Intervillous circulation in intra-uterine growth restriction. Correlation to fetal well being.

Magnetic resonance imaging requested for a potentially serious indication, provided a unique opportunity to explore the intervillous circulation of placentas from pregnancies complicated by Intra Uterine Growth Restriction (IUGR) and to compare them to normal cases. This allowed an innovative characterization of in vivo utero-placental blood flow, correlating a compromised intervillous circulation in IUGR to the deterioration of fetal condition. MR imaging was requested to rule out suspected posterior placental adhesive disorders in 26 patients. Twelve patients had fetuses appropriate for gestational age, while in 14 patients fetuses were affected by severe IUGR. Multiphasic dynamic contrast-enhanced sagittal sequences were acquired and a quantitative analysis of signal intensity and enhancement kinetics was performed for both the entire placenta and for selected regions. Images disclosed a homogeneous perfusion overall the placenta in normal cases, while IUGR placentas displayed a slow intervillous blood flow, along with many patchy unperfused areas. Intermittent stops worsen the perfusion dynamics of the intervillous mostly in IUGR cases with an elevated ductus venosus pulsatility index. In conclusion, we proved that in IUGR placenta maternal placental blood flow is extremely compromised and that superimposed dynamic phenomena concur to worsen the intervillous circulation leading to an end-stage fetal decompensation.

[16-MDCT angiography coronary artery in the emergency department for patients with acute coronary syndrome (NSTEMI-UA)]. / La 16-MDCT delle arterie coronarie eseguita in urgenza nei pazienti affetti da sindrome coronarica acuta (NSTEMI-UA).

AIM: The diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome (ACS), non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction and unstable angina in the emergency department (ED) remains a challenge. The aim of our study was to investigate quality and the diagnostic accuracy of 16-MDCT coronary angiography, detecting coronary artery lesions in patients with suspected ACS presented in ED. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied with 16-MDCT (Sensation 16, Siemens, Forchleim, Germania) and coronary angiography 37 patients with the following inclusion criteria: chest pain compatible with myocardial ischemia, normal or no-diagnostic ECG changes and initial concentrations of serum troponin-I < or =1 ng/ml. The 16-MDCT was performed with ECG-gated technique after the intravenous administration of 90-100 ml of iodinated contrast material followed by a saline bolus. The scan parameters were: 120 kV, 650-720 mAs, 16 x 0.75mm collimation, 0.42s rotation time, 3 mm (pitch 0.25) feed/rot, B30f kernel. We evaluated for each patient: image quality and different artefacts, plaques identification and characterization. RESULTS: The evaluation of the image quality was based on a total of 453 segments, of which 415 segments (92.2%) were considered to have diagnostic image quality. MDCT correctly detected 15 patients with at least 1 stenosis >50% and correctly ruled out significant coronary artery disease in 19 patients with 1 FP and 2 FN: sensitivity 88%, specificity 95%, PPV 94%, NPV 90%. The plaques were hard in 6 cases, mixt in 16 cases and soft in 14 cases, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our results point-out that 16-MDCT in ED has the real ability to detect and rule out significant coronary stenoses in patients with ACS.