Objective: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) – a novel and highly infectious pneumonia – has now spread across China and beyond for over four months. However, its psychological impact on patients is unclear. We aim to examine the prevalence and associated risk factors for psychological morbidities and fatigue in patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection. Methods: Amidst the disease outbreak, 41 out of 105 COVID-19 patients in a local designated hospital in China were successfully assessed using a constellation of psychometric questionnaires to determine their psychological morbidities and fatigue. Several potential biopsychosocial risk factors (including pre-existing disabilities, CT severity score of pneumonia, social support, coping strategies) were assessed through multivariable logistic regression analyses to clarify their association with mental health in patients. Results: 43.9% of 41 patients presented with impaired general mental health, 12.2% had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, 26.8% had anxiety and/or depression symptoms, and 53.6% had fatigue. We did not find any association between pneumonia severity and psychological morbidities or fatigue in COVID-19 patients. However, high perceived stigmatization was associated with an increased risk of impaired general mental health and high perceived social support was associated with decreased risk. Besides, negative coping inclination was associated with an increased risk of PTSD symptoms; high perceived social support was associated with a decreased risk of anxiety and/or depression symptoms. Conclusions: Psychological morbidities and chronic fatigue are common among COVID-19 patients. Negative coping inclination and being stigmatized are primary risk factors while perceived social support is the main protective factor.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Multidetector row CTA has become the primary imaging technique for detecting intracranial aneurysms. Technical progress enables the use of cerebral CTA with lower radiation doses and contrast media. We evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of 80-kV(peak) cerebral CTA with 30 mL of contrast agent for detecting intracranial aneurysms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two hundred four patients were randomly divided into 2 groups. Patients in group A (n = 102) underwent 80-kVp CTA with 30 mL of contrast agent, while patients in group B (n = 102) underwent conventional CTA (120 kVp, 60 mL of contrast agent). All patients underwent DSA. Image quality, diagnostic accuracy, and radiation dose between the 2 groups were compared. RESULTS: Diagnostic image quality was obtained in 100 and 99 patients in groups A and B, respectively (P = .65). With DSA as reference standard, diagnostic accuracy on a per-aneurysm basis was 89.9% for group A and 93.9% for group B. For evaluating smaller aneurysms ( .05) or between the 2 CTA groups (all, P > .05). The effective dose in group A was reduced by 72.7% compared with group B. CONCLUSIONS: In detecting intracranial aneurysms with substantial radiation dose and contrast agent reduction, 80-kVp/30-mL contrast CTA provides the same diagnostic accuracy as conventional CTA.

Background: Cardiac stress T1-mapping is an advanced magnetic resonance imaging technique that enables the detection of myocardial ischemia and coronary microvascular dysfunction without the need for gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs). This review seeks to synthesize reported mean ΔT1 values from studies involving healthy adults, establish an approximate range of myocardial T1 reactivity in this population, and explore factors underlying the heterogeneity observed across different studies. Methods: PubMed, Web of Science, and Cochrane Central were searched for studies reporting myocardial T1 reactivity in healthy adult participants. The search strategy included terms such as: “Stress T1 ‘AND’ Mapping” OR “Stress T1 ‘AND’ Cardiovascular magnetic resonance” OR “Stress T1 ‘AND’ CMR” OR “T1 reactivity ‘AND’ Cardiovascular magnetic resonance” OR “T1 reactivity ‘AND’ CMR.” Use the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) quantitative critical appraisal tools for documentation quality assessment. The average value is summarized using the random effect model, and heterogeneity was assessed by using the inconsistency factor ( I ² ). A sensitivity analysis of the incorporated research was carried out using a one-by-one exclusion method. Subgroup analysis and regression analysis were used to determine the causes of heterogeneity. Results: This systematic review of T1 reactivity included 10 articles (11 study groups), with 226 participants (mean age, 52.21 years; 56.19% men [127 of 226]). The pooled mean of ΔT1 was 6.22% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 5.60, 6.84). I ² was 89.07%. The mean ΔT1 was 5.42% (95% CI: 4.77, 6.07) at modified Look Locker Inversion recovery (MOLLI) and 6.82% (95% CI: 5.98, 7.66) at shortened modified Look Locker inversion recovery (SHMOLLI). There was substantial heterogeneity in both pools ( I ² = 80.16% and I ² = 83.89% at MOLLI and SHMOLLI, respectively). There is a statistically significant statistical difference in ΔT1 between MOLLI and SHMOLLI ( p = 0.01). Pooled meta-regression analyses of all health study cohorts revealed age as an significantly associated with ΔT1 value variations ( p = 0.038). Conclusions: This analysis summarizes the pooled means and CI of T1 reactivity in healthy adult participants. Significant heterogeneity was observed, highlighting the need to standardize cardiac MRI protocols and to investigate factors influencing T1 reactivity. Systematic Review Registration: identifier CRD42024568804.

Background: Coronary artery calcium scoring (CACS) is a noninvasive method for quantifying coronary artery calcification plaque burden. Although low-dose chest computed tomography (LD-CT) scans with energy-integrating detector CT can be used for CACS, its clinical utility is constrained by higher mean differences and wider limits of agreement. In contrast, photon-counting CT offers significantly enhanced image quality compared to energy-integrating detector CT, making it a more promising tool for accurate CACS. This study investigated the difference in CACS obtained from LD-CT using photon-counting detector CT as compared to standard CACS CT (CAC-CT). Methods: This prospective study included 105 patients (mean age 64.6±11.5 years) who underwent both CAC-CT and LD-CT scans on the same day using photon-counting detector CT. CAC-CT served as a reference standard. Ten groups generated by LD-CT were reconstructed using different strength levels of quantum iterative reconstruction (QIR; 0–4) and slice thickness (3 and 1.5 mm), with the LD_3mm-QIR0 to LD_{1.5 mm-QIR4} groups being designated. The accuracy of CACS detection via LD-CT was evaluated using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC; >0.9: excellent) with two-way mixed effects and absolute agreement, Bland-Altman analysis, and weighted kappa (excellent: >0.8) being used for risk categorization agreement. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare the radiation doses between CAC-CT and LD-CT. P<0.05 was considered to indicate statistical significance. Results: Coronary artery calcium was detected in 77 (73.3%) patients via CAC-CT. Each LD-CT group demonstrated high sensitivity (96.1–100%) and specificity (100%) in detecting coronary artery calcium, with all cases detected in the LD_{1.5 mm-QIR0} and LD_{1.5 mm-QIR1} groups. Excellent agreement in CACS was observed between the LD-CT groups and the CAC-CT group (ICC: 0.983–0.993). LD_{1.5 mm-QIR2} showed the narrowest limits of agreement, while LD_{1.5 mm-QIR1} showed the lowest mean bias. The volume CT dose index was reduced by approximately 56.5% with LD-CT as compared to with CAC-CT (1.0 vs. 2.3 mGy; P<0.001). Conclusions: The LD-CT scan derived from photon-counting detector CT demonstrated excellent agreement with the standard CACS scan in terms of CACS and significantly reduced radiation dose. The reconstruction protocol using a 1.5-mm slice thickness with QIR level 1 improved coronary artery calcium detection, quantification, and risk categorization.

To investigate the effect of photon counting CT (PCCT) ultra–high resolution (UHR) mode on coronary stent visualization and fat attenuation index (FAI) assessment in individuals with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Patients who underwent PCI with stent placement and following coronary CT angiography (CCTA) by using a PCCT system were enrolled during January to August 2024. Simulated energy integrating detector CT (EID-CT) images (0.8 mm) were reconstructed with kernel Bv48, while UHR images (0.2 mm) were reconstructed using kernel Bv60 and Bv72. Objective and subjective image quality, stent-specific FAI and peri-stent FAI was evaluated. A total of 41 patients with 51 isolated stents (69.76 ± 8.75 years; 34 men) were included. Compared to simulated EID-CT, 0.2 mm Bv72 images showed larger in-stent diameters and reduced blooming artifacts (all p < 0.001). Subjective image quality scores for 0.2 mm UHR images were superior to those for simulated EID-CT (all p < 0.01). The stent-specific FAI and peri-stent FAI of 51 isolated stents was lower in the 0.2 mm UHR images than in simulated EID-CT (all p < 0.05). The reconstruction mode of 0.2 mm Bv72 showed the ability of stent-specific FAI and peri-stent FAI to distinguish stents with in-stent restenosis (ISR) < 50 % in diameter from stents without ISR, with cut-off value of −98HU and −99.5HU, respectively. PCCT UHR mode improved the image quality of coronary stents, reduced the FAI values and provided cut-off values based on stent-specific FAI and peri-stent FAI.