Time-synchronized 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose PET/MRI with MR-active trigger and Bayesian penalized likelihood reconstruction: Diagnostic utility for locoregional extension of endometrial cancer.

Purpose: Minimal misregistration of fused PET and MRI images can be achieved with simultaneous positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance imaging (PET/MRI). However, the acquisition of multiple MRI sequences during a single PET emission scan may impair fusion precision of each sequence. This study evaluated the diagnostic utility of time-synchronized PET/MRI using an MR active trigger and a Bayesian penalized likelihood reconstruction algorithm (BPL) to assess the locoregional extension of endometrial cancer.

Uterine diverticulum mimicking endometriotic cyst of the ovary.

Uterine diverticulum is a rare congenital malformation caused by abnormal fusion of the Müllerian ducts. The diagnosis of uterine diverticulum is difficult, and it is often misdiagnosed as a Müllerian duct anomaly, degenerated uterine fibroid, or ovarian cyst. We herein report a case of uterine diverticulum mimicking an ovarian endometriotic cyst.

Magnetic resonance elastography in the assessment of hepatic fibrosis: a study comparing transient elastography and histological data in the same patients.

Purpose: To evaluate the quantitative measurement of liver stiffness (LS), compare the diagnostic performance of magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) and ultrasound-based transient elastography (TE), and evaluate two different MRE-based LS measurement methods.

Methods: Between October 2013 and January 2015, 116 consecutive patients with chronic liver disease underwent MRE to measure LS (kilopascals; kPa). Of the 116 patients, 51 patients underwent both TE and liver biopsy, and the interval between the liver biopsy and both the MRE and TE was less than 90 days.

Imaging of metastases from breast cancer to uncommon sites: a pictorial review.

There are three types of breast cancer recurrence which can occur after initial treatment: local, regional, and distant. Distant metastases are more frequent than local and regional recurrences. It usually occurs several years after the primary breast cancer, although it is sometimes diagnosed at the same time as the primary breast cancer.

Contrast enhancement of intracranial lesions at 1.5 T: comparison among 2D spin echo, black-blood (BB) Cube, and BB Cube-FLAIR sequences.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the usefulness of T1W black-blood Cube (BB Cube) and T1W BB Cube fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (BB Cube-FLAIR) sequences for contrast-enhanced brain imaging, by evaluating flow-related artefacts, detectability, and contrast ratio (CR) of intracranial lesions among these sequences and T1W-SE.

Methods: Phantom studies were performed to determine the optimal parameters of BB Cube and BB Cube-FLAIR. A clinical study in 23 patients with intracranial lesions was performed to evaluate the usefulness of these two sequences for the diagnosis of intracranial lesions compared with the conventional 2D T1W-SE sequence.

Endometrial cancer: preoperative staging using three-dimensional T2-weighted turbo spin-echo and diffusion-weighted MR imaging at 3.0 T: a prospective comparative study.

Objectives: To prospectively assess the efficacy of 3-T magnetic resonance (MR) imaging using the three-dimensional turbo spin-echo T2-weighted and diffusion-weighted technique (3D-TSE/DW) compared with that of conventional imaging using the two-dimensional turbo spin-echo T2-weighted and dynamic contrast-enhanced technique (2D-TSE/DCE) for the preoperative staging of endometrial cancer, with pathological analysis as the reference standard.

Methods: Seventy-one women with endometrial cancer underwent MR imaging using 3D-TSE/DW (b = 1,000 s/mm(2)) and 2D-TSE/DCE. Two radiologists independently assessed the two imaging sets.

T2* relaxometry mapping of the uterine zones.

Background: Previous literature demonstrated that the T2* value of the uterine junctional zone was lower than that of peripheral myometrium by using BOLD MR imaging. We expect T2* mapping image may add more information to T2-weighted images of the uterine myometrium.

Purpose: To evaluate whether T2* mapping software would reproduce the result of previous report, and to apply the software to benign uterine diseases.

Primary adenomyoma of the fallopian tube mimicking tubal malignant tumor.

We report a rare case of adenomyoma localized only in the left fallopian tube mimicking tubal malignant tumor. A 45-year-old woman presented with mild pelvic pain, dysmenorrhea and left adnexal mass. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a solid tumor, suspected primary cancer of the fallopian tube, and serum carbohydrate antigen 125 was elevated to 72 U/mL (normal; 0-35).

Optimal dose of contrast medium for depiction of hypervascular HCC on dynamic MDCT.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to prospectively investigate the optimal dose of contrast medium for the depiction of hypervascular hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) during the hepatic arterial phase (HAP), portal venous phase (PVP) and delayed phase (DP) of dynamic MDCT.

Materials And Methods: The study included 128 patients, out of these patients, 36 patients were found to have 56 hypervascular HCCs. Sixty-three patients were assigned to receive a dose of 525 mgI/kg with protocol A, and 62 received a dose of 630 mgI/kg with protocol B.

T-staging of gastric cancer of air-filling multidetector-row CT: comparison with hydro-multidetector-row CT.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of T-staging of gastric cancer by air-filling multidetector-row CT (air-MDCT) compared with water-filling MDCT (hydro-MDCT).

Materials And Methods: One hundred fifteen patients with histologically diagnosed gastric cancer were included in this study. Fifty-eight patients underwent air-MDCT, and the remaining 57 had hydro-MDCT using a 64-channel scanner.

Carcinomatous meningitis during systematic chemotherapy in a patient with advanced small-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the uterine cervix.

Carcinoma meningitis with uterine cervical cancer is an extremely rare event. We present the clinicopathologic characteristics and diagnostic imaging findings of a patient with advanced small-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the cervix who had developed carcinoma meningitis during systematic chemotherapy.

Estimation of liver function using T2* mapping on gadolinium ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid enhanced magnetic resonance imaging.

Purpose: To investigate the usefulness of T2* mapping of liver on gadolinium ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA)-enhanced MRI for estimating liver function.

Materials And Methods: 33 patients were classified into 3 groups as follows: normal liver function (NLF) (n = 7); mild liver damage (MLD) (n = 16) with Child-Pugh A; severe liver damage (SLD) (n = 10) with Child-Pugh B. T2*-weighted gradient-echo (T2*W-GRE) and T1-weighted gradient-echo (T1W-GRE) images were obtained before and after Gd-EOB-DTPA administration (3, 8, 13, and 18 min; 5, 10,15, and 20min; respectively).

Unenhanced fat fraction ratios obtained by MR and enhanced T2* values with liver-specific MR contrast agents for diagnosis of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis in rats.

Background: Non-invasive MR imaging is expected to be used for accurate diagnosis and quantification of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), because NASH is a progressive fatty liver disease. New MR techniques, such as fat fraction ratio (FFR) and T2* value measurement, have attracted an increasing attention, because those techniques can measure quantitative parameters of fibrosis, fat and iron deposition in the liver.

Purpose: To investigate the potential of FFR and T2* value in NASH with pre-enhancement, gadolinium-ethoxybenzyl-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA) or super-paramagnetic iron oxide (SPIO)-enhanced MRI.

Optimal scanning protocol of arterial dominant phase for hypervascular hepatocellular carcinoma with gadolinium-ethoxybenzyl-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid-enhanced MR.

Purpose: To investigate optimal delay time of hepatic arterial phase in Gadoxetate-enhanced MR for detecting hypervascular hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Materials And Methods: Forty-five patients with 85 hypervascular HCCs and 9 patients with 16 hypervascular HCCs underwent Gadoxetate- and Gd-DTPA-enhanced MR at 1.5 Tesla (T) system, respectively.

Estimation of liver function using T1 mapping on Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging.

Objectives: To investigate the ability of T1 mapping of liver on gadolinium ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA)-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging for the estimation of liver function.

Materials And Methods: Local institutional review board approved this study. Ninety-one patients (64 men, 27 women; mean age, 67.

MR imaging of endometrial carcinoma for preoperative staging at 3.0 T: comparison with imaging at 1.5 T.

Purpose: To prospectively compare magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 3.0 T and 1.5 T in the same patients for preoperative evaluation of endometrial carcinoma.

Adrenal masses: the value of additional fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) in differentiating between benign and malignant lesions.

Objective: To investigate whether integrated fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) can differentiate benign from adrenal malignant lesions on the basis of maximum standardized uptake value (SUV(max)), tumor/liver (T/L) SUV(max) ratio, and CT attenuation value (Hounsfield Units; HU) of unenhanced CT obtained from FDG-PET/CT data.

Methods: We studied 30 patients with 35 adrenal lesions (16 adrenal benign lesions, size 16 +/- 5 mm, in 15 patients; and 19 adrenal malignant lesions, 24 +/- 12 mm, in 15 patients) who had confirmed primary malignancies (lung cancer in 23 patients, lymphoma in 2, esophageal cancer in 2, hypopharyngeal cancer in 1, prostate cancer in 1, and 1 patient in whom lesions were detected at cancer screening). All patients underwent PET/CT at 1 h post FDG injection.

Uterine cervical carcinoma: preoperative staging with 3.0-T MR imaging--comparison with 1.5-T MR imaging.

Purpose: To prospectively evaluate the efficacy of 3.0-T magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in the preoperative staging of cervical carcinoma compared with that at 1.5-T imaging, with surgery and pathologic analysis as the reference standards.

Ring-shaped lateral ventricular nodules: an incidental finding on brain magnetic resonance imaging.

Introduction: We have occasionally seen ring-shaped lateral ventricular nodules <1 cm in diameter during routine brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We investigated retrospectively clinical and MRI findings of the nodules.

Materials And Methods: Review of radiological records was performed for 39,607 patients who underwent brain MRI between January 2001 and April 2008.

Discordance of motion artifacts on magnetic resonance imaging in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease: comparison of diffusion-weighted and conventional imaging sequences.

Purpose: Motion artifact is problematic in the diagnosis of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) because of dementia. The purpose was to compare the occurrence of this artifact between a diffusion-weighted (DW) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging sequence and conventional sequences.

Materials And Methods: Ten MR examinations comprising T2-weighted, T1-weighted, DW, and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery imaging in seven CJD patients were retrospectively evaluated.

T2*-sensitized high-resolution magnetic resonance venography using 3D-PRESTO technique.

Purpose: We evaluated the ability of the PRESTO (principles of echo shifting with a train of observations) technique to reveal small veins and microbleeds in the human brain.

Materials And Methods: In an experimental study, we calculated contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) between a cerebral parenchymal phantom and human venous blood using 3 sequences of 3-dimensional (3D)-PRESTO, 3D-gradient recalled echo (GRE), and 3D-GRE echo-planar imaging (EPI). Then, we examined 7 healthy volunteers and 5 patients with venous angiomas or traumatic brain injuries using the 3D-PRESTO technique.

Comparison between one-route and two-route injection for liver and aortic enhancement using MDCT.

Objective: The purpose of our study was to evaluate whether simultaneous injection into cubital veins bilaterally at one half of the standard injection rate achieves similar hepatic and aortic enhancement on MDCT as the conventional injection rate into a single cubital vein.

Materials And Methods: Thirty-two patients underwent multiphase MDCT because they were suspected of having a hepatic tumor. Patients were assigned to one of the following two groups: group A, 100 mL of 370 mg I/mL of contrast medium injected into a unilateral cubital vein (one-route) via a 20-gauge cannula at a rate of 4 mL/s; or group B, 50 mL of contrast medium injected into the cubital veins bilaterally (two-route) via 24-gauge cannulas at 2 mL/s.

[Advancement of the imaging for hepatic malignancies].

The development of CT and MR imaging technology represents a significant advancement. On CT imaging,the advent of multi-detector row CT (MDCT) scanners enables an increase in both scanning speed and spatial resolution. Multiphasic dynamic study is useful for the detection of hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) which are demonstrated as hyperattenuated lesions during the hepatic arterial phase.

Developing an MR imaging strategy for diagnosis of ovarian masses.

Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging provides useful information for characterization of various ovarian masses as neoplastic or nonneoplastic and, when neoplastic, on a spectrum from benign to malignant. The use of MR imaging for diagnosis of ovarian masses includes consideration of morphologic characteristics and signal intensity characteristics on T1- and T2-weighted images. The morphologic characteristics of cystic masses, cystic and solid masses, and predominantly solid masses provide important information.

MRI evaluation of the uterine structure after myomectomy.

Myomectomy is a good indication for women with uterine leiomyoma who desire to preserve their child-bearing potential. However, there are still no reports about how long it takes the uterus to reach a stable state after myomectomy. We evaluated the changes in uterine structure during the recovery process after myomectomy by MR images.