The BUILT study: a single-center 5-year experience of Lung Cancer screening in Taiwan.

There are no uniform guidelines on low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) follow-up in lung cancer screening. Few studies have analyzed the incidental abnormalities and role of tumor markers in lung cancer screening. The purpose of this study was to investigate the diagnostic performance of LDCT, optimal follow-up duration, incidental findings, and role of tumor markers in diagnosing lung cancer.

Surgical Treatment of an Invasive Thymoma with Intracaval and Intracardiac Extension.

A 53-year-old male with an invasive thymoma extending to the superior vena and right atrium, presenting as superior vena cava syndrome is herein reported. However invasive thymoma with this growth pattern is extremely rare. In this case, the tumor was successfully resected via median sternotomy with cardiopulmonary bypass.

Serial Neuroimaging of a Patient with Minor Stroke due to Isolated Cortical Vein Thrombosis and Convexal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage.

Purpose: Convexal subarachnoid hemorrhage (cSAH) comprises less than 5% of cases of nontraumatic SAH and frequently presents as a focal and transient neurological deficits that mimics transient ischemic attack (TIA). Isolated cortical vein thrombosis (ICVT) is rare and accounts for only 6.3% of cerebral venous thrombosis.

Internal Carotid Artery Hypoplasia: Role of Color-Coded Carotid Duplex Sonography.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the role of color-coded carotid duplex sonography for diagnosis of internal carotid artery hypoplasia.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 25,000 color-coded carotid duplex sonograms in our neurosonographic database to establish more diagnostic criteria for internal carotid artery hypoplasia.

Results: A definitive diagnosis of internal carotid artery hypoplasia was made in 9 patients.

Surgical Treatment of Castleman Disease Using Cardiopulmonary Bypass.

Unlabelled: Castleman disease is a rare benign lymphoproliferative disorder of unknown etiology. A 29-year-old woman presented with intermittent chest pain for 2 years. Upon examination, computed tomography showed an intensely enhanced solid mass that encased her right pulmonary artery.

Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging analysis with seed definition constrained by regional homogeneity.

Researchers have recently focused their attention on the intrinsic functional connectivity (FC) in the brain using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Seed-based correlation analysis (SCAC), which correlates a predefined seed region with other voxels in the brain, is a common index for FC. However, definition of seed sizes and locations was ambiguous in previous studies and this may lead to spurious results for people with a unique functional anatomy.

Breathhold-regulated blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) MRI of human brain at 3 tesla.

Purpose: To investigate the cerebrovascular response to repeated breathhold challenges using blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) MRI at 3T and compare the results with previous data at 1.5T.

Materials And Methods: Six normal volunteers and six patients with brain tumors were recruited for this 3T study.

Vessel size imaging using dual contrast agent injections.

Purpose: To investigate the feasibility of a vessel size imaging (VSI) technique with separate contrast agent injections for evaluation of the vessel caliber in normal tissues and in brain tumors.

Materials And Methods: Computer simulation was first performed to assess the potential errors in the estimation of vessel caliber that could result from time shifts between the dual contrast agent injections. Eight patients (four female, four male, 37-77 years old) with brain tumors (three high-grade gliomas, two low-grade gliomas, and three meningiomas) were recruited for clinical study.

Management of ongoing arterial haemorrhage after damage control laparotomy: optimal timing and efficacy of transarterial embolisation.

Introduction: Patients undergoing damage control laparotomy need intensive and aggressive resuscitation, and may also require adjunctive transarterial embolisation (TAE) for ongoing arterial haemorrhage. We evaluated the effectiveness and timing of TAE in these patients as well as their final outcome.

Materials And Methods: From January 1998 to December 2006, the case records of 16 patients with ongoing arterial haemorrhages (hepatic haemorrhage=7, extra-hepatic haemorrhage=9) who underwent TAE after damage control laparotomy were reviewed.

Expertise modulates the perception of pain in others.

Perceiving the pain of others activates a large part of the pain matrix in the observer [1]. Because this shared neural representation can lead to empathy or personal distress [2, 3], regulatory mechanisms must operate in people who inflict painful procedures in their practice with patient populations in order to prevent their distress from impairing their ability to be of assistance. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging MRI study, physicians who practice acupuncture were compared to naive participants while observing animated visual stimuli depicting needles being inserted into different body parts, including the mouth region, hands, and feet.

A retrospective study of CT findings in cases undergoing appendectomy at a single hospital.

The purpose of this study was to determine which clinical information or computed tomography (CT) features can distinguish perforated from nonperforated appendicitis. We collected data from 102 patients (62 men, 40 women; mean age, 49.6 years; age range, 16-85 years) who presented to the emergency department with acute abdominal pain or suspicion of acute appendicitis and underwent appendectomy.

Gas exchange detection of right-to-left shunt in dyspneic patients: report of three cases.

We evaluated three patients with undiagnosed complaints of progressive dyspnea. Based on gas-exchange findings as the initial diagnostic tool, the high ventilatory equivalents for CO2, low sustained end-tidal PCO2, hypoxemia, and central cardiovascular dysfunction during cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) suggested that each had significant pulmonary vasculopathy with right-to-left shunting. The diagnoses of Osler-Rendu-Weber syndrome, ventricular septal defect with Eisenmenger's complex, and hepatopulmonary syndrome were later confirmed by pulmonary angiography, cardiac catheterization, and contrast enhanced echocardiography respectively.

Surgical consideration to optic nerve protrusion according to sinus computed tomography.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of optic nerve protrusion (ONP) and its clinical indicators by using sinus computed tomography (CT) scan.

Study Design: Sinus CT scans of 260 consecutive patients with chronic inflammatory sinus disease were reviewed.

Results: The prevalence of ONP in our study population was 28%.

Use of a B-type natriuretic peptide in evaluating the treatment response of a relapsed lymphoma with cardiac involvement.

A 50-year-old woman received a diagnosis of diffuse large B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2000 and achieved complete remission. In April 2004, echocardiography and computed tomography examinations identified a tumor attached to the tricuspid valve and protruding within the right atrium. Bone marrow and lymph node biopsies showed a relapse of large cell lymphoma.

Diagnosis of malpositioned chest tubes after emergency tube thoracostomy: is computed tomography more accurate than chest radiograph?

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the accuracy between computed tomography (CT) and frontal chest radiography in the diagnosis of malpositioned chest tubes (MCT).

Materials And Methods: CT scans positive for MCT between March 2000 and March 2004 were reviewed. Two radiologists assessed for intra- and extrathoracic locations of MCT in CT studies.

Right ventricular dysfunction secondary to acute massive pulmonary embolism detected by helical computed tomography pulmonary angiography.

Objective: Acute massive pulmonary embolism causes abrupt pulmonary arterial hypertension and right ventricular dysfunction (RVD). Patients with RVD have a worse prognosis than those with normal right ventricular function. Consequently, recognizing the RVD at the time of pulmonary embolism is useful for risk stratification and enables more aggressive therapy.

Unusual cardiac papillary fibroelastoma in the right ventricular outflow tract.

Cardiac papillary fibroelastoma (CPF) is the second most common benign neoplasm of the heart. This study describes the case of an 81-year-old man who was admitted to the hospital for severe vertigo and in whom a tumor at the right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) was identified incidentally during echocardiography. The CPF was excised smoothly following the confirmation of its position by computed tomography.

Inadvertent embolization of a persistent sciatic artery in pelvis trauma.

We describe a case of unilateral persistent sciatic artery (PSA), a rare vascular anomaly, in a 43-year-old woman with severe multiple trauma. A small amount of diluted embolization particles went into this vessel during emergent endovascular therapy under fluoroscopic monitoring. The procedure was immediately stopped when the true nature of the anatomic variant was recognized.

Acute myocardial infarction in a young man complicated with left ventricular thrombi.

Premature coronary artery disease is very rare and complication with thrombus formation in the left ventricle is rarer still. A 23-year-old man was admitted to hospital for recent acute myocardial infarction after being struck by a basketball eight days previously. Echocardiography identified two peduncle thrombi at the apex of the left ventricle, which were confirmed with computed tomography.

Deep venous thrombosis: comparison of indirect multidetector CT venography and sonography of lower extremities in 26 patients.

Objective: To compare the accuracy of indirect mutidetector row computed tomographic (MDCT) venography with lower extremity venous sonography for the diagnosis of femoropopliteal deep venous thrombosis (DVT), and to determine the frequency and location of DVT at MDCT venography.

Materials And Methods: Twenty-six consecutive patients suspected of having pulmonary embolism (PE) underwent both combined MDCT venography and MDCT pulmonary angiography and lower extremity venous sonography. Indirect MDCT venography was acquired from the upper calves to the mid-abdomen following MDCT pulmonary angiography.