AJR. American journal of roentgenology
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AJR Am J Roentgenol · Jan 2020
Clinical Practice Characteristics of Radiologists Based on American Board of Radiology Interventional Radiology Certification Status.
OBJECTIVE. The objective of this study was to assess clinical practice characteristics of radiologists on the basis of American Board of Radiology (ABR) interventional radiology (IR) certification status. MATERIALS AND METHODS. ⋯ Although radiologists maintaining IR certification have higher IR work effort than those whose IR certification has lapsed, they are heterogeneous with overall sizable noninvasive diagnostic imaging practices. Approximately one-quarter of radiologists with predominant IR practices have never obtained IR certification. Because current IR/DR maintenance of certification testing exclusively addresses IR practice, attention is warranted to ensure certification is relevant to all IR diplomates.
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AJR Am J Roentgenol · Sep 2020
Staging of Liver Fibrosis by Means of Semiautomatic Measurement of Liver Surface Nodularity in MRI.
OBJECTIVE. The purposes of this study were to evaluate the accuracy of a semiautomatic method of measuring liver surface nodularity (LSN) on contrast-enhanced MR images and to compare the LSN score with pathologic fibrosis stage. MATERIALS AND METHODS. ⋯ The optimal cutoff value for differentiating F0-F2 from F3-F4 was 0.850 with 100% sensitivity and 85.4% specificity. CONCLUSION. LSN score calculated semiautomatically from MR images of the liver has high accuracy and correlates directly with the pathologic fibrosis stage.
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AJR Am J Roentgenol · Feb 2020
Diagnostic Value of Whole-Body DWI With Background Body Suppression Plus Calculation of Apparent Diffusion Coefficient at 3 T Versus 18F-FDG PET/CT for Detection of Bone Metastases.
OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic performance of whole-body (WB) DWI with background body suppression (DWIBS) combined with calculation of the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value at 3 T compared with the diagnostic performance of 18F-FDG PET/CT for detecting bone metastases in patients with malignant tumors. SUBJECTS AND METHODS. ⋯ A cutoff ADC value of 920.5 × 10-6 mm2s-1 distinguished benign lesions from bone metastases with a sensitivity of 92.9% and a specificity of 73.4%. CONCLUSION. WB DWIBS coupled with ADC analysis at 3 T is effective for detecting bone metastases.
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AJR Am J Roentgenol · Apr 2021
Multisystem Assessment of the Imaging Manifestations of Coagulopathy in Hospitalized Patients With Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19).
BACKGROUND. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is known to be associated with a distinct form of coagulopathy. OBJECTIVE. ⋯ Clinical variables poorly predict which patients have positive imaging results, indicating a complementary role of imaging in detecting COVID-19-associated coagulopathy. CLINICAL IMPACT. In patients with COVID-19 with suspected systemic coagulopathy, pulmonary CTA, extremity Doppler ultrasound, contrast-enhanced abdominal CT, and contrast-enhanced brain MRI and MRA may all be appropriate in the absence of imaging contraindications.
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OBJECTIVE. The virtual imaging trial is a unique framework that can greatly facilitate the assessment and optimization of imaging methods by emulating the imaging experiment using representative computational models of patients and validated imaging simulators. The purpose of this study was to show how virtual imaging trials can be adapted for imaging studies of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), enabling effective assessment and optimization of CT and radiography acquisitions and analysis tools for reliable imaging and management of COVID-19. ⋯ Results showed that the contrast-to-noise ratios in the abnormal regions were 1.6, 3.0, and 3.6 for 5-, 25-, and 50-mAs images, respectively. CONCLUSION. The developed toolsets in this study provide the foundation for use of virtual imaging trials in effective assessment and optimization of CT and radiography acquisitions and analysis tools to help manage the COVID-19 pandemic.