[The Correlation of Fast-track Extubation Ultrasound Score and Clinical Multi-organ Information Indicators of Postoperative of Cardiac Surgery].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the correlation of Fast-track extubation ultrasound score (FTEUS) and clinical multi-organ information indicators in post-cardiac surgery patients. METHODS: prospectively recruit post-cardiac surgery patients who were about to extubating from Febuary 2019 to September 2019. A fast-track extubation ultrasound score protocol (FTE-USP) was developed on the basis of the conventional fast-track extubation standard precisely and individualized. Cardiac, pulmonary and inferior vena cava ultrasound examinations were performed by specially trained observers, video data were saved, FTE-USP was used for scoring, Kendall consistency coefficient was used to meature the interobserver consistency. The correlation between the FTEUS and the patients' clinical indicators was evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 207 patients were recruited in the study, including 89 males and 118 females, aged (54.63±11.80) years. The FTEUS was performed at bedside with a mean time of (8.23±2.08) min, Kendall consistency coefficient is 0.941. With the increase of the total score of FTEUS, the incidence of clinical adverse events increased (especially the arrhythmia), and there were significant changes in liver, kidney, heart, lung and other organ function indicators, among which serum creatinine level, serum cystatin C level, serum NT-pro-brain natriuretic peptide, length of stay in intensive care unit, non-invasive mechanical ventilation time after extubation, and incidence of arrhythmia were positively correlated with FTEUS (P < 0.05).With FTEUS increased to 5 points, the incidence of arrhythmia (14/24, 58.3%), cardiopulmonary resuscitation (2/24, 8.3%) and weaning failure (2/24, 8.3%) increased. CONCLUSION: FTE-USP integrates multi-organ informations, can be performed quickly at the bedside and alerts adverse events. It has the potential to be applied to assist clinical decision-making in post-cardiac surgery patients before extubation.

Radiofrequency ablation using a 10-mm target margin for small hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with liver cirrhosis: A prospective randomized trial.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: To compare 3-year clinical outcomes of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) targeting 5- or 10-mm margins for small hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) in cirrhotic patients. METHODS: In total, 96 cirrhotic patients with a small solitary HCC (diameter ≤3 cm) were included in this prospective trial (ChiCTRTRC-10000954). Patients were stratified by Child-Pugh class and randomly allocated into groups targeting either wide margins (≥10 mm, WM) or narrow margins (≥5 mm but <10 mm, NM). RFA was performed under real-time monitoring, and ablative margins were evaluated by pre- and post-operative three-dimensional registration on CT. RESULTS: The mean follow-up time was 38.3 ± 4.8 months, 83.3% (40/48) of patients succeeded in obtaining a 10-mm margin in WM group. Based on intention-to-treat analysis, the 3-year incidences of local tumor progression (LTP) (14.9% vs 30.2%), intrahepatic recurrence (IHR) (15.0% vs 32.7%), and recurrence-free survival (RFS) (31.7 ± 12.1 vs 24.0 ± 11.7 months) for WM group were significantly improved compared to NM group. Several prognostic factors were identified from univariate and multivariate analyses. Additionally, cirrhosis-stratified subgroup analyses demonstrated significant survival benefits of WM in patients with Child-Pugh class B cirrhosis. CONCLUSIONS: RFA treatment targeting 10-mm margin may reduce the risk of tumor recurrence in cirrhotic patients with a single small HCC.

[Exploration of Renal Microcirculation Perfusion During Cardiopulmonary Bypass with Contrast-enhanced Ultrasound].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the alteration of renal microcirculation perfusion during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) in adult patients with contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEU). METHODS: Six patients undergoing cardiac surgery with CPB and twelve patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery were enrolled and classified into CPB group and control group. CEU images of kidney were collected at the point of 30 min after CPB or 5 min after anesthesia induction respectively. Time intensity curve (TIC) was derived from three regions of interest (ROD. superficial cortex, deep cortex and medulla. Parameters including wash in slope (a), area under curve (AUC), peak intensity (PI) and time to peak (TTP) were calculated based on gamma-variant function. RESULTS: CEU showed a significant reduction of AUC in all three regions (superficial cortex, deep cortex and medulla) during CPB, compared with anesthetic condition. Ultrasound contrast agent-related adverse reactions were not occurred in all enrolled patients. CONCLUSION: Renal microcirculation perfusion was dramatically reduced during CPB, especially in the medulla. CEU could be detected the renal microcirculation perfusion in the perioperative period of cardiac surgery.

Pictorial review of hepatic echinococcosis: Ultrasound imaging and differential diagnosis.

Echinococcosis is a zoonotic disease caused by parasites belonging to the genus Echinococcus that primarily affect the liver. The western plateau and pastoral areas of China are high-risk regions for hepatic cystic echinococcosis and hepatic alveolar echinococcosis (HAE). The high late mortality rate associated with HAE underscores the critical need for early diagnosis to improve cure rates and mitigate the disease burden in endemic areas. Currently, the World Health Organization recommends ultrasonography as the preferred initial screening method for hepatic echinococcosis. However, distinguishing between specific types of lesions, such as those of hepatic cystic echinococcosis and HAE, and other focal liver lesions is challenging. To address this issue, contrast-enhanced ultrasound is recommended as a tool to differentiate solid and cysto-solid hepatic echinococcosis from other focal liver lesions, significantly enhancing diagnostic accuracy. In this comprehensive review, we discuss the progression of hepatic echinococcosis and detail the imaging features of various types of echinococcosis using conventional, contrast-enhanced, and intraoperative ultrasound techniques. Our objective is to provide robust imaging evidence and guidance for early diagnosis, clinical decision making, and postoperative follow-up in regions with high disease prevalence.

[Monitoring renal microcirculation perfusion alteration with contrast-enhanced ultrasound during cardiopulmonary bypass].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the monitoring of renal microcirculation perfusion alteration with contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEU) during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). METHODS: Renal microcirculation perfusion before and during CPB was assessed by CEU. Time-intensity curve (TIC) were derived from three region of interest (ROI) using QLAB post-analysis software. Parameters such as TIC curve wash in slope (A), area under curve (AUC), peak intensity (DPI) as well as time to peak intensity (TTP) were then calculated. RESULTS: Contrast-enhanced ultrasound showed a significant reduction (or elongation) of perfusion parameter (A, AUC, DPI, TTP) in all three regions (superficial cortex, deep cortex and medulla) during cardiopulmonary bypass in comparison with normal cardiac cycle. CONCLUSION: Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) has a dramatic impact on renal microcirculation in pediatric patients which manifest as global reduction in renal perfusion as well as significant region perfusion difference. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEU) could detect the renal microcirculation alteration during CPB.

Fractionation of levofloxacin and ofloxacin during their transport in NOM-goethite: Batch and column studies.

Adsorption and transport of levofloxacin (LEV) and ofloxacin (OFL) enantiomers in a matrix containing goethite and natural organic matter (NOM) were investigated using batch and column experiments. In batch studies, competition and enantioselectivity were observed in the adsorption of LEV and OFL. Enantioselectivity upon adsorption was investigated by comparing changes in the enantiomer fraction (EF) (the ratio of LEV to the sum of LEV and OFL remaining in the solution) after and before adsorption. At pH < 7, there was hardly any selectivity in adsorption of OFL and LEV to goethite. At pH > 7, OFL showed a stronger adsorption than LEV to goethite, and this preference remained when NOM samples of Leonardite humic acid (LHA) and Elliott Soil fulvic acid (ESFA) were added. However, when Suwannee River NOM (SRNOM) was added, the preference was reversed, and LEV was adsorbed more strongly. In single systems, the presence of different types of NOM increased adsorption of LEV and OFL, especially LEV. In column studies, preloaded NOM decreased the transport of LEV and OFL through goethite-coated sand. The EF values in the effluent increased with retention time and reached the largest values (0.59-0.72) at around 1.5 pore volume (PV), and then decreased again, reaching a stable value at 5.0-30.0 PV. Both batch and column experiments showed that, fractionation of LEV and OFL occurred during adsorption and transport in the presence of NOM-goethite complexes, which would eventually affect their environmental fate.

Can contrast-enhanced ultrasound differentiate the type of hepatic echinococcosis: cystic echinococcosis or alveolar echinococcosis?

BACKGROUND: Hepatic echinococcosis (HE) is a zoonotic disease caused by Echinococcus, and Echinococcus granulosus and E. multilocularis are the most common, causing cystic echinococcosis (CE) and alveolar echinococcosis (AE), respectively. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) is an imaging technique which has been recommended for identifying focal lesions in the liver. However, the effect of CEUS on the differentiation of hepatic echinococcosis type remains unclear. METHODS: Twenty-five patients with 46 HE lesions confirmed by histopathology in our hospital from December 2019 to May 2022 were reviewed by conventional ultrasound (US) and CEUS examinations, respectively. After US was completed, the CEUS study was performed. A bolus injection of 1.0-1.2 ml of a sulfur hexafluoride-filled microbubble contrast agent (SonoVue®) was administered. The images and clips of the lesions by US and CEUS were reviewed retrospectively. The lesions detected using US were evaluated including the location, size, morphology, margin, internal echogenicity and the internal Doppler signal. The lesions detected using CEUS were evaluated including the enhancement degree, enhancement pattern and enhancing boundary in different phases. The diagnoses of lesions by US or CEUS were respectively recorded. By taking the histopathology as the gold standard, the paired Chi-square test was performed with statistical software (IBM SPSS; IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA), and the results of differentiation of HE type by US and CEUS were statistically analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 46 lesions were involved in 25 patients, including 10 males (40.0%) and 15 females (60.0%) aged 15-55 (42.9 ± 10.3) years. By histopathology, 24 lesions of nine patients were diagnosed as CE and 22 lesions of 16 patients were diagnosed as AE. Among the 46 HE lesions, compared with histopathological examination, the accuracy rate was 65.2% and 91.3% in US and CEUS findings, respectively. Among the 24 CE lesions, 13 lesions were correctly differentiated by US, and 23 by CEUS. The difference between US and CEUS was statistically significant (Chi-square test, [Formula: see text] = 8.10, df = 23, P < 0.005). Among the total 46 HE lesions, 30 lesions were correctly differentiated by US, and 42 by CEUS. The difference between US and CEUS was statistically significant (Chi-square test, [Formula: see text] = 10.08, df = 45, P < 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: CEUS is a more effective technique than US for differentiating the type of HE between CE and AE. It could be a reliable tool in the differentiation of HE.

Modified Iron Deposition in Nigrosomes by Pharmacotherapy for the Management of Parkinson's Disease.

Background: Increased iron deposition in nigrosome as assessed by susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) is involved in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). This study investigated the effects of antiparkinson drugs on iron deposition in the nigrosome of PD patients. Methods: Based on the retrospective analysis of clinical data, alterations in iron deposition in the substantia nigra were investigated in 51 PD patients across different types of therapies and in nine Parkinson-plus syndrome patients. The Movement Disorder Society revision of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) Part Ⅲ/Ⅳ (UPDRS Ⅲ/Ⅳ) was utilized to evaluate motor function and complications. SWI (slice = 0.6 mm) was used to detect iron deposition in the nigrosome and substantia nigra. Nigrosome loss was scored on a 1-point nigrosome visibility scale. Visual assessment of dorsolateral nigral hyperintensity (DNH) was separately performed for each side of the nigrosome with SWI. Results: Increased UPDRS Ⅲ scores were correlated with low nigrosome scores based on correlation analysis at a disease duration of 6-12 months (r = -0.8420). The loss of the nigrosome on SWI was clearly inhibited in PD patients with a 3-5-year duration of administration of antiparkinson medications compared with no treatment. Decreased UPDRS Ⅲ scores and increased nigrosome scores were observed in the regular treatment of PD patients with a 6-7-year disease duration. For patients with Parkinson-plus syndromes, such as multiple system atrophy, iron accumulation was apparent in the corpus striatum and substantia nigra compared with that for patients with progressive supranuclear palsy. Conclusions: Early and regular treatment with antiparkinson drugs not only alleviates the chance of PD disability but also prevents the loss of DNH, namely, iron accumulation in the nigrosome.

A Convolutional Neural Network Algorithm for the Optimization of Emergency Nursing Rescue Efficiency for Critical Patients.

In order to help pathologists quickly locate the lesion area, improve the diagnostic efficiency, and reduce missed diagnosis, a convolutional neural network algorithm for the optimization of emergency nursing rescue efficiency of critical patients was proposed. Specifically, three convolution layers and convolution kernels of different sizes are used to extract the features of patients' posture behavior, and the classifier of patients' posture behavior recognition system is used to learn the feature information by capturing the nonlinear relationship between the features to achieve accurate classification. By testing the accuracy of patient posture behavior feature extraction, the recognition rate of a certain action, and the average recognition rate of all actions in the patient body behavior recognition system, it is proved that the convolution neural network algorithm can greatly improve the efficiency of emergency nursing. The algorithm is applied to the patient posture behavior detection system, so as to realize the identification and monitoring of patients and improve the level of intelligent medical care. Finally, the open source framework platform is used to test the patient behavior detection system. The experimental results show that the larger the test data set is, the higher the accuracy of patient posture behavior feature extraction is, and the average recognition rate of patient posture behavior category is 97.6%, thus verifying the effectiveness and correctness of the system, to prove that the convolutional neural network algorithm has a very large improvement of emergency nursing rescue efficiency.

Contrast-enhanced ultrasonographic imaging of hepatic splenosis: A case report.

RATIONALE: Hepatic splenosis or heterotopic auto-transplantation of spleen in the liver usually occurs after either spleen trauma or surgery. It is of great importance for the differential diagnosis of hepatic splenosis and other liver tumors because surgery is usually not needed if a diagnosis of splenosis is confirmed. PATIENT CONCERNS: Multiple hepatic masses were revealed by grayscale ultrasound in a 55-year-old man complaining of persistent colic in the upper abdomen after greasy food. DIAGNOSIS: Benign neoplasm with enlarged lymph node in the gastro-hepatic ligament was suspected by contrast enhanced US. The nature of the hepatic mass was undetermined by CECT. INTERVENTIONS: The lesions were surgically removed. OUTCOMES: Multiple splenic tissue implants in the liver and peritoneum were confirmed by pathology after surgery. The patient recovered well and was followed up for more than 1 year without recurrence. LESSONS: Splenosis should be included in the differential diagnosis of focal liver lesion in patients with a history of spleen trauma or surgery. In spite of nonspecific findings on pre-contrast ultrasound, splenosis shows characteristic homogeneous hyperenhancement in arterial and portal phases, as well as prolonged hyperenhancement in the late phase for more than 5 minutes. Furthermore, the confidence of the diagnosis of splenosis may be enhanced by identifying multiple masses with similar enhancing patterns in other regions of the abdominal cavity.

Comparing the Cosmetic Effects of Liquid-Fermented Culture of Some Medicinal Mushrooms Including Antioxidant, Moisturizing, and Whitening Activities.

There have been few studies on the cosmetic efficacy of Coprinus comatus, Cordyceps militaris, and Pleurotus geesteranus. This article aims to compare the cosmetic effects of the mycelium, fermentation broth, and mycelium and fermentation broth mixture of liquid-fermented C. comatus, C. militaris, and P. geesteranus. Our results verified that these three edible mushrooms all showed excellent antioxidant, moisturizing, and whitening effects. Comparatively, we found that the cosmetic effects of C. comatus were superior to C. militaris and P. geesteranus. Therefore, we speculate that among the three edible mushrooms, C. comatus will be the most suitable to be used as a basis for cosmeceutical formulations to tackle skin aging and hyperpigmentation. This research aims to provide a basis for the study of the cosmetic effects of edible mushrooms.

The Shaggy Ink Cap Medicinal Mushroom, Coprinus comatus (Agaricomycetes), a Versatile Functional Species: A Review.

Coprinus comatus, an edible and medicinal mushroom, not only tastes delicious, but also has various pharmacological activities. Recently, it has been reported that researchers have extracted more and more active ingredients, including polysaccharides, comatin, active protein complexes, and phenols from fruit bodies, mycelium, or fermentation liquor of C. comatus and studied their corresponding functions. At present, researchers mainly focus on the hypoglycemic effect of C. comatus, while other effects are less studied. This paper summarizes not only the hypoglycemic effect of C. comatus, but also other functions, such as antioxidant activity, alcohol liver protection, cancer inhibition, antiandrogenic function, anti-inflammatory effect, treatment of leukemia, and so on, which will provide scientific basis for the deep processing and comprehensive utilization of C. comatus.

Overexpression of miR-939-3p predicts poor prognosis and promotes progression in lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer is the main cancer-related deaths worldwide. In this study, we explored the clinical prognostic significance and functional role of miR-939-3p in lung cancer. METHODS: We analyzed the expression of miR-939-3p in lung cancer tissues and cells by qRT-PCR. The prognostic significance of miR-939-3p was investigated using the Kaplan-Meier survival and Cox regression analyses. The CCK-8 assay was used to determine the role of miR-939-3p in cell proliferation. Transwell assays were used to determine the effects of miR-939-3p on cell migration and invasion abilities. RESULTS: The expression of miR-939-3p was upregulated in cancer tissues and cell lines compared with adjacent normal tissues and normal cells, respectively. The upregulated miR-939-3p was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis, TNM stage and poor prognosis of lung cancer patients. After the transfection of miR-939 mimic, overexpression of miR-939-3p promoted lung cancer cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. CONCLUSION: These findings suggested that miR-939-3p acts as an oncogene and promotes cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in lung cancer. miR-939-3p may be a potential independent prognostic biomarker in lung cancer.

[Derivation of the Thresholds of Available Concentrations of Heavy Metals in Soil Based on Agricultural Product Safety].

Based on the total and available concentrations of heavy metal elements in agricultural soil, and the concentrations of heavy metals in rice collected from Daye city, Hubei province, and the thresholds of available concentrations of heavy metals were derived by species sensitivity distribution (SSD). The over-standard rates of Cd and Cu in the soil were 90.7% and 42.6%, respectively, which indicates that agricultural soil in Daye city exhibits signs of Cd and Cu pollution. The rates of Cd and Pb were 50.9% and 89.8% in brown rice samples, respectively, which exceeds the safety standards of agricultural products. The SSD curves for Cd and Pb were fitted with BurrⅢ distribution based on the ratio of the concentration in brown rice and the available concentration in the soil. The hazardous concentrations (HC5) were derived inversely from the agriculture product safety standards. The thresholds of available Cd and Pb were 0.02 mg·kg-1 and 0.005 mg·kg-1, respectively. Compared with those of available Cd in other countries and studies, the threshold of available Cd is scientifically shown to be reasonable. Soil is not necessarily the main source of Pb in rice; thus, the rice species does not represent the derivation of the threshold of available Pb. Moreover, a lack of the accumulation data of Pb at low accumulation levels and multiple soil pollution levels leads to unreliable derivation. The results indicate that the threshold of available Pb does not have practical significance in soil pollution control.

Comparative study on the monosaccharide compositions, antioxidant and hypoglycemic activities in vitro of intracellular and extracellular polysaccharides of liquid fermented Coprinus comatus.

Polysaccharides were one of the important active ingredients of medical fungi, on account of its unique role caused the widespread concern of researchers at home and abroad. Currently, the structure and antioxidant activity of Coprinus comatus (C. comatus) fruit bodies polysaccharides have been reported. However, there is no article on the simultaneous study of intracellular and extracellular polysaccharides of liquid fermented C. comatus (IPs, EPs) so far. Hence, this paper innovatively investigated the monosaccharide compositions, antioxidative activities and inhibition of α-amylase activity in vitro of IPs and EPs. In this study, we adopted the PMP pre-column derivatization combined with HPLC method to determine the monosaccharide compositions of the IPs and EPs. Besides, the total antioxidant capacity, DPPH radical scavenging capacity, ·OH radical scavenging ability and inhibition effect on α-amylase in vitro of crude polysaccharides (ICPs, ECPs) and deproteinized polysaccharides (IDPs, EDPs) were severally compared. Only three kinds of monosaccharides were detected in IPs. Among the monosaccharides tested, the EPs contained five kinds, of which galactose and xylose accounted for a large proportion. ICPs showed better antioxidant activity and inhibition of α-amylase activity. This article innovatively studied the IPs and EPs, which could lay the foundation for the deep development of C. comatus.

[Simultaneous determination of ofloxacin enantiomers in water by high performance liquid chromatography].

A simple and rapid method was developed for the analysis of ofloxacin enantiomers by chiral ligand exchange-high performance liquid chromatography (CLE-HPLC). In addition, the influences of common cations (Ca2+, Mg2+, Fe3+, Zn2+) and the content of humic acid (HA) on the separation were investigated. The separation was carried out on a C18 column (25 cm×0.46 cm, 5 µm). The mobile phase was 20% (v/v) methanol aqueous solution containing 4 mmol/L L-isoleucine (as ligand) and 3 mmol/L CuSO4. The pH of the mobile phase was 4.5, and the flow rate was 1.0 mL/min. The column temperature was 40℃, and the detection wavelength was 293 nm. The ofloxacin enantiomers (ofloxacin and levofloxacin) were separated within 18 min and the resolution (R) was 2.70. The results showed that metal cations and HA had no significant influence on the resolution of ofloxacin enantiomers. However, the measured peak area of ofloxacin enantiomers decreased particularly in presence of Fe3+ and on increasing HA content. The proposed method can rapidly and efficiently determine ofloxacin and its chiral isomers in surface water, the influences of Fe3+ and HA content should be considered for verifying the applicability of the method.

The imaging features of the meniscal roots on isotropic 3D MRI in young asymptomatic volunteers.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to describe clearly the normal imaging features of the meniscal roots on the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with a 3-dimensional (3D) proton density-weighted (PDW) sequence at 3T. METHODS: A total of 60 knees of 31 young asymptomatic volunteers were examined using a 3D MRI. The insertion patterns, constitution patterns, and MR signals of the meniscal roots were recorded. RESULTS: The anterior root of the medial meniscus (ARMM), the anterior root of the lateral meniscus (ARLM), and the posterior root of the medial meniscus (PRMM) had 1 insertion site, whereas the posterior root of the lateral meniscus (PRLM) can be divided into major and minor insertion sites. The ARLM and the PRMM usually consisted of multiple fiber bundles (≥3), whereas the ARMM and the PRLM often consisted of a single fiber bundle. The ARMM and the PRLM usually appeared as hypointense, whereas the ARLM and the PRMM typically exhibited mixed signals. CONCLUSIONS: The meniscal roots can be complex and diverse, and certain characteristics of them were observed on 3D MRI. Understanding the normal imaging features of the meniscal roots is extremely beneficial for further diagnosis of root tears.

Changes in background parenchymal enhancement in HER2-positive breast cancer before and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy: Association with pathologic complete response.

This study aimed to analyze the relationship between pathologic complete response (pCR) and changes in background parenchymal enhancement (BPE) levels in patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer and who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC).The pre- and post-NAC magnetic resonance imaging results of 51 patients with confirmed unilateral HER2-positive breast cancer were retrospectively analyzed by 2 experienced radiologists. Pre- and post-NAC of contralateral BPE levels were classified into 4 categories (1 = minimal, 2 = mild, 3 = moderate, and 4 = marked). The 4 categories of BPE were defined by the visually estimated enhancement of fibroglandular tissue of the breast. Changes in BPE before and after NAC were compared between the premenopausal and postmenopausal groups and between the pCR and non-pCR groups. The associations between BPE and pCR and between BPE and tumor size were analyzed before and after NAC.Twenty-three patients achieved pCR, and 28 patients achieved non-pCR. Premenopausal patients had significantly higher baseline BPE levels than postmenopausal women (P = .023). The post-NAC BPE levels of premenopausal patients significantly decreased relative to those of postmenopausal patients (P = .027). The baseline BPE levels of the pCR group were not significantly different from those of the non-pCR group (P = .892). However, the decrease in BPE levels in the pCR group was more drastic than that in the non-pCR group (P < .001). Decreased BPE levels were directly associated with pCR and tumor size reduction (P < .05). Women with hormone receptor (HR)-negative tumors were more likely to exhibit pCR than those with HR-positive tumors (P = .007).Decreased BPE of patients with HER2-positive breast cancer may serve as an indicator of NAC effectiveness. Furthermore, women with HR-negative tumors were more likely to exhibit pCR than women with HR-positive tumors.

Evaluation of computed tomography vascular reconstruction for the localization diagnosis of perigastric mass.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the utility of computed tomography (CT) vascular reconstruction in the localization diagnosis of perigastric mass. METHODS: Fifty-eight patients with pathologically detected perigastric mass underwent abdominal dynamic contrast-enhanced CT. CT vascular reconstructions were produced from arterial phase data using volume rendering (VR), multiplanar reconstruction (MPR), and maximal intensity projection (MIP). Image analysis was focused on the relationship between the mass, perigastric arteries, and the gastric wall. Localization diagnosis values were compared between CT vascular reconstruction and dynamic-enhanced CT images. RESULTS: Among the 58 cases of perigastric mass, 41 cases originated from the stomach, 7 cases from the left liver lobe, 6 from the pancreas, 2 from lessor omental bursa, 1 from transverse mesocolon, and 1 from left adrenal gland. The accuracy of CT vascular reconstruction images in the localization diagnosis of perigastric mass was higher than that of dynamic-enhanced CT images (98.3% and 86.2%, respectively, P = .04). On the reference level, 35 (35/41) patients with stomach-originated masses showed the mass adjacent perigastric arteries pushed away from the stomach (arterial displacement sign), and 15 (15/17) patients with nonstomach-originated masses showed perigastric arteries between the mass and the stomach (arterial entrapment sign). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of the localization diagnosis of perigastric mass with arterial displacement sign were 85.4%, 100%, 100%, and 73.9%, respectively, and with arterial entrapment sign, 88.2%, 100%, 100%, and 95.3%, respectively. CONCLUSION: CT vascular reconstruction can clearly depict the relationship between perigastric mass and adjacent perigastric arteries, which may help us more accurately differentiate between stomach-originated and nonstomach-originated masses compared with original dynamic-enhanced CT images.