Limited utility of subendometrial enhancement in assessing the interface between the endometrium and myometrium.

This study was conducted to re-evaluate the utility of subendometrial enhancement (SEE) in assessing the interface between the endometrium and myometrium. In total, 110 women who underwent pelvic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for non-endometrial gynecologic diseases were enrolled in this prospective study. Two radiologists independently assessed the presence or absence of subendometrial enhancement (SEE) on dynamic contrast-enhanced (CE) MRI.

Transitional zone prostate cancer: Performance of texture-based machine learning and image-based deep learning.

This study is aimed to explore the performance of texture-based machine learning and image-based deep-learning for enhancing detection of Transitional-zone prostate cancer (TZPCa) in the background of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), using a one-to-one correlation between prostatectomy-based pathologically proven lesion and MRI. Seventy patients confirmed as TZPCa and twenty-nine patients confirmed as BPH without TZPCa by radical prostatectomy. For texture analysis, a radiologist drew the region of interest (ROI) for the pathologically correlated TZPCa and the surrounding BPH on T2WI.

Renal Doppler ultrasonography for predicting non-diabetic kidney disease in patients with diabetes.

Purpose: This study was conducted to assess the role of renal Doppler ultrasonography (US) in predicting non-diabetic kidney disease (NDKD) in patients with diabetes, using histologic findings as the reference standard.

Methods: Fifty-nine consecutive patients with diabetes who underwent renal Doppler US and native kidney biopsy were included in this retrospective, single-institutional study. Based on histologic findings, patients were classified as having diabetic nephropathy (DN) or NDKD.

Histological Response to 5 kHz Irreversible Electroporation in a Porcine Liver Model.

Unlike necrosis by thermal ablation, irreversible electroporation (IRE) is known to induce apoptosis by disrupting plasma membrane integrity with electric pulses while preserving the structure of blood vessels and bile ducts in liver tissue without a heat sink effect. This study aimed to investigate thermal damage and histopathological effects in the porcine liver by high-frequency electric pulses (5 kHz) which is much higher than the widely used 1 Hz. The electric field and thermal distributions of 5 kHz electric pulses were compared with those of 1 Hz in numerical simulations.

Effects of Actin Cytoskeleton Disruption on Electroporation In Vitro.

The role of actin fibers in cellular responses to external electric pulses is not clear yet. In this study, we utilized the blocker of actin polymerization, cytochalasin D (cytoD), and investigated its effects on the electropore generation. Eight 100 μs electric pulses of sub-kilovolt per centimeter voltage with 100 ms intervals were applied to adhered cells in vitro, and the membrane permeability was quantified using membrane-impermeable propidium iodide (PI) dye.

Physicochemical factors that affect electroporation of lung cancer and normal cell lines.

Electroporation is used for cancer therapy to efficiently destroy cancer tissues by transferring anticancer drugs into cancer cells or by irreversible tumor ablation without resealing pores. There is growing interest in the electroporation method for the treatment of lung cancer, which has the highest mortality rate among cancers. Improving the cancer cell selectivity has the potential to expand its use.

CT findings of adnexal torsion: A matched case-control study.

Objective: The purpose of our study was to assess computed tomographic (CT) findings of adnexal torsion through a matched case-control analysis.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective, single-institution case-control study included 43 women with adnexal torsion and 43 age- and ovarian mass-matched control women. CT images were evaluated independently by two readers for the following: prominent peripheral follicles, uterine deviation, thickened pedicles, a whirl sign, and a navel sign.

Is Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System Version 2 Sufficiently Discovering Clinically Significant Prostate Cancer? Per-Lesion Radiology-Pathology Correlation Study.

Objective: The objective of our study was to evaluate the performance of multiparametric MRI with Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System version 2 (PI-RADSv2) for detecting prostate cancer (PCA) and clinically significant PCA through this per-lesion one-to-one correlation study between pathologically proven lesions and MRI-visible lesions.

Materials And Methods: A total of 93 PCA lesions from 44 patients who underwent radical prostatectomy were included in this retrospective study. Two radiologists scored every visible lesion with a PI-RADSv2 score of 3, 4, or 5 in each patient's multiparametric MRI examination using PI-RADSv2.

Postpartum hemorrhage from non-uterine arteries: clinical importance of their detection and the results of selective embolization.

Background Identification of the source of postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is important for embolization because PPH frequently originates from non-uterine arteries. Purpose To evaluate the clinical importance of identifying the non-uterine arteries causing the PPH and the results of their selective embolization. Material and Methods This retrospective study enrolled 59 patients who underwent embolization for PPH from June 2009 to July 2016.

Ruptured Corpus Luteal Cyst: Prediction of Clinical Outcomes with CT.

Objective: To evaluate the determinant pretreatment CT findings that can predict surgical intervention for patients suffering from corpus luteal cyst rupture with hemoperitoneum.

Materials And Methods: From January 2009 to December 2014, a total of 106 female patients (mean age, 26.1 years; range, 17-44 years) who visited the emergency room of our institute for acute abdominal pain and were subsequently diagnosed with ruptured corpus luteal cyst with hemoperitoneum were included in the retrospective study.

Evaluation of factors influencing arterial Doppler waveforms in an flow phantom.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate factors that influence arterial Doppler waveforms in an phantom to provide a more accurate and comprehensive explanation of the Doppler signal.

Methods: A flow model was created using a pulsatile artificial heart, rubber or polyethylene tubes, a water tank, and a glass tube. Spectral Doppler tracings were obtained in multiple combinations of compliance, resistance, and pulse rate.

Standard vs. reduced-radiation-dose CT in the tracing of the ureter.

Purpose: To assess the effectiveness of reduced-radiation-dose computed tomography (CT) protocols in the tracing of the ureter in patients with suspected renal colic.

Methods: The study was approved by our institutional review board, and informed consent was obtained from the participants. From July 2012 to April 2014, 310 consecutive patients with suspected urolithiasis were recruited to undergo unenhanced CT at 280 (n = 62), 200 (n = 62), 140 (n = 62), 100 (n = 62), and 70 (n = 62) reference mA seconds (mAs) while keeping other imaging parameters constant.

Histological and Mathematical Analysis of the Irreversibly Electroporated Liver Tissue.

Irreversible electroporation has clinically been used to treat various types of cancer. A plan on how to apply irreversible electroporation before practicing is very important to increase the ablation area and reduce the side effects. Several electrical models have been developed to predict the ablation area with applied electric energy.

MR assessment of myometrial invasion in women with endometrial cancer: discrepancy between T2-weighted imaging and contrast-enhanced T1-weighted imaging.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to investigate how frequently discrepant imaging findings are encountered between T2-weighted imaging and contrast-enhanced T1-weighted imaging in the preoperative magnetic resonance (MR) assessment of myometrial invasion in women with endometrial cancer.

Methods: Seventy-one consecutive women (mean age, 59 years; age range 35-86 years) with endometrial cancer who underwent preoperative MR imaging were included in this single-institution, retrospective study. Depth of myometrial invasion was separately assessed on T2-weighted imaging and contrast-enhanced T1-weighted imaging, and the assessment was considered discrepant, when the two imaging sequences did not match each other.

Factors influencing the renal arterial Doppler waveform: a simulation study using an electrical circuit model (secondary publication).

Purpose: The goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of vascular compliance, resistance, and pulse rate on the resistive index (RI) by using an electrical circuit model to simulate renal blood flow.

Methods: In order to analyze the renal arterial Doppler waveform, we modeled the renal blood-flow circuit with an equivalent simple electrical circuit containing resistance, inductance, and capacitance. The relationships among the impedance, resistance, and compliance of the circuit were derived from well-known equations, including Kirchhoff's current law for alternating current circuits.

Angiomyolipoma with minimal fat: differentiation of morphological and enhancement features from renal cell carcinoma at CT imaging.

Background: Angiomyolipoma (AML) with minimal fat may mimic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and is difficult to distinguish from RCC with imaging studies alone. Precise diagnostic strategies have been explored to discern AML with minimal fat from RCC.

Purpose: To compare the morphological and enhancement features of AML with minimal fat with those of size-matched RCC on computed tomography (CT).

Dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging of endometrial cancer: optimizing the imaging delay for tumour-myometrium contrast.

Purpose: To investigate the optimal imaging delay time of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in women with endometrial cancer.

Materials And Methods: This prospective single-institution study was approved by the institutional review board, and informed consent was obtained from the participants. Thirty-five women (mean age, 54 years; age range, 29-66 years) underwent dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging with a temporal resolution of 25-40 seconds.

Contrast-induced nephropathy in patients undergoing intravenous contrast-enhanced computed tomography in Korea: a multi-institutional study in 101487 patients.

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of known risk factors for contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) and their association with the actual occurrence of CIN in patients undergoing intravenous contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) in Korea.

Materials And Methods: Patients who underwent CECT in 2008 were identified in the electronic medical records of 16 tertiary hospitals of Korea. Data on demographics, comorbidities, prescriptions and laboratory test results of patients were collected following a standard data extraction protocol.

Usefulness of resistive index on spectral Doppler ultrasonography in the detection of renal cell carcinoma in patients with end-stage renal disease.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore the usefulness of the resistive index (RI) on spectral Doppler ultrasonography (US) in the detection of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD).

Methods: Seventeen ESRD patients with kidneys in which renal masses were suspected in routine US were subjected. They underwent computed tomography scans and additional Doppler US for the characterization of the detected lesions.

CT findings of acute pelvic inflammatory disease.

Purpose: To determine the computed tomographic (CT) findings of acute pelvic inflammatory disease (PID).

Methods: This retrospective, single-institution case-control study was approved by our institutional review board, and the informed consent was waived owing to the retrospective nature of the study. CT images of 32 women with clinically proven acute PID and 32 control subjects with other conditions of similar presentation were retrospectively reviewed.

Changes of apoptosis in tumor tissues with time after irreversible electroporation.

Irreversible electroporation is a novel method of ablating living tissues through its non-thermal effects, unlike radiofrequency ablation which has a severe problem of heat sink. It is due to high-energy direct current which leads to permanent disruption of lipid bilayer integrity in terms of exchanges between intra- and extracellular components via nano-sized pores. That finally causes irreversible damage to cellular homeostasis.

Segmental enhancement inversion of small renal oncocytoma: differences in prevalence according to tumor size.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to retrospectively assess the prevalence of segmental enhancement inversion of small renal oncocytomas according to tumor size.

Materials And Methods: Thirty-three patients (19 men, 14 women; mean age, 61 years; range, 40-74 years) with 33 oncocytomas diagnosed at surgical resection who had undergone contrast-enhanced biphasic CT between January 2000 and December 2011 were included. CT scans were analyzed by two radiologists blinded to the specifics of the pathology report for size, presence of segmental enhancement inversion, enhancement pattern, and homogeneity.

Pre-operative prediction of advanced prostatic cancer using clinical decision support systems: accuracy comparison between support vector machine and artificial neural network.

Objective: The purpose of the current study was to develop support vector machine (SVM) and artificial neural network (ANN) models for the pre-operative prediction of advanced prostate cancer by using the parameters acquired from transrectal ultrasound (TRUS)-guided prostate biopsies, and to compare the accuracies between the two models.

Materials And Methods: Five hundred thirty-two consecutive patients who underwent prostate biopsies and prostatectomies for prostate cancer were divided into the training and test groups (n = 300 versus n = 232). From the data in the training group, two clinical decision support systems (CDSSs-[SVM and ANN]) were constructed with input (age, prostate specific antigen level, digital rectal examination, and five biopsy parameters) and output data (the probability for advanced prostate cancer [> pT3a]).

Dual-modal nanoprobes for imaging of mesenchymal stem cell transplant by MRI and fluorescence imaging.

Objective: To determine the feasibility of labeling human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) with bifunctional nanoparticles and assessing their potential as imaging probes in the monitoring of hMSC transplantation.

Materials And Methods: The T1 and T2 relaxivities of the nanoparticles (MNP@SiO(2)[RITC]-PEG) were measured at 1.5T and 3T magnetic resonance scanner.

In vivo MR imaging of magnetically labeled mesenchymal stem cells in a rat model of renal ischemia.

Objective: This study was designed to evaluate in vivo MR imaging for the depiction of intraarterially injected superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO)-labeled mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in an experimental rat model of renal ischemia.

Materials And Methods: Left renal ischemia was induced in 12 male Sprague-Dawley rats by use of the catheter lodging method. In vivo MR signal intensity variations depicted on T2*-weighted sequences were evaluated in both the left and right kidneys prior to injection (n = 2), two hours (n = 4), 15 hours (n = 2), 30 hours (n = 2) and 72 hours (n = 2) after injection of SPIO-labeled MSCs in both kidneys.