The role of magnetic resonance imaging in the evaluation of endometrial carcinoma.

PURPOSE: Gynecological cancers comprise about 19% of all cancers in women whereas the endometrial cancer is the most common malignant tumor of the female reproductive organs. The application of modern imaging tools plays an important role in the preoperative assessment of disease extent and allows the selection of a proper and adequate therapeutic approach for each patient. The purpose of this review was to show the role of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the evaluation of endometrial carcinoma. MRI enables the display of zonal anatomy of the uterus, detection of the anomalies as well as the detection and characterization of pathological processess. Endometrial cancer is staged with the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) classification, which was significantly revised in 2009. The FIGO classification incorporates two of the important prognostic parameters, the depth of myometrial invasion and histological grade. The depth of myometrial invasion can be accurately assessed by MRI. MRI is not officially included in the FIGO staging system. However, it is widely accepted as a suitable imaging technique for preoperative staging, treatment planning and monitoring of patients with endometrial cancer.

Atypical presentation of posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome: Clinical and radiological characteristics in eclamptic patients.

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is an obstetric emergency frequently occurring in a pregnant or puerperal woman, manifested with an acute headache, consciousness impairment, seizures, and visual deficits and is associated with white matter changes predominantly affecting the posterior parietal and occipital lobes of the brain. Apart from the above-described typical location of the changes, the most common atypical location involves the brain stem and basal ganglia. Since magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is more sensitive and specific imaging technique compared to computerized tomography, establishing the diagnosis and follow-up in patients with PRES is based mainly on MRI findings. It is particularly important not to exclude PRES as a possible diagnosis when we have the appropriate clinical presentation accompanied by the atypical radiological findings, since this clinical-radiological syndrome can often be manifested with an atypical MRI image.

Perforation of gastric cancer - What should the surgeon do?

Perforation represents a rare and severe complication of gastric cancer (GC) with a large hospital mortality (8-82%). The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical-pathological features in patients with perforated gastric cancer (PGC) and to advise the surgical treatment options. A total of 11 patients with PGC were retrospectively reviewed among 376 consecutive cases of GC operated. The clinical-pathological features including tumor stage, survival, and the type of treatment were observed. The perforation was more frequent in stage III (8 patients) and in stage IV (3 patients), but none of the cases in stage I and II GC were observed. All the patients had serosal invasion and lymph node metastasis. Limited lymphadenectomy (D0, D1) was performed in 5 patients, and extended lymphadenectomy (D2, D3) in 3 patients. Emergency gastrectomy was performed in 8 (72.8%) patients, subtotal gastrectomy in 5 (45.5%), and total gastrectomy in 3 (27.2%) cases. Three (27.2%) patients were treated by simple closure with omental patch. The overall 30-day mortality rate was 46%. The survival rate was higher among the patients who underwent curative resection (75.77±68.88 days) than in those who underwent simple closure with omental patch (18.00±24.43 days). The difference between the treatments in these groups was significant (p < 0.05). PGC required surgical emergency. Curative resection improved long-term survival in the patients with potentially curable gastric malignancy. Unsuccessful outcomes after PGC could be attributed to the poor condition of the patients and the advanced disease stage.

Apparent diffusion coefficient in the evaluation of cerebral gliomas malignancy.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a key modality not only for lesion diagnosis, but also to evaluate the extension, type and grade of the tumor. Advanced MRI techniques provide physiologic information that complements the anatomic information available from conventional MRI. The aim of this study was to determine whether there is a correlation between apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps of intracranial glial tumors and histopathologic findings and whether ADCs can reliably distinguish low-grade from high-grade gliomas. METHODS: This retrospective study included 25 patients with MRI examination up to seven days before surgery, according to the standard protocol with the following sequences: T1WI, T2WI, FLAIR, DWI and post contrast T1WI. Data obtained from DW MRI were presented by measuring the value of ADC. The ADC map was determined by utilizing Diffusion-Perfusion (DP) Tools software. All the patients underwent surgical resection of the tumor. Histological diagnosis of tumors was determined according to the World Health Organization (WHO) classification. The ADC values were compared with the histopathologic findings according to the WHO criteria. RESULTS: The ADC values of astrocytomas grades I (0.000614 +/- 0.000032 mm2/s) were significantly higher (< 0.001) than the ADC values of anaplastic astrocytomas (0.000436 +/- 0.000016 mm2/s) and the ADC values of glioblastomas multiforme (0.000070 +/- 0.000008 mm2/s). The ADC values of astrocytomas grades II (0.000530 +/- 0.000114 mm2/s) were significantly higher (< 0.001) than the ADC values of anaplastic astrocytomas (0.000436 +/- 0.000016 mm2/s) and glioblastomas multiforme (0.000070 +/- 0.000008 mm2/s). The ADC values of anaplastic astrocy-omas (0.000436 +/- 0.000016 mm2/s) were significantly higher (< 0.001) than the ADC values of glioblastomas multiforme (0.000070 +/- 0.000008 mm2/s). The ADC values in the cystic part of the tumor for astrocytomas grades I (0.000775 +/- 0.000023 mm2/s) were significantly higher (< 0.001) than the ADC values of anaplastic astrocytomas (0.000119 +/- 0.000246 mm2/s) and glioblastomas multiforme (0.000076 +/- 0.000004 mm2/s). The ADC values astrocytomas grades II (0.000511 +/- 0.000421 mm2/s) were significantly higher (< 0.001) than the ADC values of glioblastomas multiforme (0.000076 +/- 0.000004 mm2/s). CONCLUSION: DWI with calculation of ADC maps can be regarded as a reliable useful diagnostic tool, which indirectly reflects the proliferation and malignancy of gliomas. The ADCs maps can both predict the results of histopathological tumor and distinguish between low- and high-grade gliomas, and provide significant information for presurgical planning, treatment and prognosis for patients with high-grade astrocytomas.