Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes are Independent Risk Factors for Computed Tomography-Estimated Nonalcoholic Fatty Pancreas Disease

OBJECTIVES: Nonalcoholic fatty pancreas disease (NAFPD) is characterized by excessive fat deposition in the pancreas in the absence of alcohol consumption. In this study, we aimed to detect a possible relationship between adipose tissue accumulation, prediabetes and diabetes. METHODS: This cross-sectional and retrospective study included 110 patients. Three groups were classified as controls, patients with prediabetes and patients with type 2 diabetes. The abdominal computed tomography (CT) attenuation measurement results of the pancreas were evaluated independently by two experienced radiologists. CT measurements and biochemical parameters were compared between study groups. The relationship between continuous variables was assessed by using one-way ANOVA. To determine the changes in the dependent variable for the effects on study groups, the independent variable was adjusted using ANCOVA. A p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: The presence of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes was correlated with a decrease in the mean Hounsfield Unit (HU) value of the pancreas (p=0.002). Age was determined to be an independent risk factor and was correlated with NAFPD (p=0.0001). When compared to the controls (p=0.041), 71% of patients with prediabetes and 67% of patients with type 2 diabetes were observed to have an increased incidence of NAFPD. Decreased serum amylase was found to be correlated with the mean HU value of the pancreas (p=0.043). CONCLUSION: NAFPD was independently correlated with both prediabetes and type 2 diabetes adjusted for age (p=0.0001) in this study. Additionally, age was determined to be an independent risk factor and was correlated with NAFPD

Retroperitoneal Ancient Schwannoma

Schwannomas are benign peripheral nerve sheath tumors made up of Schwann cells. Ancient schwannoma is an uncommon subtype of schwannomas exhibiting areas of cystic cavitation, calcification and hyalinization. The “ancient” term refers to tumors that are long standing and show degenerative changes and diffuse hypocellular areas. This case highlights that the possibility of ancient schwannoma should be considered in patients presenting with a retroperitoneal cystic mass

Male Breast Cancer Associated with Paget’s Disease: A Case Report

Paget’s disease of the breast is an eczematous skin disease that is usually associated with an underlying breast cancer. Male breast cancer accounts for only 1-3% of all breast malignancies. Paget’s disease in men is a very rare condition of the male breast. There have been only nine reported cases of Paget’s disease of the male breast between 1980 and 2015. We described a breast invasive carcinoma of a 72-year-old man who was previously diagnosed with Paget’s disease

A Rare Cause of Macroscobic Hematuria: Nutcracker Syndrome

Nutcracker syndrome caused by compression of the left renal vein between the abdominal aorta and the superior mesenteric artery is a rare anatomo-pathological condition. The patients have symptoms such as hematuria, proteinuria, and left flank pain. In this paper, we report a 13-year-old boy who presented with macroscopic haematuria. Routine laboratory tests for the evaluation of hematuria were normal. Abdominal computed tomography revealed that the left renal vein was compressed between the aorta and the superior mesenteric artery. A diagnosis of nutcracker syndrome was established. If Nutcracker syndrome is considered in the differential diagnosis of haematuria, it is easily diagnosed by imaging techniques

Effectiveness of Using Dual-source CT and the Upshot it creates on Both Heart Rate and Image Quality

Background: Early detection of coronary artery disease (CAD) is important because of the high morbidity and mortality rates. As invasive coronary angiography (ICA) is an invasive procedure, an alternative diagnostic method; coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA), has become more widely used by the improvements in detector technology. Aims: In this study, we aimed to examine the accuracy and image quality of high-pitch 128-slice dual-source CTA taking the ICA as reference technique. We also aimed to compare the accuracy and image quality between different heart rate groups of >70 beates per minute (bpm) and ≤70 bpm. Study Design: Retrospective cross-sectional study. Methods: Among 450 patients who underwent coronary CTA with the FLASH spiral technique, performed with a second generation dual-source computed tomography device with a pitch value of 3.2, 102 patients without stent and/or bypass surgery history and clinically suspected coronary artery disease who underwent ICA within 15 days were enrolled. Image quality was assessed by two independent radiologists using a 4-point scale (1=absence of any artifacts- 4=non-evaluable). A stenosis >50% was considered significant on a per-segment, per-vessel, and per-patient basis and ICA was considered the reference method. Radiation doses were determined using dose length product (DLP) values detected by the computed tomography (CT) device. In addition, patients were classified into two groups according to their heart rates as ≤70 bpm (73 patients) and >70 bpm (29 patients). The relation between the diagnostic accuracy and heart rate groups were evaluated. Results: Overall, 1495 (98%) coronary segments were diagnostic in 102 patients (32 male, 70 female, mean heart rate: 65 bpm). There was a significant correlation between image quality and mean heart rate in the right coronary artery (RCA) segments. The effective radiation dose was 0.98±0.09 mili Sievert (mSv). On a per-patient basis, sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were 93.8%, 88.8%, 93.8% and 88.8%, respectively. These values were also similar in per-vessel and per-segment basis. Two different groups categorized by mean heart rate had almost similar results in terms of the diagnostic power of dual-source CTA. Conclusion: CTA with a high pitch value is a reliable, non-invasive diagnostic method that can CAD with low radiation doses not only in patients with a heart rate below 70 bpm, but also in patients with higher heart rates