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Thoracic Imaging in Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Disease Diagnosis
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Thoracic Imaging in Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Disease Diagnosis

A special issue of Journal of Clinical Medicine (ISSN 2077-0383). This special issue belongs to the section "Nuclear Medicine & Radiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 February 2025 | Viewed by 1581

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Marco Sperandeo

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Guest Editor
Unit of Interventional and Diagnostic Ultrasound of Internal Medicine, IRCCS Fondazione Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, 71013 San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy
Interests: diagnostics (i.e., head and neck, chest, abdomen, pelvis, lung, musculoskeletal ultrasound scans); interventional ultrasound-guided procedures (i.e., biopsies, thoracentesis, pleural and peritoneal drainage, echo-guided radiofrequency ablation of liver and lung malignancies)
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Carla Maria Irene Quarato

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Guest Editor
Department of Respiratory Diseases, Policlinico Universitario "Riuniti" di Foggia, Foggia, Italy
Interests: interstitial lung disease; asthma management; respiratory physiology; bronchoscopy; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; bronchiectasis; spirometry; ventilation; lung function; sarcoidosis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases are two major diseases that mainly affect the elderly. The heart and lungs are two closely connected organs, and a problem in one can spill over to the other. As a consequence, cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases frequently occur together, and their coexistence is associated with worse outcomes than either condition alone.

This Special Issue is dedicated to advancing clinical medicine through the exploration of cutting-edge techniques in thoracic imaging. In particular, ultrasound (US) is a real-time, easily available, non-invasive, and radiation-free imaging modality that has been widely utilized in the complementary diagnosis of several cardiovascular and pulmonary disorders.

Our aim is to bridge the gap between research and clinical practice by focusing on the practical applications of thoracic imaging. We seek to foster a better understanding of how these techniques can be integrated into clinical workflows for the early and accurate diagnosis of cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases, ultimately enhancing treatment outcomes and patient experiences.

We welcome research articles, case studies, and reviews addressing issues such as optimizing imaging protocols, enhancing diagnostic accuracy, improving patient safety, and addressing the ethical and legal aspects of thoracic imaging.

We invite medical professionals, radiologists, researchers, and healthcare experts to contribute their clinical insights and research findings to this Special Issue. By sharing their practical experiences and innovative solutions, we aim to foster a stronger connection between research and clinical practice.

The mobilization of knowledge within this Special Issue will have a direct and positive impact on patient care, as we collectively work towards enhancing the use of thoracic imaging as a valuable tool in clinical medicine, particularly in the early detection and treatment of cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases.

Prof. Dr. Marco Sperandeo
Dr. Carla Maria Irene Quarato
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Clinical Medicine is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • thoracic imaging
  • cardiovascular diagnosis
  • pulmonary disease
  • clinical medicine
  • diagnostic accuracy
  • imaging techniques
  • thoracic ultrasound
  • patient care

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 1685 KiB  
Article
Low Diagnostic Accuracy of Transthoracic Ultrasound for the Assessment of Spontaneous Pneumothorax in the Emergency Setting: A Multicentric Study
by Carla Maria Irene Quarato, Antonio Mirijello, Marialuisa Bocchino, Beatrice Feragalli, Donato Lacedonia, Gaetano Rea, Roberta Lieto, Michele Maggi, Anela Hoxhallari, Giulia Scioscia, Aldo Vicario, Giuseppe Pellegrino, Luca Pazienza, Rosanna Villani, Salvatore Bellanova, Pierluigi Bracciale, Stefano Notarangelo, Paride Morlino, Salvatore De Cosmo and Marco Sperandeo
J. Clin. Med. 2024, 13(16), 4861; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm13164861 - 17 Aug 2024
Viewed by 482
Abstract
Background: Pneumothorax (PNX) represents a common clinical condition in emergency departments (EDs), requiring prompt recognition and treatment. The role of transthoracic ultrasounds (TUSs) in the diagnosis of PNX is still debated. We aimed to prospectively evaluate the accuracy of TUSs in the [...] Read more.
Background: Pneumothorax (PNX) represents a common clinical condition in emergency departments (EDs), requiring prompt recognition and treatment. The role of transthoracic ultrasounds (TUSs) in the diagnosis of PNX is still debated. We aimed to prospectively evaluate the accuracy of TUSs in the detection of spontaneous PNX in EDs. Methods: A total of 637 consecutive adult patients who presented to the EDs of four Italian hospitals complaining of acutely onset chest pain and dyspnoea were included in the study. Exclusion criteria were previous traumatic events, cardiogenic causes of pain/dyspnoea and suspected tension PNX. The absence of “lung sliding” (B-mode) and the “bar-code” sign (M-mode) were considered indicative of PNX in a TUS. Accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values (PPVs, NPVs) were calculated using a chest CT scan as reference. Results: Spontaneous PNX occurred in 93 patients: of those, 83 (89.2%) were correctly identified by TUSs. However, 306 patients with suspected PNX at TUS were not confirmed by chest CTs. The diagnostic accuracy of both the absence of “lung sliding” and “bar-code” sign during TUS was 50.4% (95% CI: 46.4–54.3), sensitivity was 89.2% (95% CI: 81.1–94.7), specificity was 43.8% (95% CI: 39.5–48.0), the PPV was 21.3% (95% CI: 19.7–23.1) and the NPV was 96.0% (95% CI: 92.9–97.7). Conclusions: TUS showed high sensitivity but low specificity in the identification of PNX in EDs. Relying exclusively on TUSs results for patients’ management in ED settings is neither suitable nor recommendable. TUS examination can be useful to strengthen the clinical suspicion of PNX, but its results should be confirmed by a chest X-ray or CT scan. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thoracic Imaging in Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Disease Diagnosis)
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14 pages, 8839 KiB  
Article
Is Type and Grade of Emphysema Important for Bone Mineral Density and Aortic Calcifications?
by Danica Vuković, Danijela Budimir Mršić, Ivan Ordulj, Frano Šarić, Mirko Tandara, Kristian Jerković, Antonela Matana and Tade Tadić
J. Clin. Med. 2024, 13(13), 3947; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm13133947 - 5 Jul 2024
Viewed by 770
Abstract
Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease has extrapulmonary manifestations, such as cardiovascular diseases and osteoporosis. The purpose of this research was to determine the relationship between the type and extent of emphysema with thoracic aorta calcification (TAC) and bone mineral density (BMD) at Th4, [...] Read more.
Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease has extrapulmonary manifestations, such as cardiovascular diseases and osteoporosis. The purpose of this research was to determine the relationship between the type and extent of emphysema with thoracic aorta calcification (TAC) and bone mineral density (BMD) at Th4, Th8, and L1 vertebrae. Methods: Emphysema was described by computed tomography parameters (both Fleischner classification and low attenuation value percentage, LAV%) and the clinical FEV1/FVC ratio (Tiffeneau–Pinelli index, TI, TI < 0.7; TI > 0.7). Results: Of 200 included patients (median age 64, 33% women), signs of clinical obstruction (TI) were observed in 104 patients, which had significantly lower BMD and more heavy TAC. BMD correlated negatively with LAV%, Rho = −0.16 to −0.23, while a positive correlation of aortic calcification with LAV% was observed, Rho = 0.30 to 0.33. Multiple linear regression showed that age and TI < 0.7 were independent predictors of BMD, β = −0.20 to −0.40, and β = −0.21 to −0.25; age and hypercholesterolemia were independent predictors of TCA, β = 0.61 and β = 0.19. Conclusions: Clinical TI and morphological LAV% parameters correlated with BMD and TAC, in contrast to Fleischer-graded emphysema, which showed no correlation. However, only TI was an independent predictor of BMD, while the morphologically described type and extent of emphysema could not independently predict any extrapulmonary manifestation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thoracic Imaging in Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Disease Diagnosis)
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