High-intensity focused ultrasound ablation assisted using color Doppler imaging for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinomas.

Purpose: We evaluated the usefulness of color Doppler flow imaging to compensate for the inadequate resolution of the ultrasound (US) monitoring during high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Materials And Methods: US-guided HIFU ablation assisted using color Doppler flow imaging was performed in 11 patients with small HCC (<3 lesions, <3 cm in diameter). The HIFU system (Chongqing Haifu Tech) was used under US guidance.

Hyperecho in ultrasound images during high-intensity focused ultrasound ablation for hepatocellular carcinomas.

High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is a noninvasive method that can cause complete coagulation necrosis without requiring the insertion of any instruments. The hyperechoic grayscale change (hyperechoic region) is used as a sign that the treated lesion has been completely coagulated. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the first hyperechoic region during treatment using HIFU ablation according to various conditions, such as the sonication power, the depth of the tumor from the surface of the skin, and the shield rate.

US-CT 3D dual imaging by mutual display of the same sections for depicting minor changes in hepatocellular carcinoma.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of ultrasound-computed tomography (US-CT) 3D dual imaging for the detection of small extranodular growths of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The clinical and pathological profiles of 10 patients with single nodular type HCC with extranodular growth (extranodular growth) who underwent a hepatectomy were evaluated using two-dimensional (2D) ultrasonography (US), three-dimensional (3D) US, 3D computed tomography (CT) and 3D US-CT dual images. Raw 3D data was converted to DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine) data using Echo to CT (Toshiba Medical Systems Corp.

Treatment of small hepatocellular carcinomas with US-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound.

High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is a noninvasive method that can cause complete coagulation necrosis without requiring the insertion of any instruments. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of HIFU treatment for small liver cancers without performing transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) or rib resection. HIFU ablation was performed without rib resection or the aid of TACE or percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI) in 12 patients with hepatocelullar carcinoma.

Findings of multidetector row computed tomography of HCCs treated by HIFU ablation.

Purpose: We evaluated the efficacy of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and a long-term study by follow-up multidetector-row computed tomography (CT) was conducted to evaluate the changes occurring in the treatment area following the HIFU ablation.

Materials And Methods: HIFU ablation was carried out in 14 patients with small HCCs (≤3 lesions, ≤3cm in diameter). The HIFU system (Chongqing Haifu Tech) was used under ultrasound guidance.

Usefulness of US-CT 3D dual imaging for the planning and monitoring of hepatocellular carcinoma treatment using HIFU.

Purpose: We evaluated the safety and usefulness of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) assisted by ultrasound-computed tomography three-dimensional (US-CT 3D) dual imaging for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Materials And Methods: HIFU ablation was performed in 13 patients with small HCC (≤3 lesions, ≤3 cm in diameter). The HIFU system (Chongqing Haifu Tech) was used under ultrasound guidance.

Contrast-enhanced 3D ultrasonography in minute hepatocellular carcinoma.

Purpose: The study aimed to clarify whether contrast-enhanced (CE) three-dimensional (3D) ultrasonography (US) can depict characteristic hyperstain and washout patterns in minute nodules ≤10 mm of hepatocellular carcinoma (minute HCC), and whether it serves as a potent diagnostic modality.

Methods: CE 3D US was carried out to depict hyperstain and washout of a solitary nodule ≤10 mm in patients with liver cirrhosis. When both patterns were depicted with success, CE computed tomography (CT) and CE magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were also carried out as part of a comparative study, and then a histological specimen was obtained by needle biopsy.

Evaluation of the therapeutic efficacy of high-intensity focused ultrasound ablation of hepatocellular carcinoma by three-dimensional sonography with a perflubutane-based contrast agent.

Objective: We performed contrast-enhanced three-dimensional sonography (CE 3D US) with a perflubutane-based contrast agent to immediately evaluate the completeness of ablation of small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) lesions by extracorporeal high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU).

Subjects And Methods: Twenty-one HCC lesions were treated by a single ultrasound-guided HIFU ablation session, and CE 3D US was performed before, immediately after, and 1 week, and 1 month after HIFU, and contrast-enhanced CT (CE CT) or contrast-enhanced MRI (CE MRI) was performed before HIFU, 1 week and 1 month after HIFU, and during the follow-up period.

Results: Immediately and 1 month after HIFU, 17 lesions were evaluated as adequately ablated by CE 3D US, and the other 4 lesions as residual tumors.

[Occurrence and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma].

Tomiura, a rural area of Chiba Prefecture in which community-based HCV screening has been carried out since 1991, is known as a high-incidence area of HCV. This study was conducted to clarify the clinical characteristics of subjects with positive HCV antibody titer found on mass survey, in relation to the development and outcome of hepatocellular carcinoma. We analyzed clinical data of patients with positive HCV antibody test results followed up for 9 to 11 years after the mass survey examinations.

Contrast-enhanced three-dimensional fusion sonography of small liver metastases with pathologic correlation.

Purpose: To demonstrate that liver metastases with a diameter of < or =40 mm show characteristic features on three-dimensional (3D) fusion sonographic images and that these sonographic findings can be correlated with histopathologic features of surgical specimens.

Methods: Liver metastases measuring < or =40 mm were examined via contrast-enhanced 3D fusion sonography. The characteristic sonographic findings of 17 tumor nodules in 11 patients with a histopathologically confirmed diagnosis of liver metastases were investigated, and their correspondence to the pathologic features were examined in 12 resected nodules.

Vascular flow patterns of hepatic tumors in contrast-enhanced 3-dimensional fusion ultrasonography using plane shift and opacity control modes.

Objective: This study was conducted to determine whether contrast-enhanced 3-dimensional (3D) fusion ultrasonography with combined use of the plane shift and opacity control modes can serve as a useful tool for identifying the vascular characteristics of hepatic tumors in 3D perspective.

Methods: Contrast-enhanced 3D fusion ultrasonography was performed in 31 patients with hepatic tumors after the intravenous injection of contrast media. The shapes, courses, and distributions of tumor vessels, displayed in 3D perspective, were examined to identify the characteristic vascular flow patterns of various tumors.

Results of the first prospective study of carbon ion radiotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma with liver cirrhosis.

Purpose: To evaluate the toxicity and antitumor effect of carbon ion radiotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma within a Phase I-II trial.

Methods And Materials: Between June 1995 and February 1997, 24 patients with histopathologically proven hepatocellular carcinoma were treated to 15 fractions within 5 weeks in a step-wise dose-escalation study. The disease stage was Stage II in 10, IIIA in 6, and IVA in 8 patients.