Papers by Francesco Lassandro
The aim of this study was to describe three cases of major vascular injuries after laparoscopic c... more The aim of this study was to describe three cases of major vascular injuries after laparoscopic cholecystectomy depicted on magnetic resonance (MR) examination. Three female patients (mean age, 32 years; range, 22-39 years) were studied with clinical suspicion of biliovascular injuries after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. All MR examinations were performed within 24 h after the laparoscopic procedure. MR imaging was evaluated for major vascular injuries involving the arterial and portal venous system, for bile duct discontinuity, presence or absence of biliary dilation, stricture, excision injury, free fluid and collections. In the first patient, a type-IV Bismuth injury with associated intrahepatic bile ducts dilation was observed. Contrast-enhanced MR revealed lack of enhancement in the right hepatic lobe due to occlusion of the right hepatic artery and the right portal branch. This patient underwent right hepatectomy with hepatico-jejunostomy. In the other two cases, no visualization of the right hepatic artery and the right portal branch was observed on MR angiography. In the first case, the patient underwent right hepatectomy; in the second case, because of stable liver condition, the patient was managed conservatively. MR imaging combined with MR angiography and MR cholangiography can be performed emergently in patients with suspicion of bilio-vascular injury after laparoscopic cholecystectomy allowing the simultaneous evaluation of the biliary tree and the hepatic vascular supply that is essential for adequate treatment planning.
Radiologia Medica, Feb 1, 2006
Purpose. The aim of this study was to retrospectively review the cases of hepatic infarction diag... more Purpose. The aim of this study was to retrospectively review the cases of hepatic infarction diagnosed at our institute using conventional, spiral and multislice computed tomography (CT) over the last decade in order to describe its morphological and density characteristics and define its possible etiopathogenesis. Materials and methods. Twenty-three consecutive patients aged 27-65 years with hepatic infarction were studied by CT at our institute over a period of about 10 years. A conventional CT unit was used in seven patients, a helical CT scanner in ten and a multislice CT in six. CT was performed before and after the administration of 130-150 cc of contrast material infused at a rate of 3-3.5 ml/s. Results. CT showed hepatic infarction due to arterial causes in 19 cases, 11 of which were in liver transplant patients. The infarction was related to right hepatic artery embolisation to control haemorrhage (one case), chemoembolisation of a multifocal hepatocarcinoma in a cirrhotic liver (one case), arterial mesenteric infarction due to thromboembolism (two cases), necrotising pancreatitis (one case), surgery in pancreatic cancer invading the hepatic artery (one case), pancreaticoduodenectomy (two cases), portal thrombosis in a young woman with pregnancy-related clotting disorder (one case), haemolytic anaemia, elevated liver enzymes, low platelet count (HELLP) syndrome (one case); eclampsia and disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) (one case) and acute exacerbation of Budd-Chiari syndrome (one case). At CT scans, hepatic infarction was depicted as a hypodense parenchymal area, at times triangular in shape, with sharp peripheral contours (12 cases) or as a rounded central or marginal area (four cases) with irregular appearance (three cases), with lobar extension (two cases) and ill-defined shape (two cases). Moreover, CT showed intralesional gas not correlated to bacterial infection (two cases). In all surgical cases, the results were confirmed by pathology. Conclusions. CT is the method of choice in the diagnosis of hepatic infarction, providing useful information regarding site, morphology, and extent of the lesion. Furthermore, in most cases, CT is able to suggest the possible aetiology and guide appropriate management.
Emergency Radiology, May 12, 2007
The aim of this study was to describe three cases of major vascular injuries after laparoscopic c... more The aim of this study was to describe three cases of major vascular injuries after laparoscopic cholecystectomy depicted on magnetic resonance (MR) examination. Three female patients (mean age, 32 years; range, 22-39 years) were studied with clinical suspicion of bilio-vascular injuries after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. All MR examinations were performed within 24 h after the laparoscopic procedure. MR imaging was evaluated for major vascular injuries involving the arterial and portal venous system, for bile duct discontinuity, presence or absence of biliary dilation, stricture, excision injury, free fluid and collections. In the first patient, a type-IV Bismuth injury with associated intrahepatic bile ducts dilation was observed. Contrast-enhanced MR revealed lack of enhancement in the right hepatic lobe due to occlusion of the right hepatic artery and the right portal branch. This patient underwent right hepatectomy with hepatico-jejunostomy. In the other two cases, no visualization of the right hepatic artery and the right portal branch was observed on MR angiography. In the first case, the patient underwent right hepatectomy; in the second case, because of stable liver condition, the patient was managed conservatively. MR imaging combined with MR angiography and MR cholangiography can be performed emergently in patients with suspicion of bilio-vascular injury after laparoscopic cholecystectomy allowing the simultaneous evaluation of the biliary tree and the hepatic vascular supply that is essential for adequate treatment planning.
Academia letters, Sep 8, 2021
PubMed, Aug 17, 2006
The Authors want to present un uncommon case of polytrauma managed with surgical treatment at the... more The Authors want to present un uncommon case of polytrauma managed with surgical treatment at the Trauma Center of the A. Cardarelli Hospital in Naples. Chest, abdomen, pelvis, and left lower limb have been severely injured. This case is so interesting because of the rareness of some lesions (i.e. diaphragm rupture) and the numerous lesions of internal organs (i.e. lungs, spleen, liver, pancreas, mesenterium) and of the bones (i.e. thigh-bone and pelvis). A very good outcome has been obtained for survival as well as for functionality and quality of life since we have strictly applied the rules for the management of the "complex" polytrauma.
Journal of Trauma-injury Infection and Critical Care, Oct 1, 2009
PubMed, Apr 1, 2003
Descending necrotizing mediastinitis (DNM) is a rare and life-threatening complication of deep ne... more Descending necrotizing mediastinitis (DNM) is a rare and life-threatening complication of deep neck space infection which occurs when infection spreads from the deep spaces of the neck, propagating within the soft tissue into the mediastinal spaces. The disease has a high mortality rate due to frequent delay in diagnosis and treatment. Computed Tomography (CT) is important in determining the level of infection, showing the presence and extension of fluid collections (with or without gas bubbles) and diffuse soft-tissue infiltration of the mediastinal fat, and indicating the best surgical approach and progress of treatment. Three cases of DNM evaluated with spiral CT from June 1999 to June 2001 are presented.
Clinical Anatomy, Mar 28, 2013
Isolated herniation of the pancreas through a gastroesophageal hiatus is an extremely rare condit... more Isolated herniation of the pancreas through a gastroesophageal hiatus is an extremely rare condition, and only one case has been reported in the world literature. We describe a MDCT diagnosis of isolated partial hiatal hernia containing the body of a normal pancreas in an asymptomatic patient, give an anatomical explanation and review the corresponding literature.
Radiologia Medica, Apr 23, 2016
As a result, 62 % of participants have a positive opinion on teleradiology, while 80 % including ... more As a result, 62 % of participants have a positive opinion on teleradiology, while 80 % including 18 % with a negative opinion believe that teleradiology will have a future. 55 % of responders (n = 874) use teleradiology in their clinical practice. The majority of users adopt intramural teleradiology for coverage of emergencies (47 %), of night and weekend shifts (37 %) or to even out distribution workload (33 %). Most responders still show concern on the use of teleradiology. In particular, they think that teleradiology is too impersonal (40 %), and that it is responsible for insufficient communication with the referring clinician (39 %). Conclusions The majority of Italian radiologists are favorable to teleradiology. However, they have concerns that teleradiology may further reduce communication with the referring clinician ad patient.
Open Medicine, 2016
Thoracic surgery remains the better therapeutic option for non-small cell lung cancer patients th... more Thoracic surgery remains the better therapeutic option for non-small cell lung cancer patients that are diagnosed in early stage disease. Preoperative lung function assessment includes respiratory function tests (RFT) and cardio-pulmonary exercise testing (CPET). Vo2 peak, FEV1 and DLCO as well as recognition of performance status, presence of co-morbidities, frailty indexes, and age predict the potential impact of surgical resection on patient health status and survival risk. In this study we have retrospectively assessed the benefit of a high-intensity preoperative pulmonary rehabilitation program (PRP) in 14 patients with underlying lung function impairment prior to surgery. Amongst these, three patients candidate to surgical resection exhibited severe functional impairment associated with high score of frailty according CHS and SOF index, resulting in a substantial mortality risk. Our observations indicate that PRP appear to reduce the mortality and morbidity risk in frail patients with concurrent lung function impairment undergoing thoracic surgery. PRP produced improvement of VO2 peak degree and pulmonary function resulting in reduced postoperative complications in high-risk patients from our cases. Our results indicate that a preoperative training program may improve postoperative clinical outcomes in fraillung cancer patients with impaired lung function prior to surgical resection.
European Journal of Radiology, Oct 1, 2007
Thoracic aortic diseases (TAD) are relatively frequent conditions associated with high mortality.... more Thoracic aortic diseases (TAD) are relatively frequent conditions associated with high mortality. Recently, several reports have demonstrated the safety and efficacy of endovascular stent-graft (EVG) placement for TAD as an alternative to open surgery. We report our experience in management of thoracic aortic syndrome on 56 consecutive patients with TAD that underwent endovascular stent-graft repair. MDCT angiography was used in all patients to provide preprocedure evaluation and measurements. In particular it is necessary to evaluate the proximal and distal landing zones of the stent-graft. All EVGs in our series were placed successfully. Conversion to open surgery was never required. Six patients (10.7%) died early after the stent-graft deployment. During follow-up four more patients died. The endoleak rate was 16.7% (no. 10 pt). We did not observe any case of paraplegia. The present study shows the efficacy of EVG in the long-term follow-up, with an overall survival of 82.1%, which is comparable to that reported in recent studies. In conclusion this technique is emerging as an alternative approach in the treatment of TAD because this approach offers a less invasive therapeutic option to standard surgical techniques, even in patients who have associated diseases that make them poor surgical candidates.
Tomography, Jul 12, 2023
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Tomography, Jan 13, 2022
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Radiologia Medica, Nov 30, 2020
Background Volumetric high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) of the chest has recently replac... more Background Volumetric high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) of the chest has recently replaced incremental CT in the diagnostic workup of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Concomitantly, visual and quantitative scores have been proposed for disease extent assessment to ameliorate disease management. Purpose To compare the performance of density histograms (mean lung attenuation, skewness, and kurtosis) and visual scores, along with lung function correlations, in IPF patients submitted to incremental or volumetric thorax HRCT. Material and methods Clinical data and CT scans of 89 newly diagnosed and therapy-naive IPF patients were retrospectively evaluated. Results Forty-six incremental and 43 volumetric CT scans were reviewed. No differences of density histograms and visual scores estimates were found by comparing two HRCT techniques, with an optimal inter-operator agreement (concordance correlation coefficient >0.90 in all instances). Single-breath diffusing lung capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO sb) was inversely related with the Best score (r = −00.416; p = 0.014), the Kazerooni fibrosis extent (r = −0.481; p = 0.004) and the mean lung attenuation (r = −0.382; p = 0.026), while a positive correlation was observed with skewness (r = 0.583; p = 0.001) and kurtosis (r = 0.543; p = 0.001) in the incremental HRCT subgroup. Similarly, in the volumetric CT sub-cohort, DLCO sb was significantly associated with skewness (r = 0.581; p = 0.007) and kurtosis (r = 0.549; p = 0.018). Correlations with visual scores were not confirmed. Forced vital capacity significantly related to all density indices independently on HRCT technique. Conclusions Density histograms and visual scores similarly perform in incremental and volumetric HRCT. Density quantification displays an optimal reproducibility and proves to be superior to visual scoring as more strongly correlated with lung function.
World Journal of Radiology, 2017
AIM To produce a radiological grading of gastric traumatic injuries.
Medical Oncology, Mar 27, 2020
The aim of our study is a retrospective evaluation of effectiveness and safety of Computed Tomogr... more The aim of our study is a retrospective evaluation of effectiveness and safety of Computed Tomography (CT)-guided radiofrequency ablation (RFA) therapy of primary and metastatic lung lesions in patients that cannot be considered surgical candidates. From February 2007 to September 2017, we performed 264 CT-guided ablation sessions on 264 lesions in 174 patients (112 M and 62 F; mean age, 68 years; range 36-83 years) affected by primary and metastatic lung lesions. The 45% of patients was affected by primary lung cancer, with size range lesion of 10-50 mm, and the 55% by metastatic lung lesions with size range of 5-49 mm. All patients had no more than three metastases in the lung and pulmonary relapses were treated up to three times. Overall Survival (OS), Progression-Free Survival (PFS), Local Progression-Free Survival (LPFS) and Cancer-specific survival (CSS) at 1, 3 and 5 years were calculated both in primary lung tumors and in metastatic patients. Immediate and late RFA-related complications were reported. Pulmonary function tests were evaluated after the procedures. The effectiveness of RFA treatment was evaluated by contrast-enhanced CT. In patients affected by primary lung lesions, the OS rates were 66.73% at 1 year, 23.13% at 3 years and 16.19% at 5 years. In patients affected by metastatic lung lesions, the OS rates were 85.
Clinical Radiology, Feb 1, 2022
Cystic lung diseases (CLDs) are a heterogeneous group of pathophysiological entities comprising g... more Cystic lung diseases (CLDs) are a heterogeneous group of pathophysiological entities comprising gas-filled lesions with imperceptible walls, which can occur throughout lung parenchyma. CLDs can arise from different mechanisms and may often have an unpredictable progression. As CLDs are infrequent and may be associated to many different processes, they pose a diagnostic challenge to the radiologist and referring physician. CLDs require a comprehensive diagnostic approach. An essential tool in the evaluation of CLDs is high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT). The first step is in distinction from true cysts, from other cysts mimicking entities, as emphysema, honeycombing, pneumatocoele, cavitate nodules, or bronchiectasis. Thereafter the identification of number, distribution, wall size, and other systemic manifestations provides an accurate characterisation of CLD, often avoiding further evaluation with lung biopsy. Features of pulmonary lucencies, classification of CLDs based on pathophysiological mechanisms, and radiological criteria, the less common aetiologies, and a multidisciplinary approach in pulmonary cysts are reported. Finally, a systematic diagnostic algorithm to guide radiologists in the evaluation of CLDs is discussed.
Archivos De Bronconeumologia, Aug 1, 2016
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Papers by Francesco Lassandro