OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to assess the reproducibility and validity of quantitative perfusion parameters derived from dynamic volume perfusion CT in patients with critical limb ischemia (CLI) and to evaluate perfusion parameter changes before and after endovascular revascularization. SUBJECTS AND METHODS. Patients with CLI referred for unilateral extremity endovascular arterial recanalization were enrolled in this study. CT examinations obtained 1–3 days before the procedure and then within 1 week after the treatment were evaluated at two reading sessions. Blood flow (BF), blood volume (BV), and time to peak (TTP) were measured on color-coded maps and compared statistically. Intraobserver agreement was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Bland-Altman analysis. RESULTS. Endovascular treatment was technically successful for all 16 patients. The posttreatment BF and BV showed a statistically significant increase in both dermal and muscle areas (p < 0.05). The posttreatment TTP shortened at a statistically significant level (p < 0.05). In the 3-month clinical follow-up period, the limb salvage rate was 81% and the percentage change in BF and BV of patients with poor response to treatment had no statistically significant increase after treatment, consistent with the clinical assessment. The percentage change in BF and BV correlated well with the improvement of the clinical condition (r = 0.673–0.901). ICC values showed excellent agreement in the range of 0.95–0.98. CONCLUSION. As a reproducible method, dynamic volume perfusion CT of the foot may enable quantitative evaluation of the perfusion of soft tissues and also provide a novel approach to assessing response to endovascular recanalization in CLI.

Background and Aims: Hemoptysis in children is a rare but potentially life‐threatening symptom of an underlying respiratory tract abnormality. Hemoptysis, when massive and untreated, has a mortality rate of more than 50%. With interventional radiological procedures and surgery, this rate has dropped to 7%–18%. The experience with bronchial arterial embolization in childhood is very limited; only a few case reports with short‐term follow‐up have been reported.Methods: We report herein two patients with massive hemoptysis due to abnormal systemic arterial bleeding of the lung; neither patient had any lung or systemic disease. In both cases, the bleeding was controlled with endovascular embolization. The first case had bronchopulmonary arterial anastomosis and represents the first reported case with this anomaly. The second case had recurrent massive hemoptysis due to bronchial artery bleeding, and repeat embolization was performed.Results: Both of these children had rare vascular anomalies without parenchymal lung disease and were treated successfully with bronchial arterial embolization.Conclusion: Massive hemoptysis due to abnormal systemic bleeding of the lung in the absence of parenchymal disease is an uncommon and severe symptom in childhood. Embolization can be a treatment option in children with abnormal vasculature bleeding and can be repeated safely when needed.

Objective: Lung nodules (LNs) impose diagnostic and therapeutic challenges in patients with rheuma- toid arthritis (RA) due to unpredictable outcomes. Potential induction of nodulosis with the use of con- ventional synthetic DMARDs (csDMARD) and lack of knowledge regarding the effect of biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (bDMARDs)/tofacitinib on the LN raise concerns and have an impact on treatment decisions. This study aims to evaluate the possible effects of the bDMARDs/tofa- citinib and csDMARDS on LNs observed in RA patients. Methods: Electronic health records of RA patients who had LNs detected on computed tomography (CT) between January 2015 and December 2020 were evaluated retrospectively. Patients with follow- up CT images were included in the study. Baseline and follow-up images were meticulously examined for the number, size, attenuation, and cavity formation. Clinical, histopathologic, and laboratory find- ings were analyzed. Results: Forty-two RA patients with LNs were studied, 21 were on bDMARDs/tofacitinib (11 females, mean age: 59.7 6 8.4) and 21 were on csDMARDs (12 females, mean age: 71.4 6 8.3). The proportion of patients with progressed nodules during follow-up was comparable between groups (six patients in bDMARDs/tofacitinib vs seven patients in csDMARDs). Progression of LNs was observed in six patients in the bDMARDs/tofacitinib group: three in anti-TNFa, two in rituximab, and one in abatacept users and none in tofacitinib users. Conclusion: Our results suggest that the risk of progression in LNs in RA patients with use of bDMARDs/tofacitinib might not impose a higher risk compared to csDMARDs. Moreover, bDMARDs/ tofacitinib might result in regression in LNs. Cite this article as: Karadeniz H, Cindil E, Babaog ̆ lu H, et al. Treatment with bio- logic DMARDs may not adversely affect lung nodules in rheumatoid arthritis patients. Eur J Rheumatol. 2022;9(2):75-81.