1,720,972 research outputs found
L'albumina 60 anni dopo: evidenze e prospettive. Dalla fisiologia alla clinica.
No full textquesto volume fornisce una panoramica dettagliata dei protocolli terapeutici e del profilo di efficacia e sicurezza dell'albumin
Ruolo della diagnostica per immagini nella gestione dei pazienti con coinvolgimento renale nella sindrome di Von Hipple Lindau (Sd. VHL): descrizione di un caso e review della letteratura
No full textAmiloidosi polmonare (AP): descrizione di un caso clinico con presentazione nodulare e review della letteratura
No full textComparison between contrast enhanced MRI and FDG PET/TC in the staging, treatment and follow-up of multiple myeloma.
No full textPurpose
Multiple Myeloma (MM) is a neoplastic disorder characterised by uncontrolled proliferation of plasma B cells within the bone marrow.
MM diagnosis is based on three pathological findings: bone marrow containing more than 10% of plasma cells, generalized osteopenia or bone lesions (demonstrated by imaging) and serum (or urine) abnormal protein. For several decades whole body skeletal radiograph has been the only imaging study available for the assessment of MM. Nowadays, contrast enhanced MRI and FDG PETCT represent the most sensitive imaging techniques in the evaluation of patients affected by MM. The purpose of our study was to compare these two imaging techniques in the staging,
treatment evaluation and follow-up of MM.
Methods and Materials
One hundred and fifty-four patients affected by MM and submitted to MRI of the spine and pelvis and PET-CT, with no more than 15 days between the two exams, were enrolled in the study. Two expert oncologic radiologists retrospectively evaluated all the images. We correlated patients clinical data and laboratory findings with imaging results, evaluating MRI and PET-CT results separately.
Patients at MM diagnosis have been staged according to Durie-Salmon plus staging system.
Results
Fifty-three patients were at diagnosis (group A), 33 at the end of therapy (group B) and 68 in follow-up (group C). In 5/53 (9.4%) patients from group A, PET-CT did not detect any lesion whereas MRI showed diffuse spine involvement; in 2/53 (3.8%) patients from the same group MRI was negative and PET-CT identified lesions out of MRI field of view. Differences between PET-CT and MRI findings determined changes in the staging of 13/53 (24.5%) patients: PET-CT downstaged 12 of them (92.3%), MRI only 1 (7.7%). A good or complete clinical response to therapy was achieved in 24/33 (72.7%) patients from group B: PET-CT showed a faster normalization of imaging findings than MRI in 15/24 (62.5%) (p<0.001). Twelve out of sixty-eight (17.6%) patients from group C presented MM clinical recurrence: MRI identified active lesions in 11 of them (91.7%), PET-CT in only 5 (41.7%) (p=0.031).
Conclusion
As previous studies has already shown, MRI achieved better results than PET-CT in the staging of the disease. Moreover, in patients with MM recurrence MRI demonstrated to be superior to PET-CT. In these phases of the disease contrast enhanced MRI is higly recommended. However, PET-CT represents the most performant imaging tool in the evaluation of therapy response, showing prompt changes of imaging findings, faster than MRI, in patients with good or complete clinical response after therapy. In addition, PET-CT offers the advantage of a wider field of view than MRI. MRI and FDG PET-CT offer complementary information for the assessment of the
disease. The complete knowledge of differences between these two imaging thechniques may be helpful especially for patients evaluated, at one or more steps, by only one of them
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Contrast-Enhanced MRI and FDG PET/TC in the assessment of Multiple Myeloma: a comparison of results in different phases of the disease.
No full textObjective: Contrast-enhanced MRI and FDG PET/CT are the most sensitive imaging techniques for the assessment of multiple myeloma (MM), with far higher diagnostic performance than whole-body skeletal radiographs. To provide an accurate evaluation of the disease, subjects affected by MM are usually submitted to both PET/CT and MRI. However, in patients with poor clinical conditions, MRI cannot be performed. Otherwise, where PET/CT is still not available, patients are evaluated by MRI alone. The aim of our study was to compare these two imaging techniques in the staging, treatment evaluation, and follow-up of MM.
Materials and Methods: One hundred and sixty-five patients affected by MM who have undergone contrast-enhanced MRI (1.5-T) of the spine and pelvis and FDG PET/CT have been enrolled in the study. In all patients, MRI was performed within 15 days of PET/CT. All the images have been evaluated by two expert oncologic radiologists.
Results: Fifty-five patients were at diagnosis (group A), 38 were at the end of first-line therapy (group B), and 72 were in follow-up (group C). In 5/55 (9.1%) patients from group A, PET/CT did not detect any lesion, whereas MRI showed diffuse spine involvement. In 2/55 (3.6%) patients from the same group, MRI was negative and PET/CT identified lesions out of the MRI FOV. Differences between PET/CT and MRI findings determined changes in the staging (according to the Durie and Salmon PLUS staging system) of 13/55 (23.6%) patients from group A: PET/CT downstaged 12 of them (92.3%) and MRI only one (7.7%). In 27/38 (71.1%) patients from group B, a good or complete clinical response to therapy was achieved: PET/CT showed a faster normalization of imaging findings than MRI in 17 of them (63.0%) (p < 0.001). Thirteen out of 72 (18.1%) patients from group C presented MM clinical recurrence: MRI identified active lesions in 12 of them (92.3%), PET/CT only in 6 (46.2%) (p = 0.031).
Conclusion: MRI achieved better results than PET/CT in staging and in patients with MM recurrence. On the other hand, PET/CT showed prompt change of imaging findings, faster than MRI, in patients with positive response to therapy. Patients submitted only to PET/CT at MM diagnosis could be downstaged. Moreover, in MM clinical recurrence some active lesions could be missed with PET/CT alone. In patients who only underwent MRI, after good or complete clinical response to therapies, a slower normalization of imaging findings must be considered
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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