Uremic lung: The “calcified cauliflower” sign in the end stage renal disease

AbstractMetastatic pulmonary calcification (MPC) is a rare pathological condition consisting of lung calcium salt deposits which commonly occurs in patients affected by chronic kidney disease probably for some abnormalities in calcium and phosphate metabolism. CT represents the technique of choice for detecting MPC findings including ground glass opacities and partially calcified nodules or consolidations. We present a case of MCP in a patient affected by hepato-renal autosomic-dominant polycystic disease; chest CT revealed extensive lobar-segmental parenchymal calcification with a peculiar cauliflower shape which we called “calcified cauliflower” sign. The “calcified cauliflower” sign can be reported as a new CT pattern of uremic lung that needs to be identified for a correct diagnosis and patient management

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound in the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Surveillance of patients at risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is based on ultrasound (US) examinations performed at either 6 or 12 month intervals. Early detection of HCC in patients with cirrhosis is a challenging issue, since the different entities that are involved in the multi-step process of hepatocarcinogenesis – such as low-grade and high-grade dysplastic nodule – share common US features. Contrast-enhanced US allows reliable detection of arterial neoangiogenesis associated with a malignant transformation. Several reports have shown that the ability of contrast-enhanced US to diagnose HCC currently approaches that of optimized multidetector computed tomography (CT) or dynamic magnetic resonance (MR) imaging protocols. The use of contrast-enhanced US to characterize nodular lesions in cirrhosis has been recently recommended by the clinical practice guidelines issued by the European Federation of Societies for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology and the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. However, contrast-enhanced US has not resulted in any significant improvement in the ability of US to detect small tumor foci, since a comprehensive assessment of the whole liver parenchyma cannot be accomplished during the short duration of the arterial phase. Hence, CT or MR imaging are still mandatory for proper intrahepatic staging of the disease

Diagnostic potential of multidetector computed tomography for characterizing small renal masses

To assess the potential of CT for characterizing small renal tumors