ObjectiveTo summarize the status and progress of imaging studies of pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (pNENs).MethodThe relevant literatures published recently at domestic and abroad about the imaging of pNENs were collected and reviewed.ResultsDue to poor visibility of pancreatic body and tail, the application of ultrasound (US) was limited. Compared with US, endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) and contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) could improve the detection rate of pNENs. The ability of plain CT scans to differentiate pathological grades was still controversial, but the value of enhanced scan was higher. CT texture analysis was feasible in the discrimination of nonhypervascular pNENs and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Teta2 was the parameter with the highest diagnostic performance. The enhanced features of MRI were similar to CT. Combined with the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value, the diagnostic and classification capabilities of MRI were improved, and the sensitivity and specificity of different ADC thresholds were also different. 68Ga-tetraazacyclododecane tetraacetic acid (68Ga-DOTA) peptide PET-CT had good preliminary diagnostic value for well-differentiated pNENs, and 18Fluoro-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) PET-CT had limited diagnostic value.ConclusionsSomatostatin receptor imaging is of high diagnostic value and can guide clinical treatment and predict prognosis, but it has not been widely used in China. Conventional morphological images have advantages in the diagnosis and classification of pNENs. Therefore, it is important to choose a proper image inspection method.
Amblyopia is a visual development deficit caused by abnormal visual experience in early life, mainly manifesting as defected visual acuity and binocular visual impairment, which is considered to reflect abnormal development of the brain rather than organic lesions of the eye. Previous studies have reported abnormal spontaneous brain activity in patients with amblyopia. However, the location of abnormal spontaneous activity in patients with amblyopia and the association between abnormal brain function activity and clinical deficits remain unclear. The purpose of this study is to analyze spontaneous brain functional activity abnormalities in patients with amblyopia and their associations with clinical defects using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data. In this study, 31 patients with amblyopia and 31 healthy controls were enrolled for resting-state fMRI scanning. The results showed that spontaneous activity in the right angular gyrus, left posterior cerebellum, and left cingulate gyrus were significantly lower in patients with amblyopia than in controls, and spontaneous activity in the right middle temporal gyrus was significantly higher in patients with amblyopia. In addition, the spontaneous activity of the left cerebellum in patients with amblyopia was negatively associated with the best-corrected visual acuity of the amblyopic eye, and the spontaneous activity of the right middle temporal gyrus was positively associated with the stereoacuity. This study found that adult patients with amblyopia showed abnormal spontaneous activity in the angular gyrus, cerebellum, middle temporal gyrus, and cingulate gyrus. Furthermore, the functional abnormalities in the cerebellum and middle temporal gyrus may be associated with visual acuity defects and stereopsis deficiency in patients with amblyopia. These findings help explain the neural mechanism of amblyopia, thus promoting the improvement of the treatment strategy for amblyopia.
ObjectiveTo observe the multimodal imaging characteristics of multiple evanescent white dot syndrom (MEWDS).MethodsThis was a retrospective series case study. Eighteen patients (18 eyes) diagnosed with MEWDS in Eye Center of The Second People’s Hospital of Foshan from September 2015 to April 2017 were enrolled in this study. There were 12 females and 6 males, with the mean age of 35.9 years. The disease course ranged from 3 to 90 days, with the mean of 14 days. All the patients underwent BCVA, slit-lamp microscope with +90D preset lens, fundus photography, spectral domain OCT (SD-OCT) and FAF examinations. FFA was simultaneously performed in 6 eyes, FFA and ICGA were simultaneously performed in 12 eyes. Ten patients received the treatment of glucocorticoids and vasodilator substance, and other 8 patients without any treatment. The follow-up duration was 4.5 months. The multimodal imaging characteristics were reviewed and analyzed.ResultsFundus color photography showed a variable number of small dots and large spots lesions (14 eyes), and/or fovea granularity (7 eyes) and disk swelling (5 eyes). A variable number of little dots and larger spots lesions showed respectively in FFA, FAF and ICGA were needle-like dots distributed in a wreathlike pattern and a large plaque occasionally confluent of early highly fluorescent, highly autofluorescence and hypofluoresence. Combined hypofluorescent spots with overlying dots were observed in 10 eyes of the late stages of the ICGA. Black lesions in the gray background show in ICGA were the most obvious and the most extensive, gray-white lesions in the gray-black show in FAF were the second, light gray-black lesions in the gray show in FFA were the least. Gray-white lesions in an orange background show in fundus photography were not obvious and transient. SD-OCT showed disruption of the ellipsoid zone and/or accumulations of hyperreflective material from the ellipsoid layer toward the outer plexiform layer and vitreous cells. During the period of following-up, some patients were prescribed low-dose glucocorticoid and some not, almost all the patients except one patient experienced recovery in BCVA and the lesions in fundus imaging.ConclusionsThe lesions in MEWDS eyes in modern multimodal imaging modalities among fundus photography (fovea granularity), FFA (needle-like dots distributed in a wreathlike pattern and a large plaque occasionally confluent of early highly fluorescent), ICGA (flake hypofluorescent) and SD-OCT (disruption of the ellipsoid zone) showed good consistency. Almost eyes were recovery.
Objective To summarize the development, clinical application, advantages and disadvantages, and future prospects of parathyroid autofluorescence in recent years. MethodThe literatures related to the research progress of parathyroid autofluorescence in recent years were searched, and launched a specific discussion. Results Autofluorescence of parathyroid gland was still in its infancy at home and abroad. The existing studies had shown that this technique was superior to visual recognition and could reduce the incidence of postoperative complications. Autofluorescence technology had shown some advantages in identifying parathyroid gland during operation, and its mechanism research and related equipment improvement should be focused in the future. ConclusionAutofluorescence technique is of great value in the identification of parathyroid glands in patients undergoing thyroidectomy or parathyroidectomy.
ObjectiveTo observe the accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for predicting pathologic complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in breast cancer, and to analyze the cause of the prediction error.MethodsData from 157 breast cancer patients who underwent NAC before surgery in Mianyang Central Hospital from January 2017 to January 2019 were analyzed. MRI parameters before and after NAC and pCR conditions were collected to analyze the parameters that produced false positives and false negatives.ResultsOf the 157 patients, 37 (23.6%) achieved pCR after NAC, and 33 (21.0%) achieved radiation complete remission (rCR) after NAC. The accuracy of MRI prediction was 70.7% (111/157), the sensitivity was 82.5% (99/120), and the specificity was 32.4% (12/37). A total of 25 cases did not achieve rCR, but postoperative evaluation achieved pCR (false positive), 21 cases achieved rCR, but postoperative evaluation did not achieve pCR (false negative). Diameter of tumor, peritumoral oedema, and background parenchymal enhancement were associated with MRI false positive prediction (P<0.05); gland density and tumor rim enhancement were associated with MRI false negative prediction (P<0.05).ConclusionMRI can be used as an important method to predict pCR after NAC in breast cancer patients, and its accuracy may be related to diameter of tumor, peritumoral oedema, background parenchymal enhancement, gland density, and tumor rim enhancement.
Objective To determine the safety of the fetal olfactory ensheathing cell(OEC) transplantation in patients with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI) by examination of the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Methods A prospective clinical study involving 16 patients with chronic SCI was designed to investigate the feasibility and biological safety of the fetal OEC transplantation in treatment of SCI. The olfactory bulbs from the 3-4-month-old aborted human fetuses following the strict ethical guidelines were harvested and trypsinized down to single fetal OEC. These cells were then cultured for 12-17 days and were prepared for a clinical use. From November 2001 to December 2002, 16 patients with chronic SCI were randomly enrolled. The patients suffered from SCI for1.5-8 years (average 4-3 years) after the injury. The suspension (50 μl) containing about 1×106 fetal OECs was transplanted by an injection into the patients’ spinal cords above and below the injury site. All the patients were assessed before thetransplantation and were followed up with MRI for 29-42 months (average 38 mon)after the transplantation. Results No cell-related adverse effects were observed in any patient during the followup period. The follow-up with MRI did not reveal any development of optic glial tumor, tumor-like mass, new hemorrhage,edema, expanding cyst, new cyst formation, infection or disruption of the neuralstructure in the transplant site of all the patients. Conclusion This is the first clinical study demonstrating the long-term safety of theOEC therapy for SCI. The results indicate that our protocol is feasible and safe in treatment of patients with chronic SCI within 38 months after the injury. Although the size of the samples for our study was not big enough, the positive results of the study have encouraged us to make a further research in this field.
Brain aging can affect the strength of functional connectivity between brain regions. In recent years, studies have shown that functional connectivity is fluctuant over time, and can reflect more physiological and pathological information. Therefore, in the study resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data of 32 elderly subjects and 36 younger subjects were selected, and the sliding window technique was used to estimate dynamic functional connectivity network. Then, the dependency of fluctuating energy difference on frequency band was studied using wavelet packet analysis, conducting the linear regression with age at the same time. Results showed that the fluctuating energy in older group was significantly higher than that in the young group in low frequency, and it was significantly lower than that in the young people in high frequency. These results suggested that the dynamic functional connectivity between networks in the elderly exist slow wave phenomenon, which may be related to the decreased reaction rate of the elderly. This article provides new ideas and methods for the research about brain aging, and promotes a theoretical basis for further understanding of the physiological significance of brain dynamic functional connectivity.
Objective To explore the diagnosis and treatment strategies for elderly patients with ground-glass opacity (GGO). MethodsThe imaging features and postoperative pathological findings of the elderly patients with pulmonary GGO receiving surgery in our hospital from 2017 to 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into an elderly patient group and a non-elderly patient group based on their age. Results Finally 575 patients were included in the study. There were 281 elderly patients, including 83 males and 198 females, with an average age of (67.0±5.3) years. There were 294 non-elderly patients, including 88 males and 206 females, with an average age of (49.1±7.3) years. Compared with the non-elderly patients, elderly GGO patients showed the following distinct clinical features: long observation time for lesions (P=0.001), high proportion of rough edges of GGO (P<0.001), significant pleural signs (P＜0.001) and bronchial signs (P＜0.001), and high proportion of type Ⅱ-Ⅳ GGO (P<0.001), lobectomy type (P=0.013), and invasive lesions reported in postoperative pathology (P<0.001). There was no statistical difference in the average hospital stay between the two groups (P=0.106). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that GGO diameter and GGO type were the main factors affecting the operation. Observation time, GGO diameter, GGO type and pleural signs were the main influencing factors for postoperative pathological infiltrative lesions. The cut-off value of GGO diameter in predicting infiltrating lesions was 10.5 mm in the elderly patients group. Conclusion The size and type of GGO are important factors in predicting invasive lesions and selecting surgical methods. Elderly patients with radiographic manifestations of type Ⅱ-Ⅳ GGO lesions with a diameter greater than 10.5 mm should be closely followed up.
Objective To investigate the effects on myocardial perfusion of simultaneous antegrade/retrograde cardiopiegia （SARC） through a single coronary artery and coronary sinus （CS）. Methods SARC was conducted in isolated pig hearts through CS in conjunction with the left anterior descending （LAD）, the left circumflex （LCX）, or the right coronary artery （RCA） respectively. After injecting magnetic resonance （MR） contrast agent （gadolinium diethyienetriamine pentaacetic acid, Gd-DTPA） into arterial or venous route, the distribution of Gd-DTPA with magnetic resonance imaging（MRI） was monitored and the effluent from the venting coronary arteries to assess the efficacy of SARC for myocardial perfusion was measured. Results Injection of Gd-DTPA into a perfusing artery during SARC resulted in increased signal intensity not only in the territory of the perfusing artery but also in the areas normally served by the other two venting coronary arteries （including the right ventrieuiar free wall）. With Gd DTPA given into the CS during SARC, the myocardium in the territories of the two venting coronary arteries was lightened. Signal intensity of the myocardium in the perfusing artery territory and right ventricuiar free wall remained unchanged. Moreover, a significant amount of effluent was collected from the venting coronary arteries during SARC： the LAD 10.5-17.7 ml/min; LCX 9.7-15.2 ml/min, and RCA 4.7-7.8 ml/min. Conclusion SARC through a single coronary artery and CS can provide homogeneous perfusion to the entire heart and is sufficient to prevent ischemic injury in the myocardium normally supported by the venting coronary arteries.
Objective To explore the characteristics of vibration response imaging ( VRI) among heavy smokers whose pulmonary function is normal. Methods 67 heavy smokers with normal pulmonary function, 60 healthy non-smokers, and 60 patients with COPD were recruited. History taking, physical examination, lung function test, chest X-ray, and VRI examination were performed. The difference of VRI dynamic imaging between the three groups was analyzed. Results VRI vibration energy curve which appeared low, flat, sunken-in, and single peak accounted for 43.3% , 16.4% , 16.4% , and 14.9% respectively in the heavy smokers, accounted for 6.7% , 3.3% ,0% , and 0% respectively in the healthy nonsmokers, accounted for 60% , 33.3% , 18.3% , and 16.7% respectively in the COPD patients. The results between the heavy smokers and the healthy non-smokers were significantly different. Compared with the heavy smokers, the COPD patients exhibited more low and flat in expiration period. The energy peak value ratio of inspiration and expiration phase in the heavy smokers, the healthy non-smokers, and the COPD patients were 0.56,0.74, and 0.54 respectively. There was no significant difference between the heavy smokers and the COPD patients in peak value ratio of inspiration and expiration phase. Conclusion The vibration energy curve of the VRI in heavy smokers with normal pulmonary function is significantly different fromhealthy nonsmokers, but there is no significant difference between heavy smokers and COPD patients.