Biomedical prototyping has resulted from a merger of rapid prototyping and imaging diagnosis technologies. However, this process is complex, considering the necessity of interaction between biomedical sciences and engineering. Good results are highly dependent on the acquisition of computed tomography images and their subsequent manipulation by means of specific softwares. The present study describes the experience of a multidisciplinary group of researchers in the acquisition and manipulation of computed tomography images of the maxillofacial region aiming at biomedical prototyping for surgical purposes.

Keywords: Rapid prototyping, Biomedical prototyping, Computed tomography

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to describe the tomographic findings of gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumor. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fourteen patients with histopathologically and immunohistochemically confirmed gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumors, who had already been submitted to computed tomography scans before the treatment, were evaluated in the period between January 1999 and December 2006. The following tomographic variables were analyzed: lesion topography, size/dimensions, homogeneity, contour, margins, morphology, pattern and intravenous contrast-enhancement intensity, growth pattern, invasion of adjacent organs, presence of ulceration, fistula, calcifications, mesenteric fat infiltration, lymphadenomegaly and presence of distant metastasis. RESULTS: Tumors were found in the body (57.1%) or in the gastric fundus (42.9%), with sizes ranging between 6.0 cm and 23.0 cm (mean, 11.5 cm). Predominantly extraluminal growth was observed in 57.1% of cases and intra/extraluminal in 35.7%. Subtle contrast-enhancement was observed in 50%, moderate in 50%, and heterogeneous in 64.3% of cases. Additionally, central hypodensity was observed in 64.3%, invasion of adjacent organs in 42.9%, and hepatic metastasis in 7.2% of cases. CONCLUSION: In the present study, the majority of tumors were found in the gastric body, with an average size of 11.5 cm, presenting with central hypodensity, heterogeneous contrast-enhancement and predominantly extraluminal growth.

Keywords: Gastrointestinal stromal tumors, Stomach neoplasms, Spiral computed tomography

OBJECTIVE: The present study was aimed at describing the findings on high-resolution computed tomography in patients with exogenous lipoid pneumonia secondary to mineral oil aspiration MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eight adult patients - four men and four women - with mean age of 69.4 years were studied. All of the patients were users of mineral oil for treating intestinal constipation. High-resolution computed tomography studies of these patients were blindly evaluated by two radiologists. RESULTS: Air-space consolidation with areas of fat density and crazy paving pattern were the most frequent findings. The lesions were bilateral in six cases and unilateral in two CONCLUSION: Air-space consolidation with areas of fat density, associated with a clinical history of mineral oil ingestion virtually indicates a diagnosis of exogenous lipoid pneumonia.

Keywords: Exogenous lipoid pneumonia, High-resolution computed tomography, HRCT, Aspiration pneumonia, Lungs

The increasing worldwide popularization of telemedicine activities has demanded a new approach to the professional practice by physicians and other health professionals. As far as teleradiology is concerned, a remarkable trend has been observed toward the transformation of clinical documents - like radiological studies results, that so far existed as printed films and paper-based reports - into electronic documents available in internal networks of medical clinics and hospitals or through the internet. As a result of this trend, it is necessary to divulge and explain concepts such as digital certification, internet data encryption, sites' reliability, reliability of electronic documents, and digital signature. Even though the baseline principles of these concepts may seem complex for health professionals, they can be effectively understood with no need to wander through labyrinths like the mathematics of asymmetric keys cryptography, or digital data communication protocols. Security and reliability aspects related to internet-based electronic clinical documents are described in the present study, in a straight and practical way, aiming at an informed, safe and soundly grounded interaction between medical users and telemedicine services.

Keywords: Teleradiology, Safety in information technology

We report the main findings of inspiratory and expiratory high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) of the thorax in three women aged between 29 and 46 years with constrictive bronchiolitis and compare these results with the anatomopathological findings. The three women presented with progressive noncharacteristic dyspnea and were submitted to pulmonary function tests, HRCT of the thorax and lung biopsy. In two of the patients, inspiratory and expiratory HRCT of the thorax demonstrated a mosaic attenuation pattern that was accentuated during expiration. The expiratory phase was not performed in the third patient who presented centrilobular nodules. The pathology studies revealed significant bronchiolar stenosis due to fibrous thickening of the lamina propria and atrophy of the bronchiolar epithelium, which are diagnostic findings of constrictive bronchiolitis. Inspiratory and expiratory HRCT demonstrated to be of fundamental importance in the assessment of patients with diseases that cause obstruction of small airways. The mosaic attenuation pattern in the expiratory phase is characteristic of the peripheral topography of the lesions. The diagnosis of constrictive bronchiolitis should be confirmed by lung biopsy.

Keywords: Thorax, Bronchiolitis, High-resolution computed tomography, Anatomopathology

The authors analyzed the patterns observed on the high-resolution computed tomography scans of the chest of 20 patients with silicosis and correlated them with the anatomopathological findings of five patients. The most common findings were randomly distributed nodules that were confluent in most cases, and at times formed conglomerate masses, predominantly in the upper and posterior lung regions. Emphysema was also another important finding.

Keywords: Silicosis, High-resolution computed tomography, Anatomopathology

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) findings in patients diagnosed with metastatic pulmonary calcification (MPC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the HRCT findings from 23 cases of MPC [14 men, 9 women; mean age, 54.3 (range, 26–89) years]. The patients were examined between 2000 and 2014 in nine tertiary hospitals in Brazil, Chile, and Canada. Diagnoses were established by histopathologic study in 18 patients and clinical-radiological correlation in 5 patients. Two chest radiologists analyzed the images and reached decisions by consensus. RESULTS: The predominant HRCT findings were centrilobular ground-glass nodules (n = 14; 60.9%), consolidation with high attenuation (n = 10; 43.5%), small dense nodules (n = 9; 39.1%), peripheral reticular opacities associated with small calcified nodules (n = 5; 21.7%), and ground-glass opacities without centrilobular ground-glass nodular opacity (n = 5; 21.7%). Vascular calcification within the chest wall was found in four cases and pleural effusion was observed in five cases. The abnormalities were bilateral in 21 cases. CONCLUSION: MPC manifested with three main patterns on HRCT, most commonly centrilobular ground-glass nodules, often containing calcifications, followed by dense consolidation and small solid nodules, most of which were calcified. We also described another pattern of peripheral reticular opacities associated with small calcified nodules. These findings should suggest the diagnosis of MPC in the setting of hypercalcemia.

Keywords: Metastatic pulmonary calcification; Computed tomography; Metabolic diseases; Pulmonary diseases.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the computed tomography (CT) findings of lymphocytic interstitial pneumonia (LIP). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical and CT findings of 36 patients with LIP, including 25 women and 11 men, with a mean age of 52.5 years (age range, 22–78 years). RESULTS: The main associated diseases with LIP were Sjögren syndrome (42%), human immunodeficiency virus infection (17%), amyloidosis (17%), Sjögren syndrome associated with secondary amyloidosis (11%), idiopathic (8%), and systemic lupus erythematosus (5%). The predominant CT abnormalities were multiple cystic airspaces (n = 35), small nodules (n = 15), ground-glass opacities (n = 13), bronchiectasis and/or bronchiolectasis (n = 8), and thickening of the bronchovascular bundles (n = 8). Other CT findings included reticular opacities (n = 7), calcified nodules (n = 4), airspace consolidation (n = 4), emphysema (n = 3), honeycombing (n = 3), lymph node enlargement (n = 2), mosaic attenuation pattern (n = 1), and cavitated nodules (n = 1). CONCLUSION: The main CT findings of LIP were multiple cysts, small nodules, and ground-glass opacities.

Keywords: Lymphocytic interstitial pneumonia; Lung cysts; Computed tomography.