Radiologic T staging of colon cancer: renewed interest for clinical practice.

Radiologic imaging, especially MRI, has long been the mainstay for rectal cancer staging and patient selection for neoadjuvant therapy prior to surgical resection. In contrast, colonoscopy and CT have been the standard for colon cancer diagnosis and metastasis staging with T and N staging often performed at the time of surgical resection. With recent clinical trials exploring the expansion of the use of neoadjuvant therapy beyond the anorectum to the remainder of the colon, the current and future state of colon cancer treatment is evolving with a renewed interest in evaluating the role radiology may play in the primary T staging of colon cancer. The performance of CT, CT colonography, MRI, and FDG PET-CT for colon cancer staging will be reviewed. N staging will also be briefly discussed. It is expected that accurate radiologic T staging will significantly impact future clinical decisions regarding the neoadjuvant versus surgical management of colon cancer.

COVID-19 and its Mimics: What the Radiologist Needs to Know.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for the current outbreak of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Although imaging should not be used for first-line screening or diagnosis, radiologists need to be aware of its imaging features, and those of common conditions that may mimic COVID-19 pneumonia. In this Pictorial Essay, we review frequently encountered conditions with imaging features that overlap with those that are typical of COVID-19 (including other viral pneumonias, chronic eosinophilic pneumonia, and organizing pneumonia), and those with features that are indeterminate for COVID-19 (including hypersensitivity pneumonitis, pneumocystis pneumonia, diffuse alveolar hemorrhage, pulmonary edema, and pulmonary alveolar proteinosis).

Effect of storage on the prevalent alum-precipitated hemorrhagic septicaemia vaccine in Pakistan and preparation of a more efficient oil adjuvant vaccine using dense culture of Pasteurella multocida Roberts type 1 on an improved culture medium.

Significantly drastic effects of storage on the potency of the alum-precipitated haemorrhagic septicaemia (APHS) vaccine are reported. The APHS vaccine, studied through challenge infection of vaccinated rabbits (post-60 days of vaccination), showed 100% potency when stored at 4 degrees C for 30 days. The potency dropped to 20% when storage period was extended to 60 or more days. At 30 degrees C, the potency reduced by 40, 40 and 60%, respectively, after 30, 60 and 90 days of storage, while, at 37 degrees C, the decrease was 60, 60 and 100% after 30, 60 and 90 days of storage, respectively. In view of this, the oil-adjuvant (OA) HS vaccine was developed by culturing Pasteurella multocida on a medium comprising yeast extract, sucrose, trypticase and sodium bicarbonate, under continuous aeration at 37 degrees C. This gave a far better bacterial count (maximum count 15 x 10(8)/ml) than the conventional APHS vaccine (maximum count 6 x 10(8)/ml). The OAHS vaccine-carrying water-in-oil emulsion remained stable at room temperature for 1 year. The log protection values of the two batches of the OAHS vaccine, studied in mice, were 5.2 and 5.3, as against 1.9 of the APHS vaccine.