Efficacy of Dynamic Chest Radiography for Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension.

Background While current guidelines require lung ventilation-perfusion (V/Q) scanning as the first step to diagnose chronic pulmonary embolism in pulmonary hypertension (PH), its use may be limited by low availability and/or exposure to ionizing radiation. Purpose To compare the performance of dynamic chest radiography (DCR) and lung V/Q scanning for detection of chronic thromboembolic PH (CTEPH). Materials and Methods Patients with PH who underwent DCR and V/Q scanning in the supine position from December 2019 to July 2021 were retrospectively screened. The diagnosis of CTEPH was confirmed with right heart catheterization and invasive pulmonary angiography. Observer tests were conducted to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of DCR and V/Q scanning. The lungs were divided into six areas (upper, middle, and lower for both) in the anteroposterior image, and the number of lung areas with thromboembolic perfusion defects was scored. Diagnostic performance was compared between DCR and V/Q scanning using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. Agreement between the interpretation of DCR and that of V/Q scanning was assessed using the Cohen kappa coefficient and percent agreement. Results A total of 50 patients with PH were analyzed: 29 with CTEPH (mean age, 64 years ± 15 [SD]; 19 women) and 21 without CTEPH (mean age, 61 years ± 22; 14 women). The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of DCR were 97%, 86%, and 92%, respectively, and those of V/Q scanning were 100%, 86%, and 94%, respectively. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve for DCR and V/Q scanning were 0.92 (95% CI: 0.79, 0.97) and 0.93 (95% CI: 0.78, 0.98). Agreement between the consensus interpretation of DCR and that of V/Q scanning was substantial (κ = 0.79 [95% CI: 0.61, 0.96], percent agreement = 0.9 [95% CI: 0.79, 0.95]). Conclusion Dynamic chest radiography had similar efficacy to ventilation-perfusion scanning in the detection of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. © RSNA, 2022 Online supplemental material is available for this article. See also the editorial by Wandtke and Koproth-Joslin in this issue.

Diagnostic accuracy for the epileptogenic zone detection in focal epilepsy could be higher in FDG-PET/MRI than in FDG-PET/CT.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the utility of FDG-PET/MRI in patients with epilepsy by comparing the diagnostic accuracy of PET/MRI and PET/CT in epileptogenic zone (EZ) detection. METHODS: This prospective study included 31 patients (17 males, 14 females) who underwent surgical resection for EZ. All patients were first scanned using FDG-PET/CT followed immediately with FDG-PET/MRI. Two series of PET plus standalone MR images were interpreted independently by five board-certified radiologists. A 4-point visual score was used to assess image quality. Sensitivities and visual scores from both PETs and standalone MRI were compared using the McNemar test with Bonferroni correction and Dunn's multiple comparisons test. RESULTS: The EZs were confirmed histopathologically via resection as hippocampal sclerosis (n = 11, 35.5%), gliosis (n = 8, 25.8%), focal cortical dysplasia (n = 6, 19.4%), and brain tumours (n = 6, 19.4%) including cavernous haemangioma (n = 3), dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumour (n = 1), ganglioglioma (n = 1), and polymorphous low-grade neuroepithelial tumour of the young (n = 1). The sensitivity of FDG-PET/MRI was significantly higher than that of FDG-PET/CT and standalone MRI (FDG-PET/MRI vs. FDG-PET/CT vs. standalone MRI; 77.4-90.3% vs. 58.1-64.5% vs. 45.2-80.6%, p < 0.0001, respectively). The visual scores derived from FDG-PET/MRI were significantly higher than those of FDG-PET/CT, as well as standalone MRI (2.8 ± 1.2 vs. 2.0 ± 1.1 vs. 2.1 ± 1.2, p < 0.0001, respectively). Compared to FDG-PET/CT, FDG-PET/MRI increased the visual score (51.9%, increased visual scores of 2 and 3). CONCLUSIONS: The diagnostic accuracy for the EZ detection in focal epilepsy could be higher in FDG-PET/MRI than in FDG-PET/CT. KEY POINTS: • Sensitivity of FDG-PET/MRI was significantly higher than that of FDG-PET/CT and standalone MRI (FDG-PET/MRI vs. FDG-PET/CT vs. standalone MRI; 77.4-90.3% vs. 58.1-64.5% vs. 45.2-80.6%, p < 0.0001, respectively). • Visual scores derived from FDG-PET/MRI were significantly higher than those of FDG-PET/CT and standalone MRI (2.8 ± 1.2 vs. 2.0 ± 1.1 vs. 2.1 ± 1.2, p < 0.0001, respectively). • Compared to FDG-PET/CT, FDG-PET/MRI increased the visual score (51.9%, increased visual scores of 2 and 3).

Usefulness of 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography in the Diagnosis of Infective Endocarditis in Patients With Adult Congenital Heart Disease.

BACKGROUND: Infective endocarditis (IE) in patients with adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) remains a diagnostic challenge due to difficulties in detecting endocardial lesions by echocardiography. 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) has shown good diagnostic performance in prosthetic valve IE. This study aimed to assess its additional diagnostic value in ACHD-associated IE and to characterize its advantages.Methods and Results:Overall, 22 patients with ACHD and clinical suspicion of IE were retrospectively studied. 18F-FDG PET/CT was performed in addition to conventional assessment based on the modified Duke criteria. The final IE diagnosis was determined by an expert team during a 3-month clinical course, resulting in 18 patients diagnosed with IE. Seven patients (39%) were diagnosed with definite IE only by initial echocardiography. An 18F-FDG PET/CT assessment revealed endocardial involvement in the other 9 patients, resulting in the diagnosis of definite IE in 16 in total (88%). Right-sided endocardial lesions were more common (n=12, 67%) but rarely identified by echocardiography, whereas 18F-FDG PET/CT revealed right-sided lesions in 9 patients. A negative 18F-FDG PET/CT (n=7, 39%) assessment was associated with a native valve IE (71% vs. 0%). In 4 patients who were identified with not-IE, neither echocardiography nor 18F-FDG PET/CT detected any suspicious cardiac involvement. CONCLUSIONS: In the diagnosis of ACHD-associated IE, characterized by right-sided IE, 18F-FDG PET/CT assessment should be useful.

The Antimicrobial Activity of Multipurpose Disinfecting Solutions in the Presence of Different Organic Soils.

OBJECTIVE: During use, contact lens disinfecting solutions are exposed to tears and clinical microbial isolates. The current study was designed to test the performance of several disinfecting solution in the presence of organic soils or clinical isolates. METHODS: Standard and clinical isolates were exposed to the disinfecting solutions in the presence or absence of different organic soils. The number of microbial cells killed during disinfection was established by growing cells after disinfection on agar plates. RESULTS: The disinfecting activity of the povidone-iodine or hydrogen peroxide solutions was not affected by the organic soils or clinical isolates. The presence of yeast organic soil did not affect the performance of the disinfecting solutions when tested with standard microbial strains, but the addition of a model tear organic soil significantly reduced the disinfecting activity of the solutions containing various combinations of polyhexamethylene biguanide, polyquaternium-1, alexidine, and myristamindopropyl dimethylamine especially when tested against the standard fungal strains (reducing the effectiveness by between 0.5-4 log10) or the clinical bacterial isolates (reducing the effectiveness by between 0.5-3.5 log10). One disinfecting solution that contained polyquaternium-1 and myristamindopropyl dimethylamine had very poor activity against the clinical bacterial isolates in the absence or presence of either organic soil. CONCLUSIONS: Povidone-iodine or hydrogen peroxide disinfecting solutions are not affected by organic soils and are very active against clinical bacterial isolates. Disinfecting solutions containing combinations of polyhexamethylene biguanide, polyquaternium-1, alexidine, and myristamindopropyl dimethylamine are affected by model tear organic soil and may have poor activity against clinical isolates.

Diagnostic utility of intravoxel incoherent motion mr imaging in differentiating primary central nervous system lymphoma from glioblastoma multiforme.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) MR imaging and 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) in differentiating primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) from glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty patients, 17 with PCNSL and 33 with GBM, were retrospectively studied. From the 3 Tesla IVIM data, the perfusion fraction (f) and diffusion coefficient (D) were obtained. In addition, the maximum standard uptake value (SUVmax ) was obtained from the FDG-PET data. Each of the three parameters was compared between PCNSL and GBM using Mann-Whitney U-test. The performance in discriminating between PCNSL and GBM was evaluated using receiver-operating characteristics analysis and area-under-the-curve (AUC) values for the three parameters. RESULTS: The fmax and Dmin values were significantly higher in GBM than in PCNSL (P < 0.01 and P < 0.0001, respectively). In addition, the SUVmax value was significantly lower in GBM than in PCNSL (P < 0.0005). The AUC values for fmax , Dmin , and SUVmax were 0.756, 0.905, and 0.857, respectively. The combination of the fmax and Dmin increased the diagnostic performance (AUC = 0.936) of fmax (P < 0.05), but this value was not significantly different from the values for Dmin (P = 0.30). CONCLUSION: IVIM-MR imaging noninvasively provides useful quantitative information in distinguishing between PCNSL and GBM. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2016;44:1256-1261.

Dynamic chest radiography for pulmonary vascular diseases: clinical applications and correlation with other imaging modalities.

Dynamic chest radiography (DCR) is a novel functional radiographic imaging technique that can be used to visualize pulmonary perfusion without using contrast media. Although it has many advantages and clinical utility, most radiologists are unfamiliar with this technique because of its novelty. This review aims to (1) explain the basic principles of lung perfusion assessment using DCR, (2) discuss the advantages of DCR over other imaging modalities, and (3) review multiple specific clinical applications of DCR for pulmonary vascular diseases and compare them with other imaging modalities.

Thyroglobulin immunoassay with a fully automated pretreatment process provides accurate thyroglobulin values in anti-thyroglobulin antibody positive specimens.

OBJECTIVES: Human thyroglobulin (Tg) is widely used as a tumor marker for recurrence and metastasis of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). Currently, serum Tg values are measured using second-generation sandwich immunoassays (2nd-IMA). However, interference by endogenous autoantibodies to thyroglobulin (TgAbs) can lead to false-negative results or falsely low Tg values. Here, we describe a new Tg assay using the immunoassay for total antigen including complex via pretreatment (iTACT) method to prevent TgAb interference and compare it with 2nd-IMA. METHODS: Tg values were evaluated by three assays: iTACT Tg, Elecsys Tg-II, which is a 2nd-IMA, and LC-MS/MS (Liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry). The ratio of Tg values between each assay was then compared to the Tg value by LC-MS/MS and TgAb titer. Tg immunoreactivity was analyzed by size-exclusion chromatography. RESULTS: Correlation between iTACT Tg and LC-MS/MS using TgAb-positive specimens was good: Passing-Bablok regression with iTACT Tg = 1.084 × LC-MS/MS + 0.831. Correlation between 2nd-IMA and LC-MS/MS showed a relatively lower slope: 2nd-IMA = 0.747 × LC-MS/MS - 0.518. Thus, Tg values determined by iTACT Tg are equivalent to those of LC-MS/MS regardless of TgAb titer, whereas 2nd-IMA gave lower Tg values due to TgAb interference. Tg-TgAb complexes of various molecular weights were verified by size-exclusion chromatography. Tg values measured by 2nd-IMA fluctuated depending on the molecular weight of the Tg-TgAb complexes, whereas iTACT Tg accurately quantified Tg values regardless of the size of the Tg-TgAb complexes. CONCLUSION: Tg values in TgAb-positive specimens were accurately determined by iTACT Tg. TgAb-positive specimens contain Tg-TgAb complexes of various molecular weights that interfere with Tg value determination by 2nd-IMA, whereas iTACT Tg is unaffected by the presence of Tg-TgAb complexes.

Correlation Between Contrast-Detail Analysis and Clinical Image Quality Assessment of Intrapulmonary Lesions in Dual-Energy Subtraction Chest Radiography Using the Two-Shot Method: A Phantom Study.

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: Dual-energy subtraction (DES) imaging constitutes a technique that has demonstrated efficacy in enhancing the detectability of pulmonary nodules on chest radiographs. However, a simple and quantitative methodology for evaluating the clinical image quality of DES images is currently lacking. The objective of this study was to investigate the applicability of contrast-detail (C-D) phantom analysis to the visual clinical image quality evaluation of chest DES images. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We employed a custom-made phantom incorporating the C-D phantom and a multipurpose anthropomorphic adult chest phantom. Two phantom sizes were utilized to simulate standard- and large-bodied adult patients for each phantom. The custom-made phantom images were scored automatically using dedicated software, yielding an inverse image quality figure (IQFinv) value. The multipurpose anthropomorphic adult chest phantom was employed in a visual grading analysis (VGA) study that was conducted by two experienced radiologists and five radiological technologists. Each nodule placed in the chest phantom image was rated on a 4-point Likert scale. RESULTS: A statistically significant correlation was observed between the VGA scores of the seven observers and the obtained IQFinv values. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study suggest that DES image analysis of the C-D phantom possesses the potential to be utilized for the evaluation of clinical DES image quality based on chest lesion detectability.

Utility of FDG PET at the Initial Radioiodine Therapy in Differentiated Thyroid Cancer.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) has a good prognosis, except in the case of patients with radioiodine therapy (RIT)-refractory cancer. However, since DTC is essentially a slowly progressing cancer, it is usually judged to be a DTC with a poor prognosis after multiple RITs and yearly follow-up with echo, computed tomography (CT), and serum thyroglobulin values. This study investigated whether fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/CT (FDG PET/CT) combined with initial RIT could identify early-stage patients with poor prognosis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We evaluated 100 patients with high-risk DTC who underwent total thyroidectomy and received RIT at our institution. We analyzed the clinical outcomes of patients and 18F-FDG accumulation using univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression models. RESULTS: The 10-year overall survival (OS) was 87.9%, with no significant difference in OS between 18F-FDG accumulation at pre-total or near-total thyroidectomy (NTT) (p=0.180) and 131I accumulation at initial RIT (p=0.577). However, 18F-FDG positive patients had a significantly worse prognosis than negative patients (p=0.005) at initial RIT. CONCLUSION: 18F-FDG PET/CT plays an important role in both the diagnosis and prognostic prediction of RIT refractory disease in DTC patients. 18F-FDG PET/CT can be a useful tool particularly at the time of initial RIT since the 18F-FDG accumulation enables the screening of high-risk DTC with poor prognosis at a very early time stage.

Is the image quality of conventional chest radiography obtained from a two-layer flat panel detector affected by the internal structure of the detector?

PURPOSE: Recently developed and commercialized dual-layer flat panel detectors (DL-FPDs) with two indirect scintillators are capable of acquiring dual-energy X-ray images. However, in clinical practice, they are utilized to perform conventional radiography using diagnostic X-rays with a wide energy spectrum. The two layers of the DL-FPD may affect the obtained image quality, even when only using one layer for conventional image acquisition, and these effects are yet to be substantiated. Therefore, in this study, we quantitatively evaluated the image quality of a conventional chest radiography using DL-FPD and visually verified the characteristics of the chest anthropomorphic phantom images. METHODS: The physical characteristics of the system were evaluated using the pre-sampled modulation transfer function (MTF), normalized noise power spectrum (NNPS), and detective quantum efficiency (DQE), for beam quality RQA 7 and RQA 9. In addition, the subjective visibility of the anthropomorphic chest phantom and simple objects images were compared with those of a conventional single-layer flat-panel detector (SL-FPD). RESULTS: No significant differences were found in the MTF between the SL-FPD and DL-FPD images. In addition, a higher DQE was observed at some exposure doses and in the high spatial frequency regions wherein NNPSs were lower for DL-FPD than for SL-FPD. Furthermore, no significant differences were found in the subjective visibility of the chest phantoms in each system. CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that the image quality of the conventional radiography acquired with DL-FPD is comparable to or better than that of the SL-FPD.

Usefulness of semi-quantitative analysis in 123I metaiodobenzylguanidine SPECT/CT for the differentiation of pheochromocytoma and cortical adenoma.

OBJECTIVE: 123I metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) scintigraphy is a useful tool for the diagnosis of pheochromocytomas (PHEOs), but some PHEOs are difficult to differentiate from cortical adenoma (CA) or normal adrenal uptake by visual evaluation alone. A new semi-quantitative analysis using 123I MIBG SPECT/CT is thus expected. Herein, we introduce the tumor-to-liver count ratio (T/L) and the tumor-to-muscle count ratio (T/M). METHODS: We examined the cases of 21 patients with PHEOs (10 males, 11 females; age 24-80, median 61 years) and 23 patients with CA (15 males and 8 females, age 30-78, median 58 years). The visual scoring based on 123I MIBG planar images (planar score) and SPECT images (SPECT score) was used as the conventional evaluation. Using 123I MIBG SPECT/CT findings, we calculated the semi-quantitative values of the count ratio using the maximum or mean count of the tumor and the liver or muscle as the reference organ (T/Lmax, T/Lmean, T/Mmax and T/Mmean). Each evaluation of the PHEOs and CAs was compared, and the diagnosing performance was evaluated based on an ROC analysis. RESULTS: The area under curve (AUC) values were as follows: the planar score, 0.833; SPECT score, 0.813; T/Lmax, 0.986; T/Lmean, 0.975; T/Mmax, 0.955; and T/Mmean, 0.933. The AUC for T/Mmax was significantly higher than those of the planar score, and SPECT score by ROC analysis (p < 0.01 each). CONCLUSION: The semi-quantitative value of 123I MIBG SPECT/CT is more useful than the conventional visual evaluation for differentiating PHEOs from CAs.

Impact of Nuclear Factor Erythroid 2-Related Factor 2 in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Cancer Metabolism and Immune Status.

We examined phosphorylated nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (P-NRF2) expression in surgically resected primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and investigated the association of P-NRF2 expression with clinicopathological features and patient outcome. We also evaluated the relationship among NRF2, cancer metabolism, and programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression. In this retrospective study, immunohistochemical staining of P-NRF2 was performed on the samples of 335 patients who underwent hepatic resection for HCC. Tomography/computed tomography using fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose was performed, and HCC cell lines after NRF2 knockdown were analyzed by array. We also analyzed the expression of PD-L1 after hypoxia inducible factor 1α (HIF1A) knockdown in NRF2-overexpressing HCC cell lines. Samples from 121 patients (36.1%) were positive for P-NRF2. Positive P-NRF2 expression was significantly associated with high alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) expression, a high rate of poor differentiation, and microscopic intrahepatic metastasis. In addition, positive P-NRF2 expression was an independent predictor for recurrence-free survival and overall survival. NRF2 regulated glucose transporter 1, hexokinase 2, pyruvate kinase isoenzymes L/R, and phosphoglycerate kinase 1 expression and was related to the maximum standardized uptake value. PD-L1 protein expression levels were increased through hypoxia-inducible factor 1α after NRF2 overexpression in HCC cells. Conclusions: Our large cohort study revealed that P-NRF2 expression in cancer cells was associated with clinical outcome in HCC. Additionally, we found that NRF2 was located upstream of cancer metabolism and tumor immunity.

Effects of hesperidin on the progression of hypercholesterolemia and fatty liver induced by high-cholesterol diet in rats.

The protective effects of hesperidin against hypercholesterolemia and fatty liver were examined in male Wistar rats fed a high-cholesterol diet for 12 weeks. Compared with a standard diet, a high-cholesterol diet not only increased body weights, liver weights, and serum concentration of cholesterol, but also induced the fatty degeneration (steatosis) of liver. Hesperidin (0.08%) reduced levels of hepatic steatosis, adipose tissue and liver weights (P < 0.05), serum total cholesterol and retinol binding protein (RBP) 4 concentrations (P < 0.05) in rats fed with high-cholesterol diet, while reduction in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels and triglyceride concentrations was not significant. It also attenuated the marked changes in mRNA expression of lipid metabolism-related proteins: RBP, heart fatty acid-binding protein (H-FABP), and cutaneous fatty acid-binding protein (C-FABP), in liver and adipose tissue. According to the results of gas chromatography, serum concentrations of total cholesterol and biomarkers of cholesterol synthesis (lathosterol) and absorption (campesterol, ß-sitosterol) were lower, and concentrations of cholesterol in feces were higher in the rats given hesperidin (P < 0.05). Hesperidin may improve hypercholesterolemia and fatty liver by inhibiting both the synthesis and absorption of cholesterol and regulating the expression of mRNA for RBP, C-FABP, and H-FABP.

A Novel Thyroglobulin Immunoassay Using the Specimen-Pretreatment Process Improves the Accuracy of Thyroglobulin Measurements in Anti-Thyroglobulin Positive Specimens.

BACKGROUND: Recently, second-generation thyroglobulin (Tg) sandwich immunoassays have been used in clinical laboratories to measure the serum Tg levels, which is a tumor marker used to monitor postoperative patients with differentiated thyroid cancers. However, these immunoassays are often subject to Tg autoantibody (TgAb) interference. TgAb interference is inevitable for almost all Tg immunoassays, resulting in unreliable Tg measurement values of TgAb-positive samples. METHODS: To address TgAb interference, we have developed a novel immunoassay based on a fully automated chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay system using the effective specimen-pretreatment process to inactivate TgAb in blood and evaluated its assay performance. RESULTS: The developed assay was traceable to BCR457 IRMM reference material with a limit of quantification of 0.03 ng/mL. The pretreatment process inactivated almost all TgAb in specimens and allowed accurate Tg measurements in TgAb-positive samples in which TgAb interference was observed using the immunoassays. Size-exclusion chromatography analysis of immunoreactive Tg molecule in a TgAb-positive serum verified disruption of the Tg-TgAb immune complex by the pretreatment process. Good correlation of Tg values in TgAb-negative specimens was observed between the new Tg immunoassay and the second-generation sandwich immunoassays. However, there were numerous discrepant samples on bias plots between the new Tg immunoassay and the second-generation sandwich immunoassays for TgAb-positive specimens. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates the new Tg immunoassay with the specimen-pretreatment process is both robust and free from interference by TgAb. Thus, this novel assay is superior to second-generation sandwich immunoassays and gives accurate Tg concentrations even for TgAb-positive cases.

The efficacy of povidone-iodine, hydrogen peroxide and a chemical multipurpose contact lens care system against Pseudomonas aeruginosa on various lens case surfaces.

PURPOSE: To determine the antimicrobial efficacy of a povidone-iodine system (PVP-I; cleadew, OPHTECS Corporation, Kobe, Japan), a peroxide system (AOSEPT Plus with HydraGlyde, Alcon, Fort Worth, TX), and a chemical multipurpose system (renu fresh, Bausch & Lomb, Rochester, NY) on contact lens case surfaces that are both in contact and not in contact with the solutions during lens disinfection. METHODS: The surfaces of the inner walls, underside of the lid, and lens holder (if applicable) of the cases were inoculated with P. aeruginosa ATCC 27853. The cases were disinfected with the solutions as per their manufacturer instructions. After disinfection, the inoculated surfaces were swabbed and the amount of surviving P. aeruginosa was determined. Following this experiment, separate cases were inoculated and disinfected as before. This time the cases were agitated after recommended disinfection time and the amount of P. aeruginosa in the disinfecting solution was quantified immediately, and again after resting for 7 days. Experiments were conducted in triplicate (n = 3). RESULTS: Units are expressed in log CFU. All three solutions significantly reduced P. aeruginosa on direct-contact surfaces (all p < 0.039). On non-contact surfaces, the reduction of P. aeruginosa in the PVP-I system (pre-disinfection: 6.8 ± 0.5, post-disinfection: 1.0 ± 0.0; p < 0.001) was significant, but not for the hydrogen peroxide system (pre-disinfection: 6.3 ± 0.6, post: 5.5 ± 0.5; p = 0.194) and the chemical multipurpose system (pre-disinfection: 6.6 ± 0.1, post-disinfection: 5.6 ± 0.8; p = 0.336). After 7 days post-disinfection, no P. aeruginosa regrowth was observed in the PVP-I system (Day 1: 1.0 ± 0.0, Day 7: 1.0 ± 0.0; p = 1) and the chemical multipurpose system (Day 1: 4.2 ± 0.2, Day 7: 1.8 ± 0.9; p = 0.012), however regrowth was observed in the hydrogen peroxide system (Day 1: 3.4 ± 0.6, Day 7: 6.1 ± 0.4; p = 0.003). CONCLUSION: The PVP-I system was more effective against P. aeruginosa on non-contact surfaces than the hydrogen peroxide system or the chemical multipurpose system and is capable of inhibiting regrowth of P. aeruginosa for at least 7 days post-disinfection.

123I metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) uptake predicts early relapse of neuroblastoma using semi-quantitative SPECT/CT analysis.

OBJECTIVE: 123I metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) scintigraphy is a useful tool for the diagnosis of neuroblastoma (NB). MIBG uptake is correlated with norepinephrine transporter expression; hence, it is expected that high-MIBG tumors would be more highly differentiated and have a better prognosis than those with lower expression. We have introduced a method of assessing MIBG accumulation semi-quantitatively using SPECT/CT fusion images. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship of 123I MIBG uptake measured by semi-quantitative values of SPECT/CT and early relapse of NB. METHODS: We studied the cases of 11 patients (5 males and 6 females, age 5-65 months, median age 20 months) with histopathologically proven NB between April 2010 and March 2015. The early-relapse group was defined as patients who had relapsed within 3 years after the first 123I MIBG SPECT/CT exam. Other patients were classified as the delay-relapse group. Uptake of MIBG was evaluated using the count ratio of tumor and muscles. T/Mmax and T/Mmean were defined as follows: T/Mmax = max count of tumor/max count of muscle, T/Mmean = mean count of tumor/mean count of muscle. RESULTS: The average T/Mmean values of the early-relapse group and delay-relapse group were 2.65 ± 0.58 and 7.66 ± 2.68, respectively. The T/Mmean values of the early-relapse group were significantly lower than those of delay-relapse group (p < 0.05). The average T/Mmax of the early-relapse group and delay-relapse group were 8.86 ± 3.22 and 16.20 ± 1.97, respectively. There was no significant difference in T/Mmax values between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Low 123I MIBG uptake using semi-quantitative SPECT/CT analysis was correlated with early relapse of NB.

Impact of Metabolic Activity in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Association With Immune Status and Vascular Formation.

We evaluated the prognostic value of fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Their association with programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression and vascular formation was further investigated. In this retrospective study, using a database of 418 patients who had undergone 18F-FDG PET/CT before hepatic resection for HCC, immunohistochemical staining of PD-L1, clusters of differentiation (CD) 8, CD68, and CD34 was performed. Patients with a high maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) on 18F-FDG PET/CT showed a significantly worse recurrence-free survival (RFS) (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.500; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.088-2.069; P = 0.0133) and overall survival (OS) (HR: 2.259; 95% CI: 1.276-4.000; P = 0.0052) than patients with a low SUVmax. Logistic regression analysis showed that a high SUVmax in HCC was significantly associated with PD-L1-positive expression (odds ratio: 4.407; 95% CI: 2.265-8.575; P < 0.0001). SUVmax values of HCC were associated with intratumoral CD8-positive T-cell counts (P = 0.0044) and CD68-positive macrophage counts (P = 0.0061). Stratification based on SUVmax, PD-L1 expression, and the vessels that encapsulate tumor clusters (VETC) status was also significantly associated with RFS and OS. SUVmax, VETC, and PDL1 expression were independently predictive of survival on multivariable analysis. Conclusion: Our large cohort study showed that a high SUVmax on 18F-FDG PET/CT is associated with a poor clinical outcome and PD-L1 expression in patients with HCC. Additionally, stratification of patients based on the combination of SUVmax, PD-L1 expression, and the VETC status predicts poor clinical outcome.

Obesity is a risk factor for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma progression associated with alterations of metabolic activity and immune status.

Body mass index (BMI) is well known to be associated with poor prognosis in several cancers. The relationship between BMI and the long-term outcomes of patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is incompletely understood. This study investigated the relationships of BMI with clinicopathological characteristics and patient outcomes, focusing on metabolic activity and immune status. The relationship between BMI and the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) on fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) was analyzed. In addition, immunohistochemistry was performed for programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), cluster of differentiation 8 (CD8), and forkhead box protein P3 (Foxp3). Seventy-four patients with ICC were classified into normal weight (BMI < 25.0 kg/m2, n = 48) and obesity groups (BMI ≥ 25.0 kg/m2, n = 26), respectively. Serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9 levels were higher in the obesity group than in the normal weight group. Tumor size and the intrahepatic metastasis rate were significantly larger in the obesity group. Patients in the obesity group had significantly worse prognoses than those in the normal weight group. Moreover, BMI displayed a positive correlation with SUVmax on 18F-FDG PET/CT (n = 46, r = 0.5152). Patients with high 18F-FDG uptake had a significantly higher rate of PD-L1 expression, lower CD8 + tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) counts, and higher Foxp3 + TIL counts. The elevated BMI might predict the outcomes of patients with ICC. Obesity might be associated with ICC progression, possibly through alterations in metabolic activity and the immune status.

The Efficiency of Respiratory-gated 18F-FDG PET/CT in Lung Adenocarcinoma: Amplitude-gating Versus Phase-gating Methods.

OBJECTIVES: In positron emission tomography (PET) studies, thoracic movement under free-breathing conditions is a cause of image degradation. Respiratory gating (RG) is commonly used to solve this problem. Two different methods, i.e., phase-gating (PG) and amplitude-gating (AG) PET, are available for respiratory gating. It is important to know the strengths and weaknesses of both methods when selecting an RG method for a given patient. We conducted this study to clarify whether AG or PG is preferable for measuring fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) accumulation in lung adenocarcinoma and to investigate patient conditions which are most suitable for AG and PG methods. METHODS: A total of 31 patients (11 males, 20 females; average age: 70.1±11.6 yrs) with 44 lung lesions, diagnosed as lung adenocarcinoma between April 2012 and March 2013, were investigated. Whole-body FDG-PET/CT scan was performed with both PG and AG methods in all patients. The maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of PG, AG, and the control data of these two methods were measured, and the increase ratio (IR), calculated as IR(%)= (Post - Pre)/Pre × 100, was calculated. The diameter and position of lung lesions were also analyzed. We defined an 'effective lesion' of PG (or AG) as a lesion which showed a higher IR compared to AG (or PG). 8 (25.8%). RESULTS: The average SUVmax and average IR were 8.99±7.94 and %21.4±25.6 in PG and 7.60±6.70 and %4.0±14.4 in AG, respectively. Although there was no significant difference between the average SUVmax of PG and AG (P=0.09), the average IR of PG was significantly higher than that of AG (P<0.01). The number of PG- and AG-effective lesions was 32 (72.7%) and 12 (28.3%), respectively. There was no significant difference in the average diameter or position of the lesions between the PG- and AG-effective lesions. There were 23 (74.2%) PG-effective and 8 (25.8%) AG-effective patients. No significant difference was observed in sex or age between PG- and AG-effective patients. CONCLUSION: The PG method was more effective for measuring FDG accumulation of lung lesions under free-breathing conditions in comparison with the AG method.