Radiology and Imaging

A new beginning Anirudh Kohli Indian Journal of Radiology and Imaging 2019 29(1):1-1

Is next-generation radiologist ready for the challenges? Chander Mohan Indian Journal of Radiology and Imaging 2019 29(1):2-3

Presidential address Hemant Patel Indian Journal of Radiology and Imaging 2019 29(1):4-5

Corrosive injuries of the upper gastrointestinal tract: A pictorial review of the imaging features Rohan Kamat, Pankaj Gupta, Yalaka Rami Reddy, Suman Kochhar, Birinder Nagi, Rakesh Kochhar Indian Journal of Radiology and Imaging 2019 29(1):6-13 Corrosive ingestion is a common form of poisoning. Corrosive agents cause severe damage to the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. The most severe forms of injury can lead to mortality; however, the major concern with this type of injury is life-long morbidity. Upper GI endoscopy is the test of choice for assessing severity in the acute phase of the disease. The long-term management is based on the site, length, number, location, and tightness of the stricture. This information is best provided by the barium contrast studies. In this pictorial review, a spectrum of findings in patients with corrosive injuries of the esophagus and stomach is illustrated. The role of various imaging modalities including barium studies, endoscopic ultrasound, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging is discussed.

"Honeycomb" pattern of gallbladder wall thickening – A forward step in early diagnosis of "Severe Dengue Fever" Jitendra Parmar, Maulik Vora, Chander Mohan, Sandip Shah, Harsh Mahajan, Tapan Patel Indian Journal of Radiology and Imaging 2019 29(1):14-18 Aims and Objectives: To study “Honeycomb” pattern of gallbladder wall thickening (GBWT) in dengue fever (DF) and to assess its clinical significance in early diagnosis of severe DF. Materials and Methods: A total 244 patients of DF were studied, 84 patients were classified as severe DF, 61 patients as DF with warning signs, and 99 patients as DF without warning signs. Abdominal ultrasound was performed for assessment of GBWT patterns, hepatomegaly, splenomegaly, pancreatic enlargement, ascites, pleural effusion, and other additional findings were recorded in severe DF cases. Statistical comparison between “Honeycomb” pattern of GBWT and clinically severe DF was done using Pearson correlation test. Results: Out of 244 patients, 145 patients were males and 99 patients were females, belonging to various age groups ranging from 1 to 81 years and 14.34% (35 patients) among them included in pediatric group. In total, 65.57% (160 patients) were non-severe DF cases and 34.42% (84 patients) were severe DF cases. A total of 84 patients of severe DF, 92.85% patients showed GBWT, and out of which, 71.42% patients had “Honeycomb” pattern, whereas a total of 160 patients of non-severe DF patients, 45% patients had GBWT and out of which, only 5.6% patients showed “Honeycomb” pattern.”Honeycomb” pattern of GBWT shows sensitivity of 71.4%, 94.37%, Positive predictive value of 86.95%, and Negative predictive value of 86.28% in severe DF. Conclusion:”Honeycomb” pattern of GBWT is significant finding in severe DF. Its sensitivity and specificity are high in severe DF with significant statistical correlation. It can aid in early diagnosis of severe DF.

Adhesive capsulitis: MRI correlation with clinical stages and proposal of MRI staging Amarnath Chellathurai, Komalavalli Subbiah, Atchaya Elangovan, Sivakumar Kannappan Indian Journal of Radiology and Imaging 2019 29(1):19-24 Objective: The purpose of this study was to correlate the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings of adhesive capsulitis with clinical stages and thereby propose a MR staging system. Materials and Methods: This study consisted of 74 patients with clinically diagnosed adhesive capsulitis. The edema of the inferior glenohumeral ligament (IGHL), pericapsular edema, thickness of anterior band of IGHL, axillary pouch, thickness of coracohumeral ligament, and obliteration of fat in the subcoracoid triangle were evaluated by MRI. Results: Thickening of the anterior band of IGHL showed most significant correlation with the clinical stages. The distribution of edema of IGHL and pericapsular edema also showed significant correlation with the clinical stages of adhesive capsulitis. Pericapsular edema and IGHL edema was not observed in stage IV. Conclusion: MR is a useful tool for evaluation and prediction of clinical stage of adhesive capsulitis.

Role of apparent diffusion coefficient as a biomarker in the evaluation of cervical cancer Sunita Dashottar, T Preeth Pany, Nishant Lohia Indian Journal of Radiology and Imaging 2019 29(1):25-32 Background: Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) has evolved as a major diagnostic and prognostic tool in cervical cancer. The aim of our study was to compare the change in mean apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value before and after concurrent chemoradiation therapy (CCRT) in carcinoma cervix thereby establishing its role as a cancer biomarker. Materials and Methods: A hospital-based prospective study was conducted in 35 patients diagnosed with cervical cancer. All 35 patients underwent pelvic MRI before and after 6 months of CCRT. The study was done over a period of 12 months. Conventional axial and sagittal T2 imaging was followed by DW-MRI. In the axial DW/ADC images at “b-value” of 800 s/mm2, a circular region of interest was drawn covering more than 60% of the tumor volume to calculate the ADC values. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (version 21.0) was used for statistical evaluation. Chi-square test, independent samples t-test, and analysis of variance were used to analyze the data. The results are depicted as frequencies (number), proportion (percentages), and mean ± standard deviation. Results: Pre-CCRT mean ADC value was 0.814 × 10−3 mm2/s. Post-CCRT mean ADC value was 1.294 × 10−3 mm2/s. Mean ADC value of patients having lymph node involvement and parametrial extension was significantly lower when compared with those without lymph node involvement and parametrial extension (P = 0.001). Nonresponders with residual lesion had lower ADC values than responders with no residual lesion. An interesting and unique observation was that pre-CCRT mean ADC value of responders was higher than nonresponders. Conclusion: An increase in mean ADC value of 0.480 × 10−3 mm2/s after CCRT was found to be statistically significant (P < 0.001) thereby proving its role as an imaging biomarker in cancer cervix.

Cardiac T2* magnetic resonance analysis of membranous interventricular septum in assessment of cardiac iron overload in pediatric thalassemia patients: A pilot study Ishan Kumar, Priyanka Aggarwal, Vineeta Gupta, Ashish Verma, Suwen Kumar, Ram C Shukla Indian Journal of Radiology and Imaging 2019 29(1):33-39 Background: Cardiac iron deposition in transfusion-dependent thalassemia patients is patchy in distribution. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to assess the correlation between T2* matrices of membranous interventricular septum (MIVS) and T2* values of muscular interventricular septum (IVS) on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and to evaluate the relationship of myocardial T2* at these two locations with MRI-estimated liver iron concentrations (LIC) and electrocardiographic (ECG) parameters. Material and Methods: MRI of heart and liver was performed in 16 consecutive pediatric patients of transfusion-dependent thalassemia major to calculate liver iron concentration and T2* time of membranous and muscular IVS. ECG parameters of these patients were charted and correlated with MRI parameters. Results: No significant correlation between T2* values of muscular IVS and MIVS was observed. Mean T2* of MIVS (9.8 ms) was significantly lower than that of muscular IVS (26.9 ms). T2* of MIVS correlated strongly with LIC where as a weak correlation was observed between T2* of IVS and LIC. Significantly higher mean QTc (corrected QT interval) value (439.86 ms) was seen in patients with T2* IVS <20 ms. Conclusion: Addition of T2* analysis of MIVS to the existing MRI protocol, consisting of muscular IVS analysis, may offer a more sensitive estimation of cardiac iron overload.

Safety and outcomes of pre-operative portal vein embolization using N-butyl cyanoacrylate (Glue) in hepatobiliary malignancies: A single center retrospective analysis Amar Mukund, Aniket Mondal, Yashwant Patidar, Senthil Kumar Indian Journal of Radiology and Imaging 2019 29(1):40-46 Aims and Objectives: To evaluate the outcome of preoperative portal vein embolization (PVE) using N-butyl cyanoacrylate (NBCA) for change in future liver remnant (FLR) volume, biochemical changes, and procedure-related complications. The factors affecting FLR hypertrophy and the rate of resection was also evaluated for this cohort. Materials and Methods: From 2012 to 2017, PVE utilizing NBCA mixed with lipiodol (1:4) was performed using percutaneous approach in 28 patients with hepatobiliary malignancies with low FLR. All patients underwent volumetric computed tomography (CT) assessment before and at 3–5 weeks after PVE and total liver volume (TLV), FLR volume, and FLR/TLV ratio, changes in portal vein diameter and factors affecting FLR were evaluated. Complications and the resectability rate were recorded and analyzed. Result: PVE was successful in all 28 patients. The mean FLR increased by 52% ± 32% after PVE (P < 0.0001). The FLR/TLV ratio was increased by 14.2% ± 2.8% (P < 0.001). Two major complications were encountered without any impact on surgery. There was no significant change seen in liver function test and complete blood counts after PVE. Eighteen patients (64.28%) underwent hepatic resection without any liver failure, and only three patients developed major complication after surgery. Remaining ten patients did not undergo surgery because of extrahepatic metastasis detected either on follow-up imaging or staging laparotomy. Patients with diabetes showed a lower rate of hypertrophy (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Preoperative PVE with NBCA is safe and effective for increasing FLR volume in patients of all age group and even in patients with an underlying liver parenchymal disease with hepatobiliary malignancy. Lesser hypertrophy was noted in patients with diabetes. A reasonable resectability was achieved despite having a high rejection in gall bladder cancer subgroup due to rapid disease progression.

Early experience of combination therapy of transarterial chemoembolization and radiofrequency ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma measuring 3–7 cm Yashwant Patidar, Lalit Garg, Amar Mukund, Shiv Kumar Sarin Indian Journal of Radiology and Imaging 2019 29(1):47-52 Background of the Article: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common human malignancies worldwide. Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is considered curative option in selected patients; efficacy is severely limited by lesion size and lesions bordering a large vessel. On the other hand, transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is not limited by lesion size and arterial occlusion of the tumor feeding vessels leads to increase the volume of the ablative zone. Combination treatments using both intraarterial liver-directed therapy and percutaneous ablation seek to overcome the disadvantages of the individual treatments alone, theoretically improving response to therapy and survival. Material and Methods: This is a single-center retrospectively study in which patients who received TACE plus RFA for HCC were evaluated for technical success, local tumor progression rates, distant intra and extrahepatic recurrences and survival. Results: The study included 22 patients, 21 patients had a solitary HCC of size 3–7 cm and one patient had three target lesions. Technical success achieved after first session of combination treatment was 100% (24/24). At 1 and 3 months follow-up 100% patients (24 target lesions) had complete response and at 6 months; 21 (87.5%) had complete response, one (4.2%) had local tumor progression and two patients (8.3%) developed progressive disease. No major difference in complication was noted. The event-free survival as shown by Kaplan–Meier graph analysis at 6 and 12 months were 90.7% and 66.4% with mean time to event-free survival was 11.1 months. Conclusion: The combined use of TACE and RFA is a safe and effective option in the treatment of patients with single large or multinodular HCC when surgical resection is not feasible and this approach provides better results than RFA or TACE alone.