Objectives
To correlate a CT-based semi-quantitative score of pulmonary involvement in COVID-19 pneumonia with clinical staging of disease and laboratory findings. We also aimed to investigate ...whether CT findings may be predictive of patients’ outcome.
Methods
From March 6 to March 22, 2020, 130 symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 patients were enrolled for this single-center analysis and chest CT examinations were retrospectively evaluated. A semi-quantitative CT score was calculated based on the extent of lobar involvement (0:0%; 1, < 5%; 2:5–25%; 3:26–50%; 4:51–75%; 5, > 75%; range 0–5; global score 0–25). Data were matched with clinical stages and laboratory findings. Survival curves and univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to evaluate the role of CT score as a predictor of patients’ outcome.
Results
Ground glass opacities were predominant in early-phase (≤ 7 days since symptoms’ onset), while crazy-paving pattern, consolidation, and fibrosis characterized late-phase disease (> 7 days). CT score was significantly higher in critical and severe than in mild stage (
p
< 0.0001), and among late-phase than early-phase patients (
p
< 0.0001). CT score was significantly correlated with CRP (
p
< 0.0001,
r
= 0.6204) and D-dimer (
p
< 0.0001,
r
= 0.6625) levels. A CT score of ≥ 18 was associated with an increased mortality risk and was found to be predictive of death both in univariate (HR, 8.33; 95% CI, 3.19–21.73;
p
< 0.0001) and multivariate analysis (HR, 3.74; 95% CI, 1.10–12.77;
p
= 0.0348).
Conclusions
Our preliminary data suggest the potential role of CT score for predicting the outcome of SARS-CoV-2 patients. CT score is highly correlated with laboratory findings and disease severity and might be beneficial to speed-up diagnostic workflow in symptomatic cases.
Key Points
• CT score is positively correlated with age, inflammatory biomarkers, severity of clinical categories, and disease phases.
• A CT score ≥ 18 has shown to be highly predictive of patient’s mortality in short-term follow-up.
• Our multivariate analysis demonstrated that CT parenchymal assessment may more accurately reflect short-term outcome, providing a direct visualization of anatomic injury compared with non-specific inflammatory biomarkers.
The purpose of our study was to compare diagnostic performance of old and new Lake Louise Criteria (oLLC and nLLC) among different clinical presentations: infarct-like (IL), cardiomyopathic (CM) and ...arrhythmic (AR). 102 patients with clinical suspicion of acute myocarditis underwent cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) on a 1.5 T scanner. Protocol included cine-SSFP, T2-weighted STIR, T2 mapping, early and late gadolinium enhancement and T1 mapping acquired before and after gadolinium administration. The degree of agreement has been calculated with Cohen’s K test. 42 patients also underwent endomyocardial biopsy (EMB). IL onset was present in 54/102 patients, CM in 28/102 and AR in 20/102. nLLC were positive in 58.3% of the patients, while oLLC in 37.9%, k = 0.57 (IC: 0.428–0.713). The degree of agreement between nLLC and oLLC was 0.49 (IC: 0.111–0.876) for AR onset (nLLC positive in 35% vs oLLC in 15%), 0.25 (IC: 0.035–0.459) for CM pattern (nLLC positive in 60.7% vs oLLC 17.9%) and 0.73 (IC: 0.543–0.912) for IL presentation (nLLC positive in 66.7% vs oLLC in 57.4%). Diagnostic accuracy was 75% for both nLLC and oLLC among IL onset, and 41.6% for oLLC vs 66.7% for nLLC, as regards CM clinical presentation. nLLC have improved diagnostic performance of CMR for the diagnosis of acute myocarditis, in particular for atypical clinical presentation.
Clinical manifestations of COVID-19 patients are dominated by respiratory symptoms, but cardiac complications are commonly observed and associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Underlying ...pathological mechanisms of cardiac injury are still not entirely elucidated, likely depending on a combination of direct viral damage with an uncontrolled immune activation. Cardiac involvement in these patients ranges from a subtle myocardial injury to cardiogenic shock. Advanced cardiac imaging plays a key role in discriminating the broad spectrum of differential diagnoses. Present article aims to review the value of advanced multimodality imaging in patients with suspected SARS-CoV-2-related cardiovascular involvement and its essential role in risk stratification and tailored treatment strategies. Based on our experience, we also sought to suggest possible diagnostic algorithms for the rationale utilization of advanced imaging tools, such as cardiac CT and CMR, avoiding unnecessary examinations and diagnostic delays.
Purpose
The aim of this study was to evaluate the appropriateness of the cardiac computed tomography angiography (CCTA) prescriptions according to the ...“2010-Appropriate-Use-Criteria-for-Cardiac-Computed-Tomography-Angiography” (AUCCTA) and “Clinical-indication-for-CCTA” (CICCTA) among different specialities (Cardiologist CA, General Practitioner GP, Other Specialists OS) and prescribers’ age.
Materials and methods
This is a single-centre, single-arm, cohort study. We prospectively enrolled 815 patients (October 2012–May 2019) who underwent a radiological outpatient visit, before CCTA examination. Prescriptions to the examination were categorized as follows: Appropriate (A), Uncertain (U) and Inappropriate (Ina), according to AUCCTA and I, II, III and Inv for CICCTA. This categorization was stratified according to CA, GP and OS and prescribers’ age. CCTA was performed in patients whom indications belong to A/U categories.
Results
Eight hundred and fifteen CCTA prescriptions were analysed. An yearly increase in prescriptions was found in the eight-year observational period (2012/2019 projection: 72 vs 223). Considering AUCCTA, indication A was 540/815 (66.3%), indication U was 113/815 (13.9%) and Ina accounted for 162/815 (19.9%; 128/162 79.0% indications with stress test listed as criterium of inappropriateness). Only U indications decreased over years (
p
= 0.003). Regarding CICCTA, 501/815 (61.5%) patients were categorized as I, 144/815 (17.7%) as II, 102/815 (12.5%) as III, 67/815 (8.2%) were INV and 1/815 (0.1%) were non-classified. Clinical referrals were CA in 495/786 (63.0%), GPs in 57/786 (7.3%) GP and OS in 234/786 (29.8%)
p
< 0.01. No statistically significant differences were observed in the appropriateness among different specialty physicians. Younger doctors have a lower chance to not meet A indication (OR 0.98 CI 95% 0.96–0.99;
p
= 0.003).
Conclusion
Our study highlights the importance of a pre-radiological visit prior to CCTA, which prevented execution of 19.9% of inappropriate examinations. Age of prescribers had an impact on appropriateness, with younger doctors having a lower chance to not meet A indication.
Over the last decades, interest toward athlete’s heart has progressively increased, leading to improve the knowledge on exercise-induced heart modifications. Sport may act as a trigger for ...life-threatening arrhythmias in patients with structural or electrical abnormalities, hence requiring to improve the diagnostic capability to differentiate physiological from pathological remodeling. Pathological alterations are often subtle at the initial stages; therefore, the challenge is to promptly identify athletes at risk of sudden cardiac death during the pre-participation screening protocols. Advanced imaging modalities such as coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) can non-invasively depict coronary vessels and provide a deep morpho-functional and structural characterization of the myocardium, in order to rule out pathological life threatening alterations, which may overlap with athletes’ heart remodeling. The purpose of the present narrative review is to provide an overview of most frequent diagnostic challenges, defining the boundaries between athlete's heart remodeling and pathological structural alteration with a focus on the role and importance of CCTA and CMR.
Circulating small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) contribute to inflammation, coagulation and vascular injury, and have great potential as diagnostic markers of disease. The ability of sEVs to reflect ...myocardial damage assessed by Cardiac Magnetic Resonance (CMR) in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is unknown. To fill this gap, plasma sEVs were isolated from 42 STEMI patients treated by primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI) and evaluated by CMR between days 3 and 6. Nanoparticle tracking analysis showed that sEVs were greater in patients with anterior STEMI (p = 0.0001), with the culprit lesion located in LAD (p = 0.045), and in those who underwent late revascularization (p = 0.038). A smaller sEV size was observed in patients with a low myocardial salvage index (MSI, p = 0.014). Patients with microvascular obstruction (MVO) had smaller sEVs (p < 0.002) and lower expression of the platelet marker CD41–CD61 (p = 0.039). sEV size and CD41–CD61 expression were independent predictors of MVO/MSI (OR 95% CI: 0.93 0.87–0.98 and 0.04 0–0.61, respectively). In conclusion, we provide evidence that the CD41–CD61 expression in sEVs reflects the CMR-assessed ischemic damage after STEMI. This finding paves the way for the development of a new strategy for the timely identification of high-risk patients and their treatment optimization.
Left ventricular (LV) remodeling after ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is a complex process, defined as changes of LV volumes over time. CMR feature tracking analysis (CMR-FT) offers an ...accurate quantitative assessment of LV wall deformation and myocardial contractile function. This study aimed to evaluate the role of myocardial strain parameters in predicting LV remodeling and to investigate the effect of Aspirin (ASA) dose before primary coronary angioplasty (pPCI) on myocardial injury and early LV remodeling.
Seventy-eight patients undergoing CMR, within 9 days from symptom onset and after 6 months, were enrolled in this cohort retrospective study. We divided the study population into three groups based on a revised Bullock's classification and we evaluated the role of baseline CMR features in predicting early LV remodeling. Regarding CMR strain analysis, worse global circumferential and longitudinal strain (GCS and GLS) values were associated with adverse LV remodeling. Patients were also divided based on pre-pPCI ASA dosage. Significant differences were detected in patients receiving ASA 500 mg dose before pPCI, which showed lower infarct size extent and better strain values compared to those treated with ASA 250 mg. The stepwise multivariate logistic regression analysis, adjusted for covariates, indicated that a 500 mg ASA dose remained an inverse independent predictor of early adverse LV remodeling.
GCS and GLS have high specificity to detect early LV adverse remodeling. We first reported a protective effect of ASA loading dose of 500 mg before pPCI on LV myocardial damage and in reducing early LV adverse remodeling.
An 82‐year‐old woman with precordial pain at rest was admitted to the Emergency Department for possible cardiac heart disease; electrocardiogram excluded ischemia and high‐sensitive troponin was ...normal. Echocardiogram revealed a hyperechoic mass adjacent to the mitral annulus. Electrocardiography‐gated computed tomography (CT) angiography exam confirmed the presence of the mass protruding into the atrioventricular groove, adjacent to the posterior mitral. On the precontrast images the lesion was hyperdense with some scattered central calcific spots. CT findings are typical of a giant caseous calcification of the mitral annulus and excluded the diagnoses of pseudoaneurysm (it does not show any communication with the left ventricular cavity), neoplasm/abscess (complete caseous/calcified content) or infected/abscessified mitral calcification (absence of internal hypodense core). This is a benign condition that can be easily misdiagnosed as ventricular aneurysm or pseudoaneurysm on the contrast‐enhanced images, when the caseous content is isodense to the iodinated blood pool.
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