Can imaging suggest the aetiology in skull base osteomyelitis? : a systematic literature review

Purpose: To assess differentiating features between bacterial, Aspergillus, and Mucor skull base osteomyelitis (SBO) with regard to clinical presentation and imaging appearances. Material and methods: A literature search was performed in April 2020 for studies on SBO with a minimum sample size of 10 patients. Studies that reported presenting symptoms, cross-sectional imaging findings, complications, and mortality were included in the analysis. The quality of included articles was tested using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies 2 tool. A data extraction form was used to retrieve relevant parameters from each of the articles. Results: Thirteen articles were included in the final analysis. Diabetes mellitus was the most common predisposing factor (12.5-91.0%). Presenting complaints in all bacterial SBO studies were otogenic, while fungal SBO patients had nasal/ocular complaints. Rates of mortality and surgical intervention in the fungal group were 50-100% and 50%, respectively, as compared to the bacterial group - 7-87% and 10%, respectively. On imaging, the site of initial infection in bacterial SBO was the external auditory canal, while in fungal SBO it was the paranasal sinus. The incidenceof orbital extension was < 5% in bacterial and 44-70% in fungal SBO, among which Mucor had rates of 65-70%. Bone erosion was less extensive in bacterial SBO, and the patterns differed. The highest incidence of vascular involvement and non-enhancing lesions (23-36%) was seen in Mucor. Aspergillus showed highest sino-cranial extension (52-55%) and homogenous bright enhancement. Conclusions: Systematic analysis of the clinico-radiological parameters in each of the studies revealed differences in presentation, clinical course, extension, bone erosion, and enhancement

Lipoid pneumonia presenting as non resolving community acquired pneumonia: a case report

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

Comparison of MDCT, MRI and MRI with diffusion-weighted imaging in evaluation of focal renal lesions: The defender, challenger, and winner!

Purpose: To compare the diagnostic performance of multidetector computed tomography (MDCT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and MRI with diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in the characterization of focal renal lesions. We also compared MDCT and MRI in the staging of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Materials and Methods: One hundred and twenty adult patients underwent MDCT (40-row and 128-row scanners), MRI (at 1.5 T), and DWI (at b-values of 0 and 500 s/mm2) for characterization of 225 renal lesions. There were 65 malignant neoplasms (44 RCCs), 25 benign neoplasms, 25 abscesses, 45 pseudotumors, 15 hemorrhagic cysts, and 50 benign cysts. A composite gold standard including histology, typical imaging criteria, and follow-up imaging was employed. To determine the diagnostic performance of imaging modalities, area-under-curve (AUC) was calculated by receiver-operating-characteristic analysis and compared. Fisher’s exact test was used to compare the diagnostic accuracies and confidence levels with MDCT, MRI, and MRI + DWI. Cross-tabulation was used to assess the precision of MDCT and MRI in RCC staging. Results: AUC for MDCT (0.834) and MRI (0.841) in the classification of benign and malignant lesions were within corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) (P = 0.88) whereas MRI + DWI had significantly better performance (AUC 0.968, P = 0.0002 and 0.0004, respectively). Both CT and MRI had low specificity (66.9% and 68.8%, respectively), which increased substantially with DWI (93.8%) owing to correct diagnosis of pseudotumors. MRI was superior to CT in diagnosing necrotic RCC and hemorrhagic cysts. MRI + DWI had the highest accuracy (94.2%) in assigning the definitive diagnosis and 97.6% lesions were diagnosed with very high confidence, significantly better than CT and MRI. Both CT and MRI had the same accuracy (86.1%) in RCC staging and evaluation of intravascular thrombi. Conclusions: Characterization of renal lesions was most accurate with MRI + DWI. The latter is also the most suitable modality in diagnosing pseudotumors and evaluating patients with renal dysfunction. CT and MRI were equivalent in RCC staging

Diffusion-weighted imaging in extracranial head and neck schwannomas: A distinctive appearance

Purpose: To evaluate the diffusion weighted (DW) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features of the extracranial schwannomas of head and neck. Materials and Methods: The MRI (including DWI) of 12 patients with pathologically proven head and neck schwannomas (4 men, 8 women, with mean age of 32.6 years; age range 16–50 years) were retrospectively evaluated. Images were analyzed for signal intensity and morphology on conventional sequences followed by the qualitative evaluation of DW images (DWI) and measurement of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values. Results: Majority of the tumors were located in the parapharyngeal space (8/12). All but one showed heterogeneous appearance, with 10 tumors showing scattered areas of hemorrhage. Eight out of 12 tumors showed intensely hyperintense core surrounded by intermediate signal intensity peripheral rim (reverse target sign) on T2-weighted (T2W) images. On DWI, these eight tumors showed a distinctive appearance, resembling target sign on trace DWI and reverse target on ADC map. Out of the remaining four tumors, one showed uniformly restricted diffusion whereas three showed free diffusion. Mean ADC value in the central area of free diffusion was 2.277 × 10−3 mm2/s (range of 1.790 × 10−3 to 2.605 × 10−3 mm2/s) whereas in the peripheral area was 1.117 × 10−3 mm2/s (range of 0.656 × 10−3 to 1.701 × 10−3 mm2/s). Rest of the schwannomas showing free diffusion had a mean ADC value of 1.971 × 10−3 mm2/s. Conclusion: Majority of the head and neck schwannomas showed a characteristic appearance of free diffusion in the centre and restricted diffusion in the periphery of the mass

CT patterns of nodal disease in pediatric chest tuberculosis

AIM: To highlight various patterns of nodal involvement and post treatment changes in pediatric chest tuberculosis based on contrast enhanced computed tomography (CECT) scans of chest

Dilemma of diagnosing thoracic sarcoidosis in tuberculosis-endemic regions: An imaging-based approach. Part 2

The second part of the review discusses the role of different existing imaging modalities in the evaluation of thoracic sarcoidosis, including chest radiograph, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, endobronchial ultrasound, and positron emission tomography. While summarizing the advantages and pitfalls of each imaging modality, the authors propose imaging recommendations and an algorithm to be followed in the evaluation of clinically suspected case of sarcoidosis in tuberculosis-endemic regions