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Our study suggests that in children with achondroplasia, (1) the variation in ventricular dilatation may be related to an unquantifiable interdependent relationship of emissary vein enlargement, venous channel narrowing, and foramen magnum compression and (2) stable ventricular size facilitated by interdependent factors likely obviates the need for ventricular shunt placement.

Purpose The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of 18F-choline PET and MRI in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism. Furthermore, the additional value of software-based PET/MRI scan fusion was analyzed. Patients and Methods This retrospective study includes 42 patients (38 women) with an age between 32.5 and 79.1 years. PET/CT scans were performed on a dedicated system after injection of 250 to 350 MBq 18F-choline. For the MRI examination, T1-weighted images of the cervical region were used. The image fusion was made by anatomical coregistration using an automated algorithm based on mutual information. Results A total of 46 lesions were discovered and histologically confirmed in 42 patients. Histopathological examination revealed 38 adenomas and 8 hyperplasias. This means that, in 4 of these 42 patients, 2 lesions per patient were discovered. PET/CT also detected 46 abnormal findings, but only 43 were correctly recognized, whereas the other 3 were false-positive (FP). Six lesions could not be detected correctly: 3 were FP and 3 false-negative, which resulted in a sensitivity of 93.5% and a specificity of 97.5%. The site-specific evaluation showed 18 true-positive enlarged parathyroid glands with MRI, but also produced 13 FP findings and failed to detect 28 lesions; the sensitivity and specificity are thus 39.1% and 89.3%, respectively. The difference in detection rate between 18F-choline PET/CT and MRI was statistically significant (P < 0.001). Conclusions 18F-choline PET/CT is clearly superior to MRI for localization diagnostics in primary hyperparathyroidism. Image fusion of both modalities can be helpful for more precise anatomical assignment.

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The aim was to evaluate the impact of multiple high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) features on pulmonary function test (PFT) biomarkers in fibrotic interstitial lung disease (FILD) patients. HRCT of subsequently ILD-board-discussed FILD patients were semi-quantitatively evaluated in a standardized approach: 18 distinct lung regions were scored for noduli, reticulation, honeycombing, consolidations, ground glass opacities (GGO), traction bronchiectasis (BRK) and emphysema. Total lung capacity (TLC), forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), FEV1/FVC, diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO) and transfer coefficient (KCO) were assessed. Interactions between each PFT biomarker and all HRCT scores were visualized by network analyses, modeled according to the Schwarz Bayesian Information Criterion and incorporated in uni- and multivariate stepwise regression analyses. Among 108 FILD patients (mean age 67 years, 77% male), BRK extent was a major significant uni- or multivariate determinant of all PFT analyzed. Besides that, diffusion-based variables DLCO and KCO showed a larger dependency on reticulation, emphysema and GGO, while forced expiratory volume-based measures FEV1, FVC and FEV1/FVC were more closely associated with consolidations. For TLC, the only significant multivariate determinant was reticulation. In conclusion, PFT biomarkers derived from spirometry, body plethysmography and diffusion capacity in FILD patients are differentially influenced by semi-quantified HRCT findings.