CT-based radiomics for prediction of histologic subtype and metastatic disease in primary malignant lung neoplasms.

PURPOSE: As some of the most important factors for treatment decision of lung cancer (which is the deadliest neoplasm) are staging and histology, this work aimed to associate quantitative contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) features from malignant lung tumors with distant and nodal metastases (according to clinical TNM staging) and histopathology (according to biopsy and surgical resection) using radiomics assessment. METHODS: A local cohort of 85 patients were retrospectively (2010-2017) analyzed after approval by the institutional research review board. CT images acquired with the same protocol were semiautomatically segmented by a volumetric segmentation method. Tumors were characterized by quantitative CT features of shape, first-order, second-order, and higher-order textures. Statistical and machine learning analyses assessed the features individually and combined with clinical data. RESULTS: Univariate and multivariate analyses identified 40, 2003, and 45 quantitative features associated with distant metastasis, nodal metastasis, and histopathology (adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma), respectively. A machine learning model yielded the highest areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves of 0.92, 0.84, and 0.88 to predict the same previous patterns. CONCLUSION: Several radiomic features (including wavelet energies, information measures of correlation and maximum probability from co-occurrence matrix, busyness from neighborhood intensity-difference matrix, directionalities from Tamura's texture, and fractal dimension estimation) significantly associated with distant metastasis, nodal metastasis, and histology were discovered in this work, presenting great potential as imaging biomarkers for pathological diagnosis and target therapy decision.

Abundancia y distribución de Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) y dispersión del dengue en Guasave Sinaloa, México

Abundance and distribution of Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae), and dengue dispersion in Guasave Sinaloa, México. Dengue is an important disease that affects humans, and is transmitted by A. aegypti. During 2006, a total of 477 cases of hemorrhagic dengue, and 1 510 of classic dengue were recorded in Sinaloa. Due to this high impact, a study on insect abundance and distribution, as well as their relationship with dengue dispersion, was carried out from April 2008 to March 2009 in Guasave, Sinaloa. The study included a total of six sectors in the city, considering 16 colonies; besides, 96 traps were distributed in these sectors to monitor the vector population density and female number per trap. The adult density index (ADI) and traps positive index (TPI) were calculated, and data were used to obtain the monthly dengue dispersion maps. The highest abundance of female (137 and 139) was found in July and August. In August and September the sectors 2, 4 and 6 showed the highest ADI values 2.44, 3.35 and 2.290, while TPI values were 56.25, 58.82 and 61.54, with the highest epidemiology dengue dispersion. The Pearson correlation (p<0.05) showed better values with the precipitation (r=0.80) than mean temperature (r=0.76) with zero lag months; while the cases of classic dengue and hemorrhagic dengue (CD/HD) is mostly related with the precipitation (r=0.98), and minimum temperature (r=0.79), with two lag months. In conclusion, the ADI and TPI index, as well as the maps obtained, allowed us to know the location of epidemiologic dengue risk areas. This information can be used to develop better control measures biological and chemical for the mosquito, in this location. Rev. Biol. Trop. 59 (4): 1609-1619. Epub 2011 December 01.

El dengue es una enfermedad viral en humanos transmitida por el mosquito A. aegypti (L), principal vector en América. En el 2006 en Sinaloa México se presentaron 477 casos de dengue hemorrágico y 1 510 de dengue clásico, el estado presentó el mayor número de casos de dengue hemorrágico del país, debido a esto se realizó un estudio sobre la abundancia y distribución del mosquito de abril 2008 a agosto 2009 en Guasave Sinaloa, México. La Ciudad se dividió en seis sectores, en la cual se consideraron 16 colonias con el mayor número de casas por sector; se colocaron 96 trampas para monitorear la densidad de población del insecto y el número de hembras por trampa, esto datos sirvieron para calcular los índices de densidad de adultos (IDA) e índice de trampas positivas (ITP) por sector, los cuales junto con los casos de dengue permitieron elaboraron mapas de dispersión de la enfermedad. En julio y agosto se registró la abundancia más alta de hembras (137 y 139). En agosto y septiembre los sectores dos, cuatro y seis presentaron valores de IDA de 2.44, 3.35 y 2.29, por lo que fueron de un alto riesgo epidemiológico, mientras que en estos mismos sectores se encontraron los valores más altos de ITP (56.25, 58.82 y 61.54). Los valores de mayor asociación de las correlaciones entre la abundancia poblacional de hembras se obtuvo con la precipitación (r=0.80) y con la temperatura promedio (r=0.76), a cero meses de retraso. La correlación entre el DC/DH con la precipitación fue más alta (r=0.98) que con la temperatura mínima (r=0.79); ambas con dos meses de retraso. En este estudio se demostró que los mapas mensuales de dispersión epidemiológica sirven como una medida del riesgo de la enfermedad en Guasave, Sinaloa.

Descending necrotizing mediastinitis following dental extraction. Radiological features and surgical treatment considerations.

Descending necrotizing mediastinitis (DNM) following dental extraction is an extremely serious infection with a high mortality rate. Oral infection may rapidly descend into the mediastinum across the retropharyngeal and retrovisceral spaces. Once established, mediastinitis is rapidly followed by sepsis and death. If DNM is suspected cervical and thoracic CT must be carried out urgently. After this, prompt control of the upper airway with tracheostomy, aggressive surgical debridement of the deep cervical spaces and mediastinum, and intravenous broad spectrum antibiotic therapy are mandatory. The present paper reports two new cases of DNM following dental extraction, and focuses on radiological features of abscess progression through the cervical spaces down into the mediastinum.

[Abundance and distribution of Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae), and dengue dispersion in Guasave Sinaloa, Mexico]. / Abundancia y distribución de Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) y dispersión del dengue en Guasave Sinaloa, México.

Dengue is an important disease that affects humans, and is transmitted by A. aegypti. During 2006, a total of 477 cases of hemorrhagic dengue, and 1 510 of classic dengue were recorded in Sinaloa. Due to this high impact, a study on insect abundance and distribution, as well as their relationship with dengue dispersion, was carried out from April 2008 to March 2009 in Guasave, Sinaloa. The study included a total of six sectors in the city, considering 16 colonies; besides, 96 traps were distributed in these sectors to monitor the vector population density and female number per trap. The adult density index (ADI) and traps positive index (TPI) were calculated, and data were used to obtain the monthly dengue dispersion maps. The highest abundance of female (137 and 139) was found in July and August. In August and September the sectors 2, 4 and 6 showed the highest ADI values 2.44, 3.35 and 2.290, while TPI values were 56.25, 58.82 and 61.54, with the highest epidemiology dengue dispersion. The Pearson correlation (p < 0.05) showed better values with the precipitation (r = 0.80) than mean temperature (r = 0.76) with zero lag months; while the cases of classic dengue and hemorrhagic dengue (CD/HD) is mostly related with the precipitation (r = 0.98), and minimum temperature (r = 0.79), with two lag months. In conclusion, the ADI and TPI index, as well as the maps obtained, allowed us to know the location of epidemiologic dengue risk areas. This information can be used to develop better control measures biological and chemical for the mosquito, in this location.