Journal highlights
The following are highlights from the current issues of RSNA’s peer-reviewed journals.
Contribute to the Future of Pancreatic Imaging
Share your latest advances and discoveries in pancreatic imaging in the Radiology: Imaging Cancer new special collection on pancreatic adenocarcinoma, pancreatic neuroendocrine and hepatobiliary cancers.
We welcome original research articles, reviews and brief reports encompassing imaging and image-guided therapy from cell-based models with organoids, pre-clinical, translational and clinical research. Submissions may address innovations in imaging probes, imaging technologies, image-guided therapies, data analysis methods, public policy and AI/machine learning.
Accepted manuscripts are immediately published and will be presented on the Radiology: Imaging Cancer website.
Imaging the Rotator Cuff Muscles
Rotator cuff (RC) tears are a common cause of shoulder pain and dysfunction, impairing daily activities and quality of life. Approximately 20% of people will experience a traumatic or degenerative RC tear in their lifetime, and the risk increases with age.
After a tear, RC muscles undergo degenerative changes. Surgical repair is the standard for symptomatic full-thickness RC tears, but retear rates are as high as 27%, and surgical repair is not possible for up to 30% of tears. Accurate RC muscle evaluation is critical in determining whether to perform an RC repair.
A recent Radiology review outlines RC muscle assessment and describes qualitative and quantitative MRI techniques, including diffusion-tensor imaging–based tractography. Georg C. Feuerriegel, MD, Balgrist University Hospital, Zurich, and colleagues note that larger tear size, fatty muscle degeneration and preexisting muscle volume atrophy are associated with worse outcomes.
“Future research should focus on the refinement of these imaging methods and the investigation of new therapeutic interventions with the objective of reducing the high retear rates and improving long-term shoulder function,” the authors conclude.
Read the full article, “Assessment of the Rotator Cuff Muscles: State-of-the-Art MRI and Clinical Implications.”
Follow the Radiology editor on X @RadiologyEditor.
Transverse diffusion-tensor image with (A, C) color-coded tractography and (B, D) coronal T1-weighted MRI scans. The top row is in a 71-year-old male patient with chronic retear of the supraspinatus (SSP) tendon of the left shoulder after surgical SSP repair. Note the retracted tendon end (arrows) as well as the increased pennation angle (α) of the SSP muscle fibers. For comparison, a healthy SSP muscle of the right shoulder of a 35-year-old male volunteer is shown inC and D. The pennation angle of the healthy muscle is notably smaller due to the normal tendon length. Changes in the pennation angles of healthy and torn rotator cuff muscles may provide further information about posttraumatic and degenerative changes but have not yet been analyzed in clinical trials. The transverse diffusion-tensor image sequence was acquired at 3 T with the following parameters: echo time, 36 msec; repetition time, 6700 msec; field of view, 192 × 192 mm; diffusion directions, 64; and b values, 0 and 450 sec/mm2.
https://doi.org/10.1148/radiol.242131 ©RSNA 2025
Standardizing Posttreatment Prostate MRI
Prostate cancer is the most common noncutaneous cancer in U.S. men, with nearly 300,000 new cases and 35,000 deaths in 2024.
Pelvic MRI has been used for decades to evaluate recurrence in patients treated with radical prostatectomy or external-beam radiation therapy. But standardized guidelines were lacking until the Prostate Imaging for Recurrence Reporting (PI-RR) system was introduced in 2021. Unlike the Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System, which applies only to treatment-naïve patients, PI-RR addresses imaging after prostate cancer treatment.
In a new RadioGraphics article, authors led by Anup S. Shetty, MD, from the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, St. Louis, present a practical guide for using PI-RR in clinical practice. Through instructive case examples, they describe the background and rationale behind the system, its technical standards and its scoring system. The authors also discuss important pitfalls, limitations and opportunities for future development.
“The goal is to provide a comprehensive reference for prostate MRI readers of all experience levels to use PI-RR in standardizing reporting of suspected recurrent prostate cancer,” the authors explain.
Read the full article, “Prostate Imaging for Recurrence Reporting: A User Guide,” and invited commentary. This article is also available for CME on EdCentral.
Follow the RadioGraphics editor on X @RadG_Editor.
Susceptibility artifact obscuring recurrence in a 69-year-old man with prostate cancer (Gleason score 3 + 3) after radiation therapy 13 years prior with an elevated PSA level of 3.4 ng/mL. (A) Axial dynamic contrast-enhanced MR image shows susceptibility artifact (arrow) from a fiducial marker, obscuring a portion of the prostate gland. (B) Axial fused PSMA PET/CT image shows a focus of uptake (oval) in the obscured region representing recurrent tumor adjacent to the fiducial marker (arrow). The patient was treated with high-dose-rate brachytherapy.
https://doi.org/10.1148/rg.240145 © RSNA 2025
Prognosis of Patients with Hemoptysis Requiring BAE
A common treatment for hemoptysis is bronchial artery embolization (BAE). While BAE has improved in efficacy and safety over the years, survival rates of patients with hemoptysis requiring BAE are not well known.
In an article published in Radiology: Cardiothoracic Imaging, Yuya Kimura, MD, MPH, from the University of Tokyo, and colleagues analyzed the prognosis of patients with hemoptysis who require BAE, as well as whether the embolic agent had any influence on clinical outcomes.
The retrospective analysis revealed a poor prognosis for over 7,000 patients with hemoptysis who required BAE. The in-hospital mortality rate was 7.4%, while survival rates after discharge ranged from 85.5% after one year to 64.4% 5 years after discharge. The researchers also discovered that other clinical factors affected patient outcomes. For example, the use of coils versus a gelatin sponge as the embolic agent was associated with improved outcomes. “Patients with hemoptysis requiring BAE, particularly those with certain etiologies, generally have a poor prognosis,” the authors conclude.
Read the full article, “Impact of Hemoptysis Etiology and Embolic Agent Type on Prognosis in Patients Undergoing Bronchial Artery Embolization.”
Stay Connected with RSNA Journals on Social Media
Keep up with current trends and emerging topics in radiology by following RSNA journals on social media. Engage with your peers by commenting, sharing or discussing compelling research impacting the radiology community. Find the journal editors on X via the following handles:
Radiology – @RadiologyEditor
RadioGraphics – @RadG_Editor
Radiology: Cardiothoracic Imaging – @RadiologyCTI
Radiology: Artificial Intelligence – @Radiology_AI
Radiology: Imaging Cancer – @RadIC_Editor