Comparison of MUSE-DWI and conventional DWI in the application of invasive breast cancer and malignancy grade prediction: A comparative study.

Objective: To compare MUSE-DWI with conventional DWI in assessing lesions of invasive breast cancer and evaluating the ADC values for preoperative histological grading. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 63 lesions confirmed as invasive breast cancer by surgical or biopsy pathology. Preoperatively, all patients underwent MUSE-DWI, conventional DWI, and dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) scans. Two radiologists with over 5 years of experience (intermediate and senior levels, respectively) subjectively evaluated the images for clarity, image artifacts, and distortion. Objective evaluation included signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of lesions and fibrous tissue, as well as the ADC values of both imaging techniques. Due to the limited number of cases classified as grade I and the insignificant difference in disease-specific survival and recurrence scores between grades I and II tumors, grades I and II were grouped as low-grade, while grade III was classified as high-grade. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to evaluate the efficacy of ADC values in preoperatively predicting the grading of invasive breast cancer. Results: The SNR and subjective quality scores of MUSE-DWI images were significantly higher than those of conventional DWI (p < 0.05). For the same case, the ADC values of MUSE-DWI were lower than those of conventional DWI. The AUC values for predicting the grading of invasive breast cancer were 0.849 for MUSE-DWI and 0.801 for conventional DWI. Conclusion: Compared to conventional DWI, MUSE-DWI significantly reduces artifacts and distortions, greatly improving image quality. Moreover, MUSE-DWI demonstrates higher diagnostic efficacy for preoperative histological grading of invasive breast cancer.

Primary cervical meningeal melanocytoma with a dumbbell shape: Case report and review of the literature.

RATIONALE: Meningeal melanocytoma is a rare benign pigmented tumor originat from leptomeningeal melanocytes. Here, we report the case of a female who presented with numbness and weakness of the limbs for approximately 6 months. PATIENT CONCERNS: We report the case of a 60-year-old Chinese female who presented with numbness and weakness of the limbs for approximately 6 months. computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a dumbbell-shaped tumor inside and outside the cervical (C) spinal canal. DIAGNOSES: The patient was using CT and MRI. Subsequently, the patient underwent surgery, and low-grade melanocytoma was diagnosed pathologically. INTERVENTIONS: Subsequently, the patient underwent a surgery, and the tumor was completely removed. OUTCOMES: The tumor did not recur after 6 months. CONCLUSION: This case suggested 2 "take-away" lessons: first, spinal meningeal melanocytomas may be dumbbell-shaped; and second, melanocytoma could appear as hyperintense, isointense, or hypointense on T2-weighted MRI.

Bone Metastases of Glioblastoma: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

BACKGROUND: Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common primary intracranial tumor and originates from the small pool of adult neural stem and progenitor cells (NSPCs). According to the World Health Organization (WHO) classification of brain tumors, gliomas are classified into grades I-IV, and GBM is defined as the highest grade (IV). GBM can be disseminated by cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), but extracranial metastasis is rare. Additionally, the pathway and mechanism involved remain unclear. CASE PRESENTATION: We report a rare case of left temporal lobe GBM with multiple bone metastases and soft tissue metastasis. This 49-year-old right-handed man who was diagnosed with GBM underwent surgery on May 9, 2017, followed by radiochemotherapy in June 2017. On August 13, 2019, local relapse was found. Then, the patient received a second surgery but not radiochemotherapy. In November 2019, the patient was reported to be suffering from low back pain for nearly 1 month. On December 6, 2019, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the thoracolumbar vertebrae and abdominal computed tomography (CT) confirmed metastases on the ninth posterior rib on the right, the third anterior rib on the left, and the T7 and T10 vertebrae and their appendages. CT-guided rib space-occupying puncture biopsy was performed, and GBM was identified by pathology. CONCLUSION: We should pay attention to extracranial metastasis of GBM. Timely detection and early treatment improve overall quality of patients' life. The extracranial metastasis in this patient may have occurred through the spinal nerve root or intercostal nerve. Further clinical observations are required to clarify the pathway and mechanism involved.

Investigation of 3D reduced field of view carotid atherosclerotic plaque imaging.

To investigate the feasibility of using CUBE based reduced field of view imaging in atherosclerotic plaque imaging. Twenty-four patients were enrolled in this prospective study (13 males, 11 females, age 63±10). All patients underwent MRI exams consisting of 3D TOF, MPRAGE, iMSDE, DANTE, full FOV and reduced FOV CUBE imaging; 18 patients under went contrast enhanced imaging. The resulting images from different imaging sequences were assessed in terms of blood suppression, SNR, motion artifacts and vascular clarity. Reduced field of view CUBE outperformed MPRAGE, iMSDE and full FOV CUBE in blood suppression (P<0.05); outperformed MPRAGE, iMSDE and DANTE in SNR(P<005); outperformed MPRAGE and iMSDE in motion artifacts (P<005); outperformed MPRAGE and iMSDE in vascular clarity (P<0.05). The identifications of hemorrhage and calcification components were consistent between full FOV CUBE and reduced FOV CUBE (P<0.05). Overall, CUBE combined with reduced field of view imaging would be a promising method in atherosclerotic plaque imaging.

The effects of O-GlcNAc alteration on Alzheimer-like neurodegeneration in SK-N-SH cells.

BACKGROUND: O-GlcNAcylation is a highly dynamic post-translational modification that plays a key role in regulating phosphorylation of protein and cell survival. The proteins O-GlcNAcylation level is regulated dynamically by O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) and ß-N-acetylglucosaminidase (O-GlcNAcase, OGA). Although previous studies have suggested the role of O-GlcNAcylation in neurodegenerative diseases, the mechanism of O-GlcNAcylation in Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains unclear. METHODS: The decrease of O-GlcNAcylation by alloxan, an OGT inhibitor, and increase by NAG-thiazolines (NAG-Ae), an O-GlcNAcase inhibitor were tested to investigate the effects of O-GlcNAc alteration on AD like neurodegeneration in SK-N-SH cells. RESULTS: The level of O-GlcNAcylation was decreased in alloxan treated cells and increased in NAG-Ae treated cells. Meanwhile, it was observed that both abnormal phosphorylation of NFs in cell bodies and apoptosis induced by alloxan treatment can be resisted by pretreatment or simultaneous treatment with appropriate NAG-Ae. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrated that increasing O-GlcNAc with NAG-Ae protected AD like neurodegeneration from NFs hyperphosphorylation and the cell loss, suggesting the role of O-GlcNAc in the pathogenesis and therapy of AD.