Clinical utility and limitations of FDG PET in detecting recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma in postoperative patients.

Background: The clinical usefulness of positron emission tomography (PET) with (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) for the detection of recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is controversial because HCC displays varying FDG avidity. The purposes of this study were to re-evaluate the utility of FDG PET for the detection of recurrent HCC, and to assess its prognostic value in a large series of postoperative patients.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 113 scans in 86 patients undergoing FDG PET after curative surgery for HCC.

Biliary peritonitis after radiofrequency ablation diagnosed by gadoxetic acid-enhanced MR imaging.

This study describes the first case of biliary peritonitis after radiofrequency ablation diagnosed by magnetic resonance (MR) imaging with gadolinium ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA), a hepatocyte-specific MR imaging contrast agent. The image acquired 300 minutes after the administration of Gd-EOB-DTPA was useful to make a definite diagnosis and to identify the pathway of bile leakage. It is important to decide on the acquisition timing with consideration of the predicted location of bile duct injury.

Association between polyclonal and mixed mycobacterial Mycobacterium avium complex infection and environmental exposure.

Rationale: Polyclonal and mixed mycobacterial Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) infection is observed in pulmonary MAC disease. Human living environments contain multiple species or genotypes of nontuberculous mycobacterial strains and are considered sources of infection.

Objectives: To investigate the association of environmental exposure with polyclonal and mixed mycobacterial infection in pulmonary MAC disease after adjustments for potential confounding diseases and conditions and radiographic findings.

Bifid tail of the pancreas with localized acute pancreatitis.

Bifid tail of the pancreas is an extremely rare developmental anomaly, and its clinical importance is not well known. We report the case of a 28-year-old man with acute pancreatitis limited to one side of a bifid tail with no otherwise detectable parenchymal edema on magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Neither was there evidence of other anatomical ductal abnormalities that could have contributed to the patient's pancreatitis.

A novel diagnostic criterion for lymph node metastasis in cervical cancer using multi-detector computed tomography.

Objectives: The sensitivity of the current 10mm cut-off diameter that is used to diagnose lymph node (LN) metastasis is too low. This is the first study to develop a new criterion to diagnose LN metastasis in a region-by-region manner using multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT).

Methods: 1) The short-axis diameter of the LNs in MDCT images from 1-mm slices obtained immediately prior to surgery was compared with the pathological diagnosis in 78 uterine cervical cancer patients undergoing primary surgery.

Evaluation of focus laterality in temporal lobe epilepsy: a quantitative study comparing double inversion-recovery MR imaging at 3T with FDG-PET.

Purpose: To quantitatively compare the diagnostic capability of double inversion-recovery (DIR) with F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) for detection of seizure focus laterality in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE).

Methods: This study was approved by the institutional review board, and written informed consent was obtained. Fifteen patients with TLE and 38 healthy volunteers were enrolled.

Case of multiple endocrine neoplasia 2B with probable ectopic adrenocorticotropic hormone-secreting liver metastasis from medullary thyroid carcinoma.

A 31 year old woman was diagnosed with multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN) 2B at 10 years old. Dark pigmentation gradually developed on her skin and her serum adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) was high, suggesting concurrent ectopic ACTH syndrome (EAS). Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) loading test ruled out Cushing's disease and supported the diagnosis of EAS.

Fat-water interface on susceptibility-weighted imaging and gradient-echo imaging: comparison of phantoms to intracranial lipomas.

Objective: In a clinical setting, lipoma can sometime show low signal intensity on susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) mimicking hemorrhage. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the fat-water interface chemical-shift artifacts between SWI and T2*-weighted imaging with a phantom study and evaluate SWI in lipoma cases.

Materials And Methods: SWI, magnitude, high-pass filtered phase, and T2*-weighted imaging of a lard-water phantom were evaluated in the in-phase, out-of phase, and standard partially out-of-phase TE settings used for clinical 3-T SWI (19.

Long-term outcome of percutaneous interventions for hepatic venous outflow obstruction after pediatric living donor liver transplantation: experience from a single institute.

Purpose: To evaluate retrospectively the long-term outcome of percutaneous interventions for hepatic venous outflow obstruction (HVOO) occurring after pediatric living donor liver transplantation (LDLT).

Materials And Methods: Between October 1997 and December 2012, 48 patients (24 boys, 24 girls; median age, 6 y) who had undergone LDLT were confirmed to have HVOO using percutaneous hepatic venography and manometry. All patients underwent percutaneous interventions, including balloon angioplasty with or without stent placement.

Magnetic resonance imaging of vascular encephalopathy related to pregnancy.

Brain lesions related to pregnancy are not frequent, but are potentially lethal. About half of the cases are intracerebral hemorrhage, subarachnoid hemorrhage, infarction, and venous thrombosis. Their imaging characteristics are not much different from those caused by other reasons than pregnancy, and can be relatively easily recognized.

Timing dependence of peripheral pulse-wave-triggered pulsed arterial spin labeling.

Arterial spin labeling (ASL) has been developed into a useful technique that is capable of quantifying noninvasively local cerebral blood flow (CBF) using the water molecules in arterial blood as diffusible tracers. Pulsed ASL (PASL) is more strongly affected than continuous ASL (CASL) by cardiac pulsation, because the tag bolus is shorter than the cardiac cycle in most cases. No reports have yet clarified the effects of multiple cardiac phases on the quantification of CBF in PASL when triggering is used.

The anatomical classification of AICA/PICA branching and configurations in the cerebellopontine angle area on 3D-drive thin slice T2WI MRI.

Background: With the technical advance of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), we have been able to observe not only the small cranial nerves arising from the brain stem but also the branches of vertebrobasilar artery in the cerebellopontine angle (CPA) cistern.

Purpose: The purpose was to demonstrate the courses and configurations of the anterior inferior cerebellar artery (AICA) or posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) branch including the internal auditory artery in the CPA cistern and evaluate the relationship between the facial-vestibulocochlear (VIIth-VIIIth) nerves and AICA/PICA on high-resolution, thin-slice, three-dimensional T2-weighted MRI using driven equilibrium pulse.

Material And Methods: Thirty-three men and 27 women aged 8-85 years old with sensory hearing loss or vertigo, and/or tinnitus were evaluated by thin-slice (0.

FDG-PET/CT assessment of misty mesentery: feasibility for distinguishing viable mesenteric malignancy from stable conditions.

Purpose: "Misty mesentery" is a CT appearance of mesenteric fat changes with increased attenuation often existing with swelled mesenteric lymph nodes. We evaluated diagnostic performance of FDG-PET/CT in distinguishing viable malignant disorders from benign conditions in misty mesentery.

Materials And Methods: 4236 FDG-PET/CT images were reviewed to identify patients with appearances of misty mesentery.

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) of the normal human uterus in vivo at 3 tesla: comparison of DTI parameters in the different uterine layers.

Purpose: To investigate the differences in the fiber architecture and related diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) parameters among different uterine layers of the normal human uterus in vivo at 3 Tesla (T).

Materials And Methods: DTI of the uterus was performed for nine healthy women of reproductive age on a 3T scanner. A volume of interest (VOI) was drawn for the outer myometrium (OM), junctional zone (JZ), and endometrium (EM).

Organizing intracerebral hematoma mimicking a recurrent brain tumor on FDG-PET.

A man underwent resection of low-grade astrocytoma, followed by radiation therapy at the age of 14 years old. He had been followed up for 33 years with no finding of recurrent disease on brain images until the most recent CT and MRI scans showed a mass at the postoperative site in the left parieto-occipital lobe. 18F-FDG PET/CT showed increased uptake in the mass.

Anticholinergic agents result in weaker and shorter suppression of uterine contractility compared with intestinal motion: time course observation with cine MRI.

Purpose: To evaluate the time course effects of anticholinergic agents on uterine contractility and intestinal motion with cine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Materials And Methods: Using a 1.5 T MRI scanner, 60 T2-weighted half-Fourier rapid acquisitions with relaxation enhancement images of the uterus were serially acquired over 3 minutes in 25 healthy women in the periovulatory phase, at four instances, prior to and 2-5, 5-8, and 10-13 minutes after intravenous injection of 20 mg of hyoscine butylbromide.

Decidualized adenomyosis during pregnancy and post delivery: three cases of magnetic resonance imaging findings.

Adenomyosis is a common gynecologic disease. Pregnancy with adenomyosis is on the increase due to a tendency of delay with first pregnancies and various infertility treatments involved in the process. We encountered decidualized adenomyosis in three patients during pregnancy, who were suspected by magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and were followed monitored post delivery.

DWI based thermometry: the effects of b-values, resolutions, signal-to-noise ratio, and magnet strength.

Among MR methods, the most clinically applicable temperature measurement method at deep brain might be the diffusion-weighted image (DWI) thermometry. Although only applicable to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), it is thought to be potentially useful in assessing the thermal pathophysiology of the brain in both patients and healthy subjects. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of b-value, pixel resolution, magnet strength and signal to noise ratio (SNR) for the DWI-thermometry with healthy volunteer.

Advanced MRI in malignant neoplasms of the uterus.

Conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) such as T1-weighted and T2-weighted images of the female pelvis provide morphological information with excellent tissue contrast, which reflects the pathology of malignant diseases of the uterus. Owing to the recent improvement in hardware and software, in combination with extensive research in imaging techniques, not only MRI at higher magnetic field was facilitated, but also insight into tumor pathophysiology was provided. These methods include diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) with pharmacokinetic analysis, and MR spectroscopy (MRS).

Clinical value of ¹¹C-methionine PET/CT in patients with plasma cell malignancy: comparison with ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT.

Purpose: PET/CT using FDG has been widely used for the imaging of various malignant tumours, including plasma cell malignancy (PCM), but (11)C-methionine (MET), as a radiolabelled amino acid tracer, may also be useful because PCM is able to activate protein synthesis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical value of PET/CT imaging using MET in PCM, including multiple myeloma, compared with that of FDG PET/CT.

Methods: The study group comprised 20 patients with histologically proven PCM who underwent FDG PET/CT and MET PET/CT scans before (n = 6) or after (n = 14) treatment.

Diffuse homogeneous bone marrow uptake of FDG in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

PET (positron emission tomography) using FDG (¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose) has been widely used in the evaluation of various malignancies, but its clinical application to leukemia remains limited. We report a case of leukemia in which diffuse bone marrow uptake of FDG was observed, and bone marrow aspiration subsequently revealed acute lymphoblastic leukemia. It is not easy to differentiate between physiological and pathologic uptake when diffuse homogeneous uptake in bone marrow is observed.

"Early esophageal rim enhancement": a new sign of esophageal cancer on dynamic CT.

Objective: To retrospectively assess a new CT finding of esophageal cancer, "early esophageal rim enhancement".

Materials And Methods: Sixty-two patients with pathological proven esophageal squamous cell carcinoma who underwent dual phase CT imaging (arterial and venous phases) were enrolled. Two blinded observes independently evaluated presence of partial or circumferential enhancement of the esophageal periphery on arterial (early esophageal rim enhancement) and venous phase CT images.

Optimizing cine MRI for uterine peristalsis: a comparison of three different single shot fast spin echo techniques.

Purpose: To determine the optimal single shot fast spin echo (SSFSE) technique by varying interval between image acquisitions for cine MRI of uterine peristalsis.

Materials And Methods: MRI was performed in 13 premenopausal women (4 normal and 9 with benign pelvic pathology) in various phases of their menstrual cycle. Midsagittal uterus was scanned using a multiphasic SSFSE technique at 2-, 3-, and 4-s intervals over 2 min.

Comparison of acquired diffusion weighted imaging and computed diffusion weighted imaging for detection of hepatic metastases.

Objective: To compare the accuracy of acquired diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) (b=1000 s/mm(2)) with that of computed DWI (b=1000 s/mm(2)) for the detection of hepatic metastases.

Methods: Two hundred and sixty patients underwent abdominal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 3.0 T for the evaluation of hepatic metastasis, including T1-weighted imaging (T1WI), T2-weighted imaging (T2WI), heavily T2WI, DWI with b-values of 0, 500, 1000 s/mm(2), and three-dimensional dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI with gadolinium-ethoxybenzyl-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA), and 190 patients were included in the final study.