Dose-volume response in acute dysphagia toxicity: Validating QUANTEC recommendations into clinical practice for head and neck radiotherapy.

Purpose: To determine the validity of QUANTEC recommendations in predicting acute dysphagia using intensity-modulated head and neck radiotherapy.

Material And Methods: Seventy-six consecutive patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the head and neck +/- systemic therapy were analyzed. Multiple dose parameters for the larynx (V50Gy, Dmean and Dmax) were recorded.

Changes in aldehyde dehydrogenase-1 expression during neoadjuvant chemotherapy predict outcome in locally advanced breast cancer.

Introduction: Although neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) for locally advanced breast cancer can improve operability and local disease control, there is a lack of reliable biomarkers that predict response to chemotherapy or long-term survival. Since expression of aldehyde dehydrogenase-1 (ALDH1) is associated with the stem-like properties of self-renewal and innate chemoresistance in breast cancer, we asked whether expression in serial tumor samples treated with NAC could identify women more likely to benefit from this therapy.

Methods: Women with locally advanced breast cancer were randomly assigned to receive four cycles of anthracycline-based chemotherapy, followed by four cycles of taxane therapy (Arm A), or the same regimen in reverse order (Arm B).

Routine sonographic measurement of the near-field lateral ventricle during second-trimester morphologic scans.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine whether measurement of the near-field lateral ventricular diameter can be reliably obtained within a practical time frame during second-trimester obstetric scans by angling the fetal head approximately 30° away from the horizontal image axis such that the posterior aspect of the fetal head lies closer to the transducer.

Methods: Fifty consecutive singleton pregnancies presenting for a routine-second trimester scan were recruited for this study. The far-field lateral ventricular diameter was measured, followed by the near-field lateral ventricular diameter using the proposed technique.

The prognostic significance of aldehyde dehydrogenase 1A1 (ALDH1A1) and CD133 expression in early stage non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: Expression of aldehyde dehydrogenase 1A1 (ALDH1A1) and CD133 has been functionally associated with a stem cell phenotype in normal and malignant cells. The prevalence of such cells in solid tumours should therefore correlate with recurrence and/or metastasis following definitive surgical resection. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic significance of ALDH1A1 and CD133 in surgically resected, early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Quantitative guidelines for the prediction of ultrasound contrast agent destruction during injection.

Experiments and theory were undertaken on the destruction of ultrasound contrast agent microbubbles on needle injection, with the aim of predicting agent loss during in vivo studies. Agents were expelled through a variety of syringe and needle combinations, subjecting the microbubbles to a range of pressure drops. Imaging of the bubbles identified cases where bubbles were destroyed and the extent of destruction.

Effectiveness of mastoid process percussion for identification of the vertebral artery ostium on Doppler studies.

Objectives: The pretransverse or first segment of the vertebral artery may be confused with adjacent branches of the proximal subclavian artery during Doppler assessment. This study investigated the effectiveness of mastoid process percussion, the "mastoid tap" maneuver, for identification of the vertebral artery ostium.

Methods: Fifty patients presenting consecutively for carotid sonography were recruited.

Validation of a 4D-PET maximum intensity projection for delineation of an internal target volume.

Purpose: The delineation of internal target volumes (ITVs) in radiation therapy of lung tumors is currently performed by use of either free-breathing (FB) (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography-computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) or 4-dimensional (4D)-CT maximum intensity projection (MIP). In this report we validate the use of 4D-PET-MIP for the delineation of target volumes in both a phantom and in patients.

Methods And Materials: A phantom with 3 hollow spheres was prepared surrounded by air then water.

White matter fiber tractography: why we need to move beyond DTI.

Object: Diffusion-based MRI tractography is an imaging tool increasingly used in neurosurgical procedures to generate 3D maps of white matter pathways as an aid to identifying safe margins of resection. The majority of white matter fiber tractography software packages currently available to clinicians rely on a fundamentally flawed framework to generate fiber orientations from diffusion-weighted data, namely diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). This work provides the first extensive and systematic exploration of the practical limitations of DTI-based tractography and investigates whether the higher-order tractography model constrained spherical deconvolution provides a reasonable solution to these problems within a clinically feasible timeframe.

The impact of time between staging PET/CT and definitive chemo-radiation on target volumes and survival in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Background And Purpose: To investigate the impact of treatment delays on radiation therapy (RT) target volumes and overall survival (OS) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who underwent two baseline FDG PET/CT scans.

Material And Methods: Patients underwent a staging (PET1) and RT planning (PET2) FDG PET/CT scan. At PET1 all patients were eligible for radical chemo-RT.

Ultrasound study of liver disease caused by Schistosoma mansoni in rural Zambian schoolchildren.

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of Schistosoma mansoni-related liver disease in school-age children who live beside the Zambezi River in the Chitokoloki district, North Western Province, Zambia.

Methods: Liver ultrasounds of school students from the Chitokoloki day school, grades 1-12, were performed. Liver patterns, periportal branch wall thickening and portal hypertension were assessed to evaluate the presence of liver fibrosis due to S.

Increased cardiovascular and renal risk is associated with low nephron endowment in aged females: an ovine model of fetal unilateral nephrectomy.

Previously we have shown that ovariectomised (OVX) female sheep have reduced renal function and elevated blood pressure from 6 months of age following fetal uninephrectomy (uni-x) at 100 days of gestation (term = 150 days). In the current study we examined if in intact female sheep the onset of decline in renal function and elevation in blood pressure was prevented. Studies were performed at 1 year, 2 and 5 years of age.

Hippocampal calcification prevalence at CT: a retrospective review.

Purpose: To determine the prevalence of intrahippocampal calcification at brain computed tomography (CT), evaluate any association with calcification involving the intracranial arteries or lentiform nuclei, and assess the clinical importance of intrahippocampal calcification.

Materials And Methods: Study approval was obtained by the Southern Health Human Research Ethics Committee, which waived the requirement for informed consent because of the retrospective nature of the study. The presence of intrahippocampal calcification was assessed by four readers through retrospective review of 300 randomly selected nonenhanced brain CT scans.

Intrauterine growth restriction coupled with hyperglycemia: effects on cardiac structure in adult rats.

Background: Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) has been linked to heart disease in adulthood. Hence the IUGR heart is likely to be vulnerable to diabetic heart disease. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of induction of type 1 diabetes on myocardial collagen deposition and cardiac function in adult rats with a history of IUGR, after controlling blood glucose levels.

The clinical significance and management of lesion motion due to respiration during PET/CT scanning.

Lesion movement during positron emission tomography (PET) scan acquisition due to normal respiration is a common source of artefact. A PET scan is acquired in multiple couch positions of between 2 and 5 min duration with the patient breathing freely. A PET-avid lesion will become blurred if affected by respiratory motion, an effect similar to that created when a person moves in a photograph.

Normal perfusion of the left ventricular myocardium using 320 MDCT.

Background: CT myocardial perfusion imaging is an emerging CT application using density measurements of contrast-enhanced left ventricular (LV) myocardium.

Objective: Using a 320-MDCT we have consistently observed lower Hounsfield unit (HU) values in the lateral LV myocardium, potentially mimicking perfusion defects. This study aimed to evaluate contrast-enhancement patterns of the LV myocardium in normal studies.

Occlusion and stenosis of the posterior circumflex humeral artery: detection with ultrasound in a normal population.

Introduction: The posterior circumflex humeral artery (PCHA) travels together with the axillary nerve through the quadrilateral space of the shoulder. Angiographic occlusion of this artery upon abduction and external rotation (ABER) of the arm has been accepted as evidence of mechanical compression of the axillary nerve and thus considered pathognomonic of quadrilateral space syndrome (QSS). The specificity of this sign for QSS has however been called into question as there are, to date, limited data on the incidence of axillary neurovascular compression during ABER in a normal population.

Effect of ultrasound transmission gel on ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration cytological specimens of thyroid.

Objective: To investigate prospectively the diagnostic impact of ultrasound coupling gel on thyroid specimens obtained under ultrasound guidance.

Methods: Patients presenting for ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (USG-FNA) of the thyroid were invited to participate in the study. Four specimens per nodule were collected: two using chlorhexdine wash and two using sterile, colourless ultrasound gel as couplant according to routine protocol.

Coronary image quality of 320-MDCT in patients with heart rates above 65 beats per minute: preliminary experience.

Objective: High heart rate may negatively influence the image quality of cardiac CT. The technical advances of 320-MDCT may overcome issues with poor image quality associated with high heart rate. This study aimed to evaluate the coronary image quality of 320-MDCT in patients with heart rates above 65 beats/min.

Induction of hyperglycemia in adult intrauterine growth-restricted rats: effects on renal function.

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) leads to a reduction in nephron endowment at birth and is linked to renal dysfunction in adulthood. The aim of the present study was to determine whether kidneys of IUGR rat offspring are more vulnerable to a secondary insult of hyperglycemia. IUGR was induced in Wistar-Kyoto rats by maternal protein restriction.

Voice recognition versus transcriptionist: error rates and productivity in MRI reporting.

Purpose: Despite the frequent introduction of voice recognition (VR) into radiology departments, little evidence still exists about its impact on workflow, error rates and costs. We designed a study to compare typographical errors, turnaround times (TAT) from reported to verified and productivity for VR-generated reports versus transcriptionist-generated reports in MRI.

Methods: Fifty MRI reports generated by VR and 50 finalized MRI reports generated by the transcriptionist, of two radiologists, were sampled retrospectively.

High rates of tumor growth and disease progression detected on serial pretreatment fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography scans in radical radiotherapy candidates with nonsmall cell lung cancer.

Background: The authors studied growth and progression of untreated nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) by comparing diagnostic and radiotherapy (RT) planning fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) scans before proposed radical chemo-RT.

Methods: Patients enrolled on a prospective clinical trial were eligible for this analysis if they underwent 2 pretreatment whole body FDG-PET/CT scans, >7 days apart. Scan 1 was performed for diagnosis/disease staging and scan 2 for RT planning.

Ultrasound of the posterior circumflex humeral artery.

Quadrilateral space syndrome (QSS) is described as compression neuropathy of the axillary neurovascular bundle in the quadrilateral space of the shoulder. This neurovascular bundle includes the posterior circumflex humeral artery (PCHA). Historically, angiography and more recently magnetic resonance angiography have been used to assess occlusion and stenosis of the PCHA in cases of suspected QSS.

The role of chemotherapeutic drugs in the evaluation of breast tumour response to chemotherapy using serial FDG-PET.

Introduction: The aims of this study were to investigate whether drug sequence (docetaxel followed by anthracyclines or the drugs in reverse order) affects changes in the maximal standard uptake volume (SUVmax) on [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) during neoadjuvant chemotherapy in women with locally advanced breast cancer.

Methods: Women were randomly assigned to receive either drug sequence, and FDG-PET scans were taken at baseline, after four cycles and after eight cycles of chemotherapy. Tumour response to chemotherapy was evaluated based on histology from a surgical specimen collected upon completion of chemotherapy.

Learning style preferences of Australian health science students.

Objectives: It has been identified that health science student groups may have distinctive learning needs. By university educators' and professional fieldwork supervisors' being aware of the unique learning style preferences of health science students, they have the capacity to adjust their teaching approaches to best fit with their students' learning preferences. The purpose of this study was to investigate the learning style preferences of a group of Australian health science students enrolled in 10 different disciplines.