Should Radiologists Comment on Incidental Findings of Vascular Calcifications Found on Abdominal/Pelvic CT in Patients Less Than 50 Years of Age?

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: To evaluate if incidental abdominopelvic calcified atherosclerosis (ACA) in patients under 50 years of age correlates with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. Most studies evaluating calcific atherosclerosis and associated increased risk of CVD have concentrated on middle age and older populations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective review of 519 emergency department patients, aged 25-50 years, receiving computed tomography (CT) was performed and ACA correlated with lipid panels obtained via chart review. Those with calcified atherosclerosis were subdivided by vessel location and calcification burden (mild, moderate, or severe). Patients were followed for six years. Normality, Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis, and chi-square tests were performed. RESULTS: Two hundred and sixty-nine patients with incidental ACA on CT and 250 without ACA were studied. Atherosclerotic calcifications had a statistically significant correlation with elevated triglyceride (128 mg/dL vs 105 mg/dL; p = 0.0003) and decreased high-density lipoprotein (38 mg/dL vs 41 mg/dL; p = 0.0032) as compared to the control. Patients with ACA were at higher risk of stroke, heart attack, and death (p < 0.0001) during a six-year follow-up period. CONCLUSION: Incidental atherosclerotic calcification on abdominopelvic CT in patients under 50 years of age correlated with elevated triglycerides and decreased high-density lipoprotein as well as higher risk of cardiovascular events. Since radiologists may be the first to identify this finding and CVD is the leading cause of US deaths, proper recognition and reporting of calcification is valuable.

Case of hereditary papillary renal cell carcinoma.

Renal cell carcinoma is the most common type of renal malignancy and it originates from the renal tubular epithelium. Due to the diversity in the histopathological and molecular characteristics, it is typically subclassified into five different categories. Papillary renal cell carcinoma is one subclassification and it includes two variants: sporadic and hereditary. Although the hereditary form comprises a smaller number of cases of papillary renal cell carcinoma, an understanding of the molecular pathways and genetic changes continues to play a significant role in the development of new targeted therapies. Along with recommending appropriate lifestyle modification, further investigation into the molecular pathogenesis of hereditary papillary renal cell carcinoma will continue to be invaluable for the clinical management of renal cell carcinoma. In this article, we discuss a case of the hereditary papillary renal cell carcinoma along with an overview of the disease.