Histogram Analysis of Gadoxetic Acid-Enhanced MRI for Quantitative Hepatic Fibrosis Measurement

Purpose

The diagnosis and monitoring of liver fibrosis is an important clinical issue; however, this is usually achieved by invasive methods such as biopsy. We aimed to determine whether histogram analysis of hepatobiliary phase images of gadoxetic acid-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can provide non-invasive quantitative measurement of liver fibrosis.

Methods

This retrospective study was approved by the institutional ethics committee, and a waiver of informed consent was obtained. Hepatobiliary phase images of preoperative gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI studies of 105 patients (69 males, 36 females; age 56.1±12.2) with pathologically documented liver fibrosis grades were analyzed. Fibrosis staging was F0/F1/F2/F3/F4 (METAVIR system) for 11/20/13/15/46 patients, respectively. Four regions-of-interest (ROI, each about 2 cm²) were placed on predetermined locations of representative images. The measured signal intensity of pixels in each ROI was used to calculate corrected coefficient of variation (cCV), skewness, and kurtosis. An average value of each parameter was calculated for comparison. Statistical analysis was performed by ANOVA, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, and linear regression.

Results

The cCV showed statistically significant differences among pathological fibrosis grades (P<0.001) whereas skewness and kurtosis did not. Univariable linear regression analysis suggested cCV to be a meaningful parameter in predicting the fibrosis grade (P<0.001, β = 0.40 and standard error  = 0.06). For discriminating F0-3 from F4, the area under ROC score was 0.857, standard deviation 0.036, 95% confidence interval 0.785–0.928.

Conclusion

Histogram analysis of hepatobiliary phase images of gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI can provide non-invasive quantitative measurements of hepatic fibrosis.     

Hepatic Artery Infusion Chemotherapy in Hepatoma

Three patients with inoperable malignant hepatomas were treated by intra-arterial infusion of fluorouracil. In each case the treatment gave relief of symptoms: there was striking relief of pain in two cases.Preoperative angiography is essential, but the technical problems are relatively minor.The response of the tumours to chemotherapy is sufficiently encouraging to justify greater efforts for early diagnosis.     

CT仿真结肠镜与腹部增强CT 在炎症性肠病诊断中的对比分析

目的:对比CT仿真结肠镜(CTC)与腹部增强CT在炎症性肠病诊断中的价值,为临床诊疗提供依据。方法:选取2015年1月到2016年1月我院收治的炎症性肠病患者60例为研究组,另选取非炎症性肠病患者60例为对照组,两组均30例患者接受CTC检查,30例患者接受腹部增强CT检查,对影像图片进行盲法阅读,将炎症性肠病的可信度分为5个等级进行评价,对6项影像学特征进行Logistic回归分析。结果:腹部增强CT对炎症性肠病诊断的准确率、敏感性、特异性分别为68.33%,59.09%,71.39%显著低于CTC的93.33%,95.01%、89.63%,比较差异具有统计学意义(P0.05);Logistic回归分析显示:结肠粘膜呈颗粒状、不光滑;肠壁强化并增厚;结肠袋消失对炎症性肠病具有预测作用;肠壁强化及增厚对炎症性肠病诊断敏感性较高,结肠粘膜呈颗粒状、不光滑联合结肠袋消失诊断炎症性肠病的特异性较高。结论:CTC对炎症性肠病具有较高的检出率,肠壁强化及增厚对炎症性肠病诊断的敏感性较高,结肠粘膜呈颗粒状、不光滑联合结肠袋消失诊断炎症性肠病特异性较高。     

Experiences of Microsurgical Reconstruction for Variant Hepatic Artery in Living Donor Liver Transplantation

There is an emergent need for improving the microsurgical technique of variant arterial anastomosis to reduce the often seen surgery-related complications. We describe in this article our experience in improving this technique, in 73 living donor liver grafts (64 right lobes, 9 left lobes) in patients with end-stage liver disease during living donor liver transplantation. The hepatic arteries were evaluated preoperatively with computed tomography and magnetic resonance angiography. In this series, 13 grafts (17.80 %) with variant hepatic artery were conducted arterioplasty on a back-table under a loupe or a high-power microscope, which included one recipient in situ interposition vessel graft of recipient proper hepatic artery for artery reconstruction. The back-table reconstruction time was 16 ± 5.6 min. No arterial thrombosis was found in these cases during the 6-month postoperative follow-up. On the basis of our experience, we suggest that back-table microsurgical plasty for graft with arterial variation should be applied to minimize operative difficulties and to avoid arterial complications in living donor liver transplantation.     

犬肝动脉介入性热疗的安全性

经犬肝动脉灌注入 60℃生理盐水 1 80ml,持续 3 0min。观察、比较热灌注前后肝脏穿刺活检及肝、肾功能的动态变化情况。结果是 ,①谷丙转氨酶 (ALT)、谷草转氨酶 (AST)于灌注后 2 4h开始升高 ,72h达到高峰 (P <0 0 1 ) ,1 68h后逐渐下降 ,2 1 6h后恢复正常 ,总胆红素 (T BIL)、白蛋白 (ALB)、γ GT无明显变化 (P >0 0 5 ) ;②肝组织可见一过性淋巴细胞浸润、肝细胞混浊肿胀 ,1 68h后恢复正常 ;③肾功能尿素氮 (BUN)、肌苷 (Cr)无显著性变化 (P >0 0 5 ) ,尿酸 (UA)呈一过性增高 (P <0 0 5 )。结果说明 ,经肝动脉60℃灌注液介入性热疗对犬肝组织有一过性损伤 ,对肝、肾功能呈一过性影响     

Motility Tracks: Technique for Quantitative Study of Bacterial Movement

A method for recording movements of bacteria in time and space on a single photograph is described. Quantitative information on the behavior of various motile organisms may easily be obtained for comparative studies. The method possesses certain advantages over cinematography, and illustrations of applications of the technique are presented.     

Quantitative Analysis of Coronary Vessels with Optimized Intracoronary CT Number

Background

Variability in intracoronary computed tomography (CT) number may influence vessel quantification. We confirmed the feasibility of a novel method for measuring vessel diameter and area using coronary CT angiography (CCTA) with an optimized intracoronary CT number, 350 HU.

Methods

We performed intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging in 52 patients with significant stenosis detected by coronary CT angiography targeting 350 HU using a CT number-controlling system. We measured 0-to-0 HU distances in the cross-sectional coronary images of 32 patients. We analyzed the ratio of 0-to-0 HU distances in CT images to media-to-media distances in IVUS images (C:I ratio). The area of ≥0 HU for 103 representative points in the remaining 20 patients was compared to the area of the traced external elastic membrane (EEM) in IVUS images.

Results

There was a strong correlation between 0-to-0 HU distance in CT images and media-to-media diameter in IVUS images (r = 0.97, p<0.001). The C:I ratio was 1.1. EEM area was estimated by dividing the area of ≥0 HU by the square of C:I. There was also a strong correlation between the estimated EEM area and the EEM area in IVUS images (r = 0.95, p<0.001).

Conclusions

Media-to-media diameter and EEM area can be estimated by CCTA targeting the optimized intracoronary CT number when blood vessel borders are defined at 0 HU.     

Abdominal Obesity is Associated with Peripheral Artery Disease in Hemodialysis Patients

Background

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a leading cause of morbidity in hemodialysis (HD) patients. Recent evidence suggests that abdominal obesity (AO) may play a role in PAD. However, the association between AO and PAD has not been thoroughly studied in HD patients.

Methods

The present cross-sectional study aimed to examine the relationship between AO and PAD in a cohort of 204 chronic HD patients. The ankle brachial index (ABI) was used as an estimate of the presence of PAD. Plasma adiponectin levels, interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels, high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels, asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) levels, and lipid profiles were measured. Logistic regression was used to estimate the association between the presence of PAD and AO as well as other potential risk factors.

Results

The metabolic risk factors and all individual traits, including elevated ln-transformed hs-CRP, were found to be significant (P<0.05) more frequently in HD patients with AO than that in control subjects. Patients with AO had a higher prevalence of PAD than the control individuals, with a mean ABI of 0.96±0.23 and 1.08±0.16 (P<0.0001) and PAD prevalence of 26.9% and 10.8% (P = 0.003), respectively. By multivariate analysis, AO (odds ratio [OR], 4.532; 95% CI, 1.765–11.639; P = 0.002), elevated serum ln-transformed ADMA (OR, 5.535; 95% CI, 1.323–23.155; P = 0.019), and ln-transformed IL-6 (OR, 1.567; 95% CI, 1.033–2.378; P = 0.035) were independent predictors of the presence of PAD.

Conclusions

HD patients with AO exhibited a cluster of metabolic risk factors and lower ABI. AO, elevated serum ln-transformed ADMA, and ln-transformed IL-6 were independent predictors of the presence of PAD.     

Quantitative Approach for the Prediction of Tooth Movement During Orthodontic Treatment

The orthodontic treatment is aimed to displace and/or rotate the teeth to obtain the functionally correct occlusion and the best aesthetics and consists in applying forces and/or couples to tooth crowns. The applied loads are generated by the elastic recovery of metallic wires linked to the tooth crowns by brackets. These loads generate a stress state into the periodontal ligament and hence, in the alveolar bone, causing the bone remodeling responsible for the tooth movement. The orthodontic appliance is usually designed on the basis of the clinical experience of the orthodontist. In this work, a quantitative approach for the prediction of the tooth movement is presented that has been developed as a first step to build up a computer tool to aid the orthodontist in designing the orthodontic appliance. The model calculates the tooth movement through time with respect to a fixed Cartesian frame located in the middle of the dental arch. The user interface panel has been designed to allow the orthodontist to manage the standard geometrical references and parameters usually adopted to design the treatment. Simulations of specific cases are reported for which the parameters of the model are selected in order to reproduce forecasts of tooth movement matching data published in experimental works.     

CT全肝灌注的临床应用及进展

随着影像技术的发展和后处理功能的完善,肝灌注成像以研究组织、器官血流动力学变化已成为影像界关注的热点,然而CT灌注成像在肝脏等实质性器官中的应用尚处于探索阶段。肝脏具有双重血供,在各种病理生理情况下,肝脏动静脉之间及门静脉之间的血流动力学发生着复杂的变化。CT被认为是诊断肝脏病变最有价值的影像学方法,CT灌注成像能反映组织器官微循环内的血流动力学变化,是一种快速、准确、无创的功能成像方法。肝脏灌注CT检查可以同时获得形态和功能两方面的信息,使我们有可能早于形态学变化之前发现肝脏病变,有助于肝脏疾病的早期诊断和治疗,并能评价各种治疗手段对肝脏血流动力学变化的影响。本文针对全肝灌注CT扫描在临床的应用进行综述。     

肾动脉CT血管造影在肾脏肿瘤出血介入栓塞治疗中的应用

目的:探讨肾动脉CT血管造影(Computed Tomography angiography,CTA)在-肾脏肿瘤出血介入栓塞治疗中应用的临床效果.方法:28例肾脏患者在介入栓塞治疗前行肾动脉CTA检查.在介入手术中寻找所有的肿瘤供血动脉,并逐一进行栓塞治疗.栓塞治疗一周后复查肾动脉CTA检查.对肾动脉CTA在介入栓塞治疗中应用效果进行回顾性总结评价.结果:28例肾脏肿瘤出血患者在介入栓塞治疗前行肾动脉CTA检查,共找到32支肿瘤供血动脉,介入手术中共找到34支肿瘤供血动脉并成功栓塞治疗.介入手术前肾动脉CTA检查诊断的准确率为94.12％(32/34).栓塞治疗后复查肾动脉CTA检查证实所有已栓塞的肿瘤供血动脉栓塞效果良好.结论:介入栓塞治疗前肾动脉CTA检查可以为肾脏肿瘤出血介入栓塞治疗提供准确的定位作用.栓塞治疗后肾动脉CTA检查有利于对栓塞疗效的准确判定.     

Development of a New Technique for Reconstruction of Hepatic Artery during Liver Transplantation in Sprague-Dawley Rat

Background

Sleeve anastomosis is the most common technique used to rearterialize orthotopic liver transplants (OLT). However, this technique has a number of disadvantages, including difficulty of performance of the technique visually unaided. We herein describe a novel rearterialized OLT model in the rat.

Materials and Methods

Forty-six male Sprague Dawley rats (300–400 g) were used as donors and recipients. Based on Kamada’s cuff technique, the new model involved performing a modified “sleeve” anastomosis between the celiac trunk of the donor and common hepatic artery of the recipient to reconstruct blood flow to the hepatic artery. An additional ten male Sprague Dawley rats underwent liver transplantation without artery reconstruction. Liver grafts were retrieved from the two groups and histological examination was performed following surgery.

Results

Total mean operating times were ~42 minutes for the donor liver extraction and 57 minutes for the recipient transplantation. Graft preparation took an additional 15 minutes and the time to fix the arterial bracket was ~3 minutes. During transplantation, the anhepatic phase lasted 18 ± 2.5 min and the artery reconstruction only required ~3 minutes. The patency rate was 94.44% and the 4-week survival rate was 90%. Histology indicated obvious fibrosis in the liver grafts without artery reconstruction, while normal histology was observed in the arterialized graft.

Conclusions

This new method allows for the surgical procedure to be performed visually unaided with good survival and patency rates and represents an alternative model investigating OLT in rats.     

放疗联合肝动脉化疗栓塞治疗原发性肝癌的临床效果分析

目的:探讨放疗联合肝动脉化疗栓塞治疗原发性肝癌的临床效果.方法:选取2009年2月至2011年2月入住我院的60例已确诊且不能进行手术切除的Ⅲ、Ⅳ期原发性肝癌患者,采用三维适形放疗(3D-CRT)联合肝动脉化疗栓塞(TACE)治疗.结果:近期疗效有效率为76.67％.0.5、1、2年的生存率分别为87.4％、65.2％、38.7％.平均生存时间为25.6个月.结论:将放疗联合肝动脉化疗栓塞应用到原发性肝癌的治疗中,能够有效地控制患者病情,提高患者生活质量,延长患者生存期,对于不能进行手术治疗的中晚期患者具重要的实践与运用价值,值得推广.     

Respiratory Motion Reduction in PET/CT Using Abdominal Compression for Lung Cancer Patients

Purpose

Respiratory motion causes substantial artifacts in reconstructed PET images when using helical CT as the attenuation map in PET/CT imaging. In this study, we aimed to reduce the respiratory artifacts in PET/CT images of patients with lung tumors using an abdominal compression device.

Methods

Twelve patients with lung cancer located in the middle or lower lobe of the lung were recruited. The patients were injected with 370 MBq of ¹⁸F-FDG. During PET, the patients assumed two bed positions for 1.5 min/bed. After conducting free-breathing imaging, we obtained images of the patients with abdominal compression by applying the same setup used in the free-breathing scan. The differences in the standardized uptake value (SUV)_max, SUV_mean, tumor volume, and the centroid of the tumors between PET and various CT schemes were measured.

Results

The SUV_max and SUV_mean derived from PET/CT imaging using an abdominal compression device increased for all the lesions, compared with those obtained using the conventional approach. The percentage increases were 18.1% ±14% and 17% ±16.8% for SUV_max and SUV_mean, respectively. PET/CT imaging combined with abdominal compression generally reduced the tumor mismatch between CT and the corresponding attenuation corrected PET images, with an average decrease of 1.9±1.7 mm over all the cases.

Conclusions

PET/CT imaging combined with abdominal compression reduces respiratory artifacts and PET/CT misregistration, and enhances quantitative SUV in tumor. Abdominal compression is easy to set up and is an effective method used in PET/CT imaging for clinical oncology, especially in the thoracic region.     

Comparative Effectiveness of Hepatic Artery Based Therapies for Unresectable Colorectal Liver Metastases: A Meta-Analysis

BackgroundPatients with unresectable Colorectal Liver Metastases (CRLM) are increasingly being managed using Hepatic Artery Based Therapies (HAT), including Hepatic Arterial Infusion (HAI), Radioembolization (RE), and Transcatheter Arterial Chemoembolization (TACE). Limited data is available on the comparative effectiveness of these options. We hypothesized that outcomes in terms of survival and toxicity were equivalent across the three strategies.MethodsA meta-analysis was performed using a prospectively registered search strategy at PROSPERO (CRD42013003861) that utilized studies from PubMed (2003–2013). Primary outcome was median overall survival (OS). Secondary outcomes were treatment toxicity, tumor response, and conversion of the tumor to resectable. Additional covariates included prior or concurrent systemic therapy.ResultsOf 491 studies screened, 90 were selected for analyses—52 (n = 3,000 patients) HAI, 24 (n = 1,268) RE, 14 (n = 1,038) TACE. The median OS (95% CI) for patients receiving HAT in the first-line were RE 29.4 vs. HAI 21.4 vs. TACE 15.2 months (p = 0.97, 0.69 respectively). For patients failing at least one line of prior systemic therapy, the survival outcomes were TACE 21.3 (20.6–22.4) months vs. HAI 13.2 (12.2–14.2) months vs. RE 10.7 (9.5–12.0). Grade 3–4 toxicity for HAT alone was 40% in the HAI group, 19% in the RE group, and 18% in the TACE groups, which was increased with the addition of systemic chemotherapy. Level 1 evidence was available in 5 studies for HAI, 2 studies for RE and 1 for TACE.ConclusionHAI, RE, and TACE are equally effective in patients with unresectable CRLM with marginal differences in survival.     

CT Attenuation Values of Blood and Myocardium: Rationale for Accurate Coronary Artery Calcifications Detection with Multi-Detector CT

Objectives

To determine inter-session and intra/inter-individual variations of the attenuations of aortic blood/myocardium with MDCT in the context of calcium scoring. To evaluate whether these variations are dependent on patients’ characteristics.

Methods

Fifty-four volunteers were evaluated with calcium scoring non-enhanced CT. We measured attenuations (inter-individual variation) and standard deviations (SD, intra-individual variation) of the blood in the ascending aorta and of the myocardium of left ventricle. Every volunteer was examined twice to study the inter-session variation. The fat pad thickness at the sternum and noise (SD of air) were measured too. These values were correlated with the measured aortic/ventricular attenuations and their SDs (Pearson). Historically fixed thresholds (90 and 130 HU) were tested against different models based on attenuations of blood/ventricle.

Results

The mean attenuation was 46HU (range, 17-84HU) with mean SD 23HU for the blood, and 39HU (10-82HU) with mean SD 18 HU for the myocardium. The attenuation/SD of the blood were significantly higher than those of the myocardium (p<0.01). The inter-session variation was not significant. There was a poor correlation between SD of aortic blood/ventricle with fat thickness/noise. Based on existing models, 90 HU threshold offers a confidence interval of approximately 95% and 130 HU more than 99%.

Conclusions

Historical thresholds offer high confidence intervals for exclusion of aortic blood/myocardium and by the way for detecting calcifications. Nevertheless, considering the large variations of blood/myocardium CT values and the influence of patient’s characteristics, a better approach might be an adaptive threshold.     

水稻端粒酶活性定量分析研究

摘要：端粒酶活性直接与细胞的分生能力、生活力、生命力有着密不可分的关系, 因此对其活性测定有着重要意义。本文参照人类端粒酶体外检测的原理和方法,设计了特别的先导引物和反向引物,采用不同的退火温度将PCR循环分成两步进行,再结合DNA凝胶电泳成像定量分析系统,以模式植物水稻为研究对象,对端粒酶活性定量检测方法和反应条件进行了探索。结果显示,水稻端粒酶活性的最佳反应条件为：温度19℃,反应时间13分钟,总蛋白浓度0.28μg/μl,与人端粒酶最佳反应条件有明显差异,建立了一种有效测定植物端粒酶活性的定量检测方法。应用该方法对6个水稻品种的根、幼叶及幼穗三个不同组织器官的端粒酶活性进行了定量测定,结果显示幼穗最高,其次为幼叶,根最弱。说明植物端粒酶活性与细胞、组织的生活力有着密切关系。