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Background/aim: The presented study aimed to evaluate the utility of magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) in the pediatric population with nutcracker syndrome., Materials and Methods: Patients with suggestive clinical symptoms and laboratory findings and got the diagnosis of nutcracker syndrome with Doppler ultrasonography between January 2011–2019 were included in the study. In addition, children who had renal MRA due to hypertension were evaluated as the control group. MRA images of all patients were examined retrospectively by three radiologists at different levels of experience, and the superior mesenteric artery angle, aorta-mesenteric distance, left renal vein diameter both in the regions of aorta-mesenteric, and renal hilum were recorded., Results: Forty-five patients diagnosed with nutcracker syndrome were included in the study. The mean age of patients was 12 (4–16) and 30 (67%) were female. As the control group, 25 patients with hypertension who had MRA were included and they had a mean age of 12 (1–18) and 19 (76%) were male. The mean superior mesenteric artery angle was 26.5 ° (16–73 ± 12) in the patient group and 57.8 ° (25–139, ± 33) in the control group (p < 0.001); the mean aorta-mesenteric distance was 3.3 mm (1.7–6.5, ± 1.1) in the patient group and 8 mm (3.4–32, ± 5.9) in the control group (p < 0.001). MRA measurements of three radiologists were consistent with each other., Conclusion: MRA imaging can be applied as an alternative diagnostic method for Doppler ultrasonography and multidetector CT examinations by radiologists with different experience levels in pediatric patients with nutcracker syndrome., Competing Interests: Declarations of interest: there is no conflict of interest., (This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.)

Background/aim: This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of vertebral Hounsfield unit (HU) values on routine contrast- enhanced abdominal computed tomography (CT) scans for the assessment of osteoporosis using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) T-scores as a reference standard., Materials and Methods: A total of 111 consecutive patients who underwent contrast-enhanced abdominal CT examination for any indication and DXA within a 6-month period were retrospectively analyzed. The CT attenuation values of trabecular bone in HUs were measured in axial and sagittal planes from lumbar vertebrae 1–4 (L1–L4). The correlation between the DXA T-scores and HU values measured on the CT scans was evaluated by Pearson’s correlation test. Areas under the curves (AUCs) were calculated by receiver operating characteristic analysis for diagnostic proficiency, and threshold values were determined. Paired t-test and Bland–Altman plot test were used to evaluate the correlation between axial and sagittal HU values., Results: There was a strong correlation between the DXA T-scores and HU values of all the lumbar vertebrae (P < 0.001). The highest correlation was for the L3 vertebra; L3 was thus chosen for additional analyses. The mean axial and sagittal L3 attenuations were 133.7 HU and 131.9 HU, respectively. The axial measurements were not significantly different from the sagittal measurements, with a mean difference of 1.8 HU (P > 0.05). The L3 axial CT attenuation threshold for 90% sensitivity was 170 HU and that for 90% specificity was 102 HU for distinguishing osteoporosis from osteopenia and normal bone mineral density (BMD). To distinguish the low BMD group from the normal group, the L3 axial CT attenuation threshold for approximately 90% sensitivity was 102 HU and for 90% specificity was 165 HU., Conclusion: The HUs derived from routine contrast-enhanced abdominal CT scans can be used for the evaluation of osteoporosis, without additional radiation exposure and cost., Competing Interests: None declared., (This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.)