Ultrasound-Guided Percutaneous Biopsy With Needle Track Plugging in Patients With Focal Liver Lesions on an Outpatient Basis: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: The increasing utilization of various molecular tests for diagnosing and selecting treatments for patients with malignancies has led to a rising trend in both the frequency of biopsies and the required tissue volume. We aimed to compare the safety of outpatient ultrasound (US)-guided percutaneous liver biopsy (PLB) between the coaxial method with needle track plugging (NTP) and the conventional method.

Materials And Methods: This single-center, prospective, randomized controlled study was conducted from October 2022 to May 2023.

Chip collection of hepatocellular carcinoma based on O heterogeneity from patient tissue.

Hepatocellular carcinoma frequently recurs after surgery, necessitating personalized clinical approaches based on tumor avatar models. However, location-dependent oxygen concentrations resulting from the dual hepatic vascular supply drive the inherent heterogeneity of the tumor microenvironment, which presents challenges in developing an avatar model. In this study, tissue samples from 12 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma are cultured directly on a chip and separated based on preference of oxygen concentration.

Diagnostic Performance of the 2018 EASL vs. LI-RADS for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Using CT and MRI: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Comparative Studies.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) can be diagnosed without pathologic confirmation in high-risk patients. Therefore, it is necessary to compare current imaging criteria for noninvasive-diagnosis of HCC.

Purpose: To systematically compare performance of 2018 European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) criteria and Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LI-RADS) for noninvasive-diagnosis of HCC.

Intraindividual Comparison of MRIs with Extracellular and Hepatobiliary Contrast Agents for the Noninvasive Diagnosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Using the Korean Liver Cancer Association-National Cancer Center 2022 Criteria.

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the per-lesion sensitivity and specificity of the Korean Liver Cancer Association-National Cancer Center (KLCA-NCC) 2022 criteria for the noninvasive diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), with intraindividual comparison of the diagnostic performance of magnetic resonance imaging with extracellular agents (ECA-MRI) and hepatobiliary agents (HBA-MRI).

Materials And Methods: Patients at high risk for HCC who were referred to a tertiary academic institution for hepatic lesions with size ≥ 10 mm between July 2019 and June 2022 were enrolled. A total of 91 patients (mean age, 58.

Regional lymph node metastasis detected on preoperative CT and/or FDG-PET may predict early recurrence of pancreatic adenocarcinoma after curative resection.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the role of regional lymph node (LN) metastasis detected on preoperative CT and/or F-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) scans in the prediction of early tumor recurrence after curative surgical resection of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). This retrospective study included 137 patients who underwent upfront surgery with R0 resection of PDAC between 2013 and 2016. Regional LN metastasis was identified using two criteria: positive findings for regional LN metastasis on either preoperative CT or FDG-PET scans (LN), or on both preoperative CT and FDG-PET scans (LN).

Sarcopenia increases the risk of major organ or vessel invasion in patients with papillary thyroid cancer.

While sarcopenia is associated with poor overall survival and cancer-specific survival in solid cancer patients, the impact of sarcopenia on clinicopathologic features that can influence conventional papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) prognosis remains unclear. To investigate the impact of sarcopenia on aggressive clinicopathologic features in PTC patients, prospectively collected data on 305 patients who underwent surgery for PTC with preoperative staging ultrasonography and bioelectrical impedance analysis were retrospectively analyzed. Nine sarcopenia patients with preoperative sarcopenia showed more patients aged 55 or older (p = 0.

MRI features of histologic subtypes of hepatocellular carcinoma: correlation with histologic, genetic, and molecular biologic classification.

HCC is a heterogeneous group of tumors in terms of histology, genetic aberration, and protein expression. Advancements in imaging techniques have allowed imaging diagnosis to become a critical part of managing HCC in the clinical setting, even without pathologic diagnosis. With the identification of many HCC subtypes, there is increasing correlative evidence between imaging phenotypes and histologic, molecular, and genetic characteristics of various HCC subtypes.

Incorporation of Ancillary MRI Features Into the LI-RADS Treatment Response Algorithm: Impact on Diagnostic Performance After Locoregional Treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

The LI-RADS treatment response algorithm may lack sufficient sensitivity for viable tumor after locoregional treatment (LRT) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The purpose of our study was to evaluate the impact of incorporation of ancillary MRI features on the diagnostic performance of the LI-RADS treatment response algorithm after LRT for HCC. This retrospective study included 141 patients (114 men, 27 women; median age, 56 years) who underwent gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI after LRT for HCC between October 2005 and January 2020 and subsequent liver surgery.

Reference Values for Skeletal Muscle Mass at the Third Lumbar Vertebral Level Measured by Computed Tomography in a Healthy Korean Population.

Background: Sarcopenia is defined as the loss of skeletal muscle mass and is associated with negative clinical outcomes. This study aimed to establish sex-specific cutoff values for the skeletal muscle area (SMA) and skeletal muscle index (SMI) at the third lumbar vertebral (L3) level using computed tomography (CT) imaging to identify sarcopenia in healthy Korean liver donors.

Methods: This retrospective study included 659 healthy liver donors (408 men and 251 women) aged 20 to 60 years who had undergone abdominal CT examinations between January 2017 and December 2018.

LI-RADS Major Features on MRI for Diagnosing Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: The reported diagnostic performance for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) of each major imaging feature on MRI using standardized definitions of the Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LI-RADS) is variable. It is important to know the actual performance of each LI-RADS major imaging feature for imaging diagnosis of HCC and determine the sources of heterogeneity between the reported results.

Purpose: To systematically determine the performance of each major imaging feature of LI-RADS for diagnosing HCC using either extracellular contrast agent-enhanced MRI (ECA-MRI) or gadoxetate disodium-enhanced MRI (EOB-MRI).

Strap muscle invasion in differentiated thyroid cancer does not impact disease-specific survival: a population-based study.

The American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) 8 TNM staging system of differentiated thyroid cancer defines gross strap muscle invasion as T3b stage. However, the impact of strap muscle invasion on disease-specific survival (DSS) remains controversial. To elucidate the survival impact of strap muscle invasion of any degree in thyroid cancers, the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database (1973-2018) was queried for thyroid cancer only patients on July 2019 (n = 19,914).

Application of Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System version 2018 ancillary features to upgrade from LR-4 to LR-5 on gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI.

Objectives: The current LR-5 criteria of Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LI-RADS) determined by only major features provide high specificity, but unsatisfactorily low sensitivity for the noninvasive diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study aimed to identify significant ancillary features (AFs) in LI-RADS version 2018 and develop the upgraded LR-5 criteria to improve diagnostic performance on gadoxetic acid-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Methods: This retrospective study included 280 patients (366 observations including 281 HCCs) at high-risk for HCC who underwent gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI between 2015 and 2017.

Performance of deep learning-based algorithm for detection of ileocolic intussusception on abdominal radiographs of young children.

The purpose of this study was to develop and test the performance of a deep learning-based algorithm to detect ileocolic intussusception using abdominal radiographs of young children. For the training set, children (≤5 years old) who underwent abdominal radiograph and ultrasonography (US) for suspicion of intussusception from March 2005 to December 2017 were retrospectively included and divided into control and intussusception groups according to the US results. A YOLOv3-based algorithm was developed to recognize the rectangular area of the right abdomen and to diagnose intussusception.

Compressed Sensing and Parallel Imaging for Double Hepatic Arterial Phase Acquisition in Gadoxetate-Enhanced Dynamic Liver Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the utility of a combined compressed sensing and parallel imaging (C-SENSE) technique for single breath-hold, double arterial phase (AP) examinations in gadoxetate-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the liver.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed single breath-hold, double AP images obtained by using a C-SENSE technique for gadoxetate-enhanced dynamic liver MRI in a total of 127 patients (89 men and 38 women; mean age, 62.6 ± 7.

Five-year clinical outcomes of uterine artery embolization for symptomatic leiomyomas: An analysis of risk factors for reintervention.

Objectives: The objective of this study is to investigate the five-year reintervention rate of uterine artery embolization (UAE) for symptomatic leiomyomas and to identify potential predictive factors of reintervention.

Methods: From March 2011 to February 2012, 92 consecutive women (mean age 41.9 years, range 28-55 years) underwent bilateral UAE.

Mesocaval Shunt Creation for Jejunal Variceal Bleeding with Chronic Portal Vein Thrombosis.

The creation of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) is a widely performed technique to relieve portal hypertension, and to manage recurrent variceal bleeding and refractory ascites in patients where medical and/or endoscopic treatments have failed. However, portosystemic shunt creation can be challenging in the presence of chronic portal vein occlusion. In this case report, we describe a minimally invasive endovascular mesocaval shunt creation with transsplenic approach for the management of recurrent variceal bleeding in a portal hypertension patient with intra- and extrahepatic portal vein occlusion.

Implications of differences in expression of sarcosine metabolism-related proteins according to the molecular subtype of breast cancer.

Background: The goal of this study was to investigate the expression of sarcosine metabolism-related proteins, namely glycine N-methyltransferase (GNMT), sarcosine dehydrogenase (SARDH), and l-pipecolic acid oxidase (PIPOX), in the different breast cancer subtypes and to assess the implications of differences in expression pattern according to subtype.

Methods: We analyzed the expression of GNMT, SARDH, and PIPOX in a tissue microarray of 721 breast cancer cases using immunohistochemistry (IHC). We classified breast cancer cases into subtype luminal A, luminal B, HER-2, and triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) according to the status for the estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), HER-2, and Ki-67.

A flucytosine-responsive Mbp1/Swi4-like protein, Mbs1, plays pleiotropic roles in antifungal drug resistance, stress response, and virulence of Cryptococcus neoformans.

Cryptococcosis, caused by the basidiomycetous fungus Cryptococcus neoformans, is responsible for more than 600,000 deaths annually in AIDS patients. Flucytosine is one of the most commonly used antifungal drugs for its treatment, but its resistance and regulatory mechanisms have never been investigated at the genome scale in C. neoformans.

An efficient gene-disruption method in Cryptococcus neoformans by double-joint PCR with NAT-split markers.

Targeted gene disruption via biolistic transformation and homologous recombination is a method widely used to identify and investigate the function of genes in Cryptococcus neoformans that causes fatal fungal meningitis if not timely treated. Currently, most laboratories employ the overlap-PCR method to generate a gene-disruption cassette with dominant selectable markers, such as nourseothricin acetyltransferase (NAT). However, the conventional overlap-PCR method is often found to be inefficient because of the presence of multiple templates and of the long length of the final overlap-PCR products.