Imaging findings of renal toxicity in patients on chronic lithium therapy

Lithium salts are the mainstay of treatment of bipolar disorder. However, the therapeutic index of lithium is narrow, and severe side effects may be seen. Nephrotoxicity is the most important side effect, which may progress to chronic renal failure. In this pictorial essay, we present ultrasonography, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging findings of renal toxicity secondary to chronic lithium use. We believe that imaging could be extremely helpful for the evaluation of renal toxicity and may even detect preclinical stages of renal parenchymal injury. A combination of different imaging modalities may help clarify findings detected on one modality

Evaluation of abdominal computed tomography findings in patients with COVID-19: a multicenter study

PURPOSE: To evaluate the frequency of abdominal computed tomography (CT) findings in patients with coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) and interrogate the relationship between abdominal CT findings and patient demographic features, clinical findings, and laboratory test results as well as the CT atherosclerosis score in the abdominal aorta. METHODS: This study was designed as a multicenter retrospective study. The abdominal CT findings of 1.181 patients with positive abdominal symptoms from 26 tertiary medical centers with a positive polymerase chain-reaction test for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 were reviewed. The frequency of ischemic and non-ischemic CT findings as well as the association between CT findings, clinical features, and abdominal aortic calcific atherosclerosis score (AA-CAS) were recorded. RESULTS: Ischemic and non-ischemic abdominal CT findings were detected in 240 (20.3%) and 328 (27.7%) patients, respectively. In 147 patients (12.4%), intra-abdominal malignancy was present. The most frequent ischemic abdominal CT findings were bowel wall thickening (n = 120; 10.2%) and perivascular infiltration (n = 40; 3.4%). As for non-ischemic findings, colitis (n = 91; 7.7%) and small bowel inflammation (n = 73; 6.2%) constituted the most frequent disease processes. The duration of hospital stay was found to be higher in patients with abdominal CT findings than in patients without any positive findings (13.8 ± 13 vs. 10.4 ± 12.8 days, P < 0.001). The frequency of abdominal CT findings was significantly higher in patients who did not survive the infection than in patients who were discharged after recovery (41.7% vs. 27.4%, P < 0.001). Increased AA-CAS was found to be associated with a higher risk of ischemic conditions in abdominal CT examinations. CONCLUSION: Abdominal symptoms in patients with COVID-19 are usually associated with positive CT findings. The presence of ischemic findings on CT correlates with poor COVID-19 outcomes. A high AA-CAS is associated with abdominal ischemic findings in patients with COVID-19

Low Tube Voltage Increases The Diagnostic Performance Of Dual-Energy Computed Tomography In Patients With Acute Appendicitis

PURPOSE We aimed to assess the utility of dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) imaging in diagnosing acute appendicitis (AA) with density measurements of the appendix vermiformis. METHODS A total of 210 consecutive patients presenting with acute abdominal pain were scanned using DECT between January and October 2016. Twenty-six patients had pathologically confirmed AA, while 30 had normal appendices. Appendiceal densities were measured in the true axial section of the appendix vermiformis at 80 kVp, 140 kVp, virtual noncontrast, iodine overlay, mixed, and monoenergetic (40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 keV) images. RESULTS Comparison of the appendix at different kVp and keV energy levels, virtual noncontrast, iodine overlay, and mixed images yielded significant differences between patients with appendicitis and those with a normal appendix (P < 0.001 for all). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis revealed that the 80 kVp image set yielded the best diagnostic performance among all image sets (area under the ROC curve [AUC], 0.996; P < 0.001), while 70 keV images yielded the highest diagnostic performance among the virtual monoenergetic image sets (AUC, 0.958; P < 0.001). Inter-rater agreement was good at 80 kVp images (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC], 0.78, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION Evaluation of DECT image reconstructions suggested that low tube voltage with 80 kVp demonstrated accurate diagnostic performance for AA. This finding suggests that low kVp CT may be useful for diagnosing AA with reduced patient radiation exposure.PubMedWoSScopu

Hyperintensity At Fat Spared Area In Steatotic Liver On The Hepatobiliary Phase Mri

PURPOSE We aimed to investigate the reasons for hyperintensity at fat spared area in steatotic liver at hepatobiliary phase (HBP) on gadolinium-ethoxybenzyl-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA) enhanced liver magnetic resonance imaging. METHODS Twenty-two patients with focal fat spared area demonstrating hyperintensity on HBP images were included. A region of interest was placed on in- and opposed-phase images at fat spared area and liver to measure the fat. The measurement was also performed on precontrast T1-weighted and HBP images. The signal intensities of spleen, kidney, muscle, intervertebral disc, and spinal cord were also recorded. RESULTS The mean fat fraction of liver and fat spared area was 24.86% (8%–46%) and 8.41% (1%–34%), respectively (P < 0.001). There was a significant positive correlation between liver parenchyma fat fraction and delta fat fraction (r=0.74, P < 0.001). The mean signal intensity values of fat spared areas were higher compared with liver on precontrast T1-weighted and HBP images (P < 0.001). The mean relative enhancement ratio of liver and fat spared areas were 0.98 (0.05–1.90) and 1.15 (0.22–2.03), respectively (P < 0.001). However, in 6 patients, the relative enhancement ratio of liver and fat spared areas were almost equal. The uptake of Gd-EOB at fat spared area was not correlated with the degree of steatosis (r = −0.01, P = 0.95). CONCLUSION Fat spared area in steatotic liver appears hyperintense on HBP images due to increased relative enhancement ratio and/or baseline hyperintensity on precontrast images.PubMedWoSScopu

Unusual Malignant Solid Neoplasms Of The Kidney: Cross-Sectional Imaging Findings

Malignant kidney neoplasms are the most frequently encountered solid kidney masses. Although renal cell carcinoma is the major renal malignancy, other solid malignant renal masses should be considered in the differential diagnosis of solid renal masses that do not contain a macroscopic fatty component. In this pictorial essay, we present the imaging findings of a primitive neuroectodermal tumor, primary liposarcoma of the kidney, primary neuroendocrine tumor, leiomyosarcoma, synovial sarcoma, malignant fibrous histiocytoma, sclerosing fibrosarcoma and renal metastasis of osteosarcoma.PubMedScopu