Transarterial radioembolization vs transarterial chemoembolization with drug-eluting beads for treating hepatocellular carcinoma: a cost-effectiveness analysis in Japanese healthcare system.

Purpose: Transarterial radioembolization (TARE) is effective for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma; however, it awaits approval in Japan. This study aimed to simulate the cost-effectiveness of TARE over chemoembolization when TARE is approved in Japan and identify the requirements for cost-effectiveness.

Materials And Methods: A Markov model was constructed to analyze the costs and effectiveness associated with TARE and transarterial chemoembolization with drug-eluting beads (DEB-TACE) for 2-month cycles over 5 years.

Ophthalmic artery originating from contralateral internal carotid artery associated with ipsilateral agenesis of internal carotid artery.

Congenital absence of the internal carotid artery is a rare anatomical variant. The primarily reported origins of the ophthalmic artery associated with this variant are the posterior communicating, middle cerebral, and external carotid arteries. We report the case of a patient without an internal carotid artery whose ophthalmic artery originated from the contralateral internal carotid artery.

Anatomical Variations of the Left Adrenal Vein Encountered During Venous Sampling.

Purpose: To identify anatomical variations in the left adrenal vein (LAV) and to evaluate the role of preprocedural contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) planning.

Methods: The length of the left adrenal central vein (LACV), the vessel that receives blood from all tributaries of the left adrenal gland, was measured using venograms of patients who had undergone adrenal venous sampling (AVS) for the diagnosis of primary aldosteronism between October 2017 and December 2019. The anatomical variants of the LAV were described and classified.

Pitfalls in chest CT findings of COVID-19 patients infected during hospitalisation.

Objective: This study evaluated the differences in the appearance of COVID-19 pneumonia on chest computed tomography (CT) images of outpatient and cases that developed during hospitalisation.

Method: Chest CT images of 66 patients (median age, 76 years; range, 29-94 years) who underwent the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test were included in this retrospective study. The chest CT appearance was categorised as "typical," "indeterminate," "atypical," or "negative" in accordance with the recommendations of the Radiological Society of North America for COVID-19 pneumonia and compared among the following four subgroups: PCR-positive outpatient (n = 14); PCR-positive hospitalised (n = 7); PCR-negative outpatient (n = 9); and PCR-negative hospitalised (n = 36).

Retention Mechanism of Proteins in Hydroxyapatite Chromatography - Multimodal Interaction Based Protein Separations: A Model Study.

Background: Retention mechanism of proteins in hydroxyapatite chromatography (HAC) was investigated by linear gradient elution experiments (LGE).

Materials And Methods: Several mobile phase (buffer) solution strategies and solutes were evaluated in order to probe the relative contributions of two adsorption sites of hydroxyapatite (HA) particles, C-site due to Ca (metal affinity) and P-site due to PO4 (cation-exchange). When P-site was blocked, two basic proteins, lysozyme (Lys) and ribonuclease A(RNase), were not retained whereas cytochrome C(Cyt C) and lactoferrin (LF) were retained and also retention of acidic proteins became stronger as the repulsion due to P-site was eliminated.

Salt tolerant chromatography provides salt tolerance and a better selectivity for protein monomer separations.

Salt tolerant chromatography (STC) is an attractive method as buffer exchange during protein purification processes can be skipped; however, the retention and separation mechanism of such STC are still not fully understood. We carried out linear gradient elution (LGE) experiments of bovine serum albumin (BSA) including its dimer form by using poly-amine ligand STC. The peak salt concentration IR was measured as a function of normalized gradient slope GH, and the number of binding sites B was determined.

Microdevice for on-site fish freshness checking based on K-value measurement.

An electrochemical microfluidic device with two sensing sites in the upper and lower streams of a flow channel was fabricated to measure the K-value as a means of evaluating the freshness of fish. In this device, plugs of solutions were processed using mechanisms to place a plug at the sensing site and to merge and mix two plugs in a single flow channel. The sums of ATP-related compound concentrations used for the calculation of the K-value were measured at the first and second sensing sites.

PEG chain length impacts yield of solid-phase protein PEGylation and efficiency of PEGylated protein separation by ion-exchange chromatography: insights of mechanistic models.

The mechanisms behind protein PEGylation are complex and dictated by the structure of the protein reactant. Hence, it is difficult to design a reaction process which can produce the desired PEGylated form at high yield. Likewise, efficient purification processes following protein PEGylation must be constructed on an ad hoc basis for each product.

Integration of corticospinal tractography reduces motor complications after radiosurgery.

Purpose: To evaluate whether the use of diffusion-tensor tractography (DTT) of the corticospinal tract could reduce motor complications after stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS).

Methods And Materials: Patients with arteriovenous malformation (AVM) in the deep frontal lobe, deep parietal lobe, basal ganglia, and thalamus who had undergone radiosurgery since 2000 and were followed up for more than 3 years were studied. DTT of the corticospinal tract had been integrated into treatment planning of SRS since 2004, and the maximum dose received by the corticospinal tract was attempted to be less than 20 Gy.

Outcomes of diffusion tensor tractography-integrated stereotactic radiosurgery.

Purpose: To analyze the effect of use of tractography of the critical brain white matter fibers created from diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging on reduction of morbidity associated with radiosurgery.

Methods And Materials: Tractography of the pyramidal tract has been integrated since February 2004 if lesions are adjacent to it, the optic radiation since May 2006, and the arcuate fasciculus since October 2007. By visually confirming the precise location of these fibers, the dose to these fiber tracts was optimized.

Region-specific gene expression in early postnatal mouse thalamus.

Previous studies in the developing mouse thalamus have demonstrated that regional identity is established during early stages of development (Suzuki-Hirano et al. J. Comp.

Dynamic spatiotemporal gene expression in embryonic mouse thalamus.

The anatomy of the mammalian thalamus is characterized by nuclei, which can be readily identified in postnatal animals. However, the molecular mechanisms that guide specification and differentiation of neurons in specific thalamic nuclei are still largely unknown, and few molecular markers are available for most of these thalamic subregions at early stages of development. We therefore searched for patterned gene expression restricted to specific mouse thalamic regions by in situ hybridization during the onset of thalamic neurogenesis (embryonic [E] days E10.

High signal intensity in the dural sinuses on 3D-TOF MR angiography at 3.0 T.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to examine the frequency of high signal intensity in the dural sinuses of normal subjects upon magnetic resonance (MR) angiography using 3.0-T scanners.

Methods: A total of 748 consecutive healthy subjects underwent three-dimensional time-of-flight MR angiography at 3.

Contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance characteristics of arteriovenous malformations after γ knife radiosurgery: predictors of post-angiographic obliteration hemorrhage.

Background: The reported cumulative risk of post-angiographic obliteration (post-AO) hemorrhage from arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) following gamma knife radiosurgery (GKRS) over 10 years is 2.2%.

Objective: To identify the warning signs of post-AO hemorrhage by analyzing the characteristics of enhancement on contrast-enhanced MRI magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of AVMs with post-AO hemorrhage.

Assessment of arteriovenous malformations with 3-Tesla time-resolved, contrast-enhanced, three-dimensional magnetic resonance angiography.

Object: Although conventional catheter angiography is commonly used in the evaluation of intracranial arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), less invasive tools are more suitable for screening or follow-up. Older MR angiography techniques cannot provide high enough temporal and spatial resolution for assessing AVMs. Threetesla time-resolved imaging of contrast kinetics (TRICKS)-a time-resolved, contrast-enhanced 3D MR angiography technique-achieves subsecond time resolution without sacrificing spatial resolution.

Arcuate fasciculus tractography integrated into Gamma Knife surgery.

Object: To prevent speech disturbances after Gamma Knife surgery (GKS), the authors integrated arcuate fasciculus (AF) tractography based on diffusion tensor (DT) MR imaging into treatment planning for GKS.

Methods: Arcuate fasciculus tractography was retrospectively integrated into planning that had been previously performed by neurosurgeons and radiation oncologists. This technique was retrospectively applied to 12 patients with arteriovenous malformations adjacent to the AF.

Utilization of diffusion tensor tractography in combination with spatial normalization to assess involvement of the corticospinal tract in capsular/pericapsular stroke: Feasibility and clinical implications.

Purpose: To investigate the feasibility of using spatial normalization in combination with diffusion tensor (DT) corticospinal tractography to assess corticospinal tract (CST) involvement in capsular or pericapsular stroke.

Materials And Methods: Corticospinal tractograms were created and segmented out using DT imaging (DTI) data from 10 normal volunteers. After spatial normalization was achieved with statistical parametric mapping (SPM), the whole ensemble of tractograms was used as a map of the CST.

Optic radiation tractography integrated into simulated treatment planning for Gamma Knife surgery.

Object: No definitive method of preventing visual field deficits after stereotactic radiosurgery for lesions near the optic radiation (OR) has been available so far. The authors report the results of integrating OR tractography based on diffusion tensor (DT) magnetic resonance imaging into simulated treatment planning for Gamma Knife surgery (GKS).

Methods: Data from imaging studies performed in 10 patients who underwent GKS for treatment of arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) located adjacent to the OR were used for the simulated treatment planning.

Tolerance of pyramidal tract to gamma knife radiosurgery based on diffusion-tensor tractography.

Purpose: To minimize the morbidity of radiosurgery for critically located lesions, we integrated diffusion-tensor tractography into treatment planning for gamma-knife radiosurgery. We calculated the refined tolerance of the pyramidal tract (PT) after prospective application of the technique to additional patients.

Methods And Materials: The relationship between the dosimetry during treatment planning and the development of subsequent motor complications was investigated in 24 patients, 9 studied retrospectively and 15 studied prospectively.

Evaluation of left ventricular function with cardiac magnetic resonance imaging using Fourier fitting.

The aims of this study were to investigate the applicability of Fourier fitting in the magnetic resonance (MR) evaluation of left ventricular (LV) function and to determine the optimal number of harmonics for fitting. Cine cardiac MR imaging was performed in 10 subjects, and an LV time-volume curve was generated. Fourier fitting was applied to the original curve using 1-10 harmonics, and the qualities of the time-volume curve and first-derivative curve were evaluated.

Corticospinal tracts by diffusion tensor tractography in patients with arteriovenous malformations.

Objective: To visualize the corticospinal tract (CST) in patients with arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) by using diffusion tensor tractography (DTT) and to confirm the clinical reliability of DTT in patients with AVMs.

Methods: We performed DTT in 24 patients who had their AVMs near the CST. Tracts and AVMs were shown simultaneously, providing information on their spatial relationships.

Integration of three-dimensional corticospinal tractography into treatment planning for gamma knife surgery.

Object: In the radiosurgical treatment of critically located lesions, the effort to minimize the risk of complication is essential. In this study the integration of diffusion-tensor (DT) imaging-based tractography was clinically applied to treatment planning for gamma knife surgery (GKS).

Methods: Seven patients with cerebral arteriovenous malformations located adjacent to the corticospinal tract (CST) underwent this technique.

Radiation-induced temporary hair loss as a radiation damage only occurring in patients who had the combination of MDCT and DSA.

As imaging technologies become increasingly advanced, it is possible to obtain detailed morphological information as well as functional imaging data. In some imaging technologies, the radiation dose increases with the ability to obtain better images or more detailed information. We encountered three cases of temporary bandage-shaped hair loss, which was caused by perfusion studies of the head by multi-detector row computed tomography (MDCT) for evaluation of cerebral blood flow in patients with vascular disorders.