1,720,975 research outputs found
Necrotizing sarcoid granulomatosis with an uncommon manifestation: clinicopathological features and review of literature.
Full text linkConflicting or complementary role of computed tomography (CT) and positron emission tomography (PET)/CT in the assessment of thymic cancer and thymoma: Our experience and literature review
Full text linkBackground: To evaluate the role of computed tomography (CT) and positron
emission tomography (PET)/CT in patients with thymic cancer and thymoma at
initial staging.
Methods: We retrospectively reviewed CT and PET/CT scans of 26 patients with a
thymic cancer (n = 9) or thymoma (n = 17). Chest CT findings documented were
qualitative and quantitative. Both qualitative and semiquantitative data were recovered
by PET/CT. The comparisons among histological entities, outcome, and qualitative
data from CT and PET/CT were made by non-parametric analysis.
Results: PET/CT resulted positive in 15/17 patients with thymoma. CT was available
in 5/9 (56%) patients with thymic cancer and in 3/17 with thymoma. All quantitative
CT parameters were significantly higher in patients with thymic cancer than
thymoma (maximum axial diameter: 45 vs. 20 mm, maximum longitudinal diameter:
69 vs. 21 mm and volume: 77.91 vs. 4.52 mL; all P < 0.05). Conversely, only
metabolic tumor volume (MTV) and total lesion glycolysis were significantly different
in patients with thymic cancer than thymoma (126.53 vs. 6.03 cm3 and 246.05
vs. 20.32, respectively; both P < 0.05). After a median follow-up time of 17.45
months, four recurrences of disease occurred: three in patients with thymic cancer
and one with a type B2 thymoma. CT volume in patients with recurrent disease was
102.19 mL versus a median value of 62.5 mL in six disease-free patients. MTV was
higher in the recurrent than disease-free patient subset (143.3 vs. 81.13 cm3),
although not statistically significant (P = 0.075).
Conclusion: Our preliminary results demonstrated that both morphological and
metabolic volume could be useful from a diagnostic and prognostic point of view in
thymic cancer and thymoma patients. A large multi-center clinical trial experience
for confirming the findings of this study seems mandatory
Endobronchial solitary fibrous tumors: An enigma for diagnosis
Full text link: Solitary fibrous tumors (SFTs) are rare mesenchymal neoplasms constituting less than 2% of all soft tissue tumors. They typically originate in the thoracic cavity, mainly in the pleura, but can also occur in other various sites such as lung parenchyma, pericardium, and bronchus. In this study, a 49-year-old non-smoking female with a history of allergies presented to our pulmonary clinic with a chronic cough. An explorative bronchoscopy revealed an intrabronchial mass in the left superior bronchi, and a 68 Ga-DOTATOC positron emission computed tomography suggested a carcinoid tumor. Subsequent pulmonary segmentectomy unveiled a well-circumscribed polypoid lesion diagnosed as a low-grade bronchus SFT through histopathological and immunohistochemical assessments. The patient was asymptomatic after surgical excision and showed no other lesion during the 6-month follow-up. The endobronchial location of SFT is uncommon, with only a few reported cases in the literature, underscoring the necessity of considering various differential diagnoses, including carcinoid, mucoepidermoid carcinoma, endobronchial pleomorphic adenoma, hamartoma, leiomyoma, and metastasis, depending on location and imaging features. This report underscores the importance of careful histological and immunohistochemical evaluation in understanding and appropriately stratifying the risk associated with polypoid lesions
Non-fibrotic lung diseases on high resolution computed tomography: imaging and differential diagnosis
No full textThe possibility of distinguishing fibrosing from non-fibrosing lung diseases on high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) is very important in order to be able to establish the appropriate therapy early in the course of the disease and, in some pathologies, to avoid the evolution towards a fibrosing irreversible pattern. For this reason, this article will deal with non-fibrosing pulmonary parenchymal diseases, with an acute or subacute course, which occur on HRCT with a prevalent pattern of diffuse density increase (ground glass opacities and consolidations).
Since these alterations, especially ground glass opacities, are often the early sign of the onset of diseases that evolve towards fibrosis, it is important to be able to recognize them and to propose a correct differential diagnosis
Fibrotic lung diseases on HRCT: imaging and differential diagnosis
No full textInterstitial lung diseases (ILDs) represent a heterogeneous group of entities, some of them characterized by an excessive deposition of extracellular matrix, in particular collagen, associated with a progressive destruction of the lung parenchyma. Thig group of diseases includes both idiopathic and secondary conditions. Although the underlying causes are different, some fibrotic lung diseases show a similar chronic progressive behavior, independently of the underlying etiology. An accurate diagnosis is mandatory to guide management and treatment of patients with interstitial lung diseases, in particular those with a fibrotic pattern. Imaging, and in particular high-resolution CT, plays a central role, therefore it is fundamental that radiologists become familiar with these diseases and their presentations, in order to be able to provide one or a limited number of possible differential diagnosis
Undifferentiated connective tissue disease presenting with prevalent interstitial lung disease: Case report and review of literature
Full text linkAbstract Undifferentiated connective tissue diseases (UCTDs) are clinical entities characterised by signs and symptoms suggestive of a systemic autoimmune disease, which do not fulfil the diagnostic criteria for a defined connective tissue disease. Lung involvement can complicate the course and management of the disease, often determining a worse outcome. Respiratory dysfunction as the first clinical manifestation has seldom been reported. We describe a case of a female patient who developed significant respiratory dysfunction as the principal clinical sign. Video-assisted thoracoscopy was performed and a histological pattern of nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP) was found. A pathological diagnosis suggested careful follow-up with extensive immunological screening which then detected Raynaud's phenomenon and positivity of antinuclear antibodies. After a multidisciplinary discussion (pneumologist, radiologist, pathologist and rheumatologist) a final diagnosis of NSIP associated with UCTD was made. The diagnosis of UCTD should be considered when NSIP is diagnosed even in cases with evident first clinical manifestations of severe respiratory dysfunction. A multidisciplinary approach in the field of interstitial lung disease with NSIP, also including rheumatologic expertise, is fundamental to achieve a prompt and correct diagnosis.</p
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
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