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

Our aim is to review the most common pathologic processes involving the iliopsoas compartment. We retrospectively reviewed the computed tomography (CT) scans performed at the "Departamento de Radiologia da Faculdade de Ciências Médicas da Universidade Estadual de Campinas", in the last 10 years, of patients who presented with abnormalities of the iliopsoas compartment that were confirmed by surgical or percutaneous biopsy. The most common findings involving the iliopsoas compartment included neoplasms, abscesses and hematomas. CT findings were based on the extension of the involvement of the psoas muscle, focal areas of low or high attenuation, lesion margins, presence of gas or calcification within the lesion, bone destruction, infiltration of surrounding fat and involvement of adjacent abdominal structures. CT is the method of choice for the detection of iliopsoas disorders, and its findings can be used to guide diagnostic aspiration, biopsy or drainage, when appropriate. However, the efficacy of CT in differentiating iliopsoas disorders is low when scans are interpreted without knowledge of clinical history.

Keywords: Iliopsoas muscle. Iliopsoas muscle ¾ computed tomography. Iliopsoas muscle ¾ pathology.

We reviewed 22 cases of patients with parasellar meningiomas evaluated with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in private clinics of the cities of Niterói and Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. Our aim was to characterize the imaging findings in this type of tumor. MRI scanners with 0.5 and 1.0 Tesla magnets were used for the acquisition of multiplanar T1-weighted (pre- and post-gadolinium administration) and T2-weighted images. The main symptoms observed were headache and visual disturbances. Hyperprolactinemia was observed in only one patient. The most frequent imaging finding was a parasellar mass which appeared hypointense on T1-weighted and hyperintense on T2-weighted images, and enhanced intensively after gadolinium administration. MRI is useful to demonstrate the lesion and to assess the damage to adjacent structures, particularly when the patient presents visual disturbances due to involvement of the cavernous sinuses.

Keywords: Parasellar meningiomas. Brain tumors. Magnetic resonance imaging.

We reviewed 95 cases of patients with pituitary microadenomas diagnosed by magnetic resonance imaging in two institutions: "Hospital Santa Cruz/Beneficência Portuguesa de Niterói" and "Clínica X-Labs/Rio de Janeiro". Our aim was to establish the main type of pituitary microadenoma, incidence and proximity to the hypophisial stalk, and correlate these findings with clinical and laboratorial data. A Philips Gyroscan T5 III (0.5 Tesla), a GE Vectra (0.5 Tesla) and a GE Signa (1.0 Tesla) scanners were used to scan the patients with rapid sequences before and after intravenous administration of paramagnetic contrast medium (gadolinium). There was a predominance of women with prolactinomas associated to galactorrhea and hyperprolactinemia. In contrast to the current literature, we observed that the pituitary stalk was centered in most cases. Contrast medium injection immediately before scanning is essential to identify microadenomas. The use of half of the preconized dose of gadolinium is recommended.

Keywords: Pituitary microadenomas. Sellar tumors. Magnetic resonance imaging.

We retrospectively studied the computed tomography scans of the orbit in 75 patients in order to identify the presence of incidental calcifications (scleral and trochlear apparatus calcifications). These imaging findings should integrate the vast list of differential diagnosis of orbital calcifications, as they may help radiologists to distinguish these calcifications from orbital foreign bodies.

Keywords: Orbit. Computed tomography. Calcification.

Venous malformations can be treated by surgical resection or pharmacological sclerotherapy. This study shows the results of 12 patients with angiodysplasia whose lesions were injected several times with ethanol, after clinical examination and percutaneous venous angiography. Ten patients presented improvement of symptoms and reduction of the size of the lesion. All patients complained about a burning sensation during the procedure that disappeared after 24 hours. Three patients presented small skin ulcers and one had erythema and painful enlarged lymph nodes in the treated limb. We concluded that sclerotherapy with infusion of small volumes of ethanol for the treatment of venous malformations is an effective, safe, simple, easy and quick treatment, that has few complications, low cost, and is well tolerated.

Keywords: Ethanol. Venous malformations. Angiodisplasy. Angiography.

Human mistakes are an important source of errors in radiotherapy and may occur at every step of the radiotherapeutic planning and treatment. To reduce this level of uncertainties, several specialized organizations have recommended a comprehensive quality assurance program. In Brazil, the requirement for these programs has been strongly stressed, and most radiotherapy services have pursued this goal regarding radiation units and dosimetry equipment, as well as the verification of the calculations of the patient's dose and the revision of the plan charts. As a contribution to the improvement of quality control, we present some recommendations to avoid failure of treatment due to error in the delivered dose, such as redundant check of the manual or computer calculations, weekly check of the total dose for each patient, and prevention of inadvertent access to any safety system of the equipment by any staff member that is only supposed to operate the machine. Moreover, the use of a computerized treatment record and verification system should be considered in order to eliminate errors due to incorrect selection of the treatment parameters, in a daily basis. We report four radioactive incidents with patient injuries occurred throughout the world and some gross errors of dose.

Keywords: Radiotherapy. Treatment. Dose errors. Quality assurance.

The use of high-dose rate brachytherapy for cancer treatment is increasing and the number of patients treated in Brazil is high, considering the number of existing equipments. However, the small number of equipments is a limiting factor that bring on a lot of pressure on the working routine. For this reason, a reevaluation of emergency procedures is not carried out in most centers. This paper describes the most frequent emergency situations and suggests a code of practice when errors do not allow the return of the radiation source to the shield and result in undesirable radiation exposure to the patient and staff in remote centers for brachytherapy. We suggest training, additional caution measures and quality control in order to minimize undesirable doses.

Keywords: HDR. Brachytherapy. Remote afterloading. Radiology emergency. Quality control. Code of practice.

The authors report a case of a 20-year-old patient with the following clinical features: a) complete rotation of the liver into the left upper quadrant; b) severe hypotension secondary to inferior vena cava compression; c) congenital malformation of falciform and coronary ligaments; d) obstruction of the transverse colon due to congenital peritoneal fibrotic bands; e) massive colonic dilatation in the right upper quadrant. The patient was treated by resection of the pericolonic bands, and during the operation the liver returned to its anatomic position, in the right upper abdomen. This unique condition, and the three other similar cases reported in the world literature are discussed.

Keywords: Hepatic torsion. Transverse colon. Obstructive band.

Intracranial chondromas are rare tumors that generally arise from the skull base or at the sphenoid-ethmoidal region. In these sites chondromas may be misdiagnosed as meningiomas, neurinomas or craniopharyngiomas. The authors present the clinical and radiological findings of a patient who underwent surgery for excision of a sella turcica chondroma.

Keywords: Intracranial chondroma. Sella turcica. Hypopituitarism. Computed tomography. Magnetic resonance imaging.

Chordomas are rare neoplasms arising from notochordal remnants that persist along the axial skeleton. Intracranial chordomas occur more frequently in the midline. We describe an atypical case of an off-midline chordoma arising from the petrous apex, and discuss the embryogenic factors which determine that location, as well as the symptoms, imaging findings, surgical treatment and evolution.

Keywords: Chordoma. Petrous apex. Computed tomography. Magnetic resonance imaging.

Tumors and cysts of the heart and pericardium are rare. The aim of this paper is to present a case of a patient with a pericardial cyst of unusual x-ray appearance which was diagnosed by transthoracic echocardiography. The patient presented mild pain in the right hemithorax and the plain films showed a mass lesion contiguous to the heart, in the cardiophrenic angle. The authors also briefly review the literature on pericardial cysts.

Keywords: Pericardial cyst. Radiology.

The authors report the case of a 51-year-old white female with proven diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus and radiological evidence of severe pulmonary fibrosis. The epidemiology of pleuropulmonary manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus emphasizing pulmonary fibrosis is discussed.

Keywords: Lupus. Systemic lupus erithematosus. Lung. Pulmonary fibrosis.