Diagnostic Accuracy of Preoperative Gadoxetic Acid-enhanced 3-T MR Imaging for Malignant Liver Lesions by Using Ex Vivo MR Imaging-matched Pathologic Findings as the Reference Standard.

Purpose: To determine per-lesion sensitivity and positive predictive value (PPV) of gadoxetic acid-enhanced 3-T magnetic resonance (MR) imaging for the diagnosis of malignant lesions by using matched (spatially correlated) hepatectomy pathologic findings as the reference standard. Materials and

Methods: In this prospective, institutional review board-approved, HIPAA-compliant study, 20 patients (nine men, 11 women; mean age, 59 years) with malignant liver lesions who gave written informed consent underwent preoperative gadoxetic acid-enhanced 3-T MR imaging for surgical planning. Two image sets were independently analyzed by three readers to detect liver lesions (set 1 without and set 2 with hepatobiliary phase [HBP] images).

Risk of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis is low in patients with chronic liver disease exposed to gadolinium-based contrast agents.

Purpose: To determine the risk of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) in a cohort of patients with chronic liver disease.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective, Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-compliant study was performed at a single tertiary liver center. The study cohort comprised 1167 patients with chronic liver disease followed in a liver clinic and exposed to gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) between February 2004 and October 2007.

Differences in coagulation among Asians and Caucasians and the implication for reconstructive microsurgery.

Microvascular reconstructive surgery has seen a revival with the introduction of muscle-sparing perforator flaps. Recognition of potential ethnic differences in coagulation profiles would be important to a microvascular surgeon. Based on clinical observations, we hypothesize that Asian patients have a less thrombogenic coagulation profile than Caucasians.