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With varying prevalence and manifestations depending on the underlying disease, thoracic involvement is one of the major factors determining morbidity and mortality in patients with rheumatic diseases (RDs). The most frequent pulmonary complication is interstitial lung disease (ILD), but other thoracic manifestations can also be present. Often, the only way to depict these extra-articular manifestations of disease is through imaging. Making an early diagnosis and thus aiding in the appropriate management requires radiologists to possess a comprehensive understanding of the typical imaging findings and the accompanying clinical context. In this review, the common features of thoracic involvement in RD are systematically described, with illustrations and explanatory drawings. ILD patterns, rheumatoid nodules, bronchial involvement, esophageal involvement, and pleural and pericardial disease are among the features discussed., Competing Interests: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest., (© The Author(s), 2024.)

Background: Ultrasound has been the method of choice for antenatal fetal assessment for the past three decades; however, problems may arise in cases of oligohydramnion, unfavorable position of the fetus, and maternal obesity., Purpose: To compare ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for common fetal measurements at 19-30 weeks' gestation, and to assess the effect of high maternal body-mass index (BMI)., Material and Methods: 59 low-risk singleton pregnancies were enrolled in a prospective blinded cross-sectional study. In a first session, an experienced obstetrician used a high-resolution US technique and in a second session on the same day MRI was used to measure biparietal diameter (BPD), head circumference (HC), mean abdominal diameter (MAD), abdominal circumference (AC), and femur length (FL). Inter- and intraobserver and intermodality variability was determined using Bland-Altman plots. The effect of maternal BMI was assessed using Spearman's statistics., Results: A total of 45 women aged 19-43 years (median 29 years) attended both US and MRI at median 22 weeks' gestation. The mean differences between US and MRI were 1.6 mm for HC (95% confidence interval [CI] -1.0, 4.3 mm), 1 mm for AC (95% CI -0.2, 4.0 mm), 0.2 mm for MAD (95% CI -0.7, 1.2 mm), 2.2 mm for BPD (95% CI 1.7, 2.7 mm), and 4.6 mm for FL (95% CI 2.9, 6.4 mm). Maternal BMI did not affect the results (Spearman' rho 0.054-0.277; P=NS). The intraobserver agreement for all MRI measurements was acceptable, except for FL, while the interobserver agreement was poor., Conclusion: There was good agreement between US and MRI for common fetal measurements, but not for all (i.e., BPD and particularly FL). MRI had a poor interobserver agreement, underscoring the need for technical refinement and reference ranges specifically established for MRI.

Background: Ultrasound screening has been part of antenatal care for several decades, and warrants high expertise to meet the criteria for a worthwhile screening program. In particular, the rate of false positives should be low., Purpose: To examine time trends of pregnancy terminations for fetal abnormality after 12 weeks' gestation, and to assess the agreement between antenatal ultrasound and post-termination autopsy findings for the main pathologies leading to termination., Material and Methods: During the period 1988 to 2002, 198 pregnancies were terminated for fetal abnormality after 12 weeks' gestation. We reviewed the case notes for those 151 who were autopsied (male/female/undetermined ;= ;91/56/4). Annual rates of live births and stillbirths were retrieved from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway., Results: Antenatal ultrasound provided a correct diagnosis of the major abnormality in 149/151 cases (99%), based on post-termination autopsy findings. The annual rate of terminations after 12 weeks' gestation varied between 0.6 and 3.4 (mean 1.8) per 1000 live births, with a trend toward higher rates over the study period (P=0.001, chi-square test for linear-by-linear association)., Conclusion: The specificity of antenatal ultrasound for major abnormalities was high, as compared to postnatal autopsy findings. The mean annual rates of termination after 12 weeks' gestation tended to increase over the 14-year study period.