Usefulness of the application of the BLADE technique to reduce motion artifacts on navigation-triggered prospective acquisition correction (PACE) T2-weighted MRI (T2WI) of the liver.

Purpose: To evaluate the effects of the application of the BLADE (Siemens, Siemens Medical Systems, Erlangen, Germany) technique, a technique to reduce motion artifacts, on navigator-triggered prospective acquisition correction (PACE) T2-weighted MRI (T2WI) of the liver.

Materials And Methods: Twenty-three consecutive patients with a total of 57 localized hepatic diseases (39 malignant, 18 benign) and 57 patients without hepatic lesion underwent MR study during eupnea. The images were assessed quantitatively by calculating the liver-lesion contrast.

Urinary bladder cancer: diffusion-weighted MR imaging--accuracy for diagnosing T stage and estimating histologic grade.

Purpose: To prospectively evaluate the ability of diffusion-weighted (DW) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging to be used to determine the T stage of bladder cancer and to measure the correlation between the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and histologic grade.

Materials And Methods: This study was approved by the local institutional review board. All patients gave written informed consent.

Pleural bronchogenic cysts: imaging findings.

Bronchogenic cysts occur most frequently in the middle mediastinum; almost all the remainder is present in the lungs. In this report, we describe 2 cases of bronchogenic cysts, which arose from the parietal and visceral pleura. Pathologically, each cyst showed an attachment with a small stalk to the parietal or visceral pleura.

Is targeted reconstruction necessary for evaluating contrast-enhanced chest computed tomography using a liquid crystal display monitor?

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine whether 20-cm field-of-view (FOV) targeted reconstruction (TR) on contrast-enhanced (CE) chest computed tomography (CT) might improve the diagnostic value compared with simple zooming (SZ) from whole-thorax FOV images using a 2 million (2M)-pixel liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor.

Materials And Methods: We prospectively evaluated 44 patients. SZ images were magnified from a FOV of 26-34 cm (mean 29.

Comparison of 16-multidetector-row computed tomography and angiocardiography for evaluating the central pulmonary artery diameter and pulmonary artery index in children with congenital heart disease.

Purpose: The pulmonary artery (PA) is involved in most congenital heart diseases; and in these patients it is necessary to evaluate precisely the PA configuration and development. The accuracy of 16 multidetector row computed tomography (16-MDCT) in evaluating the central PA was evaluated.

Materials And Methods: 16-MDCT and angiocardiography (ACG) were performed in 26 patients with various congenital heart diseases aged 7 days to 9 years (median 1.

Radiological findings of tailgut cyst in a fetus.

Tailgut cyst, or retrorectal cystic hamartoma, is a rare congenital lesion found in the presacral space. The lesion has not been adequately reported in the literature. In this article, we describe a case of tailgut cyst that was demonstrated as a large cystic lesion within a fetal pelvis using ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging.

Comparison of 2 contrast materials with different iodine concentrations in 3-dimensional computed tomography angiography of the hepatic artery at multi-detector-row computed tomography: a randomized study.

Objective: To investigate differences in visual evaluation of the hepatic arteries and contrast enhancement of the vessels and liver at 3-dimensional (3D) computed tomography (CT) angiography by 2 different concentrations of contrast materials.

Methods: Eighty patients were randomly assigned into groups A and B receiving contrast materials with iodine concentrations of 300 and 370 mg/mL, respectively. The total iodine load (600 mg/kg), iodine injection time (25 seconds), and saline flush time (10 seconds) were identical.

Evaluation of CH3-DTPA-Gd (NMS60) as a new MR contrast agent: early phase II study in brain tumors and dual dynamic contrast-enhanced imaging.

Purpose: A newly developed contrast material, CH3-DTPA-Gd (NMS60), a trimer containing 3 Gd(3+) atoms per molecule, has been shown to offer greater enhancement and longer vascular retention than gadopentetate dimeglumine (Gd-DTPA) in animals. We report on our early phase II study on NMS60 in brain tumor patients together with supplementary investigations.

Methods And Materials: The longitudinal relaxation rate (R(1)=1/T(1)) and the transverse relaxation rate (R(2)*=1/T(2)*) of NMS60 and Gd-DTPA were determined at 20 degrees C in water at 1.

[The frontiers of diagnostic radiology--PET/CT, 3DCT--].

Recently, positron-emission tomography (PET) systems have been introduced in many institutions around Japan and their clinical importance should increase in the management of many malignant diseases particularly systems using 2-[fluorine-18] fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG). Since March 2004, we have been using the first PET/computed tomography (CT) scanner in Japan with 4-slice multidetector CT (MDCT) and now have introduced a second PET/CT scanner with 8-slice MDCT because of its excellent diagnostic capability and higher throughput capacity than that of the ordinal PET scanner. MDCT was a landmark in the history of CT in 1998.

F-18 FDG uptake in a malignant localized fibrous tumor of the pleura.

In the case presented here, FDG-PET was performed to evaluate the possibility of malignancy. High FDG accumulation, with a standardized uptake ratio (SUR) of 3.0, was noted in an upper nodular compartment of the mass that exhibited malignant features histopathologically.

Comparison of two contrast materials with different iodine concentrations in enhancing the density of the the aorta, portal vein and liver at multi-detector row CT: a randomized study.

This work investigates differences in contrast enhancement of the aorta, portal vein and liver by two different concentrations of contrast materials using an automatic bolus tracking technique. Seventy patients were assigned randomly into one of two groups. Contrast materials with iodine concentrations of 300 and 370 mg/ml were administered to patients in groups A and B, respectively.

Cardiac hemangioma of the left atrial appendage: CT and MR findings.

Cardiac hemangiomas are rare, benign primary cardiac neoplasms. We describe the CT and MR imaging findings of a cardiac hemangioma arising from the myocardium of the left atrial appendage and protruding into the pericardial cavity. The tumor displayed homogenous density on CT, heterogeneous signal intensity on MR, and inhomogeneous enhancement after intravenous contrast administration.