Diffusion-weighted imaging (b value = 1500 s/mm(2)) is useful to decrease false-positive breast cancer cases due to fibrocystic changes.

Background: We aimed to evaluate the application of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values calculated from diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) (b value = 1500 s/mm(2)) in the breast imaging reporting and data system (BI-RADS).

Methods: For 104 cases of breast lesions with definitive histology diagnosis (45 benign cases, 59 malignant cases) in which breast magnetic resonance imaging was performed, ADC values were compared between benign and malignant cases, between ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and fibrocystic changes, and between DCIS and ductal hyperplasia (one type of fibrocystic change). Diagnostic accuracy was compared for a total of 101 images and for 34 images including only nine DCIS and 25 fibrocystic changes between BI-RADS alone (with categories 4a, 4b, and 5 defined as malignancies) and BI-RADS plus ADC.

Postoperative pulmonary embolism including asymptomatic cases in gynecologic oncology.

Introduction: So far, there has been no report addressing the actual rate of asymptomatic pulmonary embolism (PE). The present study was conducted to clarify the incidence and the characteristics of postoperative PE including asymptomatic cases in gynecologic oncology.

Methods: A total of 2107 gynecologic surgery cases that were performed from January 1996 to December 2006 at the National Kyushu Cancer Center were included.

Efficacy of intra-arterial infusion chemotherapy for head and neck cancers using coaxial catheter technique: initial experience.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of intra-arterial infusion chemotherapy for head and neck cancers using a coaxial catheter technique: the superficial temporal artery (STA)-coaxial catheter method. Thirty-one patients (21 males and 10 females; 37-83 years of age) with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (maxilla, 2; epipharynx, 4; mesopharynx, 8; oral floor, 4; tongue, 10; lower gingiva, 1; buccal mucosa, 2) were treated by intra-arterial infusion chemotherapy. Four patients were excluded from the tumor-response evaluation because of a previous operation or impossibility of treatment due to catheter trouble.

Incidentally detected lesions on contrast-enhanced MR imaging in candidates for breast-conserving therapy: correlation between MR findings and histological diagnosis.

Purpose: To investigate the correlation between MR findings and the histological diagnosis of incidentally detected lesions in candidates for breast-conserving therapy.

Materials And Methods: MR images of 299 patients with breast cancer were reviewed. Incidentally detected lesions were noted in 59 of 299 (20%) patients, and a histological diagnosis was obtained in 48 of 59 (81%) patients.

Feasibility study of ambulatory continuous infusion of 5-fluorouracil followed by cisplatin through hepatic artery for metastatic colorectal cancer.

Purpose: A great synergy has been reported in a number of preclinical studies when 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) precedes cisplatin (CDDP). The objective of this study was to determine the feasibility of ambulatory continuous infusion of 5-FU followed by CDDP through hepatic artery for metastatic colorectal cancer.

Patients And Methods: Seventeen patients with unresectable liver metastases, who underwent primary tumor resection, were treated with 5-FU (450 mg/m2/day) for seven consecutive days followed by CDDP (100 mg/body/week) for seven consecutive days, each administered continuously by using a balloon pump via Infuse-A-Port catheter inserted into common hepatic artery.

Traumatic neuroma and recurrent lymphadenopathy after neck dissection: comparison of radiologic features.

Purpose: To retrospectively evaluate the ultrasonographic (US), computed tomographic (CT), and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging features that differentiate traumatic neuroma from recurrent lymphadenopathy after neck dissection.

Materials And Methods: Imaging findings of 10 patients with a traumatic neuroma and 17 with recurrent lymphadenopathy were reviewed. US and CT were performed in all patients; MR imaging was performed in 16 patients.

Thoracic malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumour mimicking a pleural tumour: a rare pedunculated appearance.

A malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumour (MPNST) generally occurs in adults and often in patients with neurofibromatosis-1 (NF-1). We present a rare case of a huge thoracic MPNST arising from the intercostal nerve in a 12-year-old girl without NF-1. In addition to the unusual occurrence in a child without NF-1, MRI demonstrated a unique pedunculated appearance mimicking a pleural tumour.

Helical CT of the local spread of carcinoma of the gallbladder: evaluation according to the TNM system in patients who underwent surgical resection.

Objective: Our aim was to evaluate the performance of helical CT as an aid in the preoperative diagnosis of the spread of carcinomas of the gallbladder.

Materials And Methods: Two radiologists retrospectively reviewed both hard-copy and soft-copy (on a monitor with multiplanar reconstruction capability) versions of helical CT scans (3-mm collimation and 3-mm reconstruction) of 21 patients who had undergone surgical resection for carcinomas of the gallbladder. The local spread of the disease was evaluated according to the TNM system, and the results were correlated to the pathologic findings.

Optimal multi-phase three-dimensional fast imaging with steady-state free precession dynamic MRI and its clinical application to the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Purpose: To determine the appropriate acquisition parameters for three-dimensional fast imaging with steady-state free precession (3D-FISP), to clarify the superiority of 3D-FISP to two-dimensional fast low-angle shot (2D-FLASH) on phantom study, and to clarify the clinical usefulness of 3D-FISP in diagnosing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Materials And Methods: 3D-FISP images with varying flip angles were compared by using a phantom. Signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) and contrast-enhancement ratios (CERs) were compared for the four two-dimensional fast low-angle shot (2D-FLASH) sequences and 3D-FISP sequences in a phantom.

[Catheter placement in the right gastroepiploic artery without fixation using a W spiral catheter for implantable reservoir therapy of malignant liver tumors].

Intra-arterial infusion chemotherapy using a percutaneously implanted port-catheter system was performed in 21 patients with liver tumors. We developed a new procedure, the gastroepiploic method, using a W Spiral Catheter without embolization around/within the catheter and embolization for the right gastroepiploic artery distal to the catheter tip. After embolizing the gastroduodenal arterial branches, right gastric artery, or aberrant hepatic arteries, we mainly inserted the catheter tip into the right gastroepiploic artery.