Rationale and Objectives: Post-COVID condition (PCC) is associated with long-term neuropsychiatric symptoms. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in PCC examines the brain metabolism, connectivity, and morphometry. Such techniques are not easily available in routine practice. We conducted a scoping review to determine what is known about the routine MRI findings in PCC patients. Materials and Methods: The PubMed database was searched up to 11 April 2023. We included cohort, cross-sectional, and before–after studies in English. Articles with only advanced MRI sequences (DTI, fMRI, VBM, PWI, ASL), preprints, and case reports were excluded. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and PRISMA Extension tools were used for quality assurance. Results: A total of 7 citations out of 167 were included. The total sample size was 451 patients (average age 51 ± 8 years; 67% female). Five studies followed a single recovering cohort, while two studies compared findings between two severity groups. The MRI findings were perivascular spaces (47%), microbleeds (27%) and white matter lesions (10%). All the studies agreed that PCC manifestations are not associated with specific MRI findings. Conclusion: The results of the included studies are heterogeneous due to the low agreement on the types of MRI abnormalities in PCC. Our findings indicate that the routine brain MRI protocol has little value for long COVID diagnostics.
Phantoms are used to validate diagnostic imaging methods or improve the skills of medical professionals. For instance, they allow conducting an unlimited number of imaging studies during medical training, assessing image quality, optimizing radiation dose, and testing novel techniques and equipment. Researchers in breast imaging use anthropomorphic models to validate, assess, and optimize new methods for diagnosing breast diseases. Such models also facilitate control over the quality of diagnostic systems, help optimize clinical protocols, and improve image reconstruction algorithms. Realistic simulation of the breast tissue is essential to address the challenges of advancing X-ray mammary gland studies. The review aimed to describe phantoms currently available for diagnostic imaging and the way they were fabricated. In this literature review, PubMed, eLIBRARY, and Google Scholar databases were screened for relevant articles. Thus, 72 articles and 13 conference papers were included. The study two major types of breast phantoms: computational and physical. Specifically, computational phantoms are classified into subgroups depending on the data they use. These include mathematical models, tissue samples, and medical images of the breast. The classification of the physical phantoms is based on their manufacturing process: casting silicone-like substances, 3D printing with resins and plastics, or printing on paper using X-ray contrast ink. Computational phantoms are generally advantageous with respect to versatility, efficiency, precision, and safety and allow the generation of large amounts of virtual data. Physical phantoms provide the most realistic diagnostic images without the need for a patient and allow performing an unlimited number of radiological studies.
The global epidemic of a new coronavirus infection caused by SARS-CoV-2 is a major threat to human health. In the clinical picture, along with acute respiratory distress syndrome, liver lesions are also noted. The following mechanisms are currently being considered: direct damaging effects of SARS-CoV-2, immuno-mediated inflammation, hypoxia, drug exposure, and reactivation of pre-existing liver disease. We studied 150 patients with COVID-pneumonia who are under inpatient treatment at the University Clinical Hospital No. 1 of Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University. Of these, the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction in 84 (56.0%) patients. In 55 (36.7%) patients, an increase in serum aminotransferases was registered, mainly alanine aminotransferase max. up to 572 U/L and aspartate aminotransferase up to a max. of 232 U/L. The long-term consequences are unknown and require monitoring of these patients.
Introduction: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming an essential part of modern radiology. However, available evidence highlights issues in the real-world applicability of AI tools and mixed radiologists’ acceptance. We aimed to develop and validate a questionnaire to evaluate the attitude of radiologists toward radiology AI (ATRAI-14). Materials and Methods: We generated items based on the European Society of Radiology questionnaire. Item reduction yielded 23 items, 12 of which contribute to scoring. The items were allocated into four domains (“Familiarity”, “Trust”, “Implementation Perspective”, and “Hopes and Fears”) and a part related to the respondent’s demographics and professional background. As a pre-test method, we conducted cognitive interviews with 20 radiologists. Pilot testing with reliability and validity assessment was carried out on a representative sample of 90 respondents. Construct validity was assessed via confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Results: CFA confirmed the feasibility of four domains structure. ATRAI-14 demonstrated acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach’s Alpha 0.78 95%CI [0.68, 0.83]), good test–retest reliability (ICC = 0.89, 95% CI [0.67, 0.96], p-value < 0.05), and acceptable criterion validity (Spearman’s rho 0.73, p-value < 0.001). Conclusions: The questionnaire is useful for providing detailed AI acceptance measurements for making management decisions when implementing AI in radiology.
Competencies in statistical data processing are becoming increasingly important for modern scientists. The apparent advantages of open-source software for statistical analysis are its accessibility and adaptability. The programming language and the corresponding software R, available as a minimalistic console interface or a complete development environment RStudio/Posit, have the widest possibilities among free solutions. We present a practical guide for comparing two groups using the software R. This study compares the effective doses of standard computed tomography with low-dose computed tomography for COVID-19 patients. The practical guide summarizes theoretical approaches to medical data processing and recommendations for correctly formulating research tasks and selecting optimal statistical analysis methods. The main goal of the practical guide is to introduce the reader to the Posit interface and the basic functionality of the R language by using a practical example of treating a real medical problem. The presented material can be useful as an introduction to statistical analysis using the programming language R.
Background/Objectives: Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly considered for use in radiology, including the summarization of patient medical records to support radiologists in processing large volumes of data under time constraints. This task requires not only accuracy and completeness but also clinical applicability. Automatic metrics and general-purpose questionnaires fail to capture these dimensions, and no standardized tool currently exists for the expert evaluation of LLM-generated summaries in radiology. Here, we aimed to develop and validate such a tool. Methods: Items for the questionnaire were formulated and refined through focus group testing with radiologists. Validation was performed on 132 LLM-generated summaries of 44 patient records, each independently assessed by radiologists. Criterion validity was evaluated through known-group differentiation and construct validity through confirmatory factor analysis. Results: The resulting seven-item instrument, ELEGANCE (Expert-Led Evaluation of Generative AI Competence and Excellence), demonstrated excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.95). It encompasses seven dimensions: relevance, completeness, applicability, falsification, satisfaction, structure, and correctness of language and terminology. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a two-factor structure (content and form), with strong fit indices (RMSEA = 0.079, CFI = 0.989, TLI = 0.982, SRMR = 0.029). Criterion validity was confirmed by significant between-group differences (p < 0.001). Conclusions: ELEGANCE is the first validated tool for expert evaluation of LLM-generated medical record summaries for radiologists, providing a standardized framework to ensure quality and clinical utility.