Introduction. The incidence of respiratory system involvement in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has currently increased; thereby new diagnostic methods have been developed actively. Meanwhile role of vascular disorders in pathogenesis of lung injury is almost unknown and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) isn't used as method of lung assessment in RA. The detector of endothelial glycocalyx damage syndecan-1 is little known but potentially perspective serum marker of lung injury in RA. Objective. The purpose of the study was to investigate the role of vascular disorders in lung injury in patients with RA. Materials and methods. 61 patients with RA without comorbid lung diseases were enrolled in the study. Control group consisted of 26 healthy persons. Patients underwent survey and physical examination, high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) and SPECT of the lungs and pulmonary function tests (PFTs). Also serum levels of rheumatoid factor (RF), anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies (ACCP) and syndecan-1 were measured. Results. All patients developed microcirculation impairment on SPECT. Vascular disorders were according to changes of lung structure detected by HRCT (r = 0.434; p = 0.044). Areas of hypoperfusion matched with ground glass opacities, lung fibrosis, branching linear structures and airway obstruction on HRCT-SPECT fusion scans. Syndecan-1 level was higher in patients with RA compared with healthy controls (р = 0.019). Conclusion. Vascular disorders are important in pathogenesis of lung injury in RA, and SPECT has high sensitivity in lung assessment. Perfusion impairment in lungs correlates with syndecan-1 level, thus syndecan-1 could be used as marker of lung injury in RA thereafter.

Background. Carotid chemodectoma is rare, slow growing, richly vascularized lesion. It is a single unilateral or bilateral tumor, localized mainly in the area of the carotid triangle. Different forms and bilateral cases are also known. A complex of radiological studies, including MRI and CT with intravenous contrast, can help in determining the surgical treatment strategy, as well as treatment monitoring. Objective. To determine the role of MRI and CT with intravenous contrast in the assessment of carotid chemodectoma at the preoperative stage and at post-surgery monitoring. Materials and Methods. We analyzed the results of a comprehensive radiological examination of 12 patients with suspected carotid chemodectoma, including MRI and MSCT with intravenous contrast, and X-ray angiography. All patients got operated, the results were confirmed by histological and immunohistochemical study. Results. Multislice computed tomography, supplemented by CT angiography, allows visualizing chemodectoma, determining its size, shape, structure, and relations with the nearby vessels. In addition to size, shape, structure of chemodectoma MRI can provide a detailed picture of the internal vascular network, the walls of adjacent vascular structures, as well as the soft tissue structures of the peripharyngeal area, which is helpful for vascular surgeons in surgical intervention. It was not possible to determine the histogenesis of the tumor according to the methods of radiation diagnostics. Conclusions. In order to determine the option of surgical treatment of carotid chemodectomas and reduce the risk of intraoperative complications at the preoperative stage, it is necessary to carry out the entire spectrum of radiation diagnostic methods (including ultrasound, MSCT, MRI and X-ray angiography).

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Radiological diagnosis of diseases of the respiratory system includes a number of methods based on various ways of obtaining information about the state of the chest organs. Most of the applied methods are aimed at identifying structural changes in the lung parenchyma, however, with the development of lung diseases, the pathological process affects all anatomical structures of the lungs, without exception, including the vascular bed of the lungs, primarily due to its microcirculatory level, therefore, this process requires special attention of specialists to the methods detecting changes in the pulmonary microvasculature. Depending on the purposes of the study, various methods of radiologic diagnosis should be used in combination. The review provides a brief anatomical characteristic of the capillary bed of the lungs. History of the study of blood circulation in a small circle is discussed, and modern methods of radiologic research are used to detect lung diseases.

Introduction. Algorithms of the early detection of lung cancer remain a topic of discussion and the problem of timely assessment of the expansion of lung cancer remains unresolved.Objective – to determine if the combined use of contrast­enhanced MDCT and 99mTc­MAA SPECT and Gallium‐67 citrate SPECT is effective in assessing the expansion of lung cancer in the determination in the intervention tactics.Material and methods. In the study, radiologic examination was performed to 81 patients with lung cancer. Combined examinations included bolus contrast­enhanced computed tomography (n = 81 patients), 99mTc­MAA SPECT (n = 62 patients) and Gallium‐67 citrate SPECT (n = 9 patients).Results.According to MDCT data in most cases (n = 65 patients; 80 %) this method was able to diagnose the T­stage of the tumor; in some cases, the stage of malignancy was overestimated (n = 8 patients, 10 %), or underestimated (n = 8 patients, 10 %). According to the results of 99mТc­МАА SPECT, it was possible to reliably determine the microcirculation disorders that were observed in the whole group of patients, while in 12 cases the impaired blood flow was recorded only according to the results of 99mTc­MAA SPECT and in 50 cases the severity of changes in blood flow was more signifcant than according to MDCT. When analyzing Ga­67 citrate SPECT data, in all 9 cases whole­body Ga­67 citrate SPECT showed intense hot areas at the tumor region. It was also possible to show several mildly increased foci in the hilar lymph nodes in 6 cases, but in 3 cases the result was false positive.Conclusions. Bolus contrast­enhanced computed tomography in most cases allows to correctly determine the T­stage of lung cancer and show tumor invasion into the surrounding tissues and vessels. At the same time, an additional 99mTc­MAA SPECT study allows to clarify the degree of disturbance of the microvasculature in more detail. It is possible to supplement the assessment of regional metastasis by Gallium‐67 citrate SPECT, however, it is necessary to take into account the inflammatory nature of lymph node changes as a cause of false­positive data.