Hypotensive patients screened in the emergency department with positive FAST findings may be triaged directly to therapeutic laparotomy, depending on the results of the sonography examination, without the need for CT.
Objectives
To evaluate detection of post-traumatic placental abruption with contrast-enhanced CT (CECT) and comparison with Ultrasound (US).
Methods
Picture Archive and Date System (PACS) database at a level-1 trauma center was retrospectively reviewed using keywords pregnancy, trauma, and/or placental abruption over 10 years. CT was compared to US, if performed within 24 hours. 2 subspecialty-trained radiologists blindly reviewed the studies. Placental features on delivery and pregnancy outcomes were used as reference standard. Lack of adverse pregnancy/fetal outcome was treated as the absence of abruption.
Results
CECT was performed in 36 patients, with 27 US within 24 hours. There were 3 complete and 8 partial abruptions. Reader sensitivity for CT was 100% for both reviewers; however, specificity was 54.5% and 56.7%. No sonographic abnormality was noted in both partial and complete abruption. Using kappa statistics, inter-observer agreement was low for both CT (0.169) and US (0.078). False-positive reads were from misinterpretation of normal placental structures like cotyledons, age-related infarcts, and marginal sinus of the placenta.
Conclusions
CECT identifies post-traumatic placental abruption with high sensitivity but low specificity for clinically significant abruptions, and performs better than US. Pitfalls from normal placental structures mimicking abruption should be avoided. US markedly underdiagnoses abruption.
Cerebellar hemorrhage is a relatively rare phenomenon in neonates, and most cases are associated with intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH). Prenatally diagnosed intracranial hemorrhage is rare, and diagnoses of cerebellar hemorrhage are even rarer. In our literature search, we discovered 3 cases of prenatal diagnosis of cerebellar hemorrhage, all accompanied by IVH. None of the neonates survived. We report a case initially observed in utero by sonography of cerebellar hemorrhage without evidence of IVH, causing ventriculomegaly in a 32-week twin fetus who was subsequently successfully treated.
The role of PET/CT in pancreatic malignancy is evolving with new scientific evidence emerging continuously. PET/CT applications in imaging the pancreas and its organ-specific merits, limitations, and potential pitfalls are still evolving. This article provides an overview of the state-of-the-art applications of PET/CT imaging in evaluating pancreatic malignancy, comparing with conventional imaging modalities, such as contrast-enhanced CT and MRI. Current PET/MRI is also reviewed, along with brief discussion on cost-benefit analysis.
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