Imaging of opportunistic fungal infections in immunocompromised patient

Opportunistic fungal infection is a common cause of serious morbidity and mortality in the immunocompromised host. Combination of pattern recognition with knowledge of the clinical setting is the best approach to pulmonary infectious processes. The aim of this article is to assess the chest radiographs and CT imaging features of different opportunistic fungal infections in immunocompromised patients.     

Diagnosis of chest wall invasion by lung cancer: useful criteria for exclusion of the possibility of chest wall invasion with MR imaging

PURPOSE: To compare the accuracy of thin-section CT, conventional static MR imaging (conventional MRI), and breathing dynamic echo planar magnetic resonance imaging (BDEPI) in evaluating lung cancer invasion to the chest wall. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thin-section CT, conventional MRI, and BDEPI were performed preoperatively in 20 patients suspected of having primary lung cancers adjacent to the chest wall on conventional CT. The results of imaging findings were compared with those of surgical and histopathological findings. RESULTS: All patients were confirmed to have no chest wall invasion after surgery. By thin-section CT, 10 of 20 patients were correctly diagnosed as having no chest wall invasion (50% specificity). Two of the 20 patients were incorrectly diagnosed as having chest wall invasion by conventional MRI and BDEPI (90% specificity). CONCLUSION: When chest wall invasion is suspected on CT scans, static and breathing dynamic MRI are recommended to avoid false positive interpretations.     

New diagnostic signs in hydatid disease; radiography, ultrasound, CT and MRI correlated to pathology

Seventeen of 70 patients with hydatid disease had verified Echinococcus granulosus infection of the chest. In 14 patients (20%), the primary location was the lung parenchyma. Two patients had primary and one secondary mediastinal hydatid cysts, and one patient a primary hydatid cyst of the chest wall. In three above-mentioned patients, secondary pleural involvement occurred, of which two were due to ruptured pulmonary cysts and one due to an hydatid cyst arising in the liver and having prolapsed into the chest. In all cases, clinical findings, radiography, ultrasound (US), computed tomography (CT) and/or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were correlated to macroscopic and microscopic pathology. Characteristic signs made recognition of hydatid disease possible, sometimes even when serologic tests had been non-conclusive. Assessment of other cysts throughout the body with or without involvement of neighbouring organs or tissues allowed appropriate therapeutic management. CT and MRI also played a key role in recognizing complications (e.g., rupture, infection of cysts).     

Pulmonary Aspergillus chest wall involvement in chronic granulomatous disease: CT and MRI findings

Pulmonary Aspergillus infection in patients with chronic granulomatous disease tends to involve the chest wall and consequently carries a high mortality rate. We report the findings of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in three such cases. One patient underwent both CT and MRI, one, CT only, and one, MRI only. In all three, both CT and MRI demonstrated pulmonary consolidations with direct extension to the adjacent chest wall. In both patients who were examined by CT, scans revealed permeative osteolytic changes of adjacent rib or spine compatible with osteomyelitis. In both patients who were examined by MRI, adjacent chest wall involvement was depicted on T1-weighted images and showed increased signal intensity on T2-weighted images. In one of these patients, the chest wall lesion was well defined on T2-weighted images, an appearance compatible with abscess. Epidural extension was demonstrated on MRI in the other patient, who later developed paraparesis. We suggest that CT and MRI have a complementary role in evaluating chest wall invasion by pulmonary Aspergillus infection in chronic granulomatous disease.     

木村病的影像表现及文献复习

目的 探讨不同部位木村病的CT及MRI表现.方法 收集本院经病理证实19例木村病患者的CT和MRI行回顾性分析,并结合文献讨论.结果 19例木村病中累及头颈部16例、肺内1例、胸壁1例、肝脾受累1例.头颈部木村病CT表现为结节、团块及弥漫性密度异常,平扫与肌肉密度相似,T1WI呈等或稍低信号,T2WI呈高信号,CT和MRI增强扫描多为中度或明显强化.肺内及胸壁木村病表现为软组织肿块,增强扫描肺内病灶呈中度强化,胸壁病灶呈环形强化.肝脾同时受累木村病病灶呈散在结节状轻度强化灶.结论 木村病影像学表现缺乏特征性,需结合实验室检查及病理综合判断.     

Complications of pneumoconiosis: Radiologic overview

A wide spectrum of pulmonary complications occurs in patients with pneumoconiosis. Those complications include chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hemoptysis, pneumothorax, pleural disease, tuberculosis, autoimmune disease, anthracofibrosis, chronic interstitial pneumonia, and malignancy. Generally, imaging workup starts with plain chest radiography. However, sometimes, plain radiography has limited role in the diagnosis of pulmonary complications of pneumoconiosis because of overlapping pneumoconiotic infiltration. Computed tomography (CT), ultrasonography (US), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are potentially helpful for the detection of pulmonary complications in patients with pneumoconiosis. CT, with its excellent contrast resolution, is more sensitive and specific method than plain radiograph in the evaluation of pulmonary abnormalities. CT is useful in detecting lung parenchymal abnormalities caused by infection, anthracofibrosis, and chronic interstitial pneumonia. Also, CT is valuable in distinguishing localized pneumothorax from bullae and aiding the identification of multiloculated effusions. US can be used in detection of complicated pleural effusions and guidance of the thoracentesis procedure. MRI is useful for differentiating between progressive massive fibrosis and lung cancer.     

Pulmonary actinomycosis with thoracic soft tissue mass: a rare onset form

Actinomycosis is unusual, and rare especially when the lung and the thoracic wall are involved. It is more frequent in immunocompromised patient. US, CT, or MRI are imaging methods of diagnosis with high sensibility to recognise the disease and are able to the management. We point out a rare case in a normal teenager with thoracic abscess.     

胸部脂肪瘤的影像学诊断(附14例报告)

目的探讨胸部脂肪瘤的影像学表现及检查方法优选. 资料与方法搜集胸部脂肪瘤14例资料,包括肺脂肪瘤2例,胸壁脂肪瘤4例,纵隔脂肪瘤3例,胸腺脂肪瘤3例,横膈脂肪瘤1例,右心房脂肪瘤1例,全部病例均有胸部正侧位片,12例进行了CT检查,1例进行了MRI检查,对全部患者的影像学表现进行分析. 结果胸部正侧位片病灶发现率78.6%,漏诊原因与肿瘤密度过低,肿瘤沿胸壁深部肌间隙浸润生长或肿瘤位于平片上较隐蔽的部位有关.CT检查不仅可进行精确的定位诊断和分类诊断,而且能作出定性诊断,但应常规摄脂肪窗片.MRI对这类肿瘤最敏感,它对病变的发现、定位、分类诊断及定性诊断有决定性意义. 结论胸部正侧位片是胸部脂肪瘤的首选检查方法,但病变的分类诊断与定性诊断需依赖胸部CT与MRI,其中MRI是该类疾病的最佳检查方法.     

胰岛素瘤的影像学评价(附28例报告)

目的：探讨多种影像学方法在胰岛素瘤术前定位诊断中的价值。资料与方法：28例经手术病理证实的胰岛素瘤患者于术前做B超和DSA检查，22例行胰腺CT扫描，10例行MRI检查。结果：4种影像学方法对胰岛素瘤术前定位诊断准确率分别为：DSA 82％（23／28），超声57％（16／28），CT 41％（9／22），MRI90％（9／10）。DSA与超声。MRI相结合使本组术前定位诊断准确率达93％（26／28）。结论：MRI和DSA是胰岛素瘤术前定位诊断准确率高而有效的方法。对临床有Whipple三联征患者，应首先选用超声和MRI或螺旋CT检查，特别是MRI或螺旋CT薄层快速动态增强扫描。当上述无创检查方法仍不能明确诊断时，可进一步行胰血管造影，多种影像技术联合应用可以提高本病的诊断准确率。     

Infecciones bacterianas atípicas del sistema nervioso central transmitidas por garrapatas: una amenaza desconocida

Infections of the central nervous system caused by atypical bacteria are becoming more common. Borrelia burgdorferi and Rickettsia conorii are microorganisms transmitted by ticks; infection with these bacteria result in a wide spectrum of manifestations on imaging. In areas where these tick-borne microorganisms are endemic, including Spain, these infections must be included in the differential diagnosis of patients with a variety of systemic and neurologic symptoms. The clinical presentation of these infections is nonspecific, and CT is normally the initial imaging technique, although MRI is more sensitive to early changes. On MRI, these infections can manifest as small lesions in the deep supratentorial white matter that are hyperintense on T2-weighted/FLAIR sequences. It is fundamental to know the imaging characteristics of the different atypical bacterial infections and their differential diagnoses. Good history taking combined with complementary tests (blood tests and CSF analysis) and the neuroimaging findings can help reach the right diagnosis and enable appropriate treatment, thereby preventing possible neurological sequelae.     

Imaging of peripheral PNET: common and uncommon locations

AIM: We present the imaging features of peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumour (PNET) in eight children, highlighting the unusual locations of this tumour in three children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: At presentation, the tumours were studied with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI; n = 6), computed tomography (CT; n = 7) and ultrasound (US; n = 1). The diagnoses were confirmed histologically (n = 8), immunohistochemically (n = 8), by cytogenetics (n = 3) and electron microscopy (n = 1). Correlation with gross pathology, histology, treatment and outcome were obtained. RESULTS: The tumours were located in the chest wall (n = 2), shoulder, pelvis, small bowel mesentery, adrenal gland, dura mater and skin and subcutaneous tissue of the abdominal wall (n = 1 each). Peripheral PNET arising from the small bowel mesentery, adrenal gland and dura mater have not been previously reported in the English literature. The tumours were mainly large (mean size: 10.6 cm) and infiltrative. All tumours were heterogeneously hyperintense on T2-weighted MRI, heterogeneously iso/hypodense on CT and had variable contrast enhancement. Most tumours were heterogeneously hypointense to muscle on T1-weighted MRI. US showed a hypoechoic mass with a cystic component. CONCLUSION: Peripheral PNET can occur in unusual locations. The clinical and imaging features of peripheral PNET are non-specific, making tissue diagnosis essential. PNET should be included in the differential diagnosis of aggressive soft tissue tumours in children.     

Tc-99m exametazime-labeled leukocyte scans in the study of infections in skull neurosurgery

Diagnosis and follow-up of skull infections are usually performed by neurologic examination, laboratory tests and instrumental diagnostic methods such as computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). These have, however, shown some limitations for specificity. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the overall contribution of Tc-99m exametazime-labeled leukocyte imaging scan Tc-99m hexamethylpropyleneamine (HMPAO) labeled white blood cells (WBC) in the diagnosis and management of infections in skull neurosurgery. Thirty-four patients were subdivided into 4 groups on the basis of the suspected pathology: intracerebral lesions on CT or MRI (group A, n = 20), suspected postsurgical infections (group B, n = 6), suspected deep infection of the surgical wound (group C, n = 4), and suspected infection of the ventriculoperitoneal shunt (group D, n = 4). All patients underwent CT, MRI, and Tc-99m HMPAO WBC imaging. Patients in group C also underwent bacteriologic and culture examinations of wound secretions if present. In positive cases in group A, Tc-99m HMPAO WBC imaging was repeated. The scintigraphic results were compared with histologic findings in patients who underwent surgery and with the results of a 12-month clinical follow-up in the remaining patients. Tc-99m HMPAO WBC scans correctly detected the infections in all groups. Furthermore, such imaging proved to be able to document recovery from the disease in all of the assessed cerebral abscesses. This study may have an important role both in the diagnosis and in the management of infections in skull neurosurgery, which, it is hoped, will be confirmed in the future.     

Comparison of magnetic resonance imaging with computed tomography and intravesical ultrasound in staging bladder cancer

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), and intravesical ultrasound (US) scanning were performed on 11 patients in whom infiltrative bladder cancer was suspected at cystoscopy. Equipment with magnetic field 0.02 T was used for the MRI. Tumors larger than 2 cm could be identified in all cases by MRI. In 3 of 4 cases in which the tumor was smaller than 2 cm, it could not be properly visualized and the degree of infiltration could not be assessed. When the tumor was visualized on MRI, tumor staging by MRI was correct in 7 of 8 cases (88%). Infiltration of the deep muscle layer of the bladder wall could be detected by MRI but not by CT. Intravesical US staging was correct in 7 of 9 cases (78%). As a noninvasive method, MRI is promising for the preoperative evaluation of bladder cancer and offers the advantage of imaging the bladder in different planes.     

Comparison of magnetic resonance imaging with computed tomography and intravesical ultrasound in staging bladder cancer

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), and intravesical ultrasound (US) scanning were performed on 11 patients in whom infiltrative bladder cancer was suspected at cystoscopy. Equipment with magnetic field 0.02 T was used for the MRI. Tumors larger than 2 cm could be identified in all cases by MRI. In 3 of 4 cases in which the tumor was smaller than 2 cm, it could not be properly visualized and the degree of infiltration could not be assessed. When the tumor was visualized on MRI, tumor staging by MRI was correct in 7 of 8 cases (88%). Infiltration of the deep muscle layer of the bladder wall could be detected by MRI but not by CT. Intravesical US staging was correct in 7 of9 cases (78%). As a noninvasive method, MRI is promising for the preoperative evaluation of bladder cancer and offers the advantage of imaging the bladder in different planes.     

MR imaging of thoracic and abdominal wall infections: comparison with other imaging procedures

Infections of the chest and abdominal wall are rare but potentially fatal disorders that can occur spontaneously or in association with diabetes mellitus, immunosuppression, or trauma. The condition (either in the form of necrotizing fasciitis and/or pyomyositis) is difficult to diagnose clinically because of poor localizing signs. Prognosis depends on early recognition, extent of disease, and type of causative organism. Pathologically, the infections can manifest as cellulitis, abscess, and/or granulation tissue formation. To determine the value of MR imaging in the assessment of these infections, we compared the findings of MR with those of CT, sonography, scintigraphy, and plain radiography in 13 patients with proved thoracic and/or abdominal wall infection. The imaging findings were correlated with microbiological, pathologic, and/or surgical data. The isolated pathogens were Staphylococcus aureus (n = 6), Klebsiella pneumoniae (n = 1), Mycobacterium tuberculosis (n = 4), and Streptomyces somaliensis (n = 2). In 10 of 13 patients, MR imaging and CT were comparable and proved accurate in detecting the nature and extent of the inflammatory process. In seven of the patients, CT also was useful in guiding percutaneous biopsy and/or partial drainage procedures. Coronal and sagittal MR images were helpful for planning surgery. Rib osteomyelitis was missed with both techniques in one patient; in two other patients who did not have CT, MR imaging missed osteomyelitis of the ribs, the spinous process of a vertebral body, and the iliac bone. Sonography underestimated the extent of the disease in all 13 patients, but detected fluid collections in six. Findings on scintigraphy and plain radiography were the least contributory to the diagnosis and treatment of these patients.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Primary malignant fibrous histiocytoma of the chest wall: CT and MR appearance

PURPOSE: The purpose of this work is to describe the CT and MR appearance of primary malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH) of the chest wall. METHOD: Eleven men and eight women (45-76 years old) with primary MFH of the chest wall who underwent both CT and MRI were enrolled, and the imaging interpretation was retrospectively compared to the pathologic specimen. RESULTS: All tumors were inhomogeneous in appearance on CT scans. All tumors showed high signal intensity on T2-weighted images. On T1-weighted MR images, tumors displayed inhomogeneous isosignal intensity in 15 cases (79%) and low signal intensity in 5 (21%) compared with the surrounding muscle. Tumors exhibited inhomogeneous enhancement in all except three localized tumors on enhanced CT and MRI. Invasion of intercostal muscle was noted on MR images in 18 patients (95%) and on CT in 11 patients (58%). CONCLUSION: There might be various radiologic appearances of MFH. However, CT and MRI are able to demonstrate the exact localization and disease extent of MFH arising in the chest wall.     

儿童胸壁病变的影像表现与临床分析

目的 探讨儿童胸壁病变的临床及影像表现特点，提高对胸壁病变的诊断水平。方法 收集我院2009年10月-2018年6月经手术及病理证实的50例胸壁病变患儿，包括感染组（4例）和非感染组（46例），非感染组进一步分为良性肿瘤组（41例）和恶性肿瘤组（5例）。50例患儿均行超声、CT或MRI检查。对所有病例的临床及影像表现进行回顾性分析。结果 3组病例的临床及影像表现各有不同。①临床表现：感染组病人全部出现发热、胸痛、病灶局部红肿热的临床表现，且病变均质软；良性肿瘤组中质软出现率为90.2%（37/41）；恶性肿瘤组全部病变均质韧。3组病变移动性均差。感染组及恶性肿瘤组全部病例均有局部压痛，而良性肿瘤组压痛的发生率仅为7.3%（3/41）。②影像表现：良性肿瘤组中，75.6%（31/41）病变显示内部均匀，65.9%（27/41）边缘清晰；而感染组及恶性肿瘤组病灶内部不均匀，边缘模糊。良性肿瘤组中仅9.8%（4/41）病灶可见钙化，2.4%（1/41）病灶有出血，19.5%（8/41）病灶内部出现囊腔影，14.6%（6/41）病例可见肋骨破坏；恶性肿瘤组全部侵犯入胸腔并破坏肋骨；感染组均无肋骨破坏。感染组与恶性肿瘤组病变均呈明显强化，而良性肿瘤组中80.5%（33/41）表现为无/轻度强化。结论 不同性质胸壁病变临床特点各异，结合临床和影像特征可更好地诊断胸壁病变。     

Staging of thoracic lymphoma by radiological imaging

Thoracic lymphomas, which are very common especially in Hodgkin's disease patients, are characterised by enlargement of mediastinal lymph nodes, parenchymal abnormalities, and pleural, pericardial and chest wall involvement. The use of several imaging techniques has been proposed in order to assess the extent of the disease correctly and to plan therapy. The most relevant results in this field, especially those using computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and gallium scanning, are summarised in this review. Presently CT is widely and successfully used in staging patients, whereas MRI seems to be preferable, as a second-step technique, if pericardial, pleural and chest wall involvement are suspected. The role of gallium scanning is limited in the staging, although it could be relevant in the follow-up of treated patients. Received 4 April 1996; Revision received 7 November 1996; Accepted 7 November 1996     

Diagnose der Pilzpneumonie in der Thorax-CT

The importance of fungal infection of the lung in immunocompromised patients has increased substantially during the last decades. Numerically the most patients are those with neutropenia, e.g. patients with malignancies or solid organ and stem cell transplantation, chemotherapy, corticosteroid use and HIV infection. Although fungal infections can occur in immunocompetent patients, their frequency in this population is rare.The clinical symptoms such as fever accompanied with non-productive cough are unspecific. In some patients progression to hypoxemia and dyspnea may occur rapidly. In spite of improved antifungal therapy morbidity and mortality of these infections are still high. Therefore an early and non-invasive diagnosis is very important. That is why CT and even better High-Resolution-CT (HR-CT) is a very important modality in examining immunocompromised patients with a probability of fungal infection. CT is everywhere available and, as a non-invasive method, able to give the relevant diagnose efficiently.This paper should give an overview about the radiologic findings and possible differential diagnosis of diverse pulmonary fungal infections in CT. Pneumonias caused by Aspergillus, Cryptococcus, Candida, Histoplasma, Mucor and Geotrichum capitatum are illustrated.