Optimized treatment strategy of radiotherapy for early glottic squamous cell carcinomas: An initial analysis.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical outcomes of radiotherapy for patients with T1/T2 glottic carcinoma. Patients with T1/T2 glottic carcinoma histopathologically diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma and treated at our hospital between 2007 and 2015 were analyzed retrospectively. Our strategy for T1/T2 glottic carcinoma was as follows: radiotherapy alone with 2.

Significance of Endolymphatic Hydrops in Ears With Unilateral Sensorineural Hearing Loss.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the existence of endolymphatic hydrops (EH) in affected and unaffected ears in patients with unilateral sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) using contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and to evaluate the significance of EH in various otological diseases.

Study Design: Retrospective study.

Setting: University hospital.

FDG PET/CT Overcomes Discordance Between Clinical and Pathologic TNM Classification of Small-size Primary Lung Cancer: Influence on Postoperative Prognosis.

Introduction: We aimed to determine the concordance between the clinical stage (c-stage) and pathologic stage (p-stage) for patients with small-size lung cancer. Additionally we searched for prognostic factors other than the TNM stage.

Patients And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the preoperative multidetector computed tomography (CT) and positron emission tomography/CT reports, surgical records, and pathologic reports of patients with primary lung cancer ≤ 3 cm.

Postoperative chemoradiation therapy using high dose cisplatin and fluorouracil for high- and intermediate-risk uterine cervical cancer.

The purpose of this retrospective study was to analyze data in patients with stage IB-IIB uterine cervical cancer who were treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) with high dose cisplatin and fluorouracil as postoperative adjuvant therapy. Between February 2003 and November 2011, 76 patients with FIGO stage IB-IIB cervical cancer were analyzed. Seventy patients were treated with postoperative CCRT and 6 patients were treated with radiation therapy alone.

Development of the breast immobilization system in prone setup: The effect of bra in prone position to improve the breast setup error.

Purpose/objective(s): Accurate and reproducible positioning of the breast is difficult due to its deformability and softness; thus, targeting a breast tumor or tumor bed with fractionated radiotherapy using external beam radiation is difficult. The aim of this study was to develop a novel bra to aid in breast immobilization in the prone position.

Materials & Methods: To assess the accuracy of prone position fixation of breast tumors, 33 breast cancer patients with 34 lesions were recruited.

Relationship between Contrast Enhancement of the Perivascular Space in the Basal Ganglia and Endolymphatic Volume Ratio.

Purpose: We routinely obtain the endolymphatic hydrops (EH) image using heavily T-weighted three dimensional-fluid attenuated inversion recovery (hTw-3D-FLAIR) imaging at 4 hours after intravenous administration of a single-dose of gadolinium-based contrast media (IV-SD-GBCM). While repeating the examination, we speculated that the contrast enhancement of the perivascular space (PVS) in the basal ganglia might be related to the degree of EH. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the endolymphatic volume ratio (%EL) and the signal intensity of the PVS (SI-PVS).

Improved HYDROPS: Imaging of Endolymphatic Hydrops after Intravenous Administration of Gadolinium.

To improve the imaging protocol for the evaluation of endolymphatic hydrops after intravenous administration of a gadolinium-based contrast agent, we modified our previously reported hybrid of reversed image of positive endolymph signal and native image of positive perilymph signal (HYDROPS) method. Although the scan time of the new protocol was half that of the previous one, there were no significant differences between two protocols in the mean contrast noise ratio between the endolymph and perilymph and the area ratio of the endolymph size values in nine patients.

Structural MRI correlates of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis progression.

Purpose: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) presents with varying degrees of brain degeneration that can extend beyond the corticospinal tract (CST). Furthermore, the clinical course and progression of ALS varies widely. Brain degeneration detected using structural MRI could reflect disease progression.

FDG-PET/CT predicts survival and lung metastasis of hypopharyngeal cancer in a multi-institutional retrospective study.

Objectives: We investigated a possible correlation between the maximum standardized uptake value (SUV), which is assessed by pretreatment F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography with computed tomography, and the overall survival (OS) in patients with hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma from two institutions on long-term follow-up, and examined whether SUV is correlated with several survival outcomes, including lung metastasis-free survival.

Methods: A total of 81 patients were enrolled. The survival rate was calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method.

Clinical outcome of definitive radiation therapy for superficial esophageal cancer.

Objective: To analyze the clinical outcome of concurrent chemoradiotherapy in superficial esophageal cancer patients.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data for 123 patients with superficial esophageal cancer who received external beam radiotherapy without intracavitary brachytherapy plus systemic chemotherapy during 1998-2015. Elective nodal irradiation was not performed.

Imaging of the endolymphatic space in patients with Ménière's disease.

Objective: To examine endolymphatic hydrops (EH) using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with definite Ménière's disease (MD) and those with nonotological diseases.

Methods: We studied 32 patients with unilateral MD, 10 patients with bilateral MD and 21 patients with control ears who had other benign diseases not associated with hearing or vestibular dysfunction. The mean age of the subjects was 54.

Evaluation of glymphatic system activity with the diffusion MR technique: diffusion tensor image analysis along the perivascular space (DTI-ALPS) in Alzheimer's disease cases.

Purpose: The activity of the glymphatic system is impaired in animal models of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We evaluated the activity of the human glymphatic system in cases of AD with a diffusion-based technique called diffusion tensor image analysis along the perivascular space (DTI-ALPS).

Materials And Methods: Diffusion tensor images were acquired to calculate diffusivities in the x, y, and z axes of the plane of the lateral ventricle body in 31 patients.

Thoracic Temporal Subtraction Three Dimensional Computed Tomography (3D-CT): Screening for Vertebral Metastases of Primary Lung Cancers.

Purpose: We developed an original, computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) software that subtracts the initial thoracic vertebral three-dimensional computed tomography (3D-CT) image from the follow-up 3D-CT image. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of this CAD software during screening for vertebral metastases on follow-up CT images of primary lung cancer patients.

Materials And Methods: The interpretation experiment included 30 sets of follow-up CT scans in primary lung cancer patients and was performed by two readers (readers A and B), who each had 2.

Structure of the Medullary Veins of the Cerebral Hemisphere and Related Disorders.

Deep medullary veins drain into subependymal veins with four convergence zones and show parallel distribution patterns adjacent to the body or inferior horn and a radial pattern in the frontal horn or trigon of the lateral ventricle. As white matter imaging develops such as diffusion tensor imaging or susceptibility-weighted imaging, requirements for understanding of white matter structures are increasing, not only for understanding of neuronal tracts but also for that of other structures including the fine anatomy of white matter vessels. Some disorders are related to deep medullary veins and show characteristic distributions of the lesions indicating the relationship to the medullary veins.

Active brain changes after initiating fingolimod therapy in multiple sclerosis patients using individual voxel-based analyses for diffusion tensor imaging.

Voxel-based analysis (VBA) of diffusion tensor images (DTI) and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) can sensitively detect occult tissue damage that underlies pathological changes in the brain. In the present study, both at the start of fingolimod and post-four months clinical remission, we assessed four patients with MS who were evaluated with VBA of DTI, VBM, and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR). DTI images for all four patients showed widespread areas of increased mean diffusivity (MD) and decreased fractional anisotropy (FA) that were beyond the high-intensity signal areas across images.

Magnetic resonance imaging of cardiac sarcoidosis: an evaluation of the cardiac segments and layers that exhibit late gadolinium enhancement.

Cardiac sarcoidosis (CS) can cause sudden death, which is the leading cause of mortality in patients with sarcoidosis in Japan. However, it is difficult to diagnose CS because of the lack of a sensitive diagnostic method for the condition. Late gadolinium-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance (MR) imaging demonstrates improved sensitivity for diagnosing CS.

A multicenter survey of stage T1 glottic cancer treated with radiotherapy delivered in 2.25-Gy fractions in clinical practice: An initial 5-year analysis.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the acute and late toxicity as well as local control (LC) in T1 glottic cancer (GC) patients treated with hypofractionated radiotherapy (RT) in clinical practice. The Tokai Study Group for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology started RT treatment with a dose of 2.25 Gy for T1 GC in 2011.

Penetration and distribution of gadolinium-based contrast agents into the cerebrospinal fluid in healthy rats: a potential pathway of entry into the brain tissue.

Objective: Signal hyperintensity on unenhanced MRI in certain brain regions has been reported after multiple administrations of some, but not all, gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs). One potential initial pathway of GBCA entry into the brain, infiltration from blood into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), was systematically evaluated in this preclinical study.

Methods: GBCA infiltration and distribution in the CSF were investigated in healthy rats using repeated fluid-attenuated MRI up to 4 h after high-dose (1.

Involvement of the caudate nucleus head and its networks in sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-frontotemporal dementia continuum.

We investigated common structural and network changes across the sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)-frontotemporal dementia (FTD) continuum. Based on cluster analysis using the frontotemporal assessment battery, 51 patients with sporadic ALS were subdivided into three groups: 25 patients with ALS with cognitive deficiency (ALS-CD); seven patients who satisfied FTD criteria (ALS-FTD), and 19 patients with ALS with normal cognitive function (ALS-NC). Compared with the controls, gray matter images from patients with ALS-FTD showed atrophic changes in the following order of severity: caudate head, medial frontal gyrus, thalamus, amygdala, putamen, and cingulate gyrus (peak level, uncorrected p < 0.

Magnetic resonance imaging evaluation of endolymphatic hydrops andpost-operative findings in cases with otosclerosis.

Conclusions: The presence of endolymphatic hydrops (EH) in the vestibule on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) might be a high-risk factor for complications in cases that are candidates for stapes surgery.

Objective: Pre-operative detection of EH could be valuable in cases that are candidates for stapes surgery to prevent unpredictable complications following surgery. Pre-operative MRI findings and post-operative findings following stapes surgery were compared to evaluate the efficacy of such MRI evaluation for the management of cases with otosclerosis.

Endolymphatic hydrops in patients with unilateral and bilateral Meniere's disease.

Conclusion: All definite Meniere's disease (MD) had endolymphatic hydrops (EH) at least in the cochlea or the vestibule. Symptoms of MD may appear after formation of EH. It is assumed that the probability of immediate progression to bilateral MD from unilateral MD is very low in patients without EH on the non-affected side.