Very few cases of spontaneous otorrhagia (SO) following nonotolaryngologic surgery have ever been reported in surgical literature and none in radiographic. Of the surgical cases reported, SO occurred in the perioperative period following laparoscopic surgeries in the Trendelenburg position. We report the first case of spontaneous bilateral otorrhagia which presented as bilateral external auditory canal masses following endovascular surgery and open decompressive laparotomy in a 60-year-old male with a prior history of hypertension and smoking. We seek to inform radiologists that SO can present on neck imaging as external auditory canal masses as a complication of nonotolaryngologic surgery away from the imaged field of view.

Purpose

To reduce the total scan time of multiple postlabeling delay (multi-PLD) pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (pCASL) by developing a hierarchically structured 3D convolutional neural network (H-CNN) that estimates the arterial transit time (ATT) and cerebral blow flow (CBF) maps from the reduced number of PLDs as well as averages.

Methods

A total of 48 subjects (38 females and 10 males), aged 56-80 years, compromising a training group (n = 45) and a validation group (n = 3) underwent MRI including multi-PLD pCASL. We proposed an H-CNN to estimate the ATT and CBF maps using a reduced number of PLDs and a separately reduced number of averages. The proposed method was compared with a conventional nonlinear model fitting method using the mean absolute error (MAE).

Results

The H-CNN provided the MAEs of 32.69 ms for ATT and 3.32 mL/100 g/min for CBF estimations using a full data set that contains six PLDs and six averages in the 3 test subjects. The H-CNN also showed that the smaller number of PLDs can be used to estimate both ATT and CBF without significant discrepancy from the reference (MAEs of 231.45 ms for ATT and 9.80 mL/100 g/min for CBF using three of six PLDs).

Conclusion

The proposed machine learning-based ATT and CBF mapping offers substantially reduced scan time of multi-PLD pCASL.

Objectives: Early detection and accurate diagnosis of lymph node metastasis (LNM) in head and neck cancer (HNC) are crucial for enhancing patient prognosis and survival rates. Current imaging methods have limitations, necessitating new evaluation of new diagnostic techniques. This study investigates the potential of combining pre-operative CT and intra-operative fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIm) to enhance LNM prediction in HNC using primary tumor signatures. Methods: CT and FLIm data were collected from 46 HNC patients. A total of 42 FLIm features and 924 CT radiomic features were extracted from the primary tumor site and fused. A support vector machine (SVM) model with a radial basis function kernel was trained to predict LNM. Hyperparameter tuning was conducted using 10-fold nested cross-validation. Prediction performance was evaluated using balanced accuracy (bACC) and the area under the ROC curve (AUC). Results: The model, leveraging combined CT and FLIm features, demonstrated improved testing accuracy (bACC: 0.71, AUC: 0.79) over the CT-only (bACC: 0.58, AUC: 0.67) and FLIm-only (bACC: 0.61, AUC: 0.72) models. Feature selection identified that a subset of 10 FLIm and 10 CT features provided optimal predictive capability. Feature contribution analysis identified high-pass and low-pass wavelet-filtered CT images as well as Laguerre coefficients from FLIm as key predictors. Conclusions: Combining CT and FLIm of the primary tumor improves the prediction of HNC LNM compared to either modality alone. Significance: This study underscores the potential of combining pre-operative radiomics with intra-operative FLIm for more accurate LNM prediction in HNC, offering promise to enhance patient outcomes.

Background and purpose

There is limited literature on the prevalence of incidental brain MRI findings in the Hispanic/Latino population, despite their increased prevalence of vascular disease and undertreatment of chronic conditions. The purpose of our study was to determine the prevalence of clinically relevant incidental findings on brain MRI examinations obtained as a part of the Study of Latinos-Investigation of NeuroCognitive Aging MRI (SOL-INCA-MRI) study.

Methods

Brain MRI examinations were obtained on 1389 participants in the SOL-INCA-MRI study, a cross-sectional ancillary study of the Hispanic Community Health Study, Study of Latinos, which is a longitudinal, community-based study. Study design of SOL-INCA-MRI involves imaging cognitively normal and participants with mild cognitive impairment. Brain MRI findings were categorized as Level 1 (normal), Level 1.5 (findings of unclear medical significance), Level 2 (potential medical concern), or Level 3 (medically urgent). This article focuses on Level 2 and Level 3 findings.

Results

The average age of the sample was 60.8 years (+/- 10.3 years), 66.1% were females. Level 2 and 3 findings were identified in 117 participants, (8.4%), of which 109 (7.8%) were recommended for medical follow-up (Level 2), and 8 (0.6%) were recommended for immediate medical attention (Level 3). Brain MRI findings consisted of chronic infarction in 33 (2.4%), vascular abnormality in 27 (1.9%), intracranial mass in 20 (1.4%), other intracranial findings in 28 (2.0%), and skull base/extracranial findings in 26 (1.9%) patients.

Conclusion

Incidental findings of clinical relevance were common among SOL-INCA-MRI participants, but rarely required urgent medical intervention.

The Hispanic/Latino population is one of the largest and most diverse ethnoracial groups in the United States at high risk for dementia. We examined cognitive constructs and associations with subsequent hippocampal volume (HV) and white matter hyperintensity volume (WMHV). Participants were from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos-Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study (n = 2029). We examined confirmatory factor analysis and longitudinal invariance using neurocognitive scores at Visits 1 (2008-2011) and 2 (2014-2018) and path analyses. We obtained a longitudinally invariant two-factor episodic memory (EM) and working memory (WM) construct. Lower EM profile at both visits was associated with greater WMHV and smaller HV at Visit 2. Lower WM profile at both visits was associated with larger WMHV and smaller HV at Visit 2. Neurocognitive profiles were associated with subsequent neurodegeneration in a sample of Hispanics/Latinos. Identifying neurocognitive risk profiles may lead to early detection and intervention, and significantly impact the course of neurodegeneration.

Highlights

Cognitive profiles predict brain integrity up to 10 years later.We observed two-factor latent memory constructs and longitudinal invariance.These findings were observed in a Hispanic/Latino cohort.

Background

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors are highly prevalent among Hispanic/Latino adults, while the prevalence of MRI infarcts is not well-documented. We, therefore, sought to examine the relationships between CVD risk factors and infarcts with brain structure among Hispanic/Latino individuals.

Methods

Participants included 1,886 Hispanic/Latino adults (50-85 years) who underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as part of the Study of Latinos-Investigation of Neurocognitive Aging-MRI (SOL-INCA-MRI) study. CVD risk was measured approximately 10.5 years before MRI using the Framingham cardiovascular risk score, a measure of 10-year CVD risk (low (<10%), medium (10- < 20%), and high (≥20%)). MR infarcts were determined as present or absent. Outcomes included total brain, cerebral and lobar cortical gray matter, hippocampal, lateral ventricle, and total white matter hyperintensity (WMH) volumes. Linear regression models tested associations between CVD risk and infarct with MRI outcomes and for modifications by age and sex.

Results

Sixty percent of participants were at medium or high CVD risk. Medium and high CVD risk were associated with lower total brain and frontal gray matter and higher WMH volumes compared to those with low CVD risk. High CVD risk was additionally associated with lower total cortical gray matter and parietal volumes and larger lateral ventricle volumes. Men tended to have greater CVDRF-related differences in total brain volumes than women. The association of CVD risk factors on total brain volumes increased with age, equal to an approximate 7-year increase in total brain aging among the high-CVD-risk group compared to the low-risk group. The presence of infarct(s) was associated with lower total brain volumes, which was equal to an approximate 5-year increase in brain aging compared to individuals without infarcts. Infarcts were also associated with smaller total cortical gray matter, frontal and parietal volumes, and larger lateral ventricle and WMH volumes.

Conclusion

The high prevalence of CVD risk among Hispanic/Latino adults may be associated with accelerated brain aging.