Enhanced external counter pulsation therapy in patients with symptomatic and severe intracranial steno-occlusive disease: a randomized clinical trial protocol.

Unlabelled: Intracranial stenosis is prevalent among Asians and constitutes a common cause of cerebral ischemia. While the best medical therapy carries stroke recurrence rates in excess of 10% per year, trials with intracranial stenting have been associated with unacceptable peri-procedural ischemic events. Cerebral ischemic events are strongly related to the severity of intracranial stenosis, which is high in patients with severe intracranial stenosis with poor vasodilatory reserve.

Lymphoma Masquerading as Lung Cancer.

Lymphoma typically manifests as lymphadenopathy, with or without solid organ involvement. Lymphomatous masses tend to respect anatomical structures, encasing rather than invading them. Tumor thrombus formation is a rare presentation in lymphoma that has been previously described in the liver and kidneys.

Mathematical modeling of the outbreak of COVID-19.

The novel coronavirus SARS-Cov-2 is a pandemic condition and poses a massive menace to health. The governments of different countries and their various prohibitory steps to restrict the virus's expanse have changed individuals' communication processes. Due to physical and financial factors, the population's density is more likely to interact and spread the virus.

Validation of low-dose lung cancer PET-CT protocol and PET image improvement using machine learning.

Purpose: To conduct a simplified lesion-detection task of a low-dose (LD) PET-CT protocol for frequent lung screening using 30% of the effective PETCT dose and to investigate the feasibility of increasing clinical value of low-statistics scans using machine learning.

Methods: We acquired 33 SD PET images, of which 13 had actual LD (ALD) PET, and simulated LD (SLD) PET images at seven different count levels from the SD PET scans. We employed image quality transfer (IQT), a machine learning algorithm that performs patch-regression to map parameters from low-quality to high-quality images.

"Hot Cord" Sign on 18F-FDG PET/CT in a Patient With Acute Myelitis Due to Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder.

A 44-year-old woman presented with prolonged low-grade fever, bilateral upper limb weakness, and hyperesthesia. MRI showed hyperintense T2 signal and enhancement of the cervicothoracic spinal cord. F-FDG PET/CT was requested to investigate pyrexia of unknown origin.

Integration of Antiangiogenic Therapy with Cisplatin and Gemcitabine Chemotherapy in Patients with Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma.

Purpose: Induction cisplatin and gemcitabine chemotherapy is a standard treatment for locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Inhibition of VEGF axis has been shown to promote maturation of microvasculature and improve perfusion. We conducted a four-arm study to assess the effect of two doses of either sunitinib or bevacizumab with chemotherapy in NPC.

Imaging findings on contrast-enhanced ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging and hybrid positron emission tomography in Takayasu arteritis: a case report.

This case report demonstrates the potential of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in diagnosing active arterial wall inflammation in a symptomatic patient with Takayasu arteritis (TA). To our knowledge, this is the first case which demonstrates pictorial correlation of arterial wall neovascularity on CEUS with mural edema on magnetic resonance imaging and metabolic activity on positron emission tomography - computed tomography in the same patient. As TA is a chronic disease which requires long-term follow-up, CEUS could be the potential imaging modality of choice as it is radiation-free, non-nephrotoxic and easily available.

A mathematical model of adiponectin resistance.

Adiponectin is often associated with obesity. The obese body displays a significant decrease in adiponectin expression and plasma levels. Higher adiponectin also results in lower expression of pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-α from adipose tissue.

Lymphoma Recurrence Along the Lymphatic Tract on 18F-FDG PET/CT Presenting as Lower Limb Swelling.

A 66-year-old woman with a known history of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma presented with left lower limb swelling following recent long-distance air travel. Ultrasound Doppler showed no evidence of deep vein thrombosis. In view of her medical history, an F-FDG PET/CT was ordered that found a soft tissue mass following the course of the femoral neurovascular bundle along the anteromedial aspect of the left thigh down to the popliteal fossa and the lateral calf muscle.

Reversal of the reversed 'Robin Hood syndrome' after superficial temporal-Middle cerebral artery bypass for severe intracranial stenosis.

Intracranial arterial stenosis is a common cause of ischemic stroke. Recent attempts with intracranial stenting and superficial temporal-middle cerebral artery (STA-MCA) bypass failed to show benefit. Perhaps, better strategies are needed for selecting suitable patients.

Rationale and design of a randomized trial of early intensive blood pressure lowering on cerebral perfusion parameters in thrombolysed acute ischemic stroke patients.

Background And Rationale: Uncertainty persists over the optimal management of blood pressure (BP) in the early phase of acute ischemic stroke (AIS). This study aims to determine the safety and effects of intensive BP lowering on cerebral blood flow (CBF) and functional in AIS patients treated with intravenous thrombolysis.

Methods: In a randomized controlled trial, 54 thrombolysed AIS patients with a systolic BP of 160 to 180 mm Hg will be randomized to early intensive BP lowering (systolic target range 140-160 mm Hg) or guideline-based BP management (systolic range 160-180 mm Hg) during first 72-hours using primarily intravenous labetalol.

Rough set method accurately predicts unknown protein class/family of Leishmania donovani membrane proteome.

Leishmania donovani is the primary cause of a fatal disease visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in East Africa and in the Indian subcontinent. Human beings are the only known reservoir of L. donovani and due to the emergence and the spread of drug resistance control for this disease is become worse.

18F-FDG Uptake in Parsonage-Turner Syndrome.

A 55-year-old man with large B-cell lymphoma developed atraumatic left shoulder pain. F-FDG PET/CT revealed new left supraspinatus and infraspinatus muscle uptake while the initial disease resolved. Given the discrepancy between initial disease treatment response and new left shoulder findings, an MRI scan was performed.

18F-FDG PET/CT Scan Can Predate Clinical Presentation in Acute Appendicitis.

Acute appendicitis is a clinical diagnosis typically presenting with right lower quadrant pain. We describe the case of an asymptomatic 53-year-old man with stage 2A diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, who underwent F-FDG PET/CT at the completion of chemotherapy. The scan showed complete lymphomatous disease remission.

Putative Drug and Vaccine Target Identification in Leishmania donovani Membrane Proteins Using Naïve Bayes Probabilistic Classifier.

Predicting the role of protein is one of the most challenging problems. There are few approaches available for the prediction of role of unknown protein in terms of drug target or vaccine candidate. We propose here Naïve Bayes probabilistic classifier, a promising method for reliable predictions.

(68)Ga-DOTA-peptide: A novel molecular biomarker for nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Background: Increased somatostatin receptor (SSTR) expression in patients with undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) has been demonstrated with receptor autoradiography, (111) In-Octreotide scintigraphy, and (68) Ga-DOTA-TOC positron emission tomography (PET)/CT imaging. We sought to compare and correlate the uptake of fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) and DOTA-NOC in undifferentiated NPC to ascertain the possible role of (68) Ga-DOTA-NOC PET/CT as a new imaging biomarker and to assess whether targeted peptide receptor radionuclide therapy is a feasible treatment option.

Methods: After obtaining approval from our institutional review board, 4 patients with biopsy proven nonkeratinizing undifferentiated NPC who had just undergone routine staging/restaging (18) F-FDG PET/CT imaging were prospectively and consecutively recruited for (68) Ga-DOTA-NOC PET/CT imaging.

Impact of Image Reconstruction Settings on Texture Features in 18F-FDG PET.

Unlabelled: Evaluation of tumor heterogeneity based on texture parameters has recently attracted much interest in the PET imaging community. However, the impact of reconstruction settings on texture parameters is unclear, especially relating to time-of-flight and point-spread function modeling. Their effects on 55 texture features (TFs) and 6 features based on first-order statistics (FOS) were investigated.

Incidental possible diagnosis by 18F-fluorocholine PET/CT of Meckel's diverticulum and potential pitfalls.

Unlabelled: A 61 years old man with a history of prostate cancer Gleason 3+4, treated with radical prostatectomy, underwent fluorine-18-fluorocholine positron emission tomography/computed tomography ((18)F-FCH PET/CT) imaging to investigate rising serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels. (18)F-FCH PET/CT showed a focus of linear increased uptake by a possible Meckel's diverticulum in the right hemi-pelvis, which was an incidental finding in this asymptomatic patient. Uptake of (18)F-FCH by Meckel's diverticulum has not been reported before and thus the mechanism of uptake has not been established.

A man with pleural effusion and ascites.

A male lifelong nonsmoker aged 58 years with no prior asbestos exposure complained of gradual worsening breathlessness over 3 months. This was associated with abdominal and leg swelling and a 2-kg weight loss. He had no fever, night sweats, hemoptysis, joint pain, rash, abdominal pain, chest pain, or orthopnea.

Improvement in cerebral hemodynamic parameters and outcomes after superficial temporal artery-middle cerebral artery bypass in patients with severe stenoocclusive disease of the intracranial internal carotid or middle cerebral arteries.

Object: Both the older and the recent extracranial-intracranial (EC-IC) bypass trials for symptomatic carotid occlusion failed to demonstrate a reduction in stroke recurrence. However, the role of superficial temporal artery (STA)-middle cerebral artery (MCA) bypass in patients with symptomatic intracranial stenoocclusive disease has been rarely evaluated. The authors evaluated serial changes in various cerebral hemodynamic parameters in patients with severe stenoocclusive disease of the intracranial internal carotid artery (ICA) or middle cerebral artery (MCA) and impaired cerebral vasodilatory reserve (CVR), treated by STA-MCA bypass surgery or medical treatment.

Plaque Inflammation Imaging in Severe Carotid Stenosis and Recurrent Cerebral Ischemia.

A strong relationship exists between the severity of carotid stenosis and early stroke risk. Inflammation is believed to be an important event for atherosclerotic plaque destabilization and subsequent thromboembolism. (18)F-FDG can image atherosclerotic inflammation, providing information about plaque biology, which may serve as a useful biomarker for the assessment of early stroke risk.