PCSK9 expression in fibrous cap possesses a marker for rupture in advanced plaque.

Background: To date, PCSK9 inhibitors are well known for eliminating cardiac and cerebral artery ischemia events by lowering the serum lipid level. However, the pathophysiological value of in-plaque PCSK9 expression is still unclear.

Methods: Advanced plaques removed by carotid endarterectomy were sectioned and stained to identify the PCSK9 expression pattern and its co-expression with rupture-relevant markers.

Endovascular Recanalization for Acute Internal Carotid Artery Terminus Occlusion: A Subgroup Analysis From the Direct-MT Trial.

Background: The efficacy of endovascular recanalization for internal carotid artery (ICA) terminus occlusion has not been completely evaluated.

Objective: To investigate the efficacy of endovascular recanalization for ICA terminus occlusion.

Methods: Data from Direct-MT, a randomized controlled trial, were applied.

Differentiation of Prostate Cancer and Stromal Hyperplasia in the Transition Zone With Monoexponential, Stretched-Exponential Diffusion-Weighted Imaging and Diffusion Kurtosis Imaging in a Reduced Number of b Values: Correlation With Whole-Mount Pathology.

Objectives: The aims of the study were to explore the feasibility of generating a monoexponential model (MEM), stretched-exponential model (SEM) based diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), and diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) by applying the same set of reduced b values and to compare their effectiveness in distinguishing prostate cancer from stromal hyperplasia (SH) in the transition zone (TZ) area.

Methods: An analysis of 75 patients who underwent preoperative DWI ( b values of 0, 700, 1400, 2000 s/mm 2 ) was performed. All lesions were localized on magnetic resonance images according to whole-mount histopathological correlations.

The relationship between the degree of brain edema regression and changes in cognitive function in patients with recurrent glioma treated with bevacizumab and temozolomide.

Background: This retrospective study aims to assess the impacts on cognitive status and quality of life in recurrent high-grade glioma patients treated with temozolomide (TMZ), either alone or in combination with bevacizumab (BEV), and explore the relationship between the brain edema regression, BEV use, and cognitive status.

Methods: A total of 125 patients with recurrent high-grade glioma were enrolled in this study, of which 65 patients were treated with BEV (5-10 mg/kg IV every 2 weeks) plus TMZ (200 mg/m every 28 days, d1-5), and 60 patients were treated with TMZ (200 mg/m every 28 days, d1-5) alone. The treatment response was evaluated using the Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology (RANO) criteria.

New insight into the features of Behçet's disease with gastrointestinal ulcer: a cross-sectional observational study.

Background: Behçet's disease (BD) can involve any site of the alimentary canal. There has been research concerning intestinal BD. Nevertheless, the entire digestive tract not yet been studied extensively.

Introducing Information Extraction to Radiology Information Systems to Improve the Efficiency on Reading Reports.

Background: Radiology reports are a permanent record of patient's health information often used in clinical practice and research. Reading radiology reports is common for clinicians and radiologists. However, it is laborious and time-consuming when the amount of reports to be read is large.

Incidence and risk factors for anemia among newly-diagnosed intestinal Behcet's disease patients.

Background: To investigate the incidence, characteristics, and potential risk factors of anemia in patients with newly-diagnosed intestinal Behcet's disease (BD).

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 106 newly-diagnosed intestinal BD patients were identified, and a gender-, age- and organ involvement-matched control group of 241 non-intestinal BD patients was established. Hemoglobin (Hb) levels below 120 g/L in women and 130 g/L in men were diagnosed as anemia; these were further classified as mild (Hb ≥ 90 g/L), moderate (60  g/L ≤ Hb < 90  g/L), and severe (Hb < 60 g/L) anemia for both genders.

Dual-Energy Computed Tomography-Based Iodine Quantitation for Response Evaluation of Lung Cancers to Chemoradiotherapy/Radiotherapy: A Comparison With Fluorine-18 Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography-Based Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography Response Evaluation Criterion in Solid Tumors.

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the correlation between dual-energy computed tomography (DECT)-based iodine quantitation and fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) imaging for response evaluation of lung cancers to treatment.

Methods: In this prospective study, a total of 32 pairs of DECT and F-FDG PET/CT imaging acquired consecutively from 13 patients with primary or metastatic lung cancers receiving either radiotherapy alone or chemoradiotherapy were analyzed. Imaging examinations were performed before, immediately, and no later than 6 months after treatment for response evaluation.

Effect of aerobic exercise and diet on liver fat in pre-diabetic patients with non-alcoholic-fatty-liver-disease: A randomized controlled trial.

The study aimed to assess whether aerobic exercise (AEx) training and a fibre-enriched diet can reduce hepatic fat content (HFC) and increase glycaemic control in pre-diabetic patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Six-hundred-and-three patients from seven clinics in Yangpu district, Shanghai, China were recruited. Of them 115 individuals aged 50-65-year fulfilled the inclusion criteria (NAFLD with impaired fasting glucose or impaired glucose tolerance) and were randomly assigned into exercise (AEx n = 29), diet (Diet n = 28), exercise plus diet (AED n = 29), or no-intervention (NI n = 29) groups.

F-Fluoromisonidazole positron emission tomography/CT-guided volumetric-modulated arc therapy-based dose escalation for hypoxic subvolume in nasopharyngeal carcinomas: A feasibility study.

Background: The purpose of this study is to investigate the feasibility of a simultaneously integrated boost to the hypoxic subvolume of nasopharyngeal carcinomas (NCPs) under the guidance of F-fluoromisonidazole (FMISO) positron emission tomography (PET)/CT using volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) and intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) techniques.

Methods: Eight patients with NPC were treated with simultaneous integrated boost-IMRT (treatment plan named IMRT70) with dose prescriptions of 70 Gy, 66 Gy, 60 Gy, and 54 Gy to the gross tumor volume (GTV), positive neck nodes, the planning target volume (PTV), and the clinically negative neck, respectively. Based on the same datasets, experimental plans with the same dose prescription plus a dose boost of 14 Gy (an escalation of 20% of the prescription dose) to the hypoxic volume target contoured on the pretreatment F-FMISO PET/CT imaging were generated using IMRT and VMAT techniques, respectively (represented by IMRT84 and VMAT84).

[Quantitative Imaging Assessment of Tumor Response to Chemoradiation in Lung Cancer].

Precision medicine demands accurate assessment of tumor response to therapies with the purpose of timely optimization or adjustment of the given treatment regimens. Chemoradiation remains the standard of care in advanced lung cancers and imaging-based noninvasive response evaluation could improve therapeutic efficacy and reduce treatment-related severe side effects. In this review, we overviewed the applications and pitfalls of major imaging modalities in response evaluation in lung cancer from a quantitative perspective.

Predictors of Lymph Node Metastasis and Prognosis in pT1 Colorectal Cancer Patients with Signet-Ring Cell and Mucinous Adenocarcinomas.

Background/aims: The local excision of early colorectal cancer is limited by the presence of lymph node metastasis (LNM). Signet-ring cell carcinomas (SRC) and mucinous adenocarcinomas (MAC) are two relatively infrequent histological subtypes. However, little is known about the predictors of LNM and prognosis to support the feasibility of local excision in early-stage SRC and MAC.

Pharmacodynamics study of zedoary turmeric oil chitosan microspheres administered via arterial embolization.

Zedoary turmeric oil, a plant extract currently in clinical use, may provide potent pharmacological actions such as liver injury. In the previous study, to improve the in vivo absorption of ZTO and produce a high oral bioavailability, chitosan was employed to prepare sustained-release microspheres containing ZTO. In this study, a portability liver cancer model of rats was established successfully to compare the pharmacodynamic of ZTO microspheres and injection.

[Clinical and medication characteristics of senior hospitalized patients with chronic constipation].

Objective: To analyze the clinical features, risk factors and drug uses of senior hospitalized patients with chronic constipation.

Methods: A total of 162 hospitalized patients aged 85 years and over at our hospital during the period of January-March 2012 conducted a questionnaire survey. There were 137 males and 25 females.

Endothelial cell migration was impaired by irradiation-induced inhibition of SHP-2 in radiotherapy: an in vitro study.

The response of endothelial cells to radiation in the context of wound healing is not yet completely understood. In this study we investigated the mechanism involved in the wound healing process after low linear energy transfer (LET) radiation exposure. A scratch wound model on primary vascular endothelial cell monolayer was exposed to acute dose of 0.

Ultrasound-guided intratumoral administration of collagenase-2 improved liposome drug accumulation in solid tumor xenografts.

Purpose: To investigate the effect of intratumoral administration of collagenase-2 on liposomal drug accumulation and diffusion in solid tumor xenografts.

Methods: Correlation between tumor interstitial fluid pressure (IFP) and tumor physiological properties (size and vessel fraction by B-mode and Doppler ultrasound, respectively) was determined. IFP response to intravenous or intratumoral collagenase-2 (0.