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The aim of the study was to evaluate the value of computed tomography (CT) texture analysis (CTTA) in predicting ultrasound (US) classification of incidentally detected thyroid nodule (ITN) on chest CT.A total of 117 ITNs (≥1 cm in the longest diameter) on chest CT scan of 107 patients was divided into 4 categories according to the Korean Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (K-TIRADS) classification on recent thyroid US within 3 months. Computed tomography texture features were extracted with or without filtration using commercial software. The texture features were compared between the benign (K-TIRADS 2; n = 21) and the suspicious (K-TIRADS 3, 4, 5; n = 96) nodules. Multivariate regression and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis were performed to determine significant prediction factors of the suspicious nodules.The mean value of positive pixels was significantly higher in the suspicious nodules except the unfiltered image (P0.05). Entropy of the suspicious nodules was significantly higher with unfiltered and fine filters (P0.05), and kurtosis of the suspicious nodules was significantly higher with medium and coarse filters (P0.05). A logistic regression model incorporating mean value of positive pixels and kurtosis with a medium filter using volumetric analysis demonstrated the best performance to predict the suspicious nodules with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.842 (P0.001, sensitivity 82.3%, and specificity 81.0%).Computed tomography texture analysis for ITN larger than 1 cm showed significant correlation with systematic thyroid US classification and presented excellent performance to predict the suspicious nodules.

Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) is a newly detected pathogen that can cause lower respiratory tract disease. Clinical characteristics, computed tomography (CT) findings, and outcomes of HMPV pneumonia in patients with solid organ transplantation (SOT) have not been well demonstrated.Between January 2010 and February 2016, clinical and imaging findings of 59 patients with SOT (types of organ: kidney, 37; liver, 16; heart, 4; and pancreas and kidney, 2) who had HMPV infection detected in nasopharyngeal or bronchoalveolar lavage by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction were retrospectively evaluated.Most (90%) of the patients were detected between March and June. In the 59 patients with SOT with upper respiratory tract infection (URI), 29 (49%) progressed to lower respiratory tract disease after a median of 7 days (range, 2-31 days). Coinfection was noted in 39% of the patients. In Cox proportional hazards analysis, low lymphocyte count (≤0.7 × 10/μL; hazard ratio, 2.24; 95% confidence interval, 1.04-4.85; P = 0.04) and high C-reactive protein (10 mg/dL; hazard ratio, 2.93; 95% confidence interval, 1.19-7.21; P = 0.02) at URI diagnosis were associated with HMPV pneumonia. On CT, HMPV pneumonia presented as bilateral ill-defined centrilobular nodules, consolidation and ground-glass opacities, whereas lymphadenopathy or effusion is not common. There were no significantly different imaging CT findings between patients with HMPV infection alone and those with coinfection.Human metapneumovirus pneumonias were detected in nearly half of patients with SOT showing URI symptoms with positive HMPV, and low lymphocyte count and high C-reactive protein at URI diagnosis were significant factors associated with HMPV pneumonia.

Although the positive correlation between serum uric acid (UA) levels and bone mineral density (BMD) has been reported in the general population, there are little data regarding the effect of serum UA levels on bone loss in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We investigated whether increased serum UA levels were associated with a reduced risk of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women with RA. In this retrospective cross-sectional study, 447 postmenopausal female patients with RA and 200 age-matched, postmenopausal healthy controls underwent BMD examination by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry and serum UA levels measurement. Osteoporosis was diagnosed when the T-score was

An axial-volume scan with adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction-V (ASIR-V) is newly developed. Our goal was to identify the influence of axial-volume scan and ASIR-V on accuracy of automated nodule volumetry. An “adult" chest phantom containing various nodules was scanned using both helical and axial-volume modes at different dose settings using 256-slice CT. All CT scans were reconstructed using 30% and 50% blending of ASIR-V and filtered back projection. Automated nodule volumetry was performed using commercial software. The image noise, contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) were measured. The axial-volume scan reduced radiation dose by 19.7% compared with helical scan at all radiation dose settings without affecting the accuracy of nodule volumetric measurement (P = .375). Image noise, CNR, and SNR were not significantly different between two scan modes (all, P > .05). The use of axial-volume scan with ASIR-V achieved effective radiation dose reduction while preserving the accuracy of nodule volumetry.

Rationale: Pulmonary involvement occurs in about 90% of patients with sarcoidosis. However, delayed diagnosis sometimes occurs due to atypical thoracic imaging findings. Patient concerns: A 52-year-old woman presented with recurrent uveitis and fever of unknown origin. She had been admitted to the hospital due to fever, but its cause was not determined. Diagnoses: Chest computed tomography (CT) revealed a solitary pulmonary nodule and an enlarged right axillary lymph node. The nodule had showed an interval growth from 0.7 cm to 1.1 cm over 18 months, when compared to the previous chest CT. Mosaic attenuation was also observed. Interventions: The patient underwent thoracoscopic wedge resection of the nodule and excisional biopsy of the enlarged lymph node to exclude malignancy and non-caseating granulomas consistent with sarcoidosis was confirmed. Outcomes: Medical treatment with prednisolone and azathioprine was administered. Fever and uveitis no longer recurred after 6 months of medication. We demonstrated that sarcoidosis shows only atypical pulmonary imaging findings, with an enlarged solitary nodule, an axillary lymphadenopathy, and mosaic attenuation, mimicking a malignancy. Lessons: Awareness on atypical CT manifestations that are correlated with pathologic findings may be helpful for early diagnosis of sarcoidosis.

Most previous research investigating osteoporosis in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has focused on female patients and there is a lack of data regarding clinical characteristics of osteoporosis in male patients with RA.The aim of this study was to compare the frequency of osteoporosis between mal

Current nude mice islet transplantation studies cannot be used prospectively. Therefore, to predict transplantation outcomes, reliable and rapid assays for islet quality assessment are warranted. This study evaluated the predictive power of the porcine islet ATP content on the outcomes of islet transplantation in nude mice. Here, we report that the ATP measurement using a small number of handpicked islets with a diameter of 100 to 150 mum is a good predictor of islet graft efficacy in nude mice. Using receiver-operator characteristic analysis, the area under the curve of the ATP content using a small number of handpicked islets was 0.867 (95% confidence interval 0.744-0.989, P

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text, To describe the computed tomography (CT) features of chemotherapy-induced interstitial pneumonitis (CIIP) with longitudinal follow-up. The study was approved by the local ethics committee. One hundred consecutive patients with CIIP between May 2005 and March 2015 were retrospectively enrolled. The initial CT was reviewed by 2 independent chest radiologists and categorized into 1 of 4 CT patterns in accordance with the 2013 guidelines for idiopathic interstitial pneumonia: nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP), organizing pneumonia (OP), hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) mimicking desquamative interstitial pneumonitis, and diffuse alveolar damage (DAD). We assessed semiquantitative analysis on a 5% scale to assess the extent of parenchymal abnormalities (emphysema, reticulation, ground-glass opacity, consolidation, honeycombing cyst) and their distribution on initial (n = 100), subsequent (n = 87), and second follow-up CT (n = 48). Interval changes in extent on follow-up CT were compared using paired t test. The clinic-radiologic factors were compared between Group 1 (NSIP and OP patterns) and Group 2 (HP and DAD patterns) using χ2 and independent t tests. The most common pattern of CIIP on the initial CT was HP (51%), followed by NSIP (23%), OP (20%), and DAD (6%). Diffuse ground-glass opacity was the most common pulmonary abnormality. The predominant distribution was bilateral (99%) and symmetric (82%), with no craniocaudal (60%) or axial (79%) dominance. Subsequent and second follow-up CTs showed decreased extent of total pulmonary abnormalities (P