Carotid and cerebrovascular disease in symptomatic patients with type 2 diabetes: assessment of prevalence and plaque morphology by dual-source computed tomography angiography.

Background: Plaque morphology directly correlates with risk of embolism and the recently developed dual-source computed tomography angiography (DSCTA) may help to detect plaques more precisely. The aim of our study was to evaluate the prevalence and morphology of carotid and cerebrovascular atherosclerotic plaques in patients with symptomatic type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) by DSCTA.

Methods: From July 2009 to August 2010, DSCTA was prospectively performed in 125 consecutive patients with symptomatic type 2 DM.

Features of cranio-maxillofacial trauma in the massive Sichuan earthquake: analysis of 221 cases with multi-detector row CT.

Objective: In a massive earthquake, cranio-maxillofacial trauma was common. The present study was to determine the features of cranio-maxillofacial trauma sustained in the massive Sichuan earthquake by multi-detector row computed tomography (MDCT).

Methods: The study included 221 consecutive patients (123 males and 98 females; age range, 1-83 years; median age, 35 years) with cranio-maxillofacial trauma in the Sichuan earthquake, who underwent cranio-maxillofacial MDCT scans.

A new method to classify pathologic grades of astrocytomas based on magnetic resonance imaging appearances.

Background: Astrocytoma is the most common neuroepithelial neoplasm, and its grading greatly affects treatment and prognosis.

Objective: According to relevant factors of astrocytoma, this study developed a support vector machine (SVM) model to predict the astrocytoma grades and compared the SVM prediction with the clinician's diagnostic performance.

Patients And Methods: Patients were recruited from a cohort of astrocytoma patients in our hospital between January 2008 and April 2009.

[CT and MRI features of diseases involving masticator spaces].

Objective: This is a study on the CT and MRI features of diseases involving the masticator spaces; the purpose is to improve the diagnostic accuracy.

Methods: Fifty-seven cases involving the masticator spaces were collected, among which, 11 cases were originated from the masticator space, another 46 cases were secondary invasion from the adjacent structures, including 18 cases from the buccal mucosa, 10 from the nasopharynx, 5 from the gingiva, 3 from the parotid gland, 6 from the maxillary sinus, 1 from the intracranial location, 2 from the palate and 1 from the orbit. The CT and MRI features of the masticator space involvement were analysed.