An Innovative Artificial Intelligence Classification Model for Non-Ischemic Cardiomyopathy Utilizing Cardiac Biomechanics Derived from Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Significant challenges persist in diagnosing non-ischemic cardiomyopathies (NICMs) owing to early morphological overlap and subtle functional changes. While cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) offers gold-standard structural assessment, current morphology-based AI models frequently overlook key biomechanical dysfunctions like diastolic/systolic abnormalities. To address this, we propose a dual-path hybrid deep learning framework based on CNN-LSTM and MLP, integrating anatomical features from cine CMR with biomechanical markers derived from intraventricular pressure gradients (IVPGs), significantly enhancing NICM subtype classification by capturing subtle biomechanical dysfunctions overlooked by traditional morphological models.

Ankylosed posterior spinal structures: the catalyst for syndesmophytes growth and impaired spinal mobility in axial spondyloarthritis.

Objective: To identify risk factors for spinal structural progression and determine the most significant impact on syndesmophytes growth and impaired spinal mobility in axSpA.

Methods: Baseline and 2-year follow-up clinical, thoracic and lumbar spine CT data of 94 patients were analyzed. Vertebral syndesmophytes unit (VSU) was defined as syndesmophytes anterior to vertebral body and its intervertebral disc space, with volumes calculated by Mimics software.

A higher body mass index and increased syndesmophytes volume are associated with facet joints ankylosis on thoracic spine in patients with ankylosing spondylitis: a retrospective cohort study.

Objective: To investigate the association between syndesmophytes and facet joint (FJ) lesions in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), and to identify clinical factors associated with FJ ankylosis (FJA) in thoracic segment.

Methods: Ninety-seven patients with AS who underwent thoracic spine computed tomography (CT) or chest CT and without completely thoracic spine fusion were included. FJ lesions were analyzed for the numbers and distribution of normal, ankylosis, erosions, joint-space narrowing, osteophytes, and subchondral sclerosis.

A background parenchymal enhancement quantification framework of breast magnetic resonance imaging.

Background: Background parenchymal enhancement (BPE) is defined as the enhanced proportion of normal fibroglandular tissue on enhanced magnetic resonance imaging. BPE shows promise as a quantitative imaging biomarker (QIB). However, the lack of consensus among radiologists in their semi-quantitative grading of BPE limits its clinical utility.

An Energy Matching Vessel Segmentation Framework in 3-D Medical Images.

Accurate vascular segmentation from High Resolution 3-Dimensional (HR3D) medical scans is crucial for clinicians to visualize complex vasculature and diagnose related vascular diseases. However, a reliable and scalable vessel segmentation framework for HR3D scans remains a challenge. In this work, we propose a High-resolution Energy-matching Segmentation (HrEmS) framework that utilizes deep learning to directly process the entire HR3D scan and segment the vasculature to the finest level.

Organising pneumonia caused by hormone (tamoxifen) therapy after radiotherapy for breast cancer: a case report and review of the literature.

Background: Five-year treatment with tamoxifen (TAM) has been the traditional standard of care for breast cancer. Organising pneumonia (OP) is a rare but significant complication of radiation therapy for breast cancer. The effect of TAM leading to OP has not yet been clearly documented.

Translational large animal model of coronary microvascular embolism: characterization by serial cardiac magnetic resonance and histopathology.

This study aimed to construct a large animal model of coronary microvascular embolism, and investigate whether it could mimic the clinical imaging phenotypes of myocardial hypoperfusion in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Nine minipigs underwent percutaneous coronary embolization with microspheres, followed by cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) on week 1, 2 and 4 post operation. Microvascular obstruction (MVO) was defined as the isolated hypointense core within the enhanced area on late gadolinium enhancement images, which evolved during a 4-week follow-up.

Development and validation of a deep learning model for breast lesion segmentation and characterization in multiparametric MRI.

Importance: The utilization of artificial intelligence for the differentiation of benign and malignant breast lesions in multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) assists radiologists to improve diagnostic performance.

Objectives: To develop an automated deep learning model for breast lesion segmentation and characterization and to evaluate the characterization performance of AI models and radiologists.

Materials And Methods: For lesion segmentation, 2,823 patients were used for the training, validation, and testing of the VNet-based segmentation models, and the average Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) between the manual segmentation by radiologists and the mask generated by VNet was calculated.

A simplified scoring protocol to improve diagnostic accuracy with the breast imaging reporting and data system in breast magnetic resonance imaging.

Background: The breast imaging reporting and data system (BI-RADS) lexicon provides a standardized terminology for describing leision characteristics but does not provide defined rules for converting specific imaging features into diagnostic categories. The inter-reader agreement of the BI-RADS is moderate. In this study, we explored the use of a simplified protocol and scoring system for BI-RADS categorization which integrates the morphologic features (MF), kinetic time-intensity curve (TIC), and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values with equal weights, with a view to providing a convenient and practical method for breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and improving the inter-reader agreement and diagnostic performance of BI-RADS.

Impact of apical and mid-ventricular transmural infarcts in patients with acute myocardial infarction determined by using late gadolinium enhancement combined with feature tracking magnetic resonance.

Background: To analyze the relationship between left ventricular (LV) myocardial strain and transmurality of myocardial infarction at three circular sections (basal, mid-ventricular, apical) by a combined analysis of cardiac magnetic resonance feature tracking (CMR-FT) and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) information in a cohort of ST-elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients after primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI).

Methods: In all, 136 patients with STEMI who underwent PPCI within 12 hours of symptom onset were included. CMR-FT and LGE-MRI were performed 5±2 days after PCI for measuring regional and global myocardial strain indexes and transmural extent.

Assisting scalable diagnosis automatically via CT images in the combat against COVID-19.

The pandemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is causing enormous loss of life globally. Prompt case identification is critical. The reference method is the real-time reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) assay, whose limitations may curb its prompt large-scale application.

Independent and combined effects of hypertension and diabetes on clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19: A retrospective cohort study of Huoshen Mountain Hospital and Guanggu Fangcang Shelter Hospital.

It is widely recognized that hypertension is one of the major risk factor for disease severity and mortality in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and hypertension are frequent comorbid conditions, complicating the assessment of hypertension's individual contribution to the risk. The aims of this study were to evaluate the contributions of hypertension alone, T2DM alone, or their combination to the risk of death, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)/respiratory failure, and severe COVID-19 infection.

The role of magnetic resonance imaging in detection and surgical treatment of breast intraductal papillomas.

Background: Intraductal papillomas are discrete benign tumors of the breast duct epithelium. Due to the risk of subsequent carcinoma, a surgical excision is generally recommended as a precaution. However, it is difficult to initially diagnose and accurately locate the lesions both in pre-surgery and surgery periods.

Solitary fibrous tumor of the kidney: Magnetic resonance imaging characteristics in 4 patients.

To investigate the characteristics of magnetic resonance image (MRI) in solitary fibrous tumor (SFT) of the kidney.MRI findings and clinical features of SFT of the kidney in 4 patients (2 men and 2 women with a mean age of 37.8 ± 8.

Rosai-Dorfman disease with features of IgG4-related disease in the breast: Cases report and literature review.

Background: A proportion of cases of Rosai-Dorfman disease exhibit some histological features consistent with IgG4-related disease (IgG4RD). Several investigators have discussed whether Rosai-Dorfman disease belongs to the spectrum of IgG4RD or is concurrent with it by coincidence.

Objective: To elucidate the relationship between the two diseases, we report key features, including IgG4 and amyloid levels, of four cases of Rosai-Dorfman disease in the breast.

The Improvement of Torsion Assessed by Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Feature Tracking after Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting: A Sensitive Index of Cardiac Function.

Objective: The aim of this study was to quantify left ventricular torsion by newly applied cardiovascular magnetic resonance feature tracking (CMR-FT), and to evaluate the clinical value of the ventricular torsion as a sensitive indicator of cardiac function by comparison of preoperative and postoperative torsion.

Methods: A total of 54 volunteers and 36 patients with previous myocardial infarction (MI) and LV ejection fraction (EF) between 30%-50% were screened preoperatively or postoperatively by MRI. The patients' short axis views of the whole heart were acquired, and all patients had a scar area >75% in at least one of the anterior or inferior segments.

Three-dimensional fuse deposition modeling of tissue-simulating phantom for biomedical optical imaging.

Biomedical optical devices are widely used for clinical detection of various tissue anomalies. However, optical measurements have limited accuracy and traceability, partially owing to the lack of effective calibration methods that simulate the actual tissue conditions. To facilitate standardized calibration and performance evaluation of medical optical devices, we develop a three-dimensional fuse deposition modeling (FDM) technique for freeform fabrication of tissue-simulating phantoms.

Feasibility of Automated Three-Dimensional Rotational Mechanics by Real-Time Volume Transthoracic Echocardiography: Preliminary Accuracy and Reproducibility Data Compared with Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance.

Background: Three-dimensional (3D) speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) for myocardial strain imaging may be superior to two-dimensional STE, especially with respect to rotational mechanics. Automated strain measurements from nonstitched 3D STE may improve work flow and clinical utility. The aim of this study was to test the feasibility of model-based 3D STE for the automated measurement of voxel circumferential strain (Ecc) and myocardial rotation.

[Value of assessing left ventricular longitudinal systolic peak strain in differential diagnosis of primary cardiac amyloidosis from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy].

Objective: To analyze the endocardial, myocardial, and epicardial longitudinal systolic strain (LSsys) in the left ventricle (LV) segments and walls in patients with cardiac involvement due to primary amyloidosis (AL-CA) and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).

Methods: Twenty patients with biopsy-proven AL-CA, 20 with asymmetric HCM, and 20 age-matched healthy volunteers were analyzed for their clinical characteristics and underwent conventional echocardiography for evaluating LV wall thickness, left atrial and ventricle size, systolic and diastolic function and 2-dimensional velocity vector imaging for evaluating the endocardial, myocardial and epicardial LSsys of the LV segments and walls. AL-CA and HCM patients also underwent cardiac magnetic resonance to evaluate the late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) features.

[Analysis of clinical and imaging features of cardiac amyloidosis: a multicenter study].

Objective: To summarize the features of clinical manifestations, laboratory tests and imaging findings of patients with cardiac amyloidosis (CA).

Methods: A total of 60 CA patients (including 41 male and 19 female patients) from 4 centers admitted between May, 2012 and November, 2013 were included in the study. The demographic data, medical history, clinical manifestations, laboratory test data, ECG, cardiac ultrasound, and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging of the patients were analyzed.

Application of single shot free-breathing fast imaging employing steady state sequence in cardiac magnetic resonance imaging.

Objective: To investigate the imaging quality of single shot (SS) fast imaging employing steady state (FIESTA) sequence in contrast-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance (MR) examination, in comparison with the segmented inversion recovery 2D fast gradient echo (IR FGRE) sequence.

Materials And Methods: Fifty-two cases with suspected or known heart disease were enrolled in this study, including 24 patients who had enhanced myocardium in myocardial delayed enhancement (MDE). We analyzed the imaging quality of the sequences by measuring the myocardium and blood pool signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) and the contrast-to-noise ratios (CNR) of blood pool relative to normal myocardium and of enhanced myocardium relative to normal myocardium and compared the new sequences with traditional sequence.