Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology

Research areas

The group, guided by Prof. Rita Golfieri, promotes and collaborates with numerous research projects (mono and multicentric) regarding diagnostic and interventional radiology in the fields of gastroenterology, nephrology, endocrinology, pulmonary, oncology, and liver transplants. The medical staff are involved at many levels in clinical research activities, as demonstrated by the number of scientific publications (more than 800) and patents (2).

Research Projects

Hepatobiliary Research

1. Characterization of the radiomic estimates of morphology and texture for the prediction of microvascular invasion in HCC.
2. Pineapple juice as a negative oral-contrast medium in Colangio-Wirsung MR: research to determine the effective dose (patented).
3. Utility of Colangio MR with a hepato-specific contrast for the evaluation of dominant stenosis in patients being assessed for primary sclerosing cholangitis.
4. Open-label multicentric study to evaluate the safety and diagnostic effectiveness of Mangoral (manganese chloride) in patients with known or suspected focal hepatic lesions and severe renal impairment.

Interventional/Oncological Research:

1. Evaluation of the tumoral response to treatment with radio-embolization of the liver carcinoma with cirrhosis with macrovascular invasion, in the course of normal patient treatment.
2.  Diagnosis and cholangioscope-assisted percutaneous treatment of pathologies of the biliary tract
3. Transarterial embolization compared to chemoembolization using drug-filled microspheres for the treatment of liver carcinoma: a controlled, random study.
4. Intra-arterial treatment for primary liver pathologies: an observational study.

Uro-nephrological research:

1. Evaluation of the distribution of values of ADC and the radiomic characteristics of suspect areas in multi-parametric MR of the prostate, with the goal of identifying clinically significant neoplastic lesions.

Gastroenterology research:

1. Evaluation of intestinal distension before MR enterography using a natural product (patented).
2. Characterization of the radiomic estimates of morphology and texture for predicting the response to chemo-radiotherapy of locally advanced rectal cancer.
3. Characterization of the radiomic estimates of morphology and texture of MR of the small bowel, in order to differentiate between stenosing Crohn’s disease in the active phase and fibroses.

Ongoing research objectives

Hepatobiliary Research:

Studies on the advanced diagnosis of acute and chronic liver pathologies, the study of new CT/MR diagnostic criteria for benign and malignant liver tumors, utilizing histological and radiogenomic data, the elaboration of pre-transplant downstaging and super-downstaging protocols, studies of stereo-taxic radiotherapy to define the target and assess the response. Studies of new liver contrast media for MR, radiomic studies for predicting the microvascular invasion of HCC before the transplant and the resection and as a predictive element of the response to treatment for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.

Interventional/Oncological Research:

Studies on the development of new intra-arterial treatments (TAE, c-TACE, DEB-TACE, and TARE) for primary hepatic pathologies using interventional radiology techniques, and the subsequent evaluation of the tumor’s response to the treatment, pre-operative downstaging and super-downstaging of HCC before liver transplant.

Uro-nephrological research:

Studies on the integrated medical and surgical management of pathologies of the uronephrological tract in order to develop innovative treatments and techniques, apply predictive factors of the disease risk and the clinical response, radiomic studies to identify clinically significant neoplastic lesions in prostate cancer.

Gastroenterology research:

Studies on chronic inflammatory intestinal diseases, colo-rectal tumors, the study of new contrast media for MR of the small bowel for tenuous-mesenteric diseases, radiomic studies to differentiate between stenosing Crohn’s disease in the active phase and fibroses and to predict the response of locally advanced rectal cancer to neoadjuvant chemo-radiotherapy.