Published papers

PURPOSE: To investigate area under diaphragm (AUD) obtained by dynamic digital radiography (DDR) for the differentiation between normal subjects and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. METHODS: This retrospective study included healthy volunteers and COPD patients recruited from 2009 to 2014 at Fukujuji Hospital, who received DDR and pulmonary functional test. AUD was defined as an area under a hemidiaphragm and above the line connecting the ipsilateral costophrenic angle to the top of the hemidiaphragm on DDR image. AUD in full inspiration minus AUD in full expiration (ΔAUD) was also calculated. The diaphragmatic surface was demarcated manually on DDR image to calculate AUD. Three-group comparison of AUD and ΔAUD among normal, mild COPD, and severe COPD subjects was tested with one-way analysis of variance, followed by multiple comparison with Tukey-Kramer method. The diagnostic accuracy of COPD by ΔAUD was assessed using receiver-operating-characteristics (ROC) curve. RESULTS: Sixty-eight participants (36 men, 29 COPD patients) were enrolled. AUD in full inspiration was larger in healthy volunteers than in COPD patients (right, p < 0.001; left, p = 0.02). ΔAUD were different in the three-group comparison (right, normal, 208.7 ± 184.6 mm2, mild COPD, -18.1 ± 117.5 mm2, severe COPD -97.5 ± 150.0 mm2, p < 0.001; left, normal, 254.9 ± 131.5 mm2, mild COPD, -12.5 ± 136.5 mm2, severe COPD, -100.7 ± 134.1 mm2, p < 0.001). ROC curve showed high diagnostic performance of COPD by unilateral ΔAUD (right, area-under curve 0.942; left, area-under-curve 0.965). CONCLUSION: The value of ΔAUD was smaller according to the severity of COPD. ΔAUD can be helpful in distinguishing healthy subjects from COPD patients.

PURPOSE: Recently, a full-body upright computed tomography (CT) scanner has been developed, which when combined with myelography, is expected to provide valuable insights into the pathology of lumbar spine degenerative diseases (LSDD). This study aims to elucidate the distinctive features of upright CT myelography (CTM) in LSDD by comparing it with supine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). METHODS: This study included 110 patients who underwent both supine MRI and upright CTM for LSDD. The anteroposterior diameter (APD), transverse diameter (TD), and area of the dural sac were measured from L1/2 to L5/S1. Lumbar lordosis (LL) was also measured in both modalities. RESULTS: The APD of the dural sac was significantly smaller at L2/3 and L4/5, while the TD was significantly larger at L1/2 and L2/3 on upright CTM compared to supine MRI. The dural sac area was significantly larger at L1/2 and smaller at L4/5 on upright CTM. Subgroup analysis divided patients into Group I (LL greater in upright CTM, n = 56) and Group D (LL smaller in upright CTM, n = 54). The dural sac area was significantly smaller at L3/4 and L4/5 in Group I and larger at L1/2 in Group D on upright CTM. CONCLUSIONS: Changes in the APD, TD and area of the dural sac during the transition from supine to standing were markedly dependent on the intervertebral level. These parameters were also influenced by patterns of change in LL between the two positions. Upright CTM revealed diverse position-related morphological changes in the lumbar dural sac in LSDD patients.

Perirenal fat (PRF), an ectopic fat depot lying adjacent to kidneys, is a risk factor for cardiometabolic and renal dysfunctions in patients with obesity and type 2 diabetes. We aimed to investigate the involvement of PRF in the pathophysiology and treatment of primary aldosteronism (PA). To this end, we measured PRF volume by abdominal CT and evaluated the relationships among PRF volume, cardiometabolic and renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) parameters, and therapeutic response to mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist (MRA) treatment in well-phenotyped PA patients. In addition, we evaluated the effects of MRA treatment on inflammation and fibrosis, potential downstream targets of MR signaling, by analyzing PRF obtained from obese (db/db) mice. PRF volume (PRF%) and visceral fat volume (VFV) were associated with various cardiometabolic and renal risk markers and RAAS parameters, such as body mass index, creatinine, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, uric acid, fasting glucose, C-reactive protein, 24-h urine aldosterone, and 24-h urine normetanephrine (all P < 0.05). PRF%, but not VFV, positively correlated with changes in systolic and diastolic blood pressure and initial estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) fall following MRA treatment after adjusting for confounders (all P < 0.05). In addition, MRA treatment decreased PRF expression of markers of macrophage infiltration and fibrosis in db/db mice (all P < 0.05). In conclusion, our results suggest that PRF accumulation is involved in the mechanisms linking MR activation to cardiometabolic and renal dysfunctions in PA patients. Moreover, PRF could be not only a prognostic factor but also a new therapeutic target for MRA-resistant hypertension.

© 2016, European Society of Radiology. Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of CT before TAVI using variable helical pitch (VHP) scanning and its diagnostic performance for coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods: Sixty patients (84.4 ± 4.6 years) scheduled for TAVI underwent CT using VHP scanning with the contrast material (CM) volume calculated as scanning time × weight [kg] × 0.06 mL. Retrospective electrocardiography (ECG)-gated scanning was utilized to examine the thorax, and non-ECG-gated scanning of the abdomen immediately followed. We analyzed CT attenuation values of the coronary arteries, aorta, iliac and femoral arteries. The coronary CT angiography images were evaluated for the presence of stenosis (≥50 %); invasive coronary angiography served as a reference standard. Results: The average attenuations of all of the arteries were greater than 400 HU. We could evaluate the peripheral access vessels and dimensions of the ascending aorta, aortic root, and aortic annulus in all patients. The average volume of CM was 38.7 ± 8.5 mL. On per-patient and vessel analysis, CT showed 91.7 % and 89.5 % sensitivity, and 91.3 % and 97.4 % negative predictive value (NPV). Conclusions: CT using VHP scanning with an average CM volume of 38.7 mL is useful before TAVI and had a high sensitivity and NPV in excluding obstructive CAD. Key Points: • TAVI-planning CT using variable helical pitch (VHP) scanning is useful. • The average volume of contrast material was 38.7 ± 8.5 mL. • The average attenuations of all the arteries were >400 HU. • This CT had a high sensitivity and NPV for excluding obstructive CAD.

© 2016 Namkoong et al. Background: Mycobacterium abscessus (M. abscessus) pulmonary disease is a refractory chronic infectious disease. Options for treating M. abscessus pulmonary disease are limited, especially in outpatient settings. Among parenteral antibiotics against M. abscessus, intravenous amikacin (AMK) is expected to be an effective outpatient antimicrobial therapy. This study evaluated the clinical efficacy and safety of intravenous AMK therapy in outpatients with M. abscessus pulmonary disease. Methods: This retrospective chart review of cases of M. abscessus pulmonary disease evaluated patient background data, AMK dosage and duration, sputum conversion, clinical symptoms radiological findings, and adverse events. M. massiliense was excluded on the basis of multiplex PCR assay. Results: Thirteen patients (2 men and 11 women) with M. abscessus pulmonary disease were enrolled at 2 hospitals. The median age at the initiation of intravenous AMK treatment was 65 years (range: 50-86 years). Patients received a median AMK dose of 12.5 mg/kg (range: 8.3-16.2 mg/kg) for a median duration of 4 months (range: 3-9 months). The addition of intravenous AMK led to sputum conversion in 10 of 13 patients, and 8 patients continued to have negative sputum status 1 year after treatment. Approximately half of the patients showed improvement on chest high-resolution computed tomography. There were no severe adverse events such as ototoxicity, vestibular toxicity, and renal toxicity. Conclusions: Thrice weekly intravenous AMK administration in outpatient settings is effective and safe for patients with M. abscessus pulmonary disease.

BACKGROUND: Correlations between upright CT and pulmonary function test (PFT) measurements, and differences in lung/lobe/airway volumes between supine and standing positions in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remain unknown. OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to evaluate correlations between lung/airway volumes on both supine and upright CT and PFT measurements in patients with COPD, and compare CT-based inspiratory/expiratory lung/lobe/airway volumes between the two positions. METHODS: Forty-eight patients with COPD underwent both conventional supine and upright CT in a randomized order during inspiration and expiration breath-holds, and PFTs within 2 h. We measured the lung/lobe/airway volumes on both CT. RESULTS: The correlation coefficients between total lung volumes on inspiratory CT in supine/standing position and PFT total lung capacity and vital capacity were 0.887/0.920 and 0.711/0.781, respectively; between total lung volumes on expiratory CT in supine/standing position and PFT functional residual capacity and residual volume, 0.676/0.744 and 0.713/0.739, respectively; and between airway volume on inspiratory CT in supine/standing position and PFT forced expiratory volume in 1 s, 0.471/0.524, respectively. Inspiratory/expiratory bilateral upper and right lower lobe, bilateral lung, and airway volumes were significantly higher in the standing than supine position (3.6-21.2% increases, all p < 0.05); however, inspiratory/expiratory right middle lobe volumes were significantly lower in the standing position (4.6%/15.9% decreases, respectively, both p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Upright CT-based volumes were more correlated with PFT measurements than supine CT-based volumes in patients with COPD. Unlike other lobes and airway, inspiratory/expiratory right middle lobe volumes were significantly lower in the standing than supine position.

BACKGROUND: Computed tomography (CT) imaging and artificial intelligence (AI)-based analyses have aided in the diagnosis and prediction of the severity of COVID-19. However, the potential of AI-based CT quantification of pneumonia in assessing patients with COVID-19 has not yet been fully explored. This study aimed to investigate the potential of AI-based CT quantification of COVID-19 pneumonia to predict the critical outcomes and clinical characteristics of patients with residual lung lesions. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included 1,200 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 from four hospitals. The incidence of critical outcomes (requiring the support of high-flow oxygen or invasive mechanical ventilation or death) and complications during hospitalization (bacterial infection, renal failure, heart failure, thromboembolism, and liver dysfunction) was compared between the groups of pneumonia with high/low-percentage lung lesions, based on AI-based CT quantification. Additionally, 198 patients underwent CT scans 3 months after admission to analyze prognostic factors for residual lung lesions. RESULTS: The pneumonia group with a high percentage of lung lesions (N = 400) had a higher incidence of critical outcomes and complications during hospitalization than the low percentage group (N = 800). Multivariable analysis demonstrated that AI-based CT quantification of pneumonia was independently associated with critical outcomes (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 10.5, 95% confidence interval [CI] 5.59-19.7), as well as with oxygen requirement (aOR 6.35, 95% CI 4.60-8.76), IMV requirement (aOR 7.73, 95% CI 2.52-23.7), and mortality rate (aOR 6.46, 95% CI 1.87-22.3). Among patients with follow-up CT scans (N = 198), the multivariable analysis revealed that the pneumonia group with a high percentage of lung lesions on admission (aOR 4.74, 95% CI 2.36-9.52), older age (aOR 2.53, 95% CI 1.16-5.51), female sex (aOR 2.41, 95% CI 1.13-5.11), and medical history of hypertension (aOR 2.22, 95% CI 1.09-4.50) independently predicted persistent residual lung lesions. CONCLUSIONS: AI-based CT quantification of pneumonia provides valuable information beyond qualitative evaluation by physicians, enabling the prediction of critical outcomes and residual lung lesions in patients with COVID-19.

The low vertebral bone computed tomography (CT) Hounsfield unit values measured on CT scans reflect low bone mineral density (BMD) and are known as diagnostic indicators for osteoporosis. The potential prognostic significance of low BMD defined by vertebral bone CT values for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) remains unclear. This study aimed to assess the impact of BMD on the clinical outcome in Japanese patients with COVID-19 and evaluate the association between BMD and critical outcomes, such as high-flow nasal cannula, non-invasive and invasive positive pressure ventilation, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or death. We examined the effects of COVID-19 severity on the change of BMD over time. This multicenter retrospective cohort study enrolled 1132 inpatients with COVID-19 from the Japan COVID-19 Task Force database between February 2020 and September 2022. The bone CT values of the 4th, 7th, and 10th thoracic vertebrae were measured from chest CT images. The average of these values was defined as BMD. Furthermore, a comparative analysis was conducted between the BMD on admission and its value 3 months later. The low BMD group had a higher proportion of critical outcomes than did the high BMD group. In a subanalysis stratifying patients by epidemic wave according to onset time, critical outcomes were higher in the low BMD group in the 1st-4th waves. Multivariable logistic analysis of previously reported factors associated with COVID-19 severity revealed that low BMD, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes were independently associated with critical outcomes. At 3 months post-infection, patients with oxygen demand during hospitalization showed markedly decreased BMD than did those on admission. Low BMD in patients with COVID-19 may help predict severe disease after the disease onset. BMD may decrease over time in patients with severe COVID-19, and the impact on sequelae symptoms should be investigated in the future.

Childhood interstitial lung diseases (chILDs) encompass a diverse group of disorders with a high mortality rate and severe respiratory morbidities. Recent investigations have revealed that the classification of adult ILDs is not valid for chILDs, particularly for ILDs of early onset. Therefore, Children's Interstitial Lung Disease Research Cooperative of North America proposed a new classification of chILDs for affected children under 2 years of age, and later another classification for affected individuals between 2 and 18 years of age. In this review, we provide an overview of the imaging findings of chILDs by classification. Most infantile ILDs have unique clinical, radiological, and molecular findings, while the manifestation of pediatric ILDs overlaps with that of adult ILDs.

BACKGROUND: Computed tomography (CT)-based quantification of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia is widely performed, and total pneumonia volume, ground-glass opacity (GGO), and consolidation affect disease severity. However, there is insufficient information on how consolidation to GGO (C/G) ratio correlates with clinical characteristics including disease severity and complications in COVID-19 patients. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included 1,194 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 from four member hospitals of the Japan COVID-19 Task Force. Critical outcomes were defined as conditions requiring high-flow oxygen or invasive mechanical ventilation, or death. Patients were divided into two groups based on %pneumonia (percentage of pneumonia volume divided by total lung volume) using receiver operating characteristic curve, and those with high %pneumonia were further divided into two groups based on C/G ratio. Critical outcomes and complications were then compared between high and low C/G ratio groups. RESULTS: The optimal cutoff value of %pneumonia to predict critical outcomes was 17.1%, classifying the included patients into low (Group 1, n = 900) and high (n = 294) %pneumonia groups. The optimal cutoff value of C/G ratio was 0.202, classifying patients in the high %pneumonia group into two groups: low (Group 2, n = 192) and high C/G (Group 3, n = 102) ratio groups. The incidence of critical outcomes was stair-step high in all three groups (2.1%, 21.4%, and 37.3%, respectively). Multivariable analysis revealed an independent relationship between C/G ratio and critical outcomes from other known risk factors (adjusted odds ratio: 1.92, 95% confidential interval: 1.03-3.59, P = 0.040). Group 3 also showed significantly higher serum C-reactive protein (Group 1: 2.96 mg/dL, Group 2: 8.90 mg/dL, Group 3: 11.4 mg/dL) and procalcitonin (Group 1: 0.16 ng/mL, Group 2: 0.25 ng/mL, Group 3: 1.19 ng/mL) levels and incidence of bacterial infection (Group 1: 5.6%, Group 2: 10.4%, Group 3: 20.3%), compared with other groups. CONCLUSIONS: CT-density analysis of COVID-19 pneumonia in a large patient population showed that C/G ratio was a significant predictor of critical outcomes and useful for prognosis evaluation.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) displays a highly variable clinical course despite advancements in vaccination and antiviral therapies. Chest computed tomography (CT) has become a valuable tool for diagnosing and predicting COVID-19 severity; however, limited studies have explored integrating pulmonary and extrapulmonary CT markers to identify distinct clinical phenotypes. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the utility of cluster analysis, using quantitative pulmonary and extrapulmonary CT indicators, to classify patients with COVID-19 into distinct phenotypic clusters and assess their clinical relevance in predicting disease severity and outcomes. The primary outcome was the rate of critical outcomes (requiring high-flow oxygen therapy or invasive ventilator support or death). In this multicentre, retrospective cohort study, we analysed 1,034 patients with COVID-19 from four hospitals in Japan. Hierarchical cluster analysis was performed using age, sex, and seven imaging markers: pneumonia volume, muscle area, muscle density, subcutaneous and visceral fat indices, bone density, and coronary artery calcification score. Clinical characteristics, laboratory findings, and outcomes were compared across the identified clusters. Four distinct clusters were identified. Cluster 1 consisted of younger individuals with minimal pneumonia and favourable extrapulmonary organ markers, exhibiting the best clinical outcomes. Cluster 2 included younger patients with high pneumonia volume and visceral fat accumulation, exhibiting poor respiratory outcomes. Cluster 3 comprised older individuals with mild fat accumulation and low bone density, with intermediate severity. Cluster 4 presented the highest pneumonia volume, extensive visceral fat, and coronary artery calcification, resulting in the worst overall prognosis, including the highest mortality and in-hospital complications. Clustering based on pulmonary and extrapulmonary CT indicators enabled the precise classification of patients with COVID-19 into clinically significant subgroups with distinct outcomes. This study highlights the importance of integrating multiple imaging markers for disease phenotyping and prognosis.

© 2017 by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate changes in the distance between the distal rectal pouch and the perineum (pouch-perineum distance) from the birth day to the next day and to determine which day is better for diagnosis of a low-type imperforate anus in neonates.METHODS: We reviewed medical records at our hospital from May 2003 to August 2015 and identified 9 neonates with a radiographically and surgically proven low-type imperforate anus and 9 with high/intermediate types of imperforate anus who had undergone sonography on both the birth day and the next day before the first surgical treatment. The sonograms were reviewed to measure the pouch-perineum distance at both examinations. The Wilcoxon signed rank sum test and a receiver operating characteristic curve analysis were used for the statistical analyses.RESULTS: The pouch-perineum distance on the next day (mean ± SD, 9.37 ± 4.89 mm; range, 2.1-20.9 mm) was significantly shorter than on the birth day (15.75 ± 6.67 mm; range, 8.1-37.2 mm; P = .001). The receiver operating characteristic analysis showed significantly better diagnostic performance (P < .001) of the pouch-perineum distance on the next day (area under the curve, 0.864) versus the birth day (0.420) for the low-type imperforate anus.CONCLUSIONS: The pouch-perineum distance was shorter on the next day than on the birth day, and the diagnostic performance of the pouch-perineum distance on the next day was significantly superior to that on the birth day for the diagnosis of a low-type imperforate anus. We recommend sonography on the next day in neonates with an imperforate anus when possible.

BACKGROUND: The effectiveness of facial massage is often explained by the resulting increases in the blood and lymphatic flow. However, it is difficult to explain the lifting effect on the cheeks. The aim of this study was to analyze facial mobility to further current understanding of the effectiveness of facial massage. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two kinds of analytical methods were designed using a cadaveric head as well as advanced computed tomography (CT). The cadaveric face was divided into three sections, and three different colors of ink were injected into each section. It was kept in a supine position for 24 hours, and the ink distribution was observed. Upright and supine CT examinations were performed on six healthy adult volunteers. The images of both were superimposed by a three-dimensional image analysis system, and changes in facial contours were analyzed. RESULTS: The three colors of ink spread craniocaudally and were distributed differently from the gravitational vector. When both CT images were superimposed, two distinct lines were formed, which represented overlapping of the facial contours due to the two different CT images. These lines were found to correspond to the border of each color of the ink. CONCLUSION: Focusing on the mobility of the face, the soft tissue of the face had vertical mobility, and it was speculated that this mobility is involved in the effectiveness of facial massage. Our results could provide useful information for cosmetic treatment and contribute to the collection of scientific knowledge for anti-aging medicine.

BACKGROUND: The development of ultra-high-resolution CT (U-HRCT) is expected to improve the accuracy of coronary stenosis evaluation. This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of the stenosis severities of coronary artery phantoms estimated using U-HRCT by comparing them to those estimated with conventional CT. METHODS: Coronary artery phantoms with non-calcified and calcified lesions were scanned with conventional CT (64-row ​× ​0.625 ​mm) and U-HRCT (32-row ​× ​0.3125 ​mm). The coronary artery phantoms had lumen diameters of 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 ​mm with non-calcified lesions representing 0%, 25%, 50%, and 75% stenosis and 3.0 and 4.0 ​mm with calcified lesions representing 0%, 25%, 50%, and 75% stenosis. The lumen diameters at the stenotic and non-stenotic regions were measured, and the stenosis severities were compared with the true values. RESULTS: For non-calcified lesions, conventional CT significantly underestimated the stenosis severity in the phantom showing 75% stenosis with lumen diameters of 2.0 and 3.0 ​mm (p ​< ​0.05), while the estimated stenosis severities were not significantly different from the true values at all settings with U-HRCT. For the calcified lesions, conventional CT overestimated the stenosis severities at all settings (p ​< ​0.05), while U-HRCT yielded estimations closer to the true values, although still with some overestimation (p ​< ​0.05). CONCLUSION: By using U-HRCT, the estimated stenosis severities of the coronary artery with non-calcified lesion become almost equal to the true value, while those with calcified lesion are still overestimated although they become closer to the true value.

In vehicle collisions, the lap belt should engage the anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS). In this study, threedimensional (3D) shapes of bones and soft tissues around the pelvis were acquired using a computed tomography (CT) scan of 10 male and 10 female participants wearing a lap belt. Standing, upright sitting, and reclined postures were scanned using an upright CT and a supine CT scan system. In the upright sitting posture, the thigh height was larger with a higher BMI while the ASIS height did not change significantly with BMI. As a result, the height of the ASIS relative to the thigh (ASIS-thigh height) became smaller as the BMI increased. Because the thigh height of females was smaller than that of males, the ASIS-thigh height was larger for females than for males. As the ASIS-thigh height was larger, the overlap of the lap belt with the ASIS increased. Thus, the lap belt overlapped more with the ASIS for the females than for the males. The abdomen outer shape is characterized by the trouser cord formed valley, the torso/thigh junction, and the anterior convexity formed between them depending on the adipose tissues. The abdomen outer shapes changed from the standing, the reclined posture to the upright sitting posture. In the reclined sitting posture, the lap belt is positioned upward and rearward relative to the ASIS, and the overlap of the lap belt with the ASIS was smaller compared to the upright posture.

BACKGROUND: The traditional anteroposterior (AP) axis (i.e., Akagi's line) has been widely used as the tibial component AP axis during total knee arthroplasty (TKA). However, this AP axis has been defined based on computed tomography (CT) in a non-weight-bearing supine position. In this study, AP axes of the tibial plateau from upright CT in weight-bearing and non-weight-bearing positions were determined and compared. METHODS: This study included 43 knees from 23 healthy volunteers. CT images were obtained in weight-bearing and non-weight-bearing standing positions using a 320-detector row upright CT scanner. The line perpendicular to surgical transepicondylar axis projected onto the tibia plateau was determined as the AP axis in upright weight-bearing and non-weight-bearing conditions. Angular differences between these two conditions were measured. RESULTS: The upright weight-bearing AP axis was positioned in a mean of 7.4 ± 4.3° of internal rotation relative to the traditional AP axis. Distance between the traditional and upright weight-bearing AP axis was 2.9 ± 1.6 mm at the edge of the tibial plateau. The upright non-weight-bearing AP axis was positioned in a mean of 3.5 ± 4.1° of internal rotation relative to the traditional AP axis. Mean angular difference between weight-bearing and non-weight-bearing conditions was 3.9 ± 4.1°. CONCLUSIONS: The upright weight-bearing AP axis was positioned in 7.4° of internal rotation relative to the traditional AP axis, showing one-seventh of the tibial tuberosity away from the medial border of the tibial tubercle, which represents a practical landmark for the tibial component AP axis during TKA.

OBJECTIVE: To quantitatively assess the impact of supine and standing positions on the morphological changes in the lumbar intervertebral foramen (LIF) in patients with adult spinal deformity (ASD) using upright CT and conventional supine CT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty patients with ASD were prospectively enrolled in this study. All subjects underwent standing whole spine posterior/anterior radiographs, lateral radiographs, and whole spine CT, both in the supine and upright standing positions. Two orthopedic surgeons independently measured nine radiographic parameters in the radiograph and the lumbar foraminal area (FA) and height (FH) in supine and upright CT. Statistical analyses were performed to evaluate the risk of LIF decrease when standing upright compared to the supine position. The chi-squared, t test, Pearson's coefficients, intra- and inter-rater reliabilities, and ROC curves were calculated. The level of significance was set at p < 0.05. RESULTS: Among the 300 LIFs, both the lumbar FA and FH were either increased or decreased by > 5% in approximately 30% of LIFs each. The FA decreased in the lower lumbar spine. The concave side had a significantly higher rate of decreased FA and FH than the convex side (p < 0.05 and < 0.05, respectively). ROC analysis showed that narrowing of the intervertebral disc (cutoff > 0.05°) is a risk factor for decreased FA and FH. CONCLUSIONS: This study describes the details of the changes in the neuroforamen using a novel upright CT. In patients with ASD, approximately 30% of LIFs either increased or decreased in size by > 5% when standing. The risk factors for LIF decrease are the lower lumbar spine, concave side, and narrow side of the disc wedge.

CONTEXT: Renal sinus fat (RSF) accumulation is associated with cardiometabolic diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and chronic kidney disease. However, clinical implications of RSF in primary aldosteronism (PA) remain unclear. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate relationships between RSF volume and key cardiometabolic and renin-angiotensin system (RAS) parameters in PA patients and clarify the differences in these relationships between unilateral and bilateral subtypes. METHODS: We analyzed data obtained from well-characterized PA patients that involved 45 unilateral (median age: 52 years; 42.2% men) and 92 bilateral patients (51 years; 42.4% men). RESULTS: RSF volume normalized by renal volume (RSF%) was greater in the unilateral group than in the bilateral group (P < .05). RSF% was greater in men than in women (P < .05). RSF% positively correlated with parameters related to cardiometabolic risk, including age, body mass index, visceral fat volume, creatinine, triglycerides/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio, uric acid, fasting glucose, and C-reactive protein regardless of PA subtypes (all P < .05). Intriguingly, RSF% positively correlated with plasma aldosterone concentration (PAC), aldosterone-to-renin ratio, and intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) (all P < .05) in bilateral patients but did not correlate with RAS parameters and even showed an opposite trend in unilateral patients. In subgroup analyses by sex, these distinctions became more evident in women. After adjustment for potential confounders, RSF% remained positively correlated with PAC and iPTH in bilateral patients. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that RSF accumulation is involved in cardiometabolic dysfunction associated with PA. However, there were distinct correlations between RSF volume and RAS parameters according to sex and PA subtypes.