Concordance of clinical diagnosis of T classification among physicians for locally advanced unresectable thoracic esophageal cancer.

Background: We conducted a multicenter phase II trial assessing chemoselection with docetaxel plus 5-fluorouracil and cisplatin induction chemotherapy and subsequent conversion surgery for locally advanced, unresectable esophageal cancer. The aim of this study was to validate the concordance of clinical T diagnosis among physicians in the cases of this trial.

Methods: Computed tomography scans and esophagoscopic images of 48 patients taken at baseline were centrally reviewed by 6 senior physicians with experience in esophageal oncology.

Single focus on breast magnetic resonance imaging: diagnosis based on kinetic pattern and patient age.

Background Because of its small size, a focus in breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) must be evaluated on the basis of characteristics other than morphologic features. Patient-related factors including patient age, in conjunction with lesion-related factors, could be useful for decision-making. Purpose To assess the probability of malignant foci based on both lesion- and patient-related factors, and to propose a relevant decision-making method.

Phase II trial of panitumumab with irinotecan as salvage therapy for patients with advanced or recurrent colorectal cancer (TOPIC study).

Little is known about the clinical impact of salvage panitumumab with irinotecan for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients. The present study conducted a single-arm, multicenter phase II trial for mCRC with skin toxicity prevention program. The subjects were mCRC patients with wild-type KRAS, who showed resistance to fluoropyrimidine, oxaliplatin and irinotecan.

Descriptors of Malignant Non-mass Enhancement of Breast MRI: Their Correlation to the Presence of Invasion.

Rationale And Objectives: This study aims to investigate the clinical significance of malignant non-mass enhancement (NME) descriptors in breast magnetic resonance images by assessing their correlation to the presence of invasion or lymph node metastasis.

Materials And Methods: Three radiologists independently reviewed magnetic resonance images with malignant NMEs between January 2008 and December 2009. Distribution was assessed first, and then each of four internal enhancement patterns-clumped, clustered ring, branching, and hypointense area-was evaluated dichotomously (yes or no).

Diffusion-weighted MRI as an adjunct to mammography in women under 50 years of age: an initial study.

Purpose: To evaluate diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance (DW) imaging as an adjunct to mammography for the detection of small invasive breast cancer.

Materials And Methods: Institutional review board standards were followed for this retrospective study. We performed both breast DW imaging and mammography on 25 women under 50 years of age with pathologically proven T1 breast cancer and on 21 healthy women under 50 years of age.

Diffusion-weighted imaging findings of mucinous carcinoma arising in the ano-rectal region: comparison of apparent diffusion coefficient with that of tubular adenocarcinoma.

Purpose: To determine the diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) characteristics of ano-rectal mucinous carcinoma. Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and DWI findings for mucinous and tubular adenocarcinomas were retrospectively compared.

Materials And Methods: Eight-one consecutive surgically resected ano-rectal adenocarcinomas were evaluated.

Pancreatic cancer screening employing noncontrast magnetic resonance imaging combined with ultrasonography.

Purpose: We have conducted an initial evaluation on the potential of combining noncontrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasonography (US) to screen for pancreatic cancer.

Materials And Methods: An independent ethics committee approved this study. A total of 2511 patients who underwent US were enrolled.

Diagnosis of breast cancer with multidetector computed tomography: analysis of optimal delay time after contrast media injection.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the optimal delay time after a contrast media injection for multidetector computed tomography (MD-CT) images in the diagnosis of breast cancer patients.

Materials And Methods: Thirty-one patients who underwent MD-CT for their preoperative examination and who had postoperatively confirmed pathology were enrolled. Four-phase images of dynamic contrast enhanced study were acquired using four-detector MDCT.

Diffusion-weighted imaging of surgically resected hepatocellular carcinoma: imaging characteristics and relationship among signal intensity, apparent diffusion coefficient, and histopathologic grade.

Objective: The objective of our study was to determine the relationship between the signal intensity of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) assessed with diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and T2-weighted imaging and the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) with the histopathologic grade of each nodule.

Materials And Methods: MR examinations including DWI and T2-weighted imaging of 125 surgically resected hypervascular HCCs in 99 patients were retrospectively reviewed. Pathologic examinations revealed 25 well-, 61 moderately, and 39 poorly differentiated HCCs.

Preoperative diagnosis of the axillary arch with multidetector row computed tomography and the axillary arch in association with anatomical problems of sentinel lymph node biopsy.

Background: The purpose of this study was to describe the preoperative diagnosis of the axillary arch with multidetector row computed tomography (MDCT) in patients who underwent sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy. In addition, we investigated anatomical problems of SLN biopsy in the cases that diagnosed this anomaly.

Methods: From 2003 to 2008, combined procedures with blue dye SLN biopsy and MDCT-assisted axillary node sampling were performed in 550 clinically axilla-negative patients with primary operable breast cancer.

Comparison of diffusion-weighted images using short inversion time inversion recovery or chemical shift selective pulse as fat suppression in patients with breast cancer.

Purpose: Fat suppression is essential for diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in the body. However, the chemical shift selective (CHESS) pulse often fails to suppress fat signals in the breast. The purpose of this study was to compare DWI using CHESS and DWI using short inversion time inversion recovery (STIR) in terms of fat suppression and the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value.

Feasibility of diffusion-weighted imaging under split breath-hold acquisition and postprocessing (DWI-SBAP): an attempt to suppress hepatic pseudo-anisotropy.

Purpose: To suppress hepatic pseudo-anisotropy, which is a specific artifact in diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) of the liver obtained under respiratory triggering, the authors developed a novel acquisition technique for DWI that we termed "diffusion-weighted imaging under split breath-hold acquisition and postprocessing" (DWI-SBAP). We evaluated its feasibility in this study.

Materials And Methods: Of 113 patients whose hepatic DWI under respiratory triggering (RT-DWI) showed prominent hepatic pseudo-anisotropy, 35 were included in the study.

Tumor staging of advanced esophageal cancer: combination of double-contrast esophagography and contrast-enhanced CT.

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the diagnostic accuracy of tumor staging in patients with advanced esophageal cancer based on contrast-enhanced CT findings alone with that based on a combination of CT and double-contrast esophagography and to evaluate the relevance of tumor stage to survival rate.

Materials And Methods: In 94 patients who underwent surgery as the primary treatment for esophageal cancer and had a diagnosis of postoperative T stage 3 (pT3) or pT4 disease based on pathologic examination, T stage was evaluated using CT alone and using a combination of CT and double-contrast esophagography. The diagnostic criterion for T4 disease using CT alone was tumor strongly displacing or deforming adjacent organs.

Advances in breast MRI: diffusion-weighted imaging of the breast.

DWI, which is less affected by the state of the background mammary gland, has sufficient capability to diagnose invasive, noninvasive, and invasive lobular carcinoma. DWI is different from conventional methods based on blood flow data and has the potential to provide useful information for the evaluation of NAC, which is considered to be insufficient at present. Having the ability to provide steady, high-resolution tissue images, DWI is expected to play an important role in future breast cancer diagnosis.

Hepatic pseudo-anisotropy: a specific artifact in hepatic diffusion-weighted images obtained with respiratory triggering.

Purpose: Hepatic pseudo-anisotropy is an artifact observed in hepatic diffusion-weighted imaging under respiratory triggering (RT-DWI). To determine the clinical significance of this phenomenon, hepatic RT-DW images were reviewed.

Methods: One hundred and five MR examinations, including RT-DWI, were assessed.

Detecting breast cancer with non-contrast MR imaging: combining diffusion-weighted and STIR imaging.

We combined diffusion-weighted (DWI) and short TI inversion recovery (STIR) imaging to evaluate the diagnostic capability of non-contrast magnetic resonance (MR) imaging to detect breast cancer. Seventy women patients underwent mammography and MR imaging with combined DWI (b factor: 1000) and STIR that revealed malignancy, and postoperative pathological examination confirmed breast cancer. Interpreted images were evaluated for sensitivity, false negative rate (FN), sensitivity by pT, and sensitivity by background density of the mammary gland.

The effect of simultaneous use of respiratory triggering in diffusion-weighted imaging of the liver.

Objective: To determine the effect of simultaneous use of respiratory triggering in hepatic diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), we compared DWI with respiratory triggering (RT-DWI) and DWI under free breathing (FB-DWI) in terms of relative contrast between hepatic tumor and surrounding liver parenchyma, apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) measurement, and frequency of respiratory misregistration.

Materials And Methods: Thirty patients (21 men, 9 women, aged 25 to 80 years) with liver metastasis or hepatocellular carcinoma in the right hepatic lobe were examined with RT- and FB-DWI. In patients having multiple tumors, up to 3 lesions were selected by mutual agreement of 2 diagnostic radiologists.

Measurement of the apparent diffusion coefficient in the liver: is it a reliable index for hepatic disease diagnosis?

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the validity of the hepatic apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) measurement. The influence of differences in measured location and administration of Buscopan (hyoscine butylbromide) for ADC were assessed.

Materials And Methods: SENSE-DWI (b = 0, 500) was obtained before and after Buscopan administration to 30 patients suspected of having a liver tumor.

Diffusion-weighted imaging of breast cancer with the sensitivity encoding technique: analysis of the apparent diffusion coefficient value.

Purpose: The usefulness of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in the field of neuroradiology has been established. Despite its high contrast resolution, DWI has the disadvantages of susceptibility artifact and chemical shift artifact. We performed DWI of breast cancer with the sensitivity encoding (SENSE) technique.

Optimization of Gd-DTPA-enhanced balanced turbo field echo sequence in abdominal imaging: clinical application.

Purpose: We performed MRI examinations of patients in order to confirm the enhancement effect of the balanced turbo field echo (bTFE) sequence with centric view ordering and SPIR (SPIR-centric-bTFE) as mentioned in the prior paper, and to evaluate the actual image quality of this sequence.

Materials And Methods: The upper abdomens of 30 patients with various abdominal disorders were examined with the SPIR-centric-bTFE sequence before and after Gd-DTPA administration. To assess the enhancement effect of Gd-DTPA, ROI measurements were taken in the aorta, superior mesenteric artery, portal vein, liver and bile juice in the common bile duct in each patient both in pre- and postcontrast images.

Optimization of Gd-DTPA-enhanced balanced turbo field echo sequence in abdominal imaging: a basic study.

Purpose: To determine the optimum imaging conditions for the balanced turbo field echo (bTFE) sequence in abdominal imaging, we performed phantom experiments and scanning of a normal volunteer while noting the correlation among signal intensity, k-space ordering, flow velocity and Gd-DTPA concentration.

Materials And Methods: Initially, the abdomen of a healthy volunteer and some samples (water, blood and bovine albumin solutions with various Gd-DTPA concentrations, and olive oil) were examined with the bTFE sequence under various conditions to define the correlation among signal intensity, k-space ordering and Gd-DTPA concentration. Another experiment was performed to assess the correlation between the flow velocity and Gd-DTPA concentration.

Efficacy of MR mammography (MRM) in providing preoperative locoregional information on breast cancer: correlation between MRM and histological findings.

Rationale And Objectives: To assess the efficacy of MRM in providing preoperative locoregional information on patients with breast cancer.

Methods: MRI was performed on 62 female breast cancer patients. A 1.