Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate an artificial intelligence (AI) software that automatically detects and quantifies breast arterial calcifications (BAC). Materials and methods: Women who underwent both mammography and thoracic computed tomography (CT) from 2009 to 2018 were retrospectively included in this single-center study. Deep learning-based software was used to automatically detect and quantify BAC with a BAC AI score ranging from 0 to 10-points. Results were compared using Spearman correlation test with a previously described BAC manual score based on radiologists' visual quantification of BAC on the mammogram. Coronary artery calcification (CAC) score was manually scored using a 12-point scale on CT. The diagnostic performance of the marked BAC AI score (defined as BAC AI score >= 5) for the detection of marked CAC (CAC score >= 4) was analyzed in terms of sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Results: A total of 502 women with a median age of 62 years (age range: 42-96 years) were included. The BAC AI score showed a very strong correlation with the BAC manual score (r = 0.83). Marked BAC AI score had 32.7 % sensitivity (37/113; 95 % confidence interval [CI]: 24.2-42.2), 96.1 % specificity (374/389; 95 % CI: 93.7-97.8), 71.2 % positive predictive value (37/52; 95 % CI: 56.9-82.9), 83.1 % negative predictive value (374/450; 95 % CI: 79.3-86.5), and 81.9 % accuracy (411/502; 95 % CI: 78.2-85.1) for the diagnosis of marked CAC. The AUC of the marked BAC AI score for the diagnosis of marked CAC was 0.64 (95 % CI: 0.60-0.69). Conclusion: The automated BAC AI score shows a very strong correlation with manual BAC scoring in this external validation cohort. The automated BAC AI score may be a useful tool to promote the integration of BAC into mammography reports and to improve awareness of a woman's cardiovascular risk status.

BACKGROUND:The frequent association between transthyretin wild-type (TTRwt) cardiac amyloidosis (CA) and aortic stenosis (AS) suggests a bidirectional relationship: TTRwt-CA could induce AS and vice versa. Systemic manifestations may highlight this interaction: systemic amyloidogenesis would lead to systemic symptoms, CA, and AS, whereas the myocardial stresses induced by degenerative AS might promote local amyloidogenesis without systemic symptoms. Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the most frequently reported extracardiac symptom. Through a comparison of TTRwt-CA patients with and without CTS, we sought to determine whether CTS serves as a reliable indicator of systemic involvement and its impact on cardiac and valvular characteristics. METHODS AND RESULTS:A total of 411 consecutive patients with TTRwt-CA were included. CTS, present in 70.3%, was associated with a younger age (80 vs. 84 years, p < 0.001), more extracardiac symptoms, and advanced CA, with greater cardiac remodeling and a higher heart-to-mediastinum ratio (1.63 vs. 1.54; p = 0.012) compared to patients without CTS. AS was present in 21% and 31% of patients with and without CTS, respectively (p = 0.024). Except for AS, these associations remained significant after adjusting for confounding factors. In severe AS, patients with CTS exclusively exhibited low-flow low-gradient (LFLG) AS and less severe class of aortic valvular calcium score (5.6% vs. 60%; p = 0.006) compared to those without CTS. CONCLUSION:Our findings suggest that CTS may delineate two phenotypes in TTRwt-CA: a systemic phenotype associated with advanced CA and poorly calcified LFLG AS, and a cardiac phenotype characterized by less severe CA and a mixed pattern of highly calcified AS, suggesting disparate pathophysiologies.

Background CT can provide information regarding myocardial perfusion and expansion of the extracellular space, which is relevant to patients with cardiac amyloidosis (CA). Purpose To evaluate the role of CT in the diagnosis and prognosis of CA. Materials and Methods In this prospective study (Commission National de l'Informatique et des Libertés registration no. 1431858), participants with CA, participants with nonamyloid cardiac hypertrophy (NACH), and participants without hypertrophy were included between April 2017 and December 2018. The confirmed diagnosis of CA was determined according to established criteria (ie, proven with positive bone scintigraphy or endomyocardial biopsy). All participants were imaged with dynamic CT perfusion imaging at whole-heart cardiac CT. Extracellular volume measured at CT and myocardial perfusion parameters calculated on CT perfusion maps were compared among different participant groups. Differences between continuous data were tested using the unpaired t test, Mann-Whitney rank-sum test, or the Kruskal-Wallis test. Results A total of 84 participants with CA, 43 participants with NACH, and 33 participants without hypertrophy were included. Participants with CA exhibited a higher value of extracellular volume measured at CT (mean, 54.7% ± 9.7 [standard deviation]) than participants with NACH (mean, 34.6% ± 9.1; P < .001) and participants without hypertrophy (mean, 35.9% ± 9.9; P = .001). Mean myocardial blood volume and mean myocardial blood flow were lower in participants with CA (mean myocardial blood volume: 4.05 mL/100 g of myocardium ± 0.80; mean myocardial blood flow: 73.2 mL/100 g of myocardium per minute ± 25.7) compared to participants with NACH (mean myocardial blood volume: 5.38 mL/100 g of myocardium ± 1.20, P < .001; mean myocardial blood flow: 89.6 mL/100 g of myocardium per minute ± 31.3, P = .007) and participants without hypertrophy (mean myocardial blood volume: 5.68 mL/100 g of myocardium ± 1.05; mean myocardial blood flow: 106.3 mL/100 g of myocardium per minute ± 29.8; P < .001 for both). Extracellular volume measured at CT (hazard ratio >0.56 vs ≤0.56 = 4.2 [95% CI: 1.4, 11.8]), mean slope (hazard ratio ≤3.0 sec-1 vs >3.0 sec-1 = 0.2 [95% CI: 0.1, 0.8]), and time to peak (hazard ratio >20 seconds vs ≤20 seconds = 11.6 [95% CI: 1.3, 101.6]) were predictive of mortality in participants with CA. Conclusion Participants with cardiac amyloidosis exhibited an increase in extracellular volume at CT and abnormal CT perfusion parameters. Extracellular volume and several perfusion parameters were predictive of mortality. © RSNA, 2021 Online supplemental material is available for this article. See also the editorial by Zimmerman in this issue.

Bone disease is one of the major features of multiple myeloma (MM), and imaging has a pivotal role in both diagnosis and follow-up. Whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is recognized as the gold standard for the detection of bone marrow involvement, owing to its high sensitivity. The use of functional MRI sequences further improved the performances of whole-body MRI in the setting of MM. Whole-body diffusion-weighted (DW) MRI is the most attractive functional technique and its systematic implementation in general clinical practice is now recommended by the International Myeloma Working Group. Whole-body dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI might provide further information on lesions vascularity and help evaluate response to treatment. Whole Body PET/MRI is an emerging hybrid imaging technique that offers the opportunity to combine information on morphology, fat content of bone marrow, bone marrow cellularity and vascularization, and metabolic activity. Whole-body PET/MRI allows a one-stop-shop examination, including the most sensitive technique for detecting bone marrow involvement, and the most recognized technique for treatment response evaluation. This review aims at providing an overview on the value of whole-body MRI, including DW and DCE MRI, and combined whole-body 18F-FDG PET/MRI in diagnosis, staging, and response evaluation in patients with MM.