A diffusion-prepared reduced FOV sequence for prostate MRI near metallic implants.

Purpose: To enable diffusion weighted imaging in prostate patients with metallic total hip replacements in clinically feasible scan times for prostate cancer screening, and avoid distortion and dropout artifacts present in the conventionally used Echo Planar Imaging (EPI).

Methods: A reduced field of view (FOV) diffusion-prepared sequence that is robust to the B inhomogeneities produced by total hip replacements was achieved using high radiofrequency (RF) bandwidth pulses and manipulation for stimulated echo pathways. The reduced FOV along the A/P direction was obtained using slice-select gradient reversal, and the prepared magnetization was imaged with a three-dimensional RF-spoiled gradient echo readout.

Ga-RM2 PET-MRI versus MRI alone for evaluation of patients with biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer: a single-centre, single-arm, phase 2/3 imaging trial.

Background: National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines include prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeted PET for detection of biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer. However, targeting a single tumour characteristic might not be sufficient to reflect the full extent of disease. Gastrin releasing peptide receptors (GRPR) have been shown to be overexpressed in prostate cancer.

MRI of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia: Important Pre- and Posttherapeutic Considerations.

New minimally invasive techniques that reduce morbidity while improving lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) due to benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) have become attractive alternatives for patients, in comparison to traditional techniques such as transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) and simple prostatectomy. Pre- and postprocedural MRI is not routinely performed for LUTS due to BPH treatments. However, because of the combination of rapidly evolving treatments available for LUTS due to BPH and increasing demand for prebiopsy prostate MRI for detection of clinically significant prostate cancer (PCa), an understanding of procedural techniques and expected changes are important for accurate interpretation of prostate MRI performed after treatment of BPH.

Correlation of Ga-RM2 PET with Postsurgery Histopathology Findings in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Intermediate- or High-Risk Prostate Cancer.

Ga-RM2 targets gastrin-releasing peptide receptors (GRPRs), which are overexpressed in prostate cancer (PC). Here, we compared preoperative Ga-RM2 PET to postsurgery histopathology in patients with newly diagnosed intermediate- or high-risk PC. Forty-one men, 64.

Ga-PSMA-11 PET/MRI in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Intermediate- or High-Risk Prostate Adenocarcinoma: PET Findings Correlate with Outcomes After Definitive Treatment.

Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) PET offers an accuracy superior to other imaging modalities in initial staging of prostate cancer and is more likely to affect management. We examined the prognostic value of Ga-PSMA-11 uptake in the primary lesion and presence of metastatic disease on PET in newly diagnosed prostate cancer patients before initial therapy. In a prospective study from April 2016 to December 2020, Ga-PSMA-11 PET/MRI was performed in men with a new diagnosis of intermediate- or high-grade prostate cancer who were candidates for prostatectomy.

Lymphatic regeneration after implantation of aligned nanofibrillar collagen scaffolds: Preliminary preclinical and clinical results.

Background: We tested our hypothesis that implantation of aligned nanofibrillar collagen scaffolds (BioBridge™) can both prevent and reduce established lymphedema in the rat lymphedema model. Our authors report clinical cases that demonstrate new lymphatic formation guided by BioBridge™ as seen by near-infrared (NIR) fluoroscopy and magnetic resonance (MR) lymphography.

Methods: A rat lymphedema model was utilized.

Diagnostic Performance of 9 Quantitative Ultrasound Parameters for Detection and Classification of Hepatic Steatosis in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.

Background: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a leading cause of chronic liver disease worldwide. Quantitative ultrasound (QUS) parameters based on radiofrequency raw data show promise in quantifying liver fat.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of 9 QUS parameters compared with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-estimated proton density fat fraction (PDFF) in detecting and staging hepatic steatosis in patients with or suspected of NAFLD.

Structured Reporting of Multiphasic CT for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Effect on Staging and Suitability for Transplant.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether use of a standardized radiology report template would improve the ability of liver transplant surgeons to diagnose stage T2 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and determine patient suitability to undergo orthotopic liver transplant (OLT).

Materials And Methods: In this retrospective study, a standardized template was devised, and its use was mandated for reporting of liver CT findings for patients with cirrhosis and HCC. Two surgeons analyzed 200 reports (100 before and 100 after template implementation) for descriptions of cirrhosis, portal hypertension, lesion enhancement characteristics, tumor thrombus, portal and superior mesenteric vein patency, and Organ Procurement Transplantation Network (OPTN) class.

Reducing child abuse amongst adolescents in low- and middle-income countries: A pre-post trial in South Africa.

Background: No known studies have tested the effectiveness of child abuse prevention programmes for adolescents in low- or middle-income countries. 'Parenting for Lifelong Health' ( http://tiny.cc/whoPLH ) is a collaborative project to develop and rigorously test abuse-prevention parenting programmes for free use in low-resource contexts.

A parenting programme to prevent abuse of adolescents in South Africa: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Background: An estimated one billion children experience child abuse each year, with the highest rates in low- and middle-income countries. The Sinovuyo Teen programme is part of Parenting for Lifelong Health, a WHO/UNICEF initiative to develop and test violence-prevention programmes for implementation in low-resource contexts. The objectives of this parenting support programme are to prevent the abuse of adolescents, improve parenting and reduce adolescent behavioural problems.

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound and real-time elastography for the diagnosis of benign Leydig cell tumors of the testis - a single center report on 13 cases.

Purpose: To describe sonomorphological features in testicular Leydig cell tumors (LCTs) with a special focus on contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) and real-time elastography (RTE).

Patients And Methods: In a series of 186 patients with testicular surgery for neoplastic disease, 13 benign LCTs (in 12 patients) were histopathologically diagnosed. Preoperatively, all patients had been examined with a standardized protocol (high-resolution grayscale and color-coded ultrasonography, CEUS).

Rubin H. Flocks and colloidal gold treatments for prostate cancer.

In the early 1950s, Rubin H. Flocks of the University of Iowa began to treat prostate cancer patients with colloidal gold (Au(198)) therapy, evolving his technique over nearly 25 years in 1515 patients. We reviewed the long-term outcomes of Flocks' prostate cancer patients as compared to those patients treated by other methods at the University of Iowa before Flocks' chairmanship.

Prospective multi-centre study to validate chromogenic in situ hybridisation for the assessment of HER2 gene amplification in specimens from adjuvant and metastatic breast cancer patients.

Purpose: As HER2 status is a strong predictor of the response to trastuzumab, clinical guidelines recommend that all breast tumours are first evaluated for HER2 protein expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC) followed by confirmatory testing for HER2 gene amplification using fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) for 2+ cases. Alternatively, chromogenic in situ hybridisation (CISH) offers a simpler, less expensive approach to detect HER2 amplification.

Methods: In this prospective, multi-centre study, based on the largest dataset for HER2 testing in Germany to date, we evaluated the concordance between FISH and CISH in 399 samples from adjuvant and metastatic breast cancer patients.

Indirect imaging of cardiac-specific transgene expression using a bidirectional two-step transcriptional amplification strategy.

Transcriptional targeting for cardiac gene therapy is limited by the relatively weak activity of most cardiac-specific promoters. We have developed a bidirectional plasmid vector, which uses a two-step transcriptional amplification (TSTA) strategy to enhance the expression of two optical reporter genes, firefly luciferase (fluc) and Renilla luciferase (hrluc), driven by the cardiac troponin T (cTnT) promoter. The vector was characterized in vitro and in living mice using luminometry and bioluminescence imaging to assess its ability to mediate strong, correlated reporter gene expression in a cardiac cell line and the myocardium, while minimizing expression in non-cardiac cell lines and the liver.

The role of surgery in clinical management of patients with metastatic papillary renal cell carcinoma.

Objectives: Patients with metastatic papillary renal cell carcinoma (RCC) show special clinical behavior compared to patients with other histologic subtypes of RCC. This study aimed to assess the relevance of surgical and systemic options used in treatment of these patients prior to the recent era of targeted therapies.

Methods: Retrospectively, we assessed clinical data of 61 patients with metastatic papillary RCC who were treated at eight centers in Germany.

Acute partial segmental thrombosis of the corpus cavernosum: imaging findings on ultrasound, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging.

Partial segmental thrombosis of the corpus cavernosum is a rare disease of unknown etiology; the thrombosis is always located in the proximal part of the corpus cavernosum, usually unilaterally. Typical clinical presentation with perineal pain and swelling in combination with cross-sectional imaging allows one to confidentially establish this diagnosis.

[Thermal therapy of prostate cancer using magnetic nanoparticles].

A novel method of interstitial heating using magnetic nanoparticles and a direct injection technique has been evaluated in human cancers in recent clinical trials. In prostate cancer, this approach was investigated in two separate phase-I-studies, employing magnetic nanoparticle thermotherapy alone and in combination with permanent seed brachytherapy. The feasibility and good tolerability was shown in both trials, using the first prototype of a magnetic field applicator.

Kidney transplantation in children and adolescents.

Worldwide, specific pediatric allocation schemes successfully try to minimize waiting time for children with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). The article is a review of current issues in pediatric kidney transplantation. The procedure is the treatment of choice for children and adolescents with ESRD, with 1- and 3-year graft survival rates of 95% and 90% and recipient survival after 5 and 10 years of 95% and 90%.

An improved bioluminescence resonance energy transfer strategy for imaging intracellular events in single cells and living subjects.

Bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) is currently used for monitoring various intracellular events, including protein-protein interactions, in normal and aberrant signal transduction pathways. However, the BRET vectors currently used lack adequate sensitivity for imaging events of interest from both single living cells and small living subjects. Taking advantage of the critical relationship of BRET efficiency and donor quantum efficiency, we report generation of a novel BRET vector by fusing a GFP(2) acceptor protein with a novel mutant Renilla luciferase donor selected for higher quantum yield.

Morbidity and quality of life during thermotherapy using magnetic nanoparticles in locally recurrent prostate cancer: results of a prospective phase I trial.

Purpose: To investigate the treatment-related morbidity and quality of life (QoL) during thermotherapy using superparamagnetic nanoparticles in patients with locally recurrent prostate cancer.

Materials And Methods: Ten patients with biopsy-proven locally recurrent prostate cancer following primary therapy with curative intent and no detectable metastases were entered on a prospective phase I trial. Endpoints were feasibility, toxicity and QoL.

Serial markers of bone turnover in men with metastatic prostate cancer treated with zoledronic Acid for detection of bone metastases progression.

Objectives: This study assessed the usefulness of serial measurements of bone turnover markers in men with metastatic prostate cancer treated with zoledronic acid to detect disease progression.

Methods: Serum measurements of total alkaline phosphatase (tALP), bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (bALP), cross-linked N-terminal (NTx) and cross-linked C-terminal (CTx) telopeptides of type I collagen, amino-terminal procollagen propeptides of type I collagen (PINP), C-terminal telopeptides of type I collagen (ICTP), and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) were performed in 77 prostate cancer patients suffering from bone metastases and treated with zoledronic acid up to 15 mo. Fifty patients were with and 27 patients without objective evidence of metastatic bone progression during the administration of zoledronic acid.