Recurrent neck swelling after iodinated contrast media administration

Very rare adverse reactions to intravascular contrast media: From Kounis to sweet syndrome

Intravascular administration of contrast media may inadvertently result in adverse drug reactions (ADR) including selected hypersensitivity reactions. This review highlights some very rare ADR, aiming to alert imaging physicians to these conditions and to prompt adequate management. This is particularly relevant for Kounis syndrome, an immediate hypersensitivity reaction involving the coronary arteries. The acute management of Kounis syndrome can be challenging, as it requires continued contrast media administration, while balancing the simultaneous coronary reperfusion that requires vasodilatation with anti-allergic treatment that may involve vasoconstrictor agents. For other adverse reactions, referral to a drug allergy specialist is highly recommended to assess causality and identify safe alternatives. CLINICAL RELEVANCE STATEMENT: Cardiologists and radiologists must recognize the key symptoms of these very rare adverse reactions to contrast media to promptly initiate the appropriate therapy and refer patients for allergological evaluation, ideally within 1-6 months after the reaction.

The applicability of ultrasound in the diagnosis of inflammatory and obstructive diseases of the major salivary glands: a scoping review

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of the present scoping review was to determine the contribution of ultrasound images in the diagnosis of inflammatory and obstructive diseases of the major salivary glands (MSGs).

METHODS

A search of studies of ultrasonographic assessments of human samples was performed in several electronic databases and grey literature up to July 2021. The extracted data were the examined MSG; the diagnostic value of ultrasound (sensibility, specificity, positive- and negative predictive value, accuracy); features of lesions, including number, echogenicity, echotexture, form, margins, size, posterior acoustic aspect, and location; and related clinical information, such as swelling, palpation, sensible to pain, salivation, lymph nodes, recurrence, duration, and causes.

RESULTS

After verifying the eligibility criteria, 90 articles focused on detecting inflammatory, and obstructive diseases of the MSG were gathered, with variable study designs and size samples. A wide variety of pathologies were assessed, including sialolitiasis (n = 45), acute sialadenitis (n = 30), chronic sialadenitis (n = 25), granulamatous diseases (n = 15), Kuttner's tumor (n = 11), juvenile recurrent parotitis (n = 9), abscess (n = 7), post-radiotherapy sialadenitis (n = 6), sialadenosis (n = 9), abscess (n = 7), IgG4-related disease sialadenitis (n = 5), HIV-sialadenitis (n = 4), obstructive sialadenitis (n = 3), iodinated contrast-induced sialadenitis (n = 2), and pneumoparotitis (n = 1). Most studies were case reports or series of cases. Few studies exhibited data about the accuracy of ultrasound in detecting MSG diseases.

CONCLUSIONS

The present scoping review concluded that ultrasound aspects of different MSG pathologies are similar but contribute to their differential diagnosis and can be considered as a valuable initial method for assessing the MSG of adults and children.