OBJECTIVE: We investigated the correlation between computed tomography (CT) scores, laboratory findings, and clinical symptoms in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Clinical, laboratory, and thorax CT findings on the admission of 121 patients with COVID-19 were retrospectively evaluated. CT scores based on lobe involvement and CT patterns (i.e., ground-glass abnormalities, consolidation, and crazy-paving patterns) were estimated, and the relationship between CT score and symptomatic (e.g. fever, cough) versus asymptomatic (e.g., inflammation, coagulation, liver and kidney function) clinical laboratory findings were statistically analyzed. RESULTS: Sixty-eight of 121 patients (56%) were symptomatic; 53 (44%) were asymptomatic. The CT scores of symptomatic patients, especially those with coughing and dyspnea, were statistically higher (2 [0–9] vs. 0 [0–1]; P < 0.001). Erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, ferritin, D-dimer, fibrinogen, aspartate aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase, glucose, prothrombin time and alanine amino transferase values were correlated with CT scores (ρ = 0.638, P < 0.001, ρ = 0.512, P < 0.001; ρ = 0.325, P = 0.001; ρ = 0.452, P < 0.001; ρ = 0.525, P < 0.001; ρ = 0.379, P < 0.001; ρ = 0.445, P < 0.001; ρ = 0.332, P < 0.001, ρ = 0.296, P = 0.003; ρ = 0.222, P = 0.015, respectively). Albumin values were negatively correlated with CT scores (ρ = −0.398, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: CT scores may help clinicians evaluate the severity of COVID-19 pneumonia and thus help in managing the disease.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the clinical characteristics, pathological characteristics, and prognostic factors of AIDS-related lymphoma (ARL). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective study of the clinical characteristics, diagnosis and treatment process, and survival status of 32 patients with ARL. The patients were divided into a survival group and nonsurvival group according to their prognosis, and the factors affecting survival were analyzed. The patients' clinical characteristics were analyzed according to symptoms, sex, age, and laboratory indicators such as the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) concentration, number of CD4+ T cells, Ann Arbor stage, pathological typing, and international prognostic index (IPI) score. A univariate regression analysis was performed to compare the clinical characteristics of the treatment group and nontreatment group. The impact of chemotherapy and combined antiviral therapy on survival time was assessed. RESULTS: Thirty-two patients were included in the study; 31 were male and 23 were aged >40 years. The average LDH concentration was 639.8 U/L, and the average CD4+ lymphocyte count was 167 cells/μL. Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma was present in 40.6% (13/32) of the patients; a B-lymphocyte source accounted for 90.6% (29/32) of cases, and a T-lymphocyte source accounted for 9.4% (3/32). The proportion of patients who received anti-lymphoma treatment was 84.4% (27/32). Twenty-three patients died during follow-up and nine survived. Univariate analysis showed that the prognostic factors were age, the CD4+ T-lymphocyte count, and the IPI score. The average progression-free survival (PFS) time in the highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) group before chemotherapy was 4.81 months, while the average PFS time without antiviral therapy before chemotherapy was about 1.91 months. This difference was statistically significant. The median 2-year survival time in patients who received antiviral therapy before chemotherapy was 33.3 months, while that in patients who did not receive antiviral therapy was 27.3 months. Early HAART therapy combined with standardized chemotherapy was shown to improve the patients' prognosis. It also improved the overall survival (OS) rate and PFS time. However, there was no significant difference in the OS rates between 1 and 2 years. CONCLUSION: The CD4+ T-cell count and IPI score were key factors affecting the prognosis of patients with ARL. An increased LDH concentration was also a prognostic factor. A certain correlation between the disease severity and prognosis was found. The use of standard anti-lymphoma treatment can effectively improve the survival rate of patients.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

OBJECTIVE: The increasing prevalence of suspected cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) presenting to emergency departments (EDs) requires a rapid and reliable triaging tool. The diagnostic performance of chest computed tomography (CT) has yet to be validated for triaging cases in the ED. We aimed to assess the diagnostic performance of chest CT compared to GeneXpert Xpress Xpert severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 test in rapidly diagnosing COVID-19 among patients with respiratory symptoms presenting to the ED. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective, single-center study at Tripoli University Hospital including cases with respiratory symptoms who underwent chest CT as well as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing for suspected COVID-19 between May 18 and August 18, 2020. RESULTS: A total of 1240 cases were included, among whom 570 had radiologically evident COVID-19 on chest CT (46%). Five hundred and sixty-five cases had positive PCR results (45.6%), of whom 557 had radiologically evident COVID-19 on chest CT (97.7%). The calculated accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 98%, 98.5%, 98%, 97.7%, and 98.8%, respectively, in relation to the PCR results. CONCLUSION: During the current pandemic, chest CT is a quick and reliable diagnostic tool for COVID-19 in the ED.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

Parasites are an important cause of human diseases. With the increase in global population migration, the decline of population immunity, and changes in living habits, parasitic diseases have been increasing year by year. Because the liver has a unique blood supply system and a biliary system that communicates with the intestinal tract, it is relatively more vulnerable to a variety of parasitic infections. Imaging examinations play an important role in the early detection, characterization, evaluation, and treatment of hepatic parasitic diseases. Various imaging methods can not only detect hepatic parasitic diseases accurately but also evaluate liver injury, liver fibrosis, abnormal blood perfusion, metabolic changes, and malignant tumors caused by parasitic infection. Familiarity with the imaging features of hepatic parasitic diseases is helpful for the early diagnosis and treatment. This article reviews the progress in imaging research on common hepatic parasitic diseases.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

Pulmonary infective diseases with high morbidity and mortality have contributed significantly to the socioeconomic burden worldwide. Despite advances in the technology for identification of pathogenic microorganisms, increased diagnostic accuracy for noninfectious pulmonary inflammation, and the availability of effectively individualized therapy, a major concern is the lack of optimal diagnostic approaches and biomarkers for the early stages of infectious disease. Radiomics, a concept first proposed in 2012, is a process that can extract quantitative features and high-dimensional data from digital medical images such as conventional chest X-ray, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, and single-photon emission CT. The high-dimensional data and mineable features can be utilized to build descriptive and predictive models to quantify the inflammatory burden on the lung and understand lung function. Overall, radiomics now plays an important role in the clinical diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary infection, with medical imaging being routinely applied in the clinical workup of pneumonia. Radiomics may also provide an opportunity to allow accurate diagnosis of pulmonary infection in the early stages, thereby decreasing mortality at a low cost.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has formed a worldwide pandemic trend. Despite the virus usually invades lungs and presents with various respiratory symptoms, it can also affect the cardiac function in multiple ways and result in high mortality. Various possible mechanisms have been proposed to explain these manifestations at present, including cytokine storm and direct invasion of the virus. There are a series of feasible schemes in clinical work to reduce the incidence of complications now, but the layered management of hospitalized patients, the early prevention, and the early detection of complications seem to be more important. Cardiac imaging examinations (such as computed tomography coronary angiography, magnetic resonance imaging multi-parameter scan, and enhanced scan, etc.) are very essential in these aspects. However, radiological data of the cardiac complications are not comprehensive enough in accessing the prognosis due to the limitation of examination. This paper summarized the imaging findings of cardiac complications of COVID-19, providing the possible morphological basis or hypothesis for cardiac multimode imaging by analyzing the pathological manifestations retrospectively.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

Despite global efforts to eradicate tuberculosis (TB), 10 million new cases are reported each year. Indigenous communities are at greater risk of developing TB. We report a 7-year-old indigenous boy who presented with neurological symptoms. An intracranial neoplasm was suspected based on imaging findings and he underwent neurosurgical resection. The final diagnosis was intracranial tuberculoma. Anti-TB therapy was administered and the patient recovered completely.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

[FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

OBJECTIVE: The objective is to explore the chest computed tomography (CT) and pulmonary function findings of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) survivors 1 month after discharge. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the chest CT and pulmonary function findings of 158 (COVID-19) survivors who were discharged and followed up at Wuhan Red Cross Hospital from April 9 to May 10, 2020. RESULTS: Follow-up chest CT revealed that pulmonary lesions in all patients were clearly absorbed and dissipated. One month after discharge, 125 (79.1%) patients had residual imaging abnormalities, mainly light ground-glass opacities (44.9%) and light patchy shadows (38.6%). Other features included fibrous cord lesions in 90 cases (57.0%), pulmonary nodules in 46 cases (29.1%), pleural thickening in 44 cases (27.8%), and mediastinal lymphadenopathy in 81 cases (51.3%). Among 158 COVID-19 survivors, 124 were tested for pulmonary function. Pulmonary function tests revealed pulmonary function impairment in 10 patients (8.1%), restrictive ventilation dysfunction in 16 (12.9%), and pulmonary diffusion dysfunction in 48 (38.7%). Residual lung lesions and pleural thickening were negatively correlated with DL_CO% (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: COVID-19 patients have characteristic findings on chest CT and pulmonary function testing. Identifying these findings is helpful to dynamically monitor the disease prognosis.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

The COVID-19 pandemic has created worldwide change in screening, management, and deadlines for the treatment of tuberculosis, among other latent diseases. Safe access to health-care structures, drug interactions, and ongoing changes in treatment guidelines are the main challenges. The first published cohort of 45 patients with both tuberculosis and SARS-CoV-2 infection presented three different scenarios regarding the timing of these diagnoses, both diagnoses being made within the same week in only nine of these patients. Thus far, tuberculosis has not been shown to influence the pathophysiology of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The association between these two diseases may be incidental. Tuberculosis remains the leading lethal infection worldwide. ²In patients with preexisting pulmonary tuberculosis and COVID-19, management priorities, drug interactions, and optimal frequency of clinical, biological, and radiological check-ups require clarification. We here report an asymptomatic young patient who had both COVID-19 and pulmonary tuberculosis, raising challenging questions regarding diagnostic tools, treatment, and follow-up.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

OBJECTIVE: To set up a differential diagnosis radiomics model to identify coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and other viral pneumonias based on an artificial intelligence (AI) approach that utilizes computed tomography (CT) images. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective multi-center research involved 225 patients with COVID-19 and 265 patients with other viral pneumonias. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator algorithm was used for the optimized features selection from 1218 radiomics features. Finally, a logistic regression (LR) classifier was applied to construct different diagnosis models. The receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was applied to evaluate the accuracy of different models. RESULTS: The patients were divided into a training set (313 of 392, 80%), an internal test set (79 of 392, 20%) and an external test set (n = 98). Thirteen features were selected to build the machine learning-based CT radiomics models. LR classifiers performed well in the training set (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.91), internal test set (AUC = 0.94), and external test set (AUC = 0.91). Delong tests suggested there was no significant difference between training and the two test sets (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The use of an AI-based radiomics model enables rapid discrimination of patients with COVID-19 from other viral infections, which can aid better surveillance and control during a pneumonia outbreak.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

BACKGROUND: Previous studies showed a significant correlation between fatty liver (FL) and acute pancreatitis (AP) onset, but the impact of FL on AP severity and prognosis remains uncertain. Therefore, we systematically searched existing publications in English and Chinese and conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the effect of FL on AP severity and prognosis. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to analyze the correlation between FL and AP severity and prognosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All published controlled clinical studies on the relationship between FL and AP were identified by searching available electronic databases. We assessed the impact of FL disease on AP biochemical indicators, severity, and prognosis using pooled individual studies with an odds ratio (OR), standardized mean difference, and weighted mean difference. RESULTS: Thirteen clinical case − control studies met the meta-analysis entry criteria, and these studies included 6570 patients; among them, 2110 were patients with FL-relatedAP (FLAP) and 4460 were patients with non-FL-related AP (NFLAP). The meta-analysis results showed that the percentage of mild AP in FLAP was lower than that in NFLAP (OR = 0.32, P < 0.001), but the percentage of moderately severe AP (MSAP) and severe AP (SAP) in FLAP was higher than that in NFLAP (OR = 2.66 and 2.57, respectively, P < 0.001). The various prognostic indicators included the acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II score, systemic complications, local complications, total length of hospital stay, and mortality, which were all significantly higher in FLAP than in NFLAP (P < 0.05 for all). CONCLUSION: AP severity and prognosis were different between FLAP and NFLAP patients, and FL could be used as an independent risk factor for MSAP and SAP.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

Computed tomography (CT) examination plays an indispensable role in the diagnosis of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). Many studies have evaluated the severity of COVID-19 based on CT images, with the severity of COVID-19 being evaluated either manually or by using artificial intelligence. In this review, the recently reported methods for manually evaluating COVID-19 severity based on CT images are summarized and divided into three categories: evaluation based on the extent of abnormalities; evaluation based on the characteristics of abnormalities; and evaluation based on both the extent and characteristics of abnormalities.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

OBJECTIVE: To quantitatively analyze the longitudinal changes of ground-glass opacity (GGO), consolidation and total lesion in patients infected with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and its correlation with laboratory examination results. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All 76 computed tomography (CT) images and laboratory examination results from the admission to discharge of 15 patients confirmed with severe COVID-19 were reviewed, whereas the GGO volume ratio, consolidation volume ratio, and total lesion volume ratio in different stages were analyzed. The correlations of lesions volume ratio and laboratory examination results were investigated. RESULTS: Four stages were identified based on the degree of lung involvement from day 1 to day 28 after disease onset. GGO was the most common CT manifestation in the four stages. The peak of lung involvement was at around stage 2, and corresponding total lesion volume ratio, GGO volume ratio, and consolidation volume ratio were 17.48 (13.44−24.33), 12.11 (7.34−17.08), and 5.51 (2.58−8.58), respectively. Total lesion volume ratio was positively correlated with neutrophil percentage, C-reactive protein (CRP), high-sensitivity CRP (Hs-CRP), procalcitonin, lactate dehydrogenase (LD), and creatine kinase isoenzyme MB (CK-MB), but negatively correlated with lymphocyte count, lymphocyte percentage, arterial oxygen saturation, and arterial oxygen tension. Consolidation volume ratio was correlated with most above laboratory examination results except Hs-CRP, LD, and CK-MB. GGO, however, was only correlated with lymphocyte count. CONCLUSION: CT quantitative parameters could show longitudinal changes well. Total lesion volume ratio and consolidation volume ratio are well correlated with laboratory examination results, suggesting that CT quantitative parameters may be an effective tool to reflect the changes in the condition.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

Liver injury is found in some patients with coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). Both the clinical treatment efficacy and the patient's prognosis are affected by the severity of liver injury. In addition, in some cases, liver injury may occur in the absence of respiratory symptoms. To date, liver injury diagnosed based on laboratory findings and abdominal computed tomography (CT) has been reported in COVID-19 patients. The aim of this review was to summarize the mechanism of liver injury caused by COVID-19 and describe the CT features of COVID-19-induced liver damage.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to evaluate the diagnostic efficiency of ground-glass opacity (GGO) for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in suspected patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Scopus, Web of Science, CNKI, and Wanfang databases were searched from November 01, 2019 to November 29, 2020. Studies providing the diagnostic test accuracy of chest computed tomography (CT) and description of detailed CT features for COVID-19 were included. Data were extracted from the publications. The sensitivity, specificity, and summary receiver operating characteristic curves were pooled. Heterogeneity was detected across included studies. RESULTS: Eleven studies with 1618 cases were included. The pooled sensitivity, specificity and area under the curve were 0.74 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.61–0.84), 0.52 (95% CI, 0.33–0.70), and 0.70 (95% CI, 0.66–0.74), respectively. There was obvious heterogeneity among included studies (P < 0.05). Differences in the study region, inclusion criteria, research quality, or research methods might have contributed to the heterogeneity. The included studies had no significant publication bias (P > 0.1). CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 was diagnosed not only by GGO with a medium level of diagnostic accuracy but also by white blood cell counts, epidemic history, and revers transcription-polymerase chain reaction testing.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study is to retrospectively investigate the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features of recurrent spinal hydatidosis and distinguish the MRI features between recurrent spinal hydatidosis and primary spinal hydatidosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Nineteen patients with spinal hydatidosis disease who underwent surgery and pathological diagnosis from July 2014 to January 2018 were selected. Nine cases recurred postoperatively and had complete imaging and clinical data. RESULTS: Compared with the MRI features of primary spinal hydatidosis, the MRI features of postoperative recurrence of spinal hydatidosis were as follows: most of the typical features of the primary lesion disappeared, with no obvious outer membrane wrapped around the lesion, and high-intensity signal “small vesicles” were seen on T2-weighted image (T2WI). Most vesicles had no obvious “grape-bunch”-like change and no typical polycystic structures. The vertebral bone destruction area and surrounding soft tissue structures were unclear, and there was no low-signal arc-like calcification on T1WI and T2WI. Recurrent lesions usually appeared as multiple lesions with significant distance from each other, and single clusters formed by multiple lesions were uncommon. Intervertebral disc involvement is a long-term destructive feature. CONCLUSION: Postoperative recurrence of spinal hydatidosis has prominent MRI features, which can provide a more comprehensive and reliable imaging diagnosis basis for postoperative recurrence of spinal hydatidosis.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

OBJECTIVE: This study was performed to analyze the clinical imaging manifestations of multiple organ and tissue invasion in patients with AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), improve the understanding of AIDS-related KS, and provide the basis for clinical diagnosis and treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Relevant data of patients who had been diagnosed with AIDS-related KS at several infectious disease hospitals in China were collected. The clinical manifestations and imaging and pathological data of 48 patients were sorted and analyzed retrospectively. Among the 48 patients, 45 were male and 3 were female, and their age ranged from 19 to 71 years. RESULTS: Of the 48 patients with AIDS-related KS, 37 (77.1%) patients had a CD4+ cell count of < 100 cells/μL. Thirty-eight of the 48 patients had lung invasion; among these 38 patients, 30 (78.9%) patients' images contained nodular shadows. Computed tomography (transverse pulmonary window and mediastinal window as well as coronal microcolor reconstruction) showed lung nodules of different sizes and vascular distributions; they were widely connected to pulmonary vessels, some were flame like/star like, and some showed the “fruit-hanging sign.” Seven patients with liver invasion showed nodules and intrahepatic bile duct dilatation, and three patients had esophageal, gastric, and intestinal invasion. One patient with thyroid invasion showed low-density nodules. One patient with rib invasion and one patient with maxillary invasion showed lytic destruction and surrounding soft tissue nodules. Two or more organs and tissue were involved in 44 patients. CONCLUSION: The main imaging manifestations in patients with AIDS-related KS with multiple organ invasion were pleomorphic and vascular nodules. AIDS-related KS was also accompanied by invasion of the lungs, liver, digestive tract, thyroid, ribs, and maxilla, and the imaging manifestations were mainly irregular nodules closely related to blood vessels.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study is to explore the feasibility of Gadolinium ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA) T1 mapping for evaluating liver damage caused by Clonorchis sinensis infection in rabbit models. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-two rabbits were randomly divided into a control group (n = 10), mild infection group (n = 12), moderate infection group (n = 9), and severe infection group (n = 11). All rabbits underwent an magnetic resonance imaging scan and pathological examination to obtain the relaxation time before Gd-EOB-DTPA enhancement and the relaxation time after Gd-EOB-DTPA enhancement at intervals of 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 min. The Ishak score was used to evaluate the inflammation and fibrosis of the liver. RESULTS: The severity of C. sinensis infection was positively correlated with liver inflammation. The T1 relaxation time of liver increased with increasing inflammation. The highest correlation was recorded between inflammation and the T1 relaxation time at 30 min (P = 0.001). After enhancement, The T1 relaxation time has a significant difference between the severe infection group and control group and between the severe infection group and mild infection group. The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve showed that the T1 relaxation time was the most effective parameter for diagnosing the degree of inflammation at 30 min. CONCLUSIONS: Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced T1 mapping can be used to evaluate the liver damage caused by C. sinensis infection.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

OBJECTIVE: Since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in Wuhan in 2019, the virus has spread rapidly. We investigated the clinical and computed tomography (CT) characteristics of different clinical types of COVID-19. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed clinical and chest CT findings of 89 reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction confirmed cases from five medical centers in China. All the patients were classified into the common (n = 65), severe (n = 18), or fatal (n = 6) type. CT features included lesion distribution, location, size, shape, edge, density, and the ratio of lung lesions to extra-pulmonary lesions. A COVID-19 chest CT analysis tool (uAI-discover-COVID-19) was used to calculate the number of infections from the chest CT images. RESULTS: Fatal type COVID-19 is more common in older men, with a median age of 65 years. Fever was more common in the severe and fatal type COVID-19 patients than in the common type patients. Patients with fatal type COVID-19 were more likely to have underlying diseases. On CT examination, common type COVID-19 showed bilateral (68%), patchy (83%), ground-glass opacity (48%), or mixed (46%) lesions. Severe and fatal type COVID-19 showed bilateral multiple mixed density lesions (56%). The infection ratio (IR) increased in the common type (2.4 [4.3]), severe type (15.7 [14.3]), and fatal type (36.9 [14.2]). The IR in the inferior lobe of both lungs was statistically different from that of other lobes in common and severe type patients (P < 0.05). However, in the fatal type group, only the IR in the right inferior lung (RIL) was statistically different from that in the right superior lung(RUL), right middle lung (RML), and the left superior lung (LSL) (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The CT findings and clinical features of the various clinical types of COVID-19 pneumonia are different. Chest CT findings have unique characteristics in the different clinical types, which can facilitate an early diagnosis and evaluate the clinical course and severity of COVID-19.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

[FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

[FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

[FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

A 45-year-old female patient was admitted to our hospital due to a space-occupying lesion which was found in a physical examination. Slight tenderness was found in her right lower abdomen for 1 month. On computed tomography (CT) imaging, a round, low-density lesion was observed in the liver. Several round cysts with lower density and thin wall were scattered in the center of the lesion. Linear calcification could be found in partial cystic wall. No significant enhancement was found in the lesion on contrast-enhanced CT imaging. A laparotomy was performed to remove the mass, which was sent to a pathological examination and hepatic cystic echinococcosis was diagnosed.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the feasibility of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of lesions in evaluating the efficacy of albendazole liposomes in the treatment of cerebral alveolar echinococcosis (CAE). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixteen patients with CAE who met the inclusion criteria from April 2017 to December 2020 were enrolled. All patients underwent routine magnetic resonance sequence examination and DWI examination. The b-value were 1000 s/mm² and 3000 s/mm². The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value and SNR of lesions before and after treatment were compared. The data of each group were statistically analyzed by Wilcoxon signed-rank sum test. RESULTS: After 1 year of treatment with albendazole liposomes, the SNR of lesions on T2WI sequence increased. There was a significant difference between the SNR of the same lesion before and after follow-up (P < 0.05). The ADC values of lesion parenchyma and edema area before and after treatment were compared. The difference between them was statistically significant in the both b values (ADC of parenchyma, P < 0.05; ADC of edema area, P < 0.001). Through binary linear classification, it was found that under the same b value, the effect of drugs on the edema area was more obvious than that on the parenchyma area; under different b values, the higher the b value, the higher the ability to evaluate the curative effect of drug therapy. CONCLUSION: Albendazole liposome is effective in the treatment of CAE, and long-term imaging follow-up of patients with CAE treated with albendazole liposome is necessary. When the change in conventional images is inapparent, the quantitative analysis of ADC value and SNR of lesions on T2WI can provide an objective basis for the evaluation of the curative effect of drug treatment in CAE.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]