Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a standard imaging modality for diagnosing spinal stenosis, which is a common degenerative disorder in the elderly population. Standardized interpretation of spinal MRI for diagnosing and grading the severity of spinal stenosis is necessary to ensure correct communication with clinicians and to conduct clinical research. In this review, we revisit the Lee grading system for central canal and neural foraminal stenosis of the cervical and lumbar spine, which are based on the pathophysiology and radiologic findings of spinal stenosis.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the cardiovascular outcome of statin medication in individuals retrospectively categorized on the basis of the 2013 American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) guidelines risk assessment and to determine the additional prognostic value of coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) in assessing cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in this group. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study reviewed 4255 asymptomatic individuals who had undergone self-referred CCTA with a median follow-up period of 87 months. The primary endpoint was major adverse cardiac events (MACEs); these included cardiac death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, and unstable angina. Individuals recommended for statins according to the ACC/AHA guidelines were analyzed by their assessed risk. RESULTS: MACE occurrence was significantly higher in the statin-recommended (SR) group with significant coronary artery disease (CAD) than in those with insignificant CAD (p < 0.001). In individuals with a normal coronary artery on CCTA, MACEs did not occur regardless of statin medication. In the SR group with significant CAD, there was no significant difference between statin users and non-users (p = 0.810). However, in cases with insignificant CAD, the event-free survival was significantly lower among statin users (p = 0.034). In patients recommended for moderate-intensity statins, the segment involvement score on CCTA was significantly associated with a higher risk of MACEs (hazard ratio 2.558; p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: CCTA might have a potential role in CVD risk stratification among asymptomatic statin candidates.
American Heart Association ; Angina, Unstable ; Angiography ; Atherosclerosis ; Cardiology ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Cholesterol ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Coronary Vessels ; Death ; Disease-Free Survival ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors ; Myocardial Infarction ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Assessment

PURPOSE: To evaluate the usefulness of cervicothoracic spine sagittal T2-weighted images (CT SAG T2WIs) included in routine lumbar spine MRI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Institutional review board approval was obtained and informed consents were waived for this retrospective study. The study group comprised 2,113 patients who underwent lumbar spine MRI from January 2005 to December 2005. CT SAG T2WIs were added in the routine lumbar spine MRIs. Radiologic reports were reviewed retrospectively for pathologic lesions on CT SAG T2WIs by one radiologist. Information of additional cervical or thoracic spine MRI and/or CT for further evaluation of positive findings on CT SAG T2WIs and their treatment were collected by retrospectively reviewing medical records. RESULTS: The CT SAG T2WIs revealed 142 pathologic lesions in 139 (6.58%) of the 2,113 patients. They were easily obtained without positional change in a scan time of less than 2 minutes. Additional cervical or thoracic spine MRI and/or CT for positive findings on CT SAG T2WIs were performed in 13 patients. Seven patients underwent surgical treatment. CONCLUSION: CT SAG T2WIs included in routine lumbar spine MRI were useful in finding the pathologic lesions in cervicothoracic spine for the patients who assumed to have lesions in lumbar spine.
Ethics Committees, Research ; Humans ; Retrospective Studies ; Spine

Musculoskeletal ultrasonography (US) has unique advantages, such as excellent spatial resolution for superficial structures, the capability for dynamic imaging, and the ability for direct correlation and provocation of symptoms. For these reasons, US is increasingly used to evaluate problems in small joints, such as the foot and ankle. However, it is almost impossible to evaluate every anatomic structure within a limited time. Therefore, US examinations can be faster and more efficient if radiologists know where to look and image patients with typical symptoms. In this review, common etiologies of heel pain are discussed in a problem-based manner. Knowing the common pain sources and being familiar with their US findings will help radiologists to perform accurate and effective US examinations.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the swallowing characteristics of dysphagic patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) with those of dysphagic stroke patients. METHODS: Forty-one patients with TBI were selected from medical records (between December 2004 to March 2013) and matched to patients with stroke (n=41) based on age, sex, and disease duration. Patients' swallowing characteristics were analyzed retrospectively using a videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS) and compared between both groups. Following thorough review of medical records, patients who had a history of diseases that could affect swallowing function at the time of the study were excluded. Dysphagia characteristics and severity were evaluated using the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association National Outcome Measurement System swallowing scale, clinical dysphagia scale, and the videofluoroscopic dysphagia scale. RESULTS: There was a significant difference in radiological lesion location (p=0.024) between the two groups. The most common VFSS finding was aspiration or penetration, followed by decreased laryngeal elevation and reduced epiglottis inversion. Swallowing function, VFSS findings, or quantified dysphagia severity showed no significant differences between the groups. In a subgroup analysis of TBI patients, the incidence of tube feeding was higher in patients with surgical intervention than in those without (p=0.011). CONCLUSION: The swallowing characteristics of dysphagic patients after TBI were comparable to those of dysphagic stroke patients. Common VFSS findings comprised aspiration or penetration, decreased laryngeal elevation, and reduced epiglottis inversion. Patients who underwent surgical intervention after TBI were at high risk of tube feeding requirement.
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association ; Brain Injuries* ; Deglutition ; Deglutition Disorders* ; Enteral Nutrition ; Epiglottis ; Fluoroscopy ; Humans ; Incidence ; Medical Records ; Retrospective Studies ; Stroke*

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the final diagnosis of patients with unexplained dysphagia and the clinical and laboratory findings supporting the diagnosis. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 143 patients with dysphagia of unclear etiology who underwent a videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS). The medical records were reviewed, and patients with a previous history of diseases that could affect swallowing were categorized into a missed group. The remaining patients were divided into an abnormal or normal VFSS group based on the VFSS findings. The clinical course and final diagnosis of each patient were examined. RESULTS: Among the 143 patients, 62 (43%) had a previous history of diseases that could affect swallowing. Of the remaining 81 patients, 58 (72.5%) had normal VFSS findings and 23 (27.5%) had abnormal VFSS findings. A clear cause of dysphagia was not identified in 9 of the 23 patients. In patients in whom a cause was determined, myopathy was the most common cause (n=6), followed by laryngeal neuropathy (n=4) and drug-induced dysphagia (n=3). The mean ages of the patients in the normal and abnormal VFSS groups differed significantly (62.52±15.00 vs. 76.83±10.24 years, respectively; p<0.001 by Student t-test). CONCLUSION: Careful history taking and physical examination are the most important approaches for evaluating patients with unexplained swallowing difficulty. Even if VFSS findings are normal in the pharyngeal phase, some patients may need additional examinations. Electrodiagnostic studies and laboratory tests should be considered for patients with abnormal VFSS findings.
Deglutition ; Deglutition Disorders* ; Diagnosis* ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Muscular Diseases ; Physical Examination ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the influence of the swallowing posture and liquid thickness on the easiness of pill swallowing in healthy adults. METHOD: The subjects were 12 healthy young group (19-40 years) and 10 elderly group (65- years). Each subject was examined under videofluoroscopy while swallowing barium-containing placebo pills with six different methods: free fluid with neutral (FN), chin down (FD), chin up (FU), head rotated to left (FL), head rotated to right postures (FR), and thickened fluid with neutral posture (TN). The subjects rated their ease of pill swallowing on a 5-point Likert scale. Time variables were evaluated from the videofluoroscopy images. RESULT: FD, FU and FL were rated significantly less comfortable than FN for pill swallowing. Duration from the start signal to the mandible angle and to laryngeal elevation was significantly prolonged with FD and FL compared to FN. Duration from the start signal to the upper esophageal sphincter was significantly prolonged with FD compared to FN. There were no significant differences on either easiness of swallowing or the time variables between FN and TN. Duration from the start signal to the mandible angle and to the upper esophageal sphincter was significantly longer in the elderly group than the young group with all swallowing methods except FU. In the elderly group, duration from the start signal to laryngeal elevation was significantly shorter with FU than FN. CONCLUSION: Chin down posture is uncomfortable and prolong swallowing time during pill swallowing. In the neutral posture, pill swallowing with thickened fluid is comparable to that with free fluid. Chin up posture may shorten pill swallowing time in elderly.
Adult* ; Aged ; Chin ; Deglutition Disorders ; Deglutition* ; Esophageal Sphincter, Upper ; Fluoroscopy ; Head ; Humans ; Mandible ; Methods ; Posture*

OBJECTIVE: To investigate changes of swallowing function after ballooning dilatation (BD) and the Botox injection (BI) into the cricopharyngeus muscle in patients with severe dysphagia. METHOD: Nine severe dysphagic patients with cricopharyngeal dysfunction (CPD) who underwent BD and/or BI into the cricopharyngeal muscle were retrospectively reviewd. Patients who had severe dysphagia (Functional Oral Intake Scale (FOIS)≤2) after at least 3 months of the conventional swallowing therapy were included by a thorough review of medical records with videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS). Before and after several interventions (BD and/or BI), swallowing function was evaluated using VFSS. RESULT: Among 9 patients, 5 underwent both BD and BI, and the other 4 patients underwent only BD. Four among 9 cases showed that interventions were effective. Of the 5 cases with both BD and BI, 2 cases were effective for treatment of CPD. In all the effective 4 cases, pyriform sinus residue seemed to be related with FOIS. Of those cases, one case had long-term effect (more than 4 months) and the other 3 case had short term effect (less than 4 months). CONCLUSION: Interventions were effective in 4 among 9 cases with severe CPD and the therapeutic effect was sustained for more than 4 months. The results suggest that in CPD patients, the BD or BI into UES could be considered in selected patients.
Botulinum Toxins* ; Deglutition ; Deglutition Disorders ; Dilatation* ; Fluoroscopy ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Methods ; Pharyngeal Muscles ; Pyriform Sinus ; Retrospective Studies

Florid reactive periostitis (FRP) is a rare benign fibro-osseous proliferation, occurring mostly in the short tubular bones of hands and rarely in the long tubular bones. We report a surgically confirmed case of FRP involving the clavicle in a 26-year-old male. On MRI scans, a soft tissue mass with T2 high signal intensity was found that originated from the periosteum of the clavicle and included surrounding a periosteal elevation and perilesional soft tissue edema. Strong contrast enhancement was noted inside the mass and along the periosteum involving more than half of the circumference of the clavicle. Serial radiographs revealed a soft tissue mass without mineralization that turned into an ossified mass with a solid periosteal reaction within a month.

Objective: To develop and evaluate a deep learning model for automated segmentation and detection of bone metastasis on spinal MRI. Materials and Methods: We included whole spine MRI scans of adult patients with bone metastasis: 662 MRI series from 302 patients (63.5 ± 11.5 years; male:female, 151:151) from three study centers obtained between January 2015 and August 2021 for training and internal testing (random split into 536 and 126 series, respectively) and 49 MRI series from 20 patients (65.9 ± 11.5 years; male:female, 11:9) from another center obtained between January 2018 and August 2020 for external testing. Three sagittal MRI sequences, including non-contrast T1-weighted image (T1), contrast-enhanced T1-weighted Dixon fat-only image (FO), and contrast-enhanced fat-suppressed T1-weighted image (CE), were used. Seven models trained using the 2D and 3D U-Nets were developed with different combinations (T1, FO, CE, T1 + FO, T1 + CE, FO + CE, and T1 + FO + CE). The segmentation performance was evaluated using Dice coefficient, pixel-wise recall, and pixel-wise precision. The detection performance was analyzed using per-lesion sensitivity and a free-response receiver operating characteristic curve. The performance of the model was compared with that of five radiologists using the external test set. Results: The 2D U-Net T1 + CE model exhibited superior segmentation performance in the external test compared to the other models, with a Dice coefficient of 0.699 and pixel-wise recall of 0.653. The T1 + CE model achieved per-lesion sensitivities of 0.828 (497/600) and 0.857 (150/175) for metastases in the internal and external tests, respectively. The radiologists demonstrated a mean per-lesion sensitivity of 0.746 and a mean per-lesion positive predictive value of 0.701 in the external test. Conclusion The deep learning models proposed for automated segmentation and detection of bone metastases on spinal MRI demonstrated high diagnostic performance.