Aim: Magnetic resonance/ ultrasound fusion targeted biopsy (Tbs) is widely used for diagnosing prostate cancer (PCa). The aim of our study was to compare the cancer detection rate (CDR) and the clinically significant prostate cancer detection rate (csPCa) of the magnetic resonance/ultrasound fusion targeted biopsy with those of the standard systematic biopsy (Sbs) and of the combination of both techniques.Material and methods: A total of 182 patients underwent magnetic resonance/ultrasound fusion Tbs on the prostate for PCa suspicion based on multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mMRI) detection of lesions with PI-RADSv2 score ≥3. A total of 78 patients had prior negative biopsies. Tb was performed by taking 2-4 cores from each suspected lesion, followed by Sb with 12 cores. We evaluated the overall detection rate of PCa and clinically significant prostate cancer, defined as any PCa with Gleason score ≥3+4.Results: Median prostate specific antigen (PSA) level pre-biopsy was 7.4 ng/ml and median free-PSA/PSA ratio was 10.2%. Patient median age was 62 years old. PIRADSv2 score was 3 in 54 cases, 4 in 96 cases and 5 in 32 cases. PI-RADS-dependent detection rate of Tbs for scores 3, 4 and 5 was 25.9%, 65.6% and 84.4%, respectively, with csPCa detection rates of 24.1%, 54.2%, and 71.9%. Overall detection rate was 57.1% for Tbs, which increased to 60.4% by adding Sbs results. Detection rate for clinically significant prostate cancer (csPCa) was 48.4% and increased to 51.1% by adding Sbs. Overall detection rate for repeated biopsy was 50% and 68.3% for biopsy in naïve patients. Sbs detection rate was 55.5%, 8 patients having a negative biopsy on Tbs.Conclusions: When Tbs is considered due to a PI-RADS ≥3 lesion on mMRI, combined Tbs + Sbs increases the overall CDR and csPCa detection rates.
Background: Bisphosphonate scintigraphy (BS) is a recognized tool for diagnosing amyloid transthyretin cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CA). However, its sensitivity for rare transthyretin (TTR) variants, like Glu54Gln, remains underexplored. Methods: This was a retrospective descriptive study including all known patients with the Glu54Gln variant diagnosed between 2017 and 2023 in Romania, aiming to evaluate the diagnostic performance of BS in Glu54Gln ATTR–CA. Results: All symptomatic patients (n = 22) with histologically confirmed ATTR-CA had positive BS results (100% sensitivity). No false negatives were observed in asymptomatic carriers (n = 4). The Perugini visual score correlated with disease severity, with grade 3 scores associated with advanced cardiac involvement. We proposed a new parameter, heart-to-liver-uptake (H/L) ratio, which proved a strong positive correlation with both the heart-to-contralateral-uptake (H/CL) ratio (R2 = 0.768, p < 0.001) and interventricular septum thickness (R2 = 0.584, p < 0.001) and a weak correlation with the global longitudinal strain (R2 = 0.212, p = 0.023). Conclusions: BS demonstrates high diagnostic accuracy for Glu54GlnATTR-CA, underscoring its utility in early diagnosis and clinical management. The H/L ratio presents a novel approach to semiquantitative analysis of bisphosphonate uptake in cardiac amyloidosis, potentially addressing key limitations of the traditional H/CL ratio.