Use of (18)F-FDG PET to predict tumor progression and survival in patients with intermediate hepatocellular carcinoma treated by transarterial chemoembolization.

Background/aims: (18)F-Fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography ((18)F-FDG PET) has been used to assess the biological behavior of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In this study, we investigated the usefulness of (18)F-FDG PET for predicting tumor progression and survival in patients with intermediate Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) intermediate-stage HCC treated by transarterial chemoembolization (TACE).

Methods: From February 2006 to March 2013, 210 patients treated with TACE, including 77 patients with BCLC intermediate-stage HCC, underwent examination by (18)F-FDG PET.

Diagnostic value for extrahepatic metastases of hepatocellular carcinoma in positron emission tomography/computed tomography scan.

Aim: To evaluated the value of ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) scan in diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and extrahepatic metastases.

Methods: A total of 138 patients with HCC who had both conventional imaging modalities and ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT scan done between November 2006 and March 2011 were enrolled. Diagnostic value of each imaging modality for detection of extrahepatic metastases was evaluated.

Congenital hypothyroidism: analysis of discordant US and scintigraphic findings.

Purpose: To retrospectively review discordant cases of congenital hypothyroidism according to a comparison of findings of ultrasonography (US) and scintigraphy.

Materials And Methods: Institutional review board approval was obtained for this retrospective study with a waiver of informed consent. Data of 300 pediatric patients (mean age, 4.

Acute diffuse phlegmonous esophagogastritis: a case report.

Acute phlegmonous infection of the gastrointestinal tract is characterized by purulent inflammation of the submucosa and muscular layer with sparing of the mucosa. The authors report a rare case of acute diffuse phlegmonous esophagogastritis, which was well diagnosed based on the typical chest computed tomographic (CT) findings and was successfully treated. A 48-yr-old man presented with left chest pain and dyspnea for three days.

Use of a rosch-uchida needle for recanalization of refractory dialysis-related central vein occlusion.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate our experience with the use of a Rösch-Uchida needle technique to recanalize central vein occlusion that cannot be traversed with a guidewire.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 33 recanalization procedures performed with a Rösch-Uchida needle on 20 men and 13 women with central vein occlusion during the period January 1999-December 2008. The occlusions were in the subclavian vein (n = 29) and the brachiocephalic vein (n = 4).

Bilateral breast enlargement: an unusual presentation of superior vena cava obstruction in a hemodialysis patient with fibrosing mediastinitis.

A 67-year-old woman with end-stage renal disease presented with profound edema of both breasts. The presence of a patent hemodialysis basilic transposition fistula and superior vena cava obstruction (SVC), due to fibrosing mediastinitis, was demonstrated by the use of fistulography. Endovascular treatment with a balloon and stent caused immediate resolution of the breast edema.

Magnetic resonance imaging of breast cancer and correlation with prognostic factors.

Background: Prognostic factors of breast cancer have been used for the prediction of clinical outcome or selection of patients for complementary treatment. Some of the imaging features of breast cancer, e.g.

Tumor detection and serosal invasion of bladder cancer: role of three-dimensional volumetric reconstructed US.

Background: Accurate evaluation of local extent in bladder cancer is important to determine the optimal therapeutic strategy and to predict the outcome of treatment. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the accuracy of 3D volumetric reconstructed US in the assessment of tumor detection and serosal invasion in patients with bladder cancer.

Methods: A total of 14 patients with findings of bladder cancer determined with the use of cystoscopy was examined with the use of bladder two-dimensional (2D) US and subsequent 3D US.

Sonography of the pediatric thyroid: a pictorial essay.

The purpose of this article is to review the various pediatric thyroid diseases using sonographic images. These diseases included congenital hypothyroidism (dysgenesis [aplasia; ectopy; hypoplasia], dyshormonogenesis, transient hypothyroidism), thyroglossal duct cyst, Graves' disease, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, suppurative thyroiditis, nodular hyperplasia (goiter) and thyroid mass. Thyroid sonogram is the primary method used for thyroid disease and can be used for guiding of fine needle aspiration to obtain a more accurate diagnosis for suspected thyroid lesions.

Sonographic differentiation of benign and malignant cystic lesions of the breast.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to subdivide the types of sonographic findings of benign versus malignant cystic masses and to determine appropriate patient care according to the sonographic findings with pathologic correlation.

Methods: The sonographic findings of 175 symptomatic cystic breast lesions were pathologically proven and reviewed retrospectively. Cystic lesions were classified as 6 types: simple cysts (type I), clustered cysts (type II), cysts with thin septa (type III), complicated cysts (type IV), cystic masses with a thick wall/septa or nodules (type V), and complex solid and cystic masses (type VI).

Endovascular management of immediate procedure-related complications of failed hemodialysis access recanalization.

Endovascular procedures are becoming the standard type of care for the management of hemodialysis vascular access dysfunction. As with any type of medical procedure, these techniques can result in procedure-related complications, although the expected number of complications is low. The clinical extent of these complications varies from case to case.

Clinical use of renal perfusion imaging by means of harmonic sonography with a microbubble contrast agent in patients after renal transplantation: preliminary study.

Objective: The purpose of this research was to determine the feasibility of renal perfusion imaging by means of harmonic sonography with a microbubble contrast agent for the evaluation of renal perfusion after renal transplantation compared with technetium Tc 99m diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid ((99m)Tc-DTPA) scans.

Methods: During a 10-month period, 100 patients with renal transplantation that included normal perfusion (n=68) and delayed perfusion including chronic rejection (n=19), acute rejection (n=9), arterial stenosis (n=2), and urinary stricture (n=2) underwent sonographic renal perfusion imaging and (99m)Tc-DTPA scans. Sonographic images were obtained every 3 seconds for a total of 3 minutes after administration of a bolus injection of 4 g of the microbubble contrast agent at a concentration of 300 mg/mL.

Spontaneous intratumoral hemorrhage into hepatocellular carcinoma during transcatheter arterial embolization: a case report.

Spontaneous extrahepatic rupture of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a rare but serious complication that occurs with an incidence of between 5 and 15% of patients with HCC. It is thought to be preceded by rapid expansion due to intratumoral bleeding. Extrahepatic rupture of HCC has been reported as a rare complication of transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE).

Neurenteric cyst in the cerebellopontine angle with xanthogranulomatous changes: serial MR findings with pathologic correlation.

We report serial MR findings in a middle-aged woman with a neurenteric cyst involving the cerebellopontine angle cistern with xanthogranulomatous changes. On the initial gadolinium-enhanced T1-weighted MR images, the solid portion of the lesion had homogeneously strong enhancement. Follow-up MR images obtained 6 months later showed that the mass had increased in size; however, the solid portion decreased in size.

Spontaneous partial regression of cerebral arteriovenous malformation.

Arteriovenous malformation (AVM) of the brain is one of the important pathologic conditions which cause intracerebral or subarachnoid hemorrhage, epilepsy, or chronic cerebral ischemia. The spontaneous regression of cerebral AVM is reported to be very rare and more likely to occur when the AVM is small, is accompanied by hemorrhage, and has fewer arterial feeders. We report a case of right occipital AVM which at follow-up angiography performed four years later showed near-complete spontaneous regression.