Evaluation of Virtual Grid Processed Clinical Chest Radiographs

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader Evaluation of Virtual Grid Processed Clinical Chest Radiographs via Investigative Radiology - Current Issue Objectives We evaluated the different Virtual Grid software ratios (Fujifilm, Tokyo, Japan) on gridless clinical chest radiographs with visual grading analysis (VGA). In addition, we investigated the 2 image quality assessment algorithms (IQAAs). Materials and Methods Gridless chest radiographs of 50 different intensive care unit patients were collected and afterward processed with Virtual Grid software. Different software (SW) grid ratios—6:1, 10:1, 13:1, 17:1, and 20:1—were applied to investigate the image quality (IQ) improvement. Image quality improvement was assessed by 4 radiologists in a relative VGA study where the reference image was processed with SW grid ratio of 10:1. One of the IQAAs used to analyze the radiographs was implemented in our department but was originally developed by the research group of the Duke University Medical Center. A general IQ score (IQS) was calculated based on contrast, detail, and noise. Another IQAA—NIQE (naturalness image quality evaluator)—available in Matlab (MATLAB Research R2019b; the MathWorks, Inc) was evaluated. Both methods were compared with VGA. Results Visual grading analysis scores of gridless radiographs are significantly lower (P View on Web

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3-Dimensional Fluid and White Matter Suppression Magnetic Resonance Imaging Sequence Accelerated With Compressed Sensing Improves Multiple Sclerosis Cervical Spinal Cord Lesion Detection Compared With Standard 2-Dimensional Imaging

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader 3-Dimensional Fluid and White Matter Suppression Magnetic Resonance Imaging Sequence Accelerated With Compressed Sensing Improves Multiple Sclerosis Cervical Spinal Cord Lesion Detection Compared With Standard 2-Dimensional Imaging via Investigative Radiology - Current Issue Objectives Fluid and white matter suppression (FLAWS) is a recently proposed magnetic resonance sequence derived from magnetization-prepared 2 rapid acquisition gradient-echo providing 2 coregistered datasets with white matter– and cerebrospinal fluid–suppressed signal, enabling synthetic imaging with amplified contrast. Although these features are high potential for brain multiple sclerosis (MS) imaging, spinal cord has never been evaluated with this sequence to date. The objective of this work was therefore to assess diagnostic performance and self-confidence provided by compressed-sensing (CS) 3-dimensional (3D) FLAWS for cervical MS lesion detection on a head scan that includes the cervical cord without changing standard procedures. Materials and Methods Prospective 3 T scans (MS first diagnosis or follow-up) acquired between 2019 and 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. All patients underwent 3D CS-FLAWS (duration: 5 minutes 40 seconds), axial T2 turbo spin echo covering cervical spine from cervicomedullary junction to the same inferior level as FLAWS, and sagittal cervical T2/short tau inversion recovery imaging. Two readers performed a 2-stage double-blind reading, followed by consensus reading. Wilcoxon tests were used to compare the number of detected spinal cord lesions and the reader's diagnostic self-confidence when using FLAWS versus the reference 2D T2-weighted imaging. Results Fifty-eight patients were included (mean age, 40 ± 13 years, 46 women, 7 ± 6 years mean disease duration). The CS-FLAWS detected significantly more lesions than the reference T2-weighted imaging (197 vs 152 detected lesions, P View on Web

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Could red cell distribution width be used for predicting cardiac injury in neonates with COVID‐19?

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader Could red cell distribution width be used for predicting cardiac injury in neonates with COVID‐19? via Journal of Medical Virology ABSTRACT Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can affect people of all age groups and it can occasionally cause life-threatening clinical illness in immunologically immature population, especially in newborns. High red cell distribution width (RDW) values were used as early prognostic biomarker of some neonatal diseases. We aimed to determine the prognostic value of red cell distribution width in severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infected neonates. Methods Newborns with positive SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test from a nasopharyngeal swab sample, who had refractory fever (>38°C and lasting more than 24 hours during hospitalization) screened for multisystem inflammatory syndrome in newborns (MIS-N), systemic inflammatory indexes calculated and cardiologic evaluation performed to these patients. Due to troponin levels (high: >45 ng/L and low: ≤45 ng/L) patients were grouped. Results Of the 68 SARS-CoV-2 PCR-positive newborns, 26 patients had refractory fever. Comparison of laboratory findings between the high and low troponin groups showed that RDW and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio values were significantly higher in patients with high troponin levels (p = 0.022 and p = 0.030, respectively). The cut-off values with optimal sensitivity and specificity were determined as 1.00 for neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (p = 0.205) and 16.6 for red cell distribution width (p = 0.014). None of the patients died. Conclusions Neonatal coronavirus disease 2019 generally has a benign prognosis, but can progress to severe disease and cases of MIS-N are rare. RDW could be prognostic in diagnosis and management of neonates with SARS-CoV-2 infection with high troponin levels. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. View on Web

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Rapid quantitative monitoring of SARS‐CoV‐2 spike protein mediated syncytia formation using split NanoLuc

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader Rapid quantitative monitoring of SARS‐CoV‐2 spike protein mediated syncytia formation using split NanoLuc via Journal of Medical Virology Abstract SARS-CoV-2 infection causes syncytial pneumocyte in patients and this has been considered as a defining feature of severe COVID-19 cases. Traditional methods of syncytia quantification require the morphology characterization of fused cells either with light microscope or fluorescent microscope, which is time-consuming and not accurate. Here we developed a rapid and sensitive coculture system measuring spike-induced syncytia by using NanoLuc complementation system. We found the formation of syncytia occurred rapidly after ACE2-expressing cells exposure to spike protein. In addition, we found furin cleavage as well as the cell surface protease TMPRSS2 enhanced syncytia formation. Finally, we showed that this coculture system can be used to test the ability of different compound to inhibit syncytia formation, thus providing a useful tool to screen anti-syncytial drugs. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. View on Web

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Humoral responses after inactivated COVID‐19 vaccination in individuals with and without prior SARS‐CoV‐2 infection: A prospective cohort study

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader Humoral responses after inactivated COVID‐19 vaccination in individuals with and without prior SARS‐CoV‐2 infection: A prospective cohort study via Journal of Medical Virology Abstract Background We evaluated and compared humoral immune responses after inactivated COVID-19 vaccination among naïve individuals, asymptomatically infected individuals, and recovered patients with varying severity. Methods In this multicenter, prospective cohort study, blood samples from 666 participants were collected before and after two doses of inactivated COVID-19 vaccination. Results Among 392 SARS-CoV-2-naïve individuals, the seroconversion rate increased significantly from 51.8% (median anti-spike protein pan-immunoglobulins [S-Igs] titer:0.8 U/mL) after the first dose to 96% (median S-Igs titer:79.5 U/mL) after the second dose. 32% of naïve individuals had detectable neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) against the original strain, but all of them lost neutralizing activity against the Omicron variant. In 274 individuals with natural infection, humoral immunity was significantly improved after a single vaccine dose, with median S-Igs titers of 757.8U/mL, 1247.0U/mL, 1280.0U/mL, and 2367.0U/mL for asymptomatic infections, mild cases, moderate cases, and severe/critical cases, respectively. NAb titers also improved significantly. However, the second dose did not substantially increase antibody levels. Conclusions Although a booster dose is needed for those without infection, our findings indicate that recovered patients should receive only a single dose of the vaccine, regardless of the clinical severity, until there is sufficient evidence to confirm the benefits of a second dose. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. View on Web

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A case of primary neuroendocrine carcinoma of the mandibular gingiva treated using multimodal therapy

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader A case of primary neuroendocrine carcinoma of the mandibular gingiva treated using multimodal therapy via ScienceDirect Publication: Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Medicine, and Pathology Publication date: Available online 8 August 2022 Source: Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Medicine, and Pathology Author(s): Tomoaki Hamana, Shigeru Sakurai, Atsuko Hamada, Shinnichi Sakamoto, Hisako Furusho, Shigeaki Toratani View on Web

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Prediction models for carbapenem‐resistant Enterobacterales carriage at liver transplantation: A multicenter retrospective study

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader Prediction models for carbapenem‐resistant Enterobacterales carriage at liver transplantation: A multicenter retrospective study via Transplant Infectious Disease Graphical abstract: Abstract Background Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) colonisation at liver transplantation (LT) increases the risk of CRE infection after LT, which impacts on recipients' survival. Colonization status usually becomes evident only near LT. Thus, predictive models can be useful to guide antibiotic prophylaxis in endemic centres. Aims This study aimed to identify risk factors for CRE colonisation at LT in order to build a predictive model. Methods Retrospective multicentre study including consecutive adult patients who underwent LT, from 2010 to 2019, at two large teaching hospitals. We excluded patients who had CRE infections within 90 days before LT. CRE screening was performed in all patients on the day of LT. Exposure variables were considered within 90 days before LT and included cirrhosis complications, underlying disease, time on the waiting list, MELD and CLIF-SOFA scores, antibiotic use, intensive care unit and hospital stay, and infections. A machine learning model was trained to detect the probability of a patient being colonized with CRE at LT. Results A total of 1544 patients were analyzed, 116 (7.5%) patients were colonized by CRE at LT. The median time from CRE isolation to LT was 5 days. Use of antibiotics, hepato-renal syndrome, worst CLIF sofa score, and use of beta-lactam/beta-lactamase inhibitor increased the probability of a patient having pre-LT CRE. The proposed algorithm had a sensitivity of 66% and a specificity of 83% with a negative predictive value of 97%. Conclusions We created a model able to predict CRE colonization at LT based on easy-to-obtain features that could guide antibiotic prophylaxis View on Web

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Prevalence of multiple human papillomavirus infections and association with cervical lesions among outpatients in Fujian, China: a cross‐sectional study

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader Prevalence of multiple human papillomavirus infections and association with cervical lesions among outpatients in Fujian, China: a cross‐sectional study via Journal of Medical Virology Abstract Multiple human papillomavirus (HPV) infections are common, but their impact on cervical lesions remains controversial. A total of 6225 female patients who underwent colposcopies/conization following abnormal cervical cancer screening results were included in the study. The final pathological diagnosis was determined by the most severe pathological grade among the cervical biopsy, ECC and conization. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to investigate the association between multiple HPV infections and cervical lesions, adjusting for age, HPV genotype, gravidity and parity. In total, 33.3% (n=2076) of the study population was infected with multiple HPV genotypes. Multiple HPV infections were more prevalent in patients younger than 25 years and older than 55 years, with the rate of multiple HPV infections at 52.8% and 44.3%, respectively. HPV16\52\18\58 are the most common HPV genotypes and usually appear as a single infection. Co mpared to single HR-HPV infection, multiple HR-HPV infections do not increase the risk of HSIL+, while single HR-HPV coinfected with LR-HPV seems to reduce the risk of HSIL+ (OR=0.515, CI: 0.370-0.719, P＜0.001). Multiple HR-HPV infections cannot be risk-stratified for triage of HR-HPV-positive women. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. View on Web

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