Empiric embolization by vasospasm therapy for acute lower gastrointestinal bleeding: a preliminary report.

To report the preliminary result of empiric embolization for angiographycally-negative lower gastrointestinal bleeding (LGIB) by using the pharmaco-induced vasospasm technique with or without the adjunctive use of intra-arterial multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT). 23 LGIB patients with positive MDCT findings but negative angiographic results underwent empiric pharmaco-induced vasospasm therapy. The presumed bleeding artery was semi-selectively catheterized, and a segment of bowel was temporarily spasmed with bolus injection of epinephrine and immediately followed by 4-h' vasopressin infusion.

Advanced hepatocellular carcinoma with major portal vein invasion: Therapeutic outcomes of hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy vs concurrent radiotherapy.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with major portal vein invasion (MPVI) presents very poor outcomes. Hepatic artery infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) and radiation therapy (RT) have both been found to be effective for advanced HCC. In this retrospective study, we compared the therapeutic outcomes of our "new" HAIC regimen with and without concurrent RT, before and after propensity score matching (PSM) in treating HCC patients with MPVI.

How Soda Ingestion Facilitates the Distinction between a Killian-Jamieson Diverticulum and a Malignant Thyroid Nodule.

A 66-year-old woman presented with an incidental left thyroid nodule during a health examination. She had no voice change, shortness of breath, cough, or dysphagia. Repeated sonography showed a dynamic change of the lesion, which was more evident following soda consumption.

Multidisciplinary Taiwan consensus for the use of conventional TACE in hepatocellular carcinoma treatment.

Developed in early 1980s, transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) with Lipiodol was adopted globally after large-scale randomized control trials and meta-analyses proving its effectiveness were completed. Also known as "conventional TACE" (cTACE), TACE is currently the first-line treatment for patients with unresectable intermediate stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and delivers both ischemic and cytotoxic effects to targeted tumors. Although new technology and clinical studies have contributed to a more comprehensive understanding of when and how to apply this widely-adopted therapeutic modality, some of these new findings and techniques have yet to be incorporated into a guideline appropriate for Taiwan.

IgG4-Related Disease Mimicking Unilateral Urothelial Carcinoma: A Rare Case Report and Literature Review.

Immunoglobulin G4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is an autoimmune-mediated disorder with heterogeneous multiorgan manifestations. Early identification and treatment of IgG4-RD are crucial for organ function recovery. Rarely, IgG4-RD manifests as a unilateral renal pelvic soft tissue mass that may be misdiagnosed as urothelial malignancy, resulting in invasive surgical intervention and organ damage.

New Regimen of Combining Hepatic Arterial Infusion Chemotherapy and Lipiodol Embolization in Treating Hepatocellular Carcinoma with Main Portal Vein Invasion.

Background: The prognosis of HCC patients with main portal vein invasion (Vp4) is poor. We retrospectively reviewed the therapeutic outcomes with our new HAIC regimen in treating Vp4 HCC patients.

Patients And Methods: Seventy-one patients received the new regimen of combining HAIC (daily infusion of cisplatin (10 mg/m), mitomycin-C (2 mg/m) and Leucovorin (15 mg/m) plus 100 mg/m of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) using an infusion pump for 5 consecutive days) with Lipiodol embolization between 2002 and 2018.

Pulsatility index-adjusted doppler flow measurement of pedal arteries in peripheral artery disease patients.

Background: To examine the feasibility of using pulsatility index-adjusted (PI) flow equations to accurately characterize blood volume flow changes using Doppler technique in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) before and after percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA).

Methods: PTA was performed on 17 PAD patients (23 target vessels treated, 16 anterior tibial arteries, and 7 posterior tibial arteries). Arterial diameter, peak systolic velocity, PI, time-averaged mean velocity, and measured volume flow (MVF) of dorsalis pedis artery (DPA) and common plantar artery (CPA) were measured with duplex Doppler ultrasound before and after PTA.

Primary Catheter-Directed Thrombolysis for Porto-Mesenteric Venous Thrombosis (PMVT) in Non-Cirrhotic Patients.

To report our thrombolytic technique, treatment strategy, and clinical outcomes for porto-mesenteric venous thrombosis (PMVT) in non-cirrhotic patients. Sixteen acute or chronic non-cirrhotic PMVT patients (mean age: 48.6 years) with imminent intestinal ischemia were enrolled from 2004 to 2020.

Management of acute lower gastrointestinal bleeding by pharmaco-induced vasospasm embolization therapy.

Background: To report the clinical outcomes of vasospasm embolization technique in treating lower gastrointestinal bleeding (LGIB).

Methods: Fifty LGIB patients (32 men and 18 women; mean age, 70.4 years) with positive contrast extravasation on multidetector computed tomography were treated with pharmaco-induced vasospasm embolization by semiselective catheterization technique.

Suture granuloma mimicking local recurrence of colon cancer after open right hemicolectomy: a case report.

Background: Foreign body granuloma is a rare surgery-related complication that can masquerade as cancer recurrence during postoperative surveillance. It may therefore deceive clinicians and lead to unnecessary interventions. The case presented herein demonstrates how a foreign body granuloma can be misleading in preoperative radiological studies and why this condition should not be ignored in differential diagnoses during surveillance of patients with previous history of abdominal surgery of any kind.

Kinetic patterns of benign and malignant breast lesions on contrast enhanced digital mammogram.

Purpose: To evaluate the kinetic patterns of benign and malignant breast lesions using contrast-enhanced digital mammogram (CEDM).

Methods: Women with suspicious breast lesions on mammography or ultrasound were enrolled. Single-view mediolateral oblique (MLO) CEDM of an affected breast was acquired at 2, 3, 4, 7, and 10 min after injection of contrast agent.

Hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy vs transcatheter arterial embolization for patients with huge unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.

For the treatment of huge unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) or transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) generally had poor effects and high complication rates. Our previous study found that Hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) is a safe procedure and provides better survival than symptomatic treatment for the patients with huge unresectable HCC. The aim of the study is to compare the effect of HAIC vs TAE in patients with huge unresectable HCC.

Hepatic Arterial Infusion Chemotherapy Is a Feasible Treatment Option for Breast Cancer with Liver-predominant Metastatic Disease.

Background: Patients with liver metastasis from breast cancer (LMBC) are usually offered systemic therapy. However, for those with progressive liver disease and limited extra-hepatic conditions, local liver management becomes an option. Herein we present our experience with hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC).

Adjuvant hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy is beneficial for selective patients with Hepatocellular carcinoma undergoing surgical treatment.

Background: Recurrence rate after curative surgical resection of Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains high. Postoperative hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) has been suggested to improve survival. This study is to investigate the efficacy of HAIC in the patients with poor tumor factors such as vascular invasion or multiplicity.

The Complication of Hepatic Artery Injuries of 1,304 Percutaneous Transhepatic Biliary Drainage in a Single Institute.

Purpose: To determine frequency of and assess risk factors for hepatic artery (HA) injury during percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD) and to discuss the technique and report the clinical outcome of embolization for HA injury.

Materials And Methods: Over a 14-year period (2002-2016), 1,304 PTBD procedures in 920 patients were recorded. The incidence of HA injury was determined, and possible associated risk factors were analyzed.

The use of a Colapinto TIPS Needle under cone-beam computed tomography guidance for true lumen re-entry in subintimal recanalization of chronic iliac artery occlusion.

Background: To report the technique and clinical outcome of subintimal re-entry in chronic iliac artery occlusion by using a Colapinto transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) needle under rotational angiography (cone-beam computed tomography; CT) imaging guidance.

Methods: Patients with chronic iliac artery occlusion with earlier failed attempts at conventional percutaneous recanalization during the past 5 years were enrolled in our study. In these patients, an ipsilateral femoral access route was routinely utilized in a retrograde fashion.

Easily recognizable sonographic patterns of ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast.

Background: Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is a malignant proliferation of ductal epithelium confined by the basement membrane of the involved breast ducts. The aim of this study was to categorize positive findings of DCIS of the breast on sonography.

Methods: From 2007 to 2011, 100 pathologically proven DCIS lesions were evaluated.

Clinical evaluation of contrast-enhanced digital mammography and contrast enhanced tomosynthesis--Comparison to contrast-enhanced breast MRI.

Purpose: To compare the diagnostic accuracy of contrast-enhanced digital mammography (CEDM) and contrast-enhanced tomosynthesis (CET) to dynamic contrast enhanced breast MRI (DCE-MRI) using a multireader-multicase study.

Methods: Institutional review board approval and informed consents were obtained. Total 185 patients (mean age 51.

The outcome of a quality-controlled mammography screening program: experience from a population-based study in Taiwan.

Background: A greater policy of emphasis on the early detection and treatment of breast cancer is prevalent among developed countries. To raise the screening performance with a potentially decreased mortality rate, it is crucial to evaluate and analyze the screening outcome after implementation. We report the clinical outcome of an 8-year nationwide mammography screening in Taiwan to help share our statistical information on breast screening worldwide, especially in Asia.

Pharmaco-induced vasospasm therapy for acute lower gastrointestinal bleeding: a preliminary report.

Purpose: To report a novel technique and preliminary clinical outcomes in managing lower gastrointestinal bleeding (LGIB).

Materials And Methods: Eighteen LGIB patients (11 men and 7 women, mean age: 66.2 years) were treated with artificially induced vasospasm therapy by semi-selective catheterization technique.

An evaluation approach for livable urban environments.

This study proposes a method for evaluating livable urban environments using the analytic hierarchy process, a survey of public opinions (n=1,075), and gray relational analysis with a pollutant standards index to estimate the weights of weather, air pollution, and environment aspects and each respective factor. This study investigates the positive or negative correlation of these factors and their effects on livable environment. A value of 100 was designated as the perfect living condition.

Can missed breast cancer be recognized by regular peer auditing on screening mammography?

Background: This study was conducted to investigate whether detectable missed breast cancers could be distinguished from truly false negative images in a mammographic screening by a regular peer auditing.

Methods: Between 2004 and 2007, a total of 311,193 free nationwide biennial mammographic screenings were performed for 50- to 69-year-old women in Taiwan. Retrospectively comparing the records in Taiwan's Cancer registry, 1283 cancers were detected (4.

Aberrant femoral torsion presenting with frog-leg squatting mimicking gluteal muscle contracture.

Background: Patients with frog-leg squatting have restricted internal rotation and adduction of the affected hips during sitting or squatting. In the surgical literature, the cause generally has been presumed to arise from and be pathognomonic for gluteal muscle contracture. However, we have encountered patients with frog-leg squatting but without gluteal muscle contracture.