Background: Transgender men use exogenous androgen for male pattern virilization. Hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (HBSO) is performed to stop the endogenous estrogen secretion. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk has been shown to increase with long-term use of androgens and the removal of estrogen. We aimed to investigate the CVD risk in these individuals by measuring internal and common carotid artery intima–media thicknesses (CIMT). Methods: In this cohort study, data were collected from transgender men who had undergone HBSO and used androgens for at least two years (median treatment duration was 5 years in our research). Cisgender women in the same age range were selected as the control group. Demographics, vital signs, and hematological values of transgender patients and cisgender women subjects in the control group were noted. CVD markers were compared with sonographically measured CIMT values. Results: The mean age and body mass index (BMI) of the study group were 32.6 and 25.3, respectively. Weight, systolic–diastolic blood pressure, hemoglobin, hematocrit, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), serum triglyceride (TG), HbA1c levels, internal CIMT, and common CIMT values of the study group were higher, while the high-density lipoprotein (HDL) level was significantly lower compared the control group (p1 = 0.025, p2 = 0.010, p3 = 0.002, p4 = 0.001, p5 = 0.001, p6 = 0.012, p7 = 0.008, p8 = 0.007, p9 = 0.013, and p10 = 0.001). There was also an increase in the body weight, BMI, LDL, and TG levels of the study group after the testosterone treatment (p1 = 0.025, p2 = 0.019, p3 = 0.001, p4 = 0.001, and p5 = 0.001). Conclusions: We demonstrated that the use of testosterone therapy in transgender men is associated with higher CIMT values. While further investigation is needed to assess morbidity and mortality rates, we recommend that regular clinical and radiological examinations be performed in these individuals to accurately evaluate the risk of CVD.

Background: Myocardial fibrosis is often detected in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), which causes left ventricular (LV) dysfunction and tachyarrhythmias. Purpose: To evaluate the potential value of a machine learning (ML) approach that uses radiomic features from late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) and cine images for the prediction of ventricular tachyarrhythmia (VT) in patients with HCM. Material and Methods: Hyperenhancing areas of LV myocardium on LGE images were manually segmented, and the segmentation was propagated to corresponding areas on cine images. Radiomic features were extracted using the PyRadiomics library. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) method was employed for radiomic feature selection. Our model development employed the TabPFN algorithm, an adapted Prior-Data Fitted Network design. Model performance was evaluated graphically and numerically over five-repeat fivefold cross-validation. SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) were employed to determine the relative importance of selected radiomic features. Results: Our cohort consisted of 60 patients with HCM (73.3% male; median age = 51.5 years), among whom 17 had documented VT during the follow-up. A total of 1612 radiomic features were extracted for each patient. The LASSO algorithm led to a final selection of 18 radiomic features. The model achieved a mean area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.877, demonstrating good discrimination, and a mean Brier score of 0.119, demonstrating good calibration. Conclusion: Radiomics-based ML models are promising for predicting VT in patients with HCM during the follow-up period. Developing predictive models as clinically useful decision-making tools may significantly improve risk assessment and prognosis.

Objectives: Increasing microvessel density and angiogenesis are linked to a poor prognosis in patients with invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) of the breast. This study aims to investigate intratumoral and peritumoral microvascular flow using superb microvascular imaging (SMI) in patients with IDC and explore its association with histologic markers of tumoral angiogenesis.Methods: Fifty‐four female patients with IDC (mean age 49.5 ± 14.8 years) were evaluated using SMI before biopsy. The quantitative and qualitative vascular parameters on SMI (Adler's classification, vascular index, morphology, distribution, and penetration) were assessed. Histologic markers of angiogenesis (VEGF, ERG, and CD34) were analyzed via immunohistochemical staining in both intratumoral and peritumoral compartments of biopsy specimens. The expression levels were categorized semi‐quantitatively as low or high groups based on the Allred scoring system. The association between histological and SMI parameters was analyzed. Subgroup analysis was performed according to lesion size, axillary lymph node metastasis, and histological grade.Results: IDCs with higher expression of VEGF in the peritumoral region showed a higher vascular index (7 ± 6.4 [95% CI 5.2–8.8] versus 3.7 ± 0.9 [95% CI 2.3–5.2], P = .003) on SMI. Likewise, high peritumoral ERG expression was linked to a higher vascular index (7.2 ± 6.3 [95% CI 5.4–9.0] versus 2.4 ± 1 [95% CI 1.1–3.8], P < .001), complex vessel morphology (66.7% versus 20%, P = .024), penetrating vessels (63% versus 20%, P = .037), and central vascularity (77.6% versus 20%, P = .006). Tumors with higher intratumoral ERG expression demonstrated a more complex vessel morphology on SMI (85.7% versus 60%, P = .047). The presence of axillary lymph node metastasis was associated with a higher vascular index (10 ± 7.6 [95%CI 6.7–13.2] versus 4.2 ± 3 [95%CI 3.1–5.3], < .001), complex morphology (83.3% versus 53.3%, P = .020), and penetrating vessels (63.2% versus 50%, P = .027) on SMI, as well as higher peritumoral ERG expression (100% versus 83.3%, P = .045).Conclusions: In this pilot study, tumors with higher neo‐angiogenic activity based on histological markers correlate with increased vascular index, complex vessel morphology, penetrating vessels, and central vascularity on SMI. Larger studies are needed to assess the diagnostic accuracy and utility of risk stratification of patients.

Acute onset Facial palsy was reported in four vaccinated participants in the BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) vaccine clinical trials published on December 10, 2020. So far, few cases of Facial palsy among the mRNA vaccine groups have been previously documented in the literature. Facial palsy is cited as medically attended adverse event following immunization on April 12, 2021, after the first dose of the approved Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines for preventive immunization for SARS-CoV-2 is administrated to the population in Turkey. This study is aimed to describe clinical and magnetic resonance imaging features of three patients, who developed acute onset peripheral facial paralysis after administration of the BNT162b2 vaccine, without any previous medical condition. The first patient presented with right sided facial palsy within the same day following the vaccine was administrated, while the second patient presented with left sided facial palsy 2 months after vaccination. The third patient, on the other hand, presented with right sided facial palsy and abducens nerve (CN VI) paralysis two days after vaccine was administrated.