Morphological imaging and CT histogram analysis to differentiate pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor grade 3 from neuroendocrine carcinoma

PurposeTo compare morphological imaging features and CT texture histogram parameters between grade 3 pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (G3-NET) and neuroendocrine carcinomas (NEC).Materials and methodsPatients with pathologically proven G3-NET and NEC, according to the 2017 World Health Organization classification who had CT and MRI examinations between 2006-2017 were retrospectively included. CT and MRI examinations were reviewed by two radiologists in consensus and analyzed with respect to tumor size, enhancement patterns, hemorrhagic content, liver metastases and lymphadenopathies. Texture histogram analysis of tumors was performed on arterial and portal phase CT images. images. Morphological imaging features and CT texture histogram parameters of G3-NETs and NECs were compared.ResultsThirty-seven patients (21 men, 16 women; mean age, 56 ± 13 [SD] years [range: 28-82 years]) with 37 tumors (mean diameter, 60 ± 46 [SD] mm) were included (CT available for all, MRI for 16/37, 43%). Twenty-three patients (23/37; 62%) had NEC and 14 patients (14/37; 38%) had G3-NET. NECs were larger than G3-NETs (mean, 70 ± 51 [SD] mm [range: 18 - 196 mm] vs. 42 ± 24 [SD] mm [range: 8 - 94 mm], respectively; P = 0.039), with more tumor necrosis (75% vs. 33%, respectively; P = 0.030) and lower attenuation on precontrast (30 ± 4 [SD] HU [range: 25-39 HU] vs. 37 ± 6 [SD] [range: 25-45 HU], respectively; P = 0.002) and on portal venous phase CT images (75 ± 18 [SD] HU [range: 43 - 108 HU] vs. 92 ± 19 [SD] HU [range: 46 - 117 HU], respectively; P = 0.014). Hemorrhagic content on MRI was only observed in NEC (P = 0.007). The mean ADC value was lower in NEC ([1.1 ± 0.1 (SD)] × 10⁻³ mm²/s [range: (0.91 - 1.3) × 10⁻³ mm²/s] vs. [1.4 ± 0.2 (SD)] × 10⁻³ mm²/s [range: (1.1 - 1.6) × 10⁻³ mm²/s]; P = 0.005). CT histogram analysis showed that NEC were more heterogeneous on portal venous phase images (Entropy-0: 4.7 ± 0.2 [SD] [range: 4.2-5.1] vs. 4.5 ± 0.4 [SD] [range: 3.7-4.9]; P = 0.023).ConclusionPancreatic NECs are larger, more frequently hypoattenuating and more heterogeneous with hemorrhagic content than G3-NET on CT and MRI.     

Differentiating autoimmune pancreatitis from pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma with CT radiomics features

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to determine whether computed tomography (CT)-based machine learning of radiomics features could help distinguish autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) from pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).Materials and MethodsEighty-nine patients with AIP (65 men, 24 women; mean age, 59.7 ± 13.9 [SD] years; range: 21–83 years) and 93 patients with PDAC (68 men, 25 women; mean age, 60.1 ± 12.3 [SD] years; range: 36–86 years) were retrospectively included. All patients had dedicated dual-phase pancreatic protocol CT between 2004 and 2018. Thin-slice images (0.75/0.5 mm thickness/increment) were compared with thick-slices images (3 or 5 mm thickness/increment). Pancreatic regions involved by PDAC or AIP (areas of enlargement, altered enhancement, effacement of pancreatic duct) as well as uninvolved parenchyma were segmented as three-dimensional volumes. Four hundred and thirty-one radiomics features were extracted and a random forest was used to distinguish AIP from PDAC. CT data of 60 AIP and 60 PDAC patients were used for training and those of 29 AIP and 33 PDAC independent patients were used for testing.ResultsThe pancreas was diffusely involved in 37 (37/89; 41.6%) patients with AIP and not diffusely in 52 (52/89; 58.4%) patients. Using machine learning, 95.2% (59/62; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 89.8–100%), 83.9% (52:67; 95% CI: 74.7–93.0%) and 77.4% (48/62; 95% CI: 67.0–87.8%) of the 62 test patients were correctly classified as either having PDAC or AIP with thin-slice venous phase, thin-slice arterial phase, and thick-slice venous phase CT, respectively. Three of the 29 patients with AIP (3/29; 10.3%) were incorrectly classified as having PDAC but all 33 patients with PDAC (33/33; 100%) were correctly classified with thin-slice venous phase with 89.7% sensitivity (26/29; 95% CI: 78.6–100%) and 100% specificity (33/33; 95% CI: 93–100%) for the diagnosis of AIP, 95.2% accuracy (59/62; 95% CI: 89.8–100%) and area under the curve of 0.975 (95% CI: 0.936–1.0).ConclusionsRadiomic features help differentiate AIP from PDAC with an overall accuracy of 95.2%.     

Is low or high body mass index in patients operated for oral squamous cell carcinoma associated with the perioperative complication rate?

The aim of this study was to analyse the effect of body mass index (BMI), both low and high values, on the perioperative complication rate in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). The medical records of 259 patients operated between 2014 and 2017 for OSCC were reviewed. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed. Sixty of the 259 patients developed 87 complications. Low or high BMI was not associated with the perioperative complication rate. A longer operating time and increased blood loss were associated with a higher perioperative complication rate and higher Clavien–Dindo grade. Low BMI, American Society of Anesthesiologists score 2 and 3, a longer operating time, and increased blood loss were associated with a longer hospital stay. Low BMI was associated with a longer hospital stay. Neither low nor high BMI was associated with the perioperative complication rate. A longer operating time and increased blood loss were associated with a higher perioperative complication rate and higher Clavien–Dindo grade.     

Harnessing Behavioral Economics Principles to Promote Better Surgeon Accountability for Operating Room Cost: A Prospective Study

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Digital radiography of the chest

Digital radiography is an appropriate method for both bedside and in-department chest radiographs. Its major advantage in bedside chest radiography is its control of the displayed optical density of these radiographs. With dynamic range control processing, it improves the visibility of tubes and lines superimposed on the mediastinal tissues. When used for in-department chest radiography, it may offer slight advantages in the evaluation of disease in the mediastinum, but in general is equivalent to film-screen chest radiography. The main reasons for using digital chest radiography for in-department chest radiographs relate mainly to its use as a data entry point method of projection radiography for high-quality teleradiology or for its use in a picture archiving and communication system. Apart from these advantages, there is no reason to change from conventional to digital chest radiographs. Digital radiographs are, with certain systems, printed at smaller than life size. Because of this, there is a necessary period of learning as radiologists adjust to the new image size. The most important change in radiologists' work pattern appears to be the need to sit closer to the film. Findings of disease are smaller, but, with experience, just as easy to see.     

Comparison of 180° and 360° acquisition for myocardial perfusion SPECT with compensation for attenuation, detector response, and scatter: Monte Carlo and mathematical observer results

BACKGROUND: The optimal projection data acquisition strategy for myocardial perfusion (MP) single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) remains controversial. METHODS: We compared MP SPECT using 180 degrees and 360 degrees projection data obtained with the same acquisition time, reconstructed either with filtered back projection (FBP) or the iterative ordered-subsets expectation maximization (OS-EM) algorithm with various combinations of attenuation, detector response, and scatter compensation using mathematical observers and a myocardial defect detection task. We used Monte Carlo-simulated projection data from a population of 3-dimensional nurbs-based cardiac-torso (NCAT) phantoms with ranges of variability in patient anatomy, organ uptake, defect location, defect size, and noise level based on clinical data. Projection data from 180 degrees and 360 degrees acquisitions were generated by assuming the same acquisition time. After iterative or FBP reconstruction, standard postprocessing methods were applied. For each acquisition and reconstruction method, we optimized the number of iterations and cut-off frequency of the Butterworth filter using the Channelized Hotelling Observer methodology. The optimum set of parameters was that which gave the maximum area under the curve. RESULTS: For both acquisition protocols, OS-EM with compensations provided better performance than FBP or OS-EM without compensation. For FBP, the optimized 180 degrees acquisition provided a statistically significant increase in AUC as compared with optimized 360 degrees acquisition. For OS-EM, the AUCs for 180 degrees were slightly larger than for 360 degrees acquisitions when comparing images reconstructed with the same compensations. However, the differences were smaller and not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: With optimized reconstruction and filtering parameters, 180 degrees acquisition provided a statistically significant improvement over 360 degrees acquisition for FBP reconstruction. However, for OS-EM the differences were small and not statistically significant.     

Reassessment of the accuracy of traditional sperm characteristics and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in estimating the fertilizing potential of human semen in vivo

Receiver operating characteristic curves and accuracy parameters were computed for traditional sperm characteristics (concentration, motility, morphology) and the number of peroxidase negative cells, and the concentration of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in semen from populations of fertile and infertile men, and men who achieved a pregnancy after varicocele treatment. The percentage and concentration per millilitre of spermatozoa with rapid linear progressive motility, and the ATP concentration, provided the best discrimination between fertile and treated fertile from infertile men. The misclassification rate was higher for sperm morphology, total progressive motility and viability, whereas sperm concentration and the total sperm count per ejaculate had the worst discriminating power. The number of peroxidase negative cells per 100 spermatozoa was highly specific in identifying men who achieved pregnancy after varicocele treatment. The lower limit of normality of sperm characteristics was remarkably different between fertile men and men achieving pregnancy after treatment or during infertility work-up.