2 weeks of each other. True positive MRI were those with tumor on endoscopy and/or biopsy (TP
  ) or in whom endoscopy was negative for tumor, but subsequent 3-month follow-up endoscopy and DWI were both positive (TP
  ). The positive predictive value of DWI-MRI was calculated on a per-scan and per-patient basis. DWI-negative MRI exams were not explored in this study.
 
  In total, 397 patients with nonmetastatic primary LARC were analyzed. After exclusions, 90 patients had 98 followscopy in 22% of discordant findings between DWI-MRI and endoscopy.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/aminoguanidine-hydrochloride.html  • Our results showed that a majority of DWI-MRI-positive scans in treated rectal cancer concur with the presence of tumor on endoscopy performed within 2 weeks.
 • Most often, in post-treatment assessment for rectal cancer when DWI-MRI shows restriction in the tumor bed and endoscopy shows no tumor, +DWI MRI will be proven false positive. • Conversely, our study demonstrated that, allowing for sequential follow-up at a 3-month maximum interval, DWI-MRI may detect tumor presence in the treated tumor bed before endoscopy in 22% of discordant findings between DWI-MRI and endoscopy. • Our results showed that a majority of DWI-MRI-positive scans in treated rectal cancer concur with the presence of tumor on endoscopy performed within 2 weeks.
  Proposing a scoring tool to predict COVID-19 patients' outcomes based on initially assessed clinical and CT features.
 
  All patients, who were referred to a tertiary-university hospital respiratory triage (March 27-April 26, 2020), were highly clinically suggestive for COVID-19 and had undergone a chest CT scan were included. Those with positive rRT-PCR or highly clinically suspicious patients with typical chest CT scan pulmonary manifestations were considered confirmed COVID-19 for additional analyses. Patients, based on outcome, were categorized into outpatient, ordinary-ward admitted, intensive care unit (ICU) admitted, and deceased; their demographic, clinical, and chest CT scan parameters were compared. The pulmonary chest CT scan features were scaled with a novel semi-quantitative scoring system to assess pulmonary involvement (PI).
 
  Chest CT scans of 739 patients (mean age = 49.2 ± 17.2years old, 56.7% male) were reviewed; 491 (66.4%), 176 (23.8%), and 72 (9.7%) cases were managed outpatient, in an y high PI score to be considered as high-risk patients for further managements and care plans.
 
  • Chest CT scan is a valuable tool in prioritizing the patients in hospital triage. • A more accurate and novel 35-scale semi-quantitative scoring system was designed to predict the COVID-19 patients' outcome. • Patients with age ≥ 53, SpO
  ≤ 91, and PI score ≥ 8 or even only high PI score should be considered high-risk patients.
 • Chest CT scan is a valuable tool in prioritizing the patients in hospital triage. • A more accurate and novel 35-scale semi-quantitative scoring system was designed to predict the COVID-19 patients' outcome. • Patients with age ≥ 53, SpO2 ≤ 91, and PI score ≥ 8 or even only high PI score should be considered high-risk patients.
  Speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) deformation parameters detect latent LV dysfunction in chronic aortic regurgitation (AR) and are associated with outcomes. The aim of the study was to evaluate cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) feature tracking (FT) deformation parameters in asymptomatic patients with AR and implications in outcomes.
 
  Fifty-five patients with AR and 54 controls were included. Conventional functional CMR parameters, aortic regurgitant volume, and fraction were assessed. CMR-FT analysis was performed with a dedicated software. Clinical data was obtained from hospital records. A combined endpoint included all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, aortic valve surgery, or cardiovascular hospital admission due to heart failure.
 
  Left ventricular (LV) mechanics is impaired in patients with significant AR. Significant differences were noted in global longitudinal strain (GLS) between controls and AR patients (- 19.1 ± 2.9% vs - 16.5 ± 3.2%, p < 0.001) and among AR severity groups (- 18.