Generation and Validation of Normative, Age-Specific Reference Curves for Bone Strain Index in Women.

Bone Strain Index (BSI), based on dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), is a densitometric index of bone strength of the femur and lumbar spine. Higher BSI values indicate a higher strain applied to bone, predisposing to higher fracture risk. This retrospective, multicentric study on Italian women reports the BSI normative age-specific reference curves.

MRI-derived extracellular volume as a biomarker of cancer therapy cardiotoxicity: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objectives: MRI-derived extracellular volume (ECV) allows characterization of myocardial changes before the onset of overt pathology, which may be caused by cancer therapy cardiotoxicity. Our purpose was to review studies exploring the role of MRI-derived ECV as an early cardiotoxicity biomarker to guide timely intervention.

Materials And Methods: In April 2022, we performed a systematic search on EMBASE and PubMed for articles on MRI-derived ECV as a biomarker of cancer therapy cardiotoxicity.

Four-Dimensional Flow MRI for the Evaluation of Aortic Endovascular Graft: A Pilot Study.

We aimed to explore the feasibility of 4D flow magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for patients undergoing thoracic aorta endovascular repair (TEVAR). We retrospectively evaluated ten patients (two female), with a mean (±standard deviation) age of 61 ± 20 years, undergoing MRI for a follow-up after TEVAR. All 4D flow examinations were performed using a 1.

Detection and quantification of breast arterial calcifications on mammograms: a deep learning approach.

Objective: Breast arterial calcifications (BAC) are a sex-specific cardiovascular disease biomarker that might improve cardiovascular risk stratification in women. We implemented a deep convolutional neural network for automatic BAC detection and quantification.

Methods: In this retrospective study, four readers labelled four-view mammograms as BAC positive (BAC+) or BAC negative (BAC-) at image level.

Myocardial extracellular volume assessment at CT in hospitalized COVID-19 patients with regards to pulmonary embolism.

Purpose: To evaluate myocardial status through the assessment of extracellular volume (ECV) calculated at computed tomography (CT) in patients hospitalized for novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), with regards to the presence of pulmonary embolism (PE) as a risk factor for cardiac dysfunction.

Method: Hospitalized patients with COVID-19 who underwent contrast-enhanced CT at our institution were retrospectively included in this study and grouped with regards to the presence of PE. Unenhanced and portal venous phase scans were used to calculate ECV by placing regions of interest in the myocardial septum and left ventricular blood pool.

The predictive role of right ventricular late gadolinium enhancement in patients with tetralogy of Fallot undergoing pulmonary valve replacement.

Background: Our purpose was to evaluate the correlations between right ventricular (RV) late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) at cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) in patients with tetralogy of Fallot (ToF) scheduled for pulmonary valve replacement (PVR) and post-PVR functional data.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed ToF patients scheduled for PVR who underwent two CMR examinations at our institution, one before the procedure (CMR-0), including contrast-enhanced sequences, and one after the procedure (CMR-1). Functional left and RV data were obtained by segmenting short-axis stacks on both CMR examinations, and normalised variations were calculated by dividing differences between CMR-1 and CMR-0 by the intercurring time interval, whereas the RV scar burden was assessed on CMR-0 LGE sequences both semiquantitatively and quantitatively.

Safe Follow-Up after Endovascular Aortic Repair with Unenhanced MRI: The SAFEVAR Study.

We aimed to investigate whether unenhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) could represent a safe and highly sensitive tool for endoleak screening in patients treated with endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) using computed tomography angiography (CTA) as a reference standard. Patients who underwent CTA for EVAR follow-up at our institution were prospectively enrolled. All MRI examinations were performed with a 1.

Mammography biomarkers of cardiovascular and musculoskeletal health: A review.

Breast density (BD) and breast arterial calcifications (BAC) can expand the role of mammography. In premenopause, BD is related to body fat composition: breast adipose tissue and total volume are potential indicators of fat storage in visceral depots, associated with higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Women with fatty breast have an increased likelihood of hypercholesterolemia.

Psoas Cross-Sectional Measurements Using Manual CT Segmentation before and after Endovascular Aortic Repair (EVAR).

Sarcopenia has been associated with an increased incidence of adverse outcomes, including higher mortality, after endovascular aortic repair (EVAR). We aim to use computed tomography (CT) to quantify changes in total psoas muscles area (PMA) and psoas muscle density (PMD) after EVAR, and to evaluate the reproducibility of both measurements. PMA and PMD were assessed via manual segmentation of the psoas muscle on pre- and post-operative CT scans belonging to consecutive patients who underwent EVAR.

Quantification of epicardial adipose tissue in obese patients using an open-bore MR scanner.

Background: Our aim was to evaluate the reproducibility of epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) volume, measured on scans performed using an open-bore magnetic resonance scanner.

Methods: Consecutive patients referred for bariatric surgery, aged between 18 and 65 years who agreed to undergo cardiac imaging (MRI), were prospectively enrolled. All those with cardiac pathology or contraindications to MRI were excluded.

Compressed Sensing Cardiac Cine Imaging Compared with Standard Balanced Steady-State Free Precession Cine Imaging in a Pediatric Population.

Purpose: To compare real-time compressed sensing (CS) and standard balanced steady-state free precession (bSSFP) cardiac cine imaging in children.

Materials And Methods: Twenty children (mean age, 15 years ± 5 [SD], range, 7-21 years; 10 male participants) with biventricular congenital heart disease ( = 11) or cardiomyopathy ( = 9) were prospectively included. Examinations were performed with 1.

Quantitative Assessment of Late Gadolinium Enhancement and Edema at Cardiac Magnetic Resonance in Low-Risk Myocarditis Patients.

In this study, we aimed to quantify LGE and edema at short-tau inversion recovery sequences on cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) in patients with myocarditis. We retrospectively evaluated CMR examinations performed during the acute phase and at follow-up. Forty-seven patients were eligible for retrospective LGE assessment, and, among them, twenty-five patients were eligible for edema evaluation.

Development and Validation of an AI-driven Mammographic Breast Density Classification Tool Based on Radiologist Consensus.

Mammographic breast density (BD) is commonly visually assessed using the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) four-category scale. To overcome inter- and intraobserver variability of visual assessment, the authors retrospectively developed and externally validated a software for BD classification based on convolutional neural networks from mammograms obtained between 2017 and 2020. The tool was trained using the majority BD category determined by seven board-certified radiologists who independently visually assessed 760 mediolateral oblique (MLO) images in 380 women (mean age, 57 years ± 6 [SD]) from center 1; this process mimicked training from a consensus of several human readers.

Potential role of epicardial adipose tissue as a biomarker of anthracycline cardiotoxicity.

Background: We investigated the radiodensity of epicardial (EAT), subcutaneous (SAT), and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) before and after treatment with anthracyclines in a population of breast cancer (BC) patients, and in controls not treated with anthracyclines, to detect a potential role of EAT density as a biomarker of changes related to chemotherapy cardiotoxicity.

Methods: We reviewed BC patients treated with anthracyclines who underwent CT before (CT-t) and after (CT-t) chemotherapy, and age- and sex-matched controls who underwent two CT examinations at comparable intervals. On non-contrast scans, EAT was segmented contouring the pericardium and thresholding between -190 and -30 Hounsfield units (HU), and SAT and VAT were segmented with two 15-mm diameter regions of interest thresholded between -195 and -45 HU.

Carotid Phase-Contrast Magnetic Resonance before Treatment: 4D-Flow versus Standard 2D Imaging.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the level of agreement between flow/velocity data obtained from 2D-phase-contrast (PC) and 4D-flow in patients scheduled for treatment of carotid artery stenosis. Image acquisition was performed using a 1.5 T scanner.

Bone Strain Index predicts fragility fracture in osteoporotic women: an artificial intelligence-based study.

Background: We applied an artificial intelligence-based model to predict fragility fractures in postmenopausal women, using different dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) parameters.

Methods: One hundred seventy-four postmenopausal women without vertebral fractures (VFs) at baseline (mean age 66.3 ± 9.

CT-derived epicardial adipose tissue density: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Purpose: The aim of our work was to systematically review and meta-analyze epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) density values reported in literature, assessing potential correlations of EAT density with segmentation thresholds and other technical and clinical variables.

Method: A systematic search was performed, aiming for papers reporting global EAT density values in Hounsfield Units (HU) in patients undergoing chest CT for any clinical indication. After screening titles, abstract and full text of each retrieved work, studies reporting mean and standard deviation for EAT density were ultimately included.

Semiquantitative score of breast arterial calcifications on mammography (BAC-SS): intra- and inter-reader reproducibility.

Background: Breast arterial calcifications (BAC), representing Mönckeberg's sclerosis of the tunica media of breast arteries, are an imaging biomarker for cardiovascular risk stratification in the female population. Our aim was to estimate the intra- and inter-reader reproducibility of a semiquantitative score for BAC assessment (BAC-SS).

Methods: Consecutive women who underwent screening mammography at our center from January 1 to January 31, 2018 were retrieved and included according to BAC presence.

The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on radiology residents in Northern Italy.

Objectives: To assess changes in working patterns and education experienced by radiology residents in Northwest Italy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: An online questionnaire was sent to residents of 9 postgraduate schools in Lombardy and Piedmont, investigating demographics, changes in radiological workload, involvement in COVID-19-related activities, research, distance learning, COVID-19 contacts and infection, changes in training profile, and impact on psychological wellbeing. Descriptive and χ statistics were used.

Subcutaneous, Paracardiac, and Epicardial Fat CT Density Before/After Contrast Injection: Any Correlation with CAD?

Adipose tissue, in particular epicardial adipose tissue, has been identified as a potential biomarker of cardiovascular pathologies such as coronary artery disease (CAD) in the light of its metabolic activity and close anatomic and pathophysiologic relationship to the heart. Our purpose was to evaluate epicardial adipose tissue density at both unenhanced and contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT), along with CT densities of paracardiac and subcutaneous adipose tissue, as well as the relations of such densities with CAD. We retrospectively reviewed patients who underwent cardiac CT at our institution for CAD assessment.

Late gadolinium enhancement in patients with Tetralogy of Fallot: A systematic review.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to review the literature concerning myocardial late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) with cardiac magnetic resonance in patients with Tetralogy of Fallot (ToF), with regards to its prevalence, characteristics and clinical relevance.

Methods: We performed a systematic search, aiming to retrieve original articles that evaluated LGE in ToF, running a search string on MEDLINE and EMBASE in November 2019 and November 2020. Papers were then selected by two independent, blinded readers based on title and abstract, and then on full-text reading, and articles which did not include LGE evaluation were excluded.

Computed tomography-derived myocardial extracellular volume: an early biomarker of cardiotoxicity in esophageal cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy.

Objectives: We aimed to assess extracellular volume (ECV) through non-gated, contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) before and after radiation therapy (RT) in patients with esophageal cancer (EC).

Materials And Methods: EC patients who had undergone CT before and after RT were retrospectively assessed. Patients with preexisting cardiovascular disease or with heavily artifacted CT were excluded.

Right ventricular strain in repaired Tetralogy of Fallot with regards to pulmonary valve replacement.

Purpose: To assess right ventricular (RV) myocardial strain both globally and segmentally through feature-tracking cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) in patients with Tetralogy of Fallot (ToF), with regards to pulmonary valve replacement (PVR).

Methods: After Ethics Committee approval, we retrospectively included 46 consecutive ToF patients who had two CMR examinations performed at our institution between March 2014 and June 2019. We divided patients into those who had not undergone PVR between the two CMR examinations (Group-0), and those who had (Group-1).