Cardiac involvement in Erdheim- Chester disease: MRI findings and literature revision

: Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD) is a rare form of non-Langerhans cell histiocytosis, characterized by the involvement of several organs. The lesions may be skeletal or extra-skeletal: in particular, long bones, skin, lungs, and the cardiovascular and the central nervous systems can be affected. In this report, we describe a case of a 34-year-old man, who came to our observation with symptomatic ECD, for a correct assessment of the degree of cardiac involvement through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

Humongous right atrial lipoma: a correlative CT and MR case report

A 66-year-old man was referred to our department for further investigation of a right atrial mass incidentally discovered on ultrasound examination (US). US showed an oval mass arising from the free wall of the right atrium and projecting into the atrial cavity. The mass was hypoechoic and had a broad base of attachment on the free wall of the right atrium. This case was referred to our department in order to perform an MR cardiac examination. Our diagnosis was supported by a CT scan study that confirmed the diagnosis of a cardiac lipoma subsequently confirmed at surgery

A unique association of arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia and acute myocarditis, as assessed by cardiac MRI: a case report

BACKGROUND: Arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia (ARVD), is a genetic disorder of the heart, which mainly involves the right ventricle. It is characterized by hypokinetic areas at the free wall of the right ventricle (RV) or both ventricles, where myocardium is replaced by fibrous or fatty tissue. ARVD is an important cause of ventricular arrhythmias in children and young adults. Although the transmission of the disease is based on hereditary, in young adults it may not show any symptoms. The main differential diagnoses with other frequent etiological causes of sudden arrhythmia are: idiopathic outflow tract ventricular tachycardia of the RV, myocarditis, dilated cardiomyopathy and sarcoidosis. CASE PRESENTATION: We describe an unusual case of a 44-year-old woman who was hospitalized for ventricular tachycardia, deep asthenia and dyspnoea with no previous history of cardiac disease. The patient had a ten-year history of palpitations, which started immediately after her last pregnancy. She was diagnosed with both acute/subacute viral myocarditis and arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia, based on established clinical and cardiac MRI criteria. After the diagnosis the patient received an automatic implantable cardioverter defibrillator. Currently, she is on clinical follow-up with no apparent further complications. CONCLUSION: Analyzing this rare case, we have shown the link between myocarditis and arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia, and how important is to perform a cardiac MRI, in the context of acute myocarditis and ventricular arrhythmia

Atypical presentation of ewing’s sarcoma with a single left orbital metastasis

BACKGROUND: We present an uncommon case of Ewing' sarcoma in a 16-year-old boy. CASE REPORT: This case can be considered unique because of the atypical presentation, normal laboratory tests and absence of the typical symptoms such as pain, masses or swelling, fatigue or weight loss, breathing problems linked to lung metastases or pathologic fractures. The only event that brought the patient to our attention was the sudden onset of left proptosis. CONCLUSIONS: The final histopathology together with CT and PET-CT findings led to the diagnosis of a multi-metastatic Ewing's sarcoma involving the orbit, skeleton, bone marrow and lymph nodes

Pediatric ultrasonography of the pancreas: normal and abnormal findings

The pancreas is easily investigated in children thanks to the relative lack of fat tissue and the large left hepatic lobe with an optimal acoustic window. The use of high frequency, even linear transducers, usually results in detailed images of all pancreatic areas. A wide spectrum of pancreatic pathologic conditions can be identified and monitored at ultrasound although they are relatively uncommon during childhood compared to the adult. In this paper we briefly review the anatomy, technique, and sonographic aspects of normal and pathological pediatric pancreas

Point-of-Care Lung Ultrasound in the Intensive Care Unit—The Dark Side of Radiology: Where Do We Stand?

Patients in intensive care units (ICUs) are critically ill and require constant monitoring of clinical conditions. Due to the severity of the underlying disease and the need to monitor devices, imaging plays a crucial role in critically ill patients’ care. Given the clinical complexity of these patients, who typically need respiratory assistance as well as continuous monitoring of vital functions and equipment, computed tomography (CT) can be regarded as the diagnostic gold standard, although it is not a bedside diagnostic technique. Despite its limitations, portable chest X-ray (CXR) is still today an essential diagnostic tool used in the ICU. Being a widely accessible imaging technique, which can be performed at the patient’s bedside and at a low healthcare cost, it provides additional diagnostic support to the patient’s clinical management. In recent years, the use of point-of-care lung ultrasound (LUS) in ICUs for procedure guidance, diagnosis, and screening has proliferated, and it is usually performed at the patient’s bedside. This review illustrates the role of point-of-care LUS in ICUs from a purely radiological point of view as an advanced method in ICU CXR reports to improve the interpretation and monitoring of lung CXR findings

Ultrasonographic and multimodal imaging of pediatric genital female diseases

Ultrasonography is the first-line imaging modality in the evaluation of the female pelvis in childhood and adolescence, because it is easy to perform, non-invasive and it does not require sedation. The transabdominal approach is preferred in children and adolescents, after filling the bladder to move away the bowel loops from the pelvis. The probe frequency must be adapted to age, thickness of tissues and depth of the structures under examination. High-frequency (4-12 MHz) linear or convex probes are used in newborns; high-frequency linear probes (4-12 MHz) in toddler, convex 5-7.5 MHz probes in girls and convex 3.5-5 MHz probes in teenagers. In this article, the main pathological conditions of the genital female tract in pediatric age are examined, such as congenital anomalies, disorders of sex development, ovarian cysts, ovarian tumors, adnexal torsion, primary amenorrhea, precocious puberty and pelvic inflammatory disease