Diagnostic and Practical Value of Abbreviated Contrast Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Breast Cancer Diagnostics.

BACKGROUND: Although MRI is the most efficient method of detecting breast cancer, its standard protocol is time-consuming and expensive. The objective of this study was to compare the diagnostic accuracy of the modified innovative abbreviated MRI protocol (AMRP) and the standard magnetic resonance protocol (SMRP) when detecting breast cancer. METHODS: The research involved 477 patients referred for breast MRI due to suspected lesions. They were randomly assigned to the AMRP group (N = 232) or the SMRP group (N = 245). The AMRP comprised one native (contrast-free) and four post-contrast dynamic sequences of T1-weighted volume imaging for breast assessment (VIBRANT) and 3d MIP (maximum intensity projection) lasting for eight minutes. All the patients underwent a core biopsy of their lesions and histopathological analysis. RESULTS: The groups were comparable regarding the pre-screening and post-diagnostic characteristics and were of average (±SD) age at breast cancer diagnosis of 53.6 ± 12.7 years. There was no significant difference between the two protocols in terms of specificity or sensitivity of breast cancer diagnosis. The sensitivity (95% Cis) of the AMRP was 99.05% (96.6-99.9%), and its specificity was 59.09% (36.4-79.3%), whereas the sensitivity of the SMRP was 98.12% (95.3-99.5%) and its specificity was 68.75% (50.0-83.9%). Most of the tumors comprised one solid lesion in one of the breasts (77.3%), followed by multicentric tumors (16%), bilateral tumors (4.3%), and multifocal tumors (1.7%). The average size of tumors was approximately 14 mm (ranging from 3 mm to 72 mm). CONCLUSION: Our innovative AMR protocol showed comparable specificity and sensitivity for the diagnosis of breast cancer when compared to SMRP, which is the "gold standard" for histopathological diagnosis. This can lead to great savings in terms of the time and cost of imaging and interpretation.

The Value of Hormone Receptor Assessment in Ultrasound Guided Core Needle Biopsy of the Breast.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in Western countries after skin tumors. Successful treatment depends on many factors, relies on clinical examination, diagnostic procedures, pathologic evaluation, and good therapy decision. The Pathologic diagnosis should be the determining factor in the decision on therapeutic approach. There are several methods of obtaining tissue samples. The percutaneous ultrasound guided breast Core needle biopsy (CNB) is one of them. The Aim of this Study is to evaluate our experience in the accuracy of hormone receptors assessment in ultrasound guided CNB. In our institution, in last 12 month 60 women (with 67 lesions) underwent Breast CNB. The CNB was performed with 16 Gauge semiautomatic biopsy needle with 15 Gauge coordinated introducer needle. 3-6 specimen (mean 4) were taken during the procedure. We analyzed five factors (histological type, histological grade, estrogen and progesterone receptor status, and HER2 from the biopsied sample. All results were presented at the Multidisciplinary Oncology Team. In addition to demographic data and morphological features of the lesion, we analyzed five pathological factors (histological type, histological grade, estrogen and progesterone receptor status, and HER2 from the biopsied sample. All results were presented at the Multidisciplinary Oncology Team. Ultrasound-guided CNB has proven to be a reliable technique for performing a biopsy for breast. It is a good and reliable, complication free method, for preoperative staging, operative planning as well for prognostic value. It is a cost-effective method, can be performed quickly and in outpatient population, does not deform the breast and multiple lesions can be biopsied. This technique shows a high sensitivity value and offers many advantages over other imaging methods to guide a biopsy. All advantages have made this technique the most widespread used technique to perform a biopsy for a suspicious breast lesion.

Higher serum triglyceride level in patients with acute ischemic stroke is associated with lower infarct volume on CT brain scans.

We investigated the relationship between serum triglyceride level and acute ischemic stroke severity using infarct volume on CT brain scans as a marker. A total of 121 consecutive acute ischemic stroke patients (53 males and 68 females, age 47-93 years) with anterior circulation (75%), posterior circulation (9%) or lacunar infarcts (16%) were examined. All patients were admitted within 24 h of the symptom onset, and CT scans were taken over the subsequent 24-72 h. With adjustment for the infarct type, age, sex, timing of CT imaging (24-36, >36-48 or >48-72 h since admission), atrial fibrillation, hypertension, fasting cholesterol and glucose levels, a higher (> or =1.70 mmol/l) fasting serum triglyceride level (within 24 h after admission) was associated with a lower infarct volume (p = 0.014). In line with a recent report on milder clinical symptoms in acute ischemic stroke patients with higher triglycerides, the results suggest an independent association between serum triglyceride level and stroke severity.