Quantitative assessment of background parenchymal enhancement in breast MRI predicts response to risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy: preliminary evaluation in a cohort of BRCA1/2 mutation carriers.

Introduction: We present a fully automated method for deriving quantitative measures of background parenchymal enhancement (BPE) from breast dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) and perform a preliminary evaluation of these measures to assess the effect of risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy (RRSO) in a cohort of breast cancer susceptibility gene 1/2 (BRCA1/2) mutation carriers.

Methods: Breast DCE-MRI data from 50 BRCA1/2 carriers were retrospectively analyzed in compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and with institutional review board approval. Both the absolute (| |) and relative (%) measures of BPE and fibroglandular tissue (FGT) were computed from the MRI scans acquired before and after RRSO.

Breast MRI fibroglandular volume and parenchymal enhancement in BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers before and immediately after risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy.

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this article is to assess the difference in fibroglandular volume and background parenchymal enhancement in BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers on contrast-enhanced breast MRI (CE-MRI) performed before and immediately after risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy (RRSO). MATERIALS AND METHODS.

Semi-jailing technique for coil embolization of complex, wide-necked intracranial aneurysms.

Objective: Stent-assisted coiling of intracranial aneurysms is performed by placing a microcatheter through a stent's interstices or jailing the microcatheter between the stent and the artery. Both approaches impede manipulation of the microcatheter during coiling. We describe a modified jailing technique that improves catheter maneuverability and report the safety and efficacy of the method for the treatment of complex, wide-necked aneurysms.

Carotid artery brain aneurysm model: in vivo molecular enzyme-specific MR imaging of active inflammation in a pilot study.

Purpose: To demonstrate the feasibility of using a myeloperoxidase (MPO)-specific paramagnetic magnetic resonance (MR) contrast agent to identify active inflammation in an animal model of common carotid artery (CCA) aneurysm.

Materials And Methods: All animal experiments were approved by the institutional animal care and use committee. Elastase-induced saccular aneurysms were created at the root of the right CCA in 16 New Zealand white rabbits.

Advances in interventional neuroradiology.

In 2008 we witnessed a rapid advancement in stent technology, which is reflected in the high number of case reports, publications of case series, and randomized trials. Stents not only served for a combined intrasaccular and extrasaccular treatment of challenging aneurysms but also assisted the revascularization in acute and chronic ischemic conditions of the neurovascular system. Although a self-expanding nitinol semiopen cell stent is currently used for intracranial occlusive disease, a new retrievable closed-cell designed stent is widely used for aneurysms because of its easy delivery through a microcatheter in frequently tortuous head and neck as well as cerebrovascular circulation (Figure 1).

The epithelial-mesenchymal transition of colon carcinoma involves expression of IL-8 and CXCR-1-mediated chemotaxis.

The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is an essential component of embryonic development, tissue remodeling, and wound repair. In addition, many epithelial tumors, including colorectal carcinomas, appear to undergo this transition that may facilitate their invasion. Using a novel model of EMT in colon carcinoma in which the inflammatory cytokine TNF-alpha accelerates this TGF-beta directed process, we report that TNF-alpha stimulation upregulates expression of the chemokine IL-8, and that this upregulation is dependent on the transcription factor NF-kappaB.