John Kosiuk

Nonthrombotic pulmonary embolism.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this essay is to highlight the clinical features and imaging findings associated with different types of nonthrombotic pulmonary embolism. CONCLUSION Nonthrombotic pulmonary embolism is an infrequent condition with various causes that can be life-threatening pathologic conditions. The entity presents a diagnostic challenge because of the low specificity of clinical symptoms and imaging signs. Awareness of the imaging features of nonthrombotic pulmonary embolism facilitates correct diagnosis and leads to appropriate patient care.

The Treated Thorax in Patients with Hematological Malignancies

Thoracic complications and changes are frequent in patients with hematological malignancies. In those patients with advanced hematological malignancies pulmonary complications, mostly related to chemotherapy, can be a leading cause of death. Tenholder and Hooper found that 98% of leukemic patients showed pulmonary complications at autopsy (TENHOLDER and HOOPER 1980). Of note however, in recent years the frequency of radiation-induced complications has decreased. As the number of survivors increases, several late effects of treatment are becoming evident, some of them — second malignancies, cardiovascular complications — emerging as a major threat to the survival of these patients. To offer the best in patient care, it is imperative to understand the natural history of the disease as well as the treatment related complications and changes. In this chapter, post-therapeutic thoracic changes after chemotherapy and radiation therapy are discussed and illustrated.

Melorheostosis of a rib

Melorheostos is a rare sclerosing bone dysplasia, characterized by cortical and medullary hyperostosis with typical “dripping candle wax” appearance, usually involving the long bones. Here, we present a case of melorheostosis of a rib, incidentally discovered in an asymptomatic adult patient.

Giant cell tumor of a rib following denosumab treatment

Giant cell tumor (GCT) of the bone is an aggressive lytic lesion, commonly treated with surgery. Denosumab is a relatively recently introduced osteoclast activation inhibitor used for neoadjuvant therapy of GCT. Here we report the case of a GCT of a rib undergoing extensive osteosclerosis on computed tomography imaging following treatment with denosumab.

Hemiazygous-accessory hemiazygous continuation of double inferior vena cava

We report a case of hemiazygous-accessory hemiazygous continuation of a double IVC with absent azygous vein, incidentally discovered in an adult patient.

Incidental retroaortic left innominate vein in adult patient

Retro-aortic left innominate vein is a rare vascular abnormality, usually associated with congenital heart disease. Here we report a case of isolated retro-aortic left innominate vein in an adult female.

Ortner syndrome secondary to aortic aneurysm

Ortner syndrome refers to vocal cord paralysis resulting from compression of the left recurrent laryngeal nerve by abnormal mediastinal vascular structures. We report a case of Ortner syndrome in a 75-year-old male secondary to aortic arch aneurysm.

V V O I: a swift hand motion in detecting atelectasis on frontal chest radiographs.

This article introduces an easy and practical way to help detect lobar atelectasis on frontal chest radiographs. A proposed “V V O I” hand motions method is detailed in this article. This method depends on 4 simple hand motions, which could help detect 4 important direct and indirect corresponding signs of atelectasis. Our aim is to introduce the “V V O I” trick as a memory aid to facilitate detecting difficult cases of lung collapse, particularly for nonradiologists and radiologists in training. The importance of using this method in conjunction with the lateral chest radiograph is emphasized. In addition, several pitfalls in using this method are also explained.