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Biomedical subjects

F Musante

Publications and source records attributed to F Musante.

26 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

The sonographic appearances of gastric lymphoma.

The sonographic images obtained from 17 patients with gastric lymphoma were reviewed. In 15/17 cases the tumor presented as an abdominal mass, either with a "target-like" pattern or with a solid, homogeneous structure; in the remaining two cases only thickening of portions of the gastric wall was seen. Two features that may help to differentiate lymphoma from other gastric diseases were observed in patients of this series. In eight cases thickened mucosal folds could be identified within the gastric mass, outlined by strong luminal echoes arranged like the spokes of a wheel. A hypoechoic appearance of hte infiltrated gastric wall was seen in 13/17 cases; it was less echogenic than the adjacent liver parenchyma and, often, it was almost echo-free. Sonography is often used as the first imaging method in cases of patients with abdominal complaints and clinically unsuspected tumors of the stomach may be visualized first by it. In such cases, identification of these features within a gastric mass may allow sonography to suggest the lymphomatous nature of the disease.

Adult↗

[Value of ultrasonics and computerized axial tomography in the staging of renal neoplasms].

Sonographic (US) and computed tomographic (CT) images obtained in 47 patients with renal cancer have been reviewed; attention was paid to detection of neoplastic spread to structures surrounding the tumor, presence of lymph node metastases and of thrombosis of renal vessels and to identification of distant metastases. The results of the revision process were then compared with surgical or autoptic findings. In a relatively high number of patients, a complete examination of the upper abdomen could not be performed by US, due to patient habitus or bowel gas; on the contrary, a diagnostic study could be obtained by CT in virtually all cases. Furthermore, differentiation of stage I and stage II lesions could never be obtained by US; only CT gave this possibility. As regards the sensitivity of the two methods, in patients with stage III or stage IV disease, US showed relatively lower sensitivity in the diagnosis of lymph node metastases, but it was significantly less sensitive in the study of distant metastases. On the contrary, the specificity of the two imaging methods was similar, and US gave better results in the evaluation of renal vein or inferior vena cava thrombosis.

Adult↗

CT cholangiography in suspected Caroli's disease.

Two patients in whom computed tomography (CT) and sonography suggested the diagnosis of Caroli's disease are reported. The biliary/nonbiliary nature of the hepatic cysts was evident on a CT scan of the liver obtained immediately after intravenous cholangiography. This allowed an accurate analysis of the relationship of the biliary ducts to the cysts and easy identification of contrast medium, where present, within them. The use of this technique may avoid more invasive procedures that, although accurate in defining anatomic changes of the biliary ducts, may cause infection in patients with biliary stasis and cholangitis.

Bile Ducts, Intrahepatic↗

MR imaging of adrenal myelolipomas.

The magnetic resonance (MR) images in six patients with seven adrenal myelolipomas are presented. Four lesions involved the right gland, and three the left; they ranged from 3 to 12.5 cm in diameter. Magnetic resonance was able to image all lesions. Using T1-weighted sequences, three structural patterns were observed; (a) homogeneous masses with intensity equal to adjacent fat (three cases); (b) heterogeneous masses with fat intensity areas and areas similar to renal cortex (two cases); and (c) nodules quite different from fat, hypointense to the liver (two cases). On T2-weighted images, myelolipomas were slightly hypointense to fat and either hypo- or isointense to the liver. A comparison with the results of CT studies was possible in all cases, and good correlation with determination of the presence and quantity of fat density tissues within the lesions was observed. However, MR imaging did not seem to help in diagnosing adrenal myelolipoma in patients with equivocal CT findings, and needle biopsy is still needed in difficult cases.

Adrenal Gland Neoplasms↗

[The computed tomographic diagnosis of malignant pleural mesothelioma. A multicenter study].

CT features are described and accuracy of the method is discussed in the diagnosis of malignant pleural mesothelioma. Ninety-eight patients suffering from pleural disease mimicking mesothelioma were examined by means of III-generation CT scanners; according to the final diagnosis, 37 patients suffered from malignant pleural mesothelioma, 27 from other malignant pleural diseases and 34 from various benign diseases. In all patients a series of CT signs was evaluated: pleural thickening patterns, lesion spread and possible associated characters. In the diagnosis of mesothelioma CT showed 72.5% sensitivity, 63.8% specificity, 68.3% diagnostic accuracy, 68.5% positive predictive value and 68.2% negative predictive value. Some significant CT patterns in distinguishing malignant from benign pleural disease were identified, while the characterization of malignant disease (mesothelioma versus other neoplastic conditions) proved to be unreliable.

Adult↗