Semi-automatic and automatic segmentation in the preoperative assessment of graft volume before living donor liver transplantation.

Objectives: Accurate preoperative liver volumetry is essential for successful living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). Manual CT volumetry is time-consuming and operator-dependent, prompting the development of semi -automated and automated methods. The aim of this study is to compare the accuracy of one semi-automated (Vitrea, Canon) and two automated (Synapse, Fujifilm and United Imaging, UI) CT volumetry workstations in estimating liver graft volume of the right lobe, left lobe, and left lateral segment relative to intraoperative graft weight.

Lomitapide-induced fatty liver is a reversible condition: Evidence from a case of familial chylomicronemia syndrome.

Familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by severe hypertriglyceridemia. It is caused by loss-of-function variants in the genes encoding the lipoprotein lipase (LPL) enzyme and its cofactors, which severely impair the hydrolysis of triglycerides (TG). Its main complication is represented by acute pancreatitis (AP), a potentially life-threatening condition.

ANGPTL3 Deficiency and Risk of Hepatic Steatosis.

Background: ANGPTL3 (angiopoietin-like 3) is a therapeutic target for reducing plasma levels of triglycerides and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. A recent trial with vupanorsen, an antisense oligonucleotide targeting hepatic production of ANGPTL3, reported a dose-dependent increase in hepatic fat. It is unclear whether this adverse effect is due to an on-target effect of inhibiting hepatic ANGPTL3.

Quantitative ultrasound fatty liver evaluation in a pediatric population: comparison with magnetic resonance imaging of liver proton density fat fraction.

Background: Biopsy remains the gold standard for the diagnosis of hepatic steatosis, the leading cause of pediatric chronic liver disease; however, its costs call for less invasive methods.

Objective: This study examined the diagnostic accuracy and reliability of quantitative ultrasound (QUS) for the assessment of liver fat content in a pediatric population, using magnetic resonance imaging proton density fat fraction (MRI-PDFF) as the reference standard.

Materials And Methods: We enrolled 36 patients.

CT volume analysis in living donor liver transplantation: accuracy of three different approaches.

Objectives: The aim of this retrospective study is to compare and evaluate accuracy of three different approaches of liver volume quantification in living donor transplantations.

Methods: This is a single-center, retrospective study of 60 donors. The total and right lobe liver volumes were analyzed in the portal-venous phase by two independent radiologists who estimated the volumes using manual, semi-automated and automated segmentation methods.

Risk factors for hepatic encephalopathy and mortality in cirrhosis: The role of cognitive impairment, muscle alterations and shunts.

Introduction/aim: Muscle alterations, portosystemic shunts (SPSS) and minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) are related to hepatic encephalopathy (HE), however no studies have investigated the relative role of all these risk factors detected in the same patients. The aim of the study was to assess the prognostic impact of muscle alterations, MHE and SPSS on hepatic encephalopathy and transplant free survival.

Patients/methods: 114 cirrhotics were submitted to Psychometric Hepatic Encephalopathy Score (PHES) and Animal Naming Test (ANT) to detect MHE.

Sarco-Model: A score to predict the dropout risk in the perspective of organ allocation in patients awaiting liver transplantation.

Background & Aims: Sarcopenia in liver transplantation (LT) cirrhotic candidates has been connected with higher dropouts and graft losses after transplant. The study aims to create an 'urgency' model combining sarcopenia and Model for End-stage Liver Disease Sodium (MELDNa) to predict the risk of dropout and identify an appropriate threshold of post-LT futility.

Methods: A total of 1087 adult cirrhotic patients were listed for a first LT during January 2012 to December 2018.

Relevance of Spontaneous Portosystemic Shunts Detected with CT in Patients with Cirrhosis.

Background Cirrhosis leads to portal hypertension and to the consequent formation of spontaneous portosystemic shunts (SPSSs), leading to complications related to the diversion of portal blood into the systemic circulation, which is called portosystemic shunt syndrome. Purpose To investigate the characteristics of patients with cirrhosis and an SPSS and secondarily to assess the prognostic impact of SPSSs on portal hypertension-related complications and transplant-free survival. Materials and Methods A retrospective database review of patients with cirrhosis (observed from March 2015 to July 2019) was performed to identify patients with CT imaging and outcomes data.

HDL-Mediated Cholesterol Efflux and Plasma Loading Capacities Are Altered in Subjects with Metabolically- but Not Genetically Driven Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD).

. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) increases the risk of atherosclerosis but this risk may differ between metabolically- vs. genetically-driven NAFLD.

Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), But not Its Susceptibility Gene Variants, Influences the Decrease of Kidney Function in Overweight/Obese Children.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with an increased risk of kidney disease in adults and children. However, it is uncertain whether this association is influenced by major NAFLD susceptibility genes. In a sample of 230 overweight/obese children, 105 with NAFLD (hepatic fat fraction ≥5% by magnetic resonance imaging) and 125 without NAFLD, rs738409 in PNPLA3, rs58542926 in TM6SF2, rs1260326 in GCKR, and rs641738 in MBOAT7 were genotyped.

The decline in muscle strength and muscle quality in relation to metabolic derangements in adult women with obesity.

Background & Aims: The metabolic and functional characteristics related to sarcopenic obesity have not been thoroughly explored in the earlier stages of the aging process. The aim of the present study was to examine the phenotype of sarcopenic obesity, in terms of lean body mass, muscle strength and quality, in adult women with and without the Metabolic Syndrome (MetS), and its relationship with the features of myosteatosis.

Methods: Study participants were enrolled at the Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.

Genetic and metabolic predictors of hepatic fat content in a cohort of Italian children with obesity.

Objectives: To comprehensively explore metabolic and genetic contributors to liver fat accumulation in overweight/obese children.

Methods: Two hundred thirty Italian children with obesity were investigated for metabolic parameters and genotyped for PNPLA3, TM6SF2, GCKR, and MBOAT7 gene variants. Percentage hepatic fat content (HFF%) was measured by nuclear magnetic resonance.

Locoregional therapy response in patients with hepatocellular cancer waiting for liver transplantation: Only selection or biological effect?

Locoregional treatments (LRT) represent a broad strategy used for reducing the risk of drop-off and contextually improving the survivals in patients with hepatocellular cancer receiving a liver transplantation (LT). However, it is not sufficiently clear if LRT are only a surrogate of tumor aggressiveness or if they consent a real benefit in terms of tumor stabilization. A recent study by Pommergaard et al reported the results from the European Liver Transplant Registry.

Volumetric Distribution of the White Matter Hyper-Intensities in Subject with Mild to Severe Carotid Artery Stenosis: Does the Side Play a Role?

Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to assess the difference in the distribution of white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) on left and right sides of the brain hemispheres of subjects with mild to severe carotid artery stenosis.

Material And Methods: Eighty consecutive patients (mean age 71 ± 6 years, males 66) with carotid artery stenosis were prospectively recruited. FLAIR-WMH lesion volume was performed using a semiautomated segmentation technique (Jim, Xinapse System, Leicester, UK).

Peritoneal and pleural fluids may appear hyperintense on hepatobiliary phase using hepatobiliary MR contrast agents.

Aim: To describe the effect of hepatobiliary-specific MR imaging contrast agent (HBCA) administration on the signal intensity of peritoneal and pleural fluid effusions on T1-weighted MR images.

Materials And Methods: From October 2015 to May 2016 139 patients (mean 60±10 years old, 69 % males) with peritoneal or pleural effusions without biliary leakage who underwent HBCA-MRI (Gd-BOPTA or Gd-EOB-DTPA) at 1.5T and 3T were included from two centres.

WISP1 Is a Marker of Systemic and Adipose Tissue Inflammation in Dysmetabolic Subjects With or Without Type 2 Diabetes.

Context: Wnt1-inducible signaling pathway protein 1 (WISP1) is a novel adipokine participating in adipose tissue (AT) dysfunction; so far, no data on WISP1 in diabetes are available.

Objectives: To evaluate plasma WISP1 in subjects with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and its correlates linked to AT inflammation.

Design And Participants: For this cross-sectional study, 97 consecutive dysmetabolic patients were recruited at the diabetes outpatient clinics of Sapienza University in Rome; 71 of them had T2D, with (n = 35) or without (n = 36) obesity, and 26 were obese patients without diabetes.

Radiation dose and image quality of computed tomography of the supra-aortic arteries: A comparison between single-source and dual-source CT Scanners.

Purpose: The purpose of this work was to compare the image quality and radiation dose delivered to patients during computed tomography (CT) angiography (CTA) of the supra-aortic arteries using two single-source (SS) and two dual-energy (DE) CT scanners.

Material And Methods: In this retrospective study, 120 patients who underwent CTA of supra-aortic arteries were studied using four different types of CT scanners: a sixteen and forty-detector-row SS and two DE CT scanners. Seventy milliters of contrast medium were injected at a flow rate of 4mL/s using a power injector.

Imaging Features of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Children and Adolescents.

Non-invasive diagnosis and quantification of liver steatosis is important to overcome limits of liver biopsy, in order to follow up patients during their therapy and to establish a reference standard that can be used in clinical trials and longitudinal studies. Imaging offers several methods in this setting: ultrasound, which is the cheapest technique and easy to perform; magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), which reflects the real content of triglycerides in a specific volume; and proton density fat fraction (PDFF) magnetic resonance, which is a simple method that reflects the distribution of the fat in the whole liver. Other techniques include ultrasound elastography (EUS) and magnetic resonance elastrography (MRE), which can evaluate the progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) into non-alcoholic steato-hepatitis (NASH) and cirrhosis, by quantifying liver fibrosis.

Imaging-guided chest biopsies: techniques and clinical results.

Background: This article aims to comprehensively describe indications, contraindications, technical aspects, diagnostic accuracy and complications of percutaneous lung biopsy.

Methods: Imaging-guided biopsy currently represents one of the predominant methods for obtaining tissue specimens in patients with lung nodules; in many cases treatment protocols are based on histological information; thus, biopsy is frequently performed, when technically feasible, or in case other techniques (such as bronchoscopy with lavage) are inconclusive.

Results: Although a coaxial system is suitable in any case, two categories of needles can be used: fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) and core-needle biopsy (CNB), with the latter demonstrated to have a slightly higher overall sensitivity, specificity and accuracy.

Volumetric Analysis of Carotid Plaque Components and Cerebral Microbleeds: A Correlative Study.

Purpose: The purpose of this work was to explore the association between carotid plaque volume (total and the subcomponents) and cerebral microbleeds (CMBs).

Materials And Methods: Seventy-two consecutive (male 53; median age 64) patients were retrospectively analyzed. Carotid arteries were studied by using a 16-detector-row computed tomography scanner whereas brain was explored with a 1.