CT texture analysis of vertebrobasilar artery calcification to identify culprit plaques

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to extract radiomic features from vertebrobasilar artery calcification (VBAC) on head computed tomography (CT) images and investigate its diagnostic performance to identify culprit lesions responsible for acute cerebral infarctions.MethodsPatients with intracranial atherosclerotic disease who underwent vessel wall MRI (VW-MRI) and head CT examinations from a single center were retrospectively assessed for VBAC visual and textural analyses. Each calcified plaque was classified by the likelihood of having caused an acute cerebral infarction identified on VW-MRI as culprit or non-culprit. A predefined set of texture features extracted from VBAC segmentation was assessed using the minimum redundancy and maximum relevance method. Five key features were selected to integrate as a radiomic model using logistic regression by the Aikaike Information Criteria. The diagnostic value of the radiomic model was calculated for discriminating culprit lesions over VBAC visual assessments.ResultsA total of 1,218 radiomic features were extracted from 39 culprit and 50 non-culprit plaques, respectively. In the VBAC visual assessment, culprit plaques demonstrated more observed presence of multiple calcifications, spotty calcification, and intimal predominant calcification than non-culprit lesions (all p < 0.05). In the VBAC texture analysis, 55 (4.5%) of all extracted features were significantly different between culprit and non-culprit plaques (all p < 0.05). The radiomic model incorporating 5 selected features outperformed multiple calcifications [AUC = 0.81 with 95% confidence interval (CI) of 0.72, 0.90 vs. AUC = 0.61 with 95% CI of 0.49, 0.73; p = 0.001], intimal predominant calcification (AUC = 0.67 with 95% CI of 0.58, 0.76; p = 0.04) and spotty calcification (AUC = 0.62 with 95% CI of 0.52, 0.72; p = 0.005) in the identification of culprit lesions.ConclusionCulprit plaques in the vertebrobasilar artery exhibit distinct calcification radiomic features compared to non-culprit plaques. CT texture analysis of VBAC has potential value in identifying lesions responsible for acute cerebral infarctions, which may be helpful for stroke risk stratification in clinical practice

Changes of cardiac function: cardiac adaptation in patients with hypothyroidism assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance-a meta-analysis

ObjectiveThe meta-analysis aimed to explore the cardiac adaptation in hypothyroidism patients by cardiac magnetic resonance.Research methods and proceduresDatabases including PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, CNKI, and Sinomed for clinical studies of hypothyroidism on cardiac function changes. Databases were searched from the earliest data to 15 June 2023. Two authors retrieved studies and evaluated their quality. Review Manager 5.4.1 and Stata18 were used to analyze the data. This study is registered with the International Platform of Registered Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Protocols (INPLASY), 202440114.ResultsSix studies were selected for further analysis. Five of them reported differences in cardiac function measures between patients with hypothyroidism and healthy controls, and three studies reported cardiac function parameters after treatment in patients with hypothyroidism. The fixed-effect model combined WMD values for left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) had a pooled effect size of -1.98 (95% CI -3.50 to -0.44], P=0.01), implying that LVEF was lower in patients with hypothyroidism than in healthy people. Analysis of heterogeneity found moderate heterogeneity (P = 0.08, I² = 50%). WMD values for stroke volume (SV), cardiac index (CI), left ventricular end-diastolic volume index(LVEDVI), left ventricular end-systolic volume (LESVI), and left ventricular mass index(LVMI) were also analyzed, and pooled effect sizes showed the CI and LVEDVI of patients with hypothyroidism ware significantly decrease (WMD=-0.47, 95% CI [-0.93 to -0.00], P=0.05, WMD=-7.99, 95%CI [-14.01 to -1.96], P=0.009, respectively). Patients with hypothyroidism tended to recover cardiac function after treatment [LVEF (WMD = 6.37, 95%CI [2.05, 10.69], P=0.004), SV (WMD = 7.67, 95%CI [1.61, 13.74], P=0.01), CI (WMD = 0.40, 95%CI [0.01, 0.79], P=0.05)], and there was no difference from the healthy controls.ConclusionHypothyroidism could affect cardiac function, although this does not cause significant heart failure. It may be an adaptation of the heart to the hypothyroid state. There was a risk that this adaptation may turn into myocardial damage. Cardiac function could be restored after treatment in patients with hypothyroidism. Aggressive levothyroxine replacement therapy should be used to reverse cardiac function.Systematic review registrationhttps://inplasy.com, identifier (INPLASY202440114)

The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on physical and mental health of Asians- A study of seven middle-income countries in Asia

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted the economy, livelihood, and physical and mental well-being of people worldwide. This study aimed to compare the mental health status during the pandemic in the general population of seven middle income countries (MICs) in Asia (China, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam). All the countries used the Impact of Event Scale–Revised (IES-R) and Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) to measure mental health. There were 4479 Asians completed the questionnaire with demographic characteristics, physical symptoms and health service utilization, contact history, knowledge and concern, precautionary measure, and rated their mental health with the IES-R and DASS-21. Descriptive statistics, One-Way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and linear regression were used to identify protective and risk factors associated with mental health parameters. There were significant differences in IES-R and DASS-21 scores between 7 MICs (p<0.05). Thailand had all the highest scores of IES-R, DASS-21 stress, anxiety, and depression scores whereas Vietnam had all the lowest scores. The risk factors for adverse mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic include age <30 years, high education background, single and separated status,discrimination by other countries and contact with people with COVID-19 (p<0.05). The protective factors for mental health include male gender, staying with children or more than 6 people in the same household, employment, confidence in doctors, high perceived likelihood of survival, and spending less time on health information (p<0.05). This comparative study among 7 MICs enhanced the understanding of metal health in the general population during the COVID-19 pandemic

Orientation Growth and Magnetic Properties of Electrochemical Deposited Nickel Nanowire Arrays

Highly ordered ferromagnetic metal nanowire arrays with preferred growth direction show potential applications in electronic and spintronic devices. In this work, by employing a porous anodic aluminum oxide template-assisted electrodeposition method, we successfully prepared Ni nanowire arrays. Importantly, the growth direction of Ni nanowire arrays can be controlled by varying the current densities. The crystalline and growth orientation of Ni nanowire arrays show effects on magnetic properties. Single-crystallinity Ni nanowires with [110] orientation show the best magnetic properties, including coercivity and squareness, along the parallel direction of the nanowire axis. The current preparation strategy can be used to obtain other nanowire arrays (such as metal, alloy, and semiconductor) with controlled growth direction in confined space, and is therefore of broad interest for different applications

Особенности вазомоторной функции эндотелия у больных стабильной стенокардией с факторами риска (артериальной гипертензией, гиперхолестеринемией, курением)

ВАЗОМОТОРНАЯ СИСТЕМАЭНДОТЕЛИЙ /ФИЗИОЛЭПИТЕЛИЙСТЕНОКАРДИЯКОРОНАРНАЯ БОЛЕЗНЬГРУДНАЯ КЛЕТКА, БОЛИФАКТОРЫ РИСКАГИПЕРТЕНЗИЯКРОВЕНОСНЫХ СОСУДОВ БОЛЕЗНИГИПЕРХОЛЕСТЕРИНЕМИЯГИПЕРЛИПИДЕМИЯКУРЕНИЕ /ВРЕД ВОЗДТАБАКА УПОТРЕБЛЕНИЕ, РАССТРОЙСТВА ЗДОРОВЬ

Mental Health of the General Population during the 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic: A Tale of Two Developing Countries

Background: This study aimed to compare the severity of psychological impact, anxiety and depression between people from two developing countries, Iran and China, and to correlate mental health parameters with variables relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although China and Iran are developing countries based on the World Bank’s criteria, these two countries are different in access to resources and health care systems. We hypothesized that Iranians would show higher levels of depression, anxiety and stress as compared to Chinese. Methods: This study collected information related to the COVID-19 pandemic including physical health, precautionary measures and knowledge about the pandemic. We also used validated questionnaires such as the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) to assess the mental health status. Results: There were a total of 1411 respondents (550 from Iran; 861 from China). The mean IES-R scores of respondents from both countries were above the cut-off for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Iranians had significantly higher levels of anxiety and depression (p &lt; 0.01). Significantly more Iranians believed COVID-19 was transmitted via contact, practised hand hygiene, were unsatisfied with health information and expressed less confidence in their doctors, but were less likely to wear a facemask (p &lt; 0.001). Significantly more Iranians received health information related to COVID-19 via television while Chinese preferred the Internet (p &lt; 0.001). Conclusions: This cross-country study found that Iranians had significantly higher levels of anxiety and depression as compared to Chinese. The difference in reported measures between respondents from Iran and China were due to differences in access to healthcare services and governments’ responses to the pandemic

Distributed under Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 OPEN ACCESS A retrospective study: cardiac MRI of fulminant myocarditis in children-can we evaluate the short-term outcomes?

ABSTRACT Background. Fulminant myocarditis (FM) is an inflammatory disease of the myocardium that results in ventricular systolic dysfunction and causes acute-onset heart failure. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) has become the primary noninvasive tool for the diagnosis and evaluation of myocarditis. The aim of our study was to assess the CMR findings at different course of FM and the short-term outcomes of fulminant myocarditis (FM) in children. Methods. Eight FM children with CMR examinations were included in our study. Initial baseline CMR was performed 10 days (range, 7-20 days) after onset of FM and followup CMR after 55 days (range, 33-75 days). Cardiac morphology and function and myocardial tissue characterization at baseline and follow-up CMR were compared using paired T -test and Mann-Whitney U test. The clinical data and initial CMR findings were also compared to predict short-term outcomes. Results. The median age of eight FM children was 8.5 years old (range, 3-14). The initial CMR findings were most common with early gadolinium enhancement (EGE, 100%), followed by signal increasing on T2WI and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE, 87.5%), increased septal thickness (75.0%) and increased left ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF, 50.0%). Only three LGE (37.5%), one signal increasing on T2WI (12.5%) and one increased LVEF (12.5%) were found at follow-up. Statistically significant differences were found between initial and follow-up CMR abnormalities in the septal thickness, left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD), end-systolic volume (ESV), LVEF, left ventricular mass, T2 ratio and LGE area (P = 0.011,P = 0.042,P = 0.016,P = 0.001,P = 0.003,P = 0.011,P = 0.020). The children with full recovery performed higher incidence of III • atrioventricular block (AVB, five cases VS 0 case) and smaller LGE area (104.0 ± 14.5 mm 2 VS 138.0 ± 25.2 mm 2 ) at baseline CMR. Discussion. The CMR findings of FM in children were characteristic and useful for early diagnosis. Full recovery of clinical manifestations, immunological features and CMR findings could be found in most FM children. The presence of III • AVB and smaller LGE area at baseline CMR might indicate better short-term outcomes