Brain Abnormalities in Individuals with a Desire for a Healthy Limb Amputation: Somatosensory, Motoric or Both? A Task-Based fMRI Verdict.

Body integrity dysphoria (BID), a long-lasting desire for the amputation of physically healthy limbs, is associated with reduced fMRI resting-state functional connectivity of somatosensory cortices. Here, we used fMRI to evaluate whether these findings could be replicated and expanded using a task-based paradigm. We measured brain activations during somatosensory stimulation and motor tasks for each of the four limbs in ten individuals with a life-long desire for the amputation of the left leg and fourteen controls. For the left leg, BID individuals had reduced brain activation in the right superior parietal lobule for somatosensory stimulation and in the right paracentral lobule for the motor task, areas where we previously found reduced resting-state functional connectivity. In addition, for somatosensory stimulation only, we found a robust reduction in activation of somatosensory areas SII bilaterally, mostly regardless of the stimulated body part. Areas SII were regions of convergent activations for signals from all four limbs in controls to a significantly greater extent than in subjects with BID. We conclude that BID is associated with altered integration of somatosensory and, to a lesser extent, motor signals, involving limb-specific cortical maps and brain regions where the first integration of body-related signals is achieved through convergence.

Bronchial artery hypertrophy is correlated with coronary artery disease.

BACKGROUND: Bronchial arteries support the systemic pulmonary vasculature and physiologically communicate with pulmonary arteries and coronary arteries. While there is evidence supporting the link between pulmonary diseases and bronchial artery hypertrophy (BAH), few data on the correlation between coronary artery disease (CAD) and BAH have been published. PURPOSE: To evaluate a possible association between BAH and CAD in patients without known pulmonary diseases undergoing computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA). MATERIAL AND METHODS: This retrospective study was approved by the local ethics committee. One hundred patients with varying degrees of CAD underwent CTCA. Patients were stratified into four groups as follows: group I, 25 patients without CAD or with non-significant CAD; group II, 25 untreated patients with significant CAD; group III, 25 stented patients; group IV, 25 patients with coronary artery bypass grafts. The number and diameter of bronchial arteries were recorded. Correlation between age, CAD, and BAH was estimated. RESULTS: One hundred and ninety-nine bronchial arteries were detected. Approximately 51% were hypertrophic (diameter, >1.5 mm) with a mean diameter of 1.7 ± 0.5 mm. Seventy-six patients showed no pulmonary alterations; 24 were found to have previously undiagnosed pulmonary findings, six of which were severe. Presence and degree of CAD correlated with patients' mean age (60 in group I, 68 in group II, 65 in group III, 69 in group IV; P = 0.023), and mean bronchial artery transverse diameter (1.6 mm, 1.7 mm, 1.8 mm, and 2.0 mm, respectively; P = 0.009). The bronchial artery diameter was not associated with pulmonary findings (P = 0.390). CONCLUSION: There is an association between CAD and BAH. In patients with no pulmonary alterations, BAH could be caused by undiagnosed underlying CAD.

Malignant incidental extracardiac findings on cardiac CT: systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of our study was to systematically review the evidence on incidental extracardiac findings on cardiac CT with a focus on previously unknown malignancies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A systematic search was performed (PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane databases) for studies reporting incidental extracardiac findings on cardiac CT. Among 1099 articles initially found, 15 studies met the inclusion criteria. The references of those articles were hand-searched and 14 additional studies were identified. After review of the full text, 10 articles were excluded. Nineteen studies including 15,877 patients (64% male) were analyzed. A three-level analysis was performed to determine the prevalence of patients with incidental extracardiac findings, the prevalence of patients with major incidental extracardiac findings, and the prevalence of patients with a proven cancer. Heterogeneity was explored for multiple variables. Pooled prevalence and 95% CI were calculated. RESULTS: The prevalence of both incidental extracardiac findings and major incidental extracardiac findings showed a high heterogeneity (I2>95%): The pooled prevalence was 44% (95% CI, 35-54%) and 16% (95% CI, 14-20%), respectively. No significant explanatory variables were found for using or not using contrast material, the size of the FOV, and study design (I2>85%). The pooled cancer prevalence for 10 studies including 5082 patients was 0.7% (95% CI, 0.5-1.0%), with an almost perfect homogeneity (I2<0.1%). Of 29 reported malignancies, 21 (72%) were lung cancers; three, thyroid cancers; two, breast cancers; two, liver cancers; and one, mediastinal lymphoma. CONCLUSION: Although the prevalence of reported incidental extracardiac finding at cardiac CT was highly variable, a homogeneous prevalence of previously unknown malignancies was reported across the studies, for a pooled estimate of 0.7%; more than 70% of these previously unknown malignancies were lung cancers. Extracardiac findings on cardiac CT require careful evaluation and reporting.