Grey-scale Reversed T1-weighted MRI for Detecting Structural Lesions of the Sacroiliac Joint in Patients with Axial Spondyloarthritis / 中山大学学报(医学科学版)

ObjectiveTo analyze the value of grey-scale reversed T1-weighted （rT1） MRI in the detection of structural lesions of the sacroiliac joint （SIJ） in patients with axial spondyloarthritis （ax-SpA）. MethodsFifty-two ax-SpA patients who underwent both MRI and CT in our hospital within a week from February 2020 to December 2022 were retrospectively included. Both sacral and iliac side of each SIJ on oblique coronal images were divided into anterior， middle and posterior portion. Two radiologists reviewed independently three groups of MRI including T1-weighted imaging （T1WI）， rT1 and T1WI + rT1 images to evaluate the structural lesions like erosions， sclerosis and joint space changes in each of the 6 regions of the SIJ. One of the radiologist did the evaluation again one month later. CT images were scored for lesions by a third radiologist and served as the reference standard. Intra-class correlation coefficients （ICC） were calculated to test the inter- and intra-reader agreement for the assessment of SIJ lesions. A Friedman test was performed to compare the lesion results of MRI and CT image findings. We examined the diagnostic performance ［accuracy， sensitivity （SE） and specificity］ of different groups of MRI in the detection of lesions by using diagnostic test. A McNemar test was used to compare the differences of three groups of MRI findings. ResultsCT showed erosions in 71 joints， sclerosis in 65 and joint space changes in 53. Good inter-and intra-reader agreements were found in three groups of MRI images for the assessment of lesions， with the best agreement in T1WI + rT1. There were no difference between T1WI + rT1 and CT for the assessment of all lesions， nor between rT1 and CT for the assessment of erosions and joint space changes （P>0.05）. T1WI + rT1 yielded better accuracy and SE than T1WI in detection of all lesions （Accuracy erosions： 90.3% vs 76. 9%； SE erosions： 91.6% vs 76.1%； Accuracy sclerosis： 89.4% vs 80.8%； SE sclerosis： 84.6% vs 73.9%； Accuracy joint space changes： 86.5% vs 73.1%； SE joint space changes： 84.9% vs 60.4%； P<0.05）. rT1 yielded better accuracy and SE than T1WI in detection of erosions and joint space changes （Accuracy erosions： 87.5% vs 76.9%； SE erosions： 88.7% vs 76.1%； Accuracy joint space changes： 85.6% vs 73.1%； SE joint space changes： 83.0% vs 60.4%； P<0.05）. ConclusionsIn the detection of SIJ structural lesions in ax-SpA， rT1 improves the diagnostic performance and T1WI + rT1 is more superior to others.

The value of MAGiC short T 1 inversion recovery sequence in the detection of bone marrow edema in sacroiliitis / 中华放射学杂志

Objective:To evaluate the value of MAGiC STIR sequence inassessing bone marrow edema (BME) of the sacroiliac joint (SIJ) in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients.Methods:Twenty two AS patients from the Affiliated Fifth Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from September 2019 to January 2020 underwent MR scanning, consisting of T 2WI fat-suppressed (FS) sequence and MAGiC sequence. Each SIJ was divided into four quadrants for analysis on oblique coronal MR image. Two radiologists [middle-higher seniority levels (radiologist 1 and radiologist 2) reviewed image sets of two sequences [T 2WI FS and MAGiC short T 1 inversion recovery (STIR) sequence] independently at separate times, using Hermann-Braun scoring system for degree of BME and summing numbers of quadrants based on BME findings. Disagreements were resolved to reach an agreement for final results.Assessments were repeated two weeks later by radiologist 2. Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) were calculated to assess the inter-and intra-observer agreement for the degree of BME and numbers of positive BME quadrants in the MAGiC STIR sequence, respectively. The differences between the two sequences for the degree of BME and numbers of positive BME quadrants were analyzed with Wilcoxon signed-rank test and Chi-square test, respectively. Taking the results of T 2WI FS sequence as a reference standard, the ROC curve was drawn, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value in the detection of BME were calculated for the MAGiC STIR sequence. Results:Nineteen AS patients including 38 sacroiliac joints were enrolled in our study, being divided into 152 quadrants. Inter-and intra-observer agreement for the degree of BME and inter-observer agreement for numbers of positive BME quadrants in the MAGiC STIR sequence were all good (ICC=0.936, 95%CI 0.912-0.953, P<0.001; ICC=0.910, 95%CI 0.878-0.934, P<0.001; ICC=0.876, 95%CI 0.833-0.909, P<0.001). The difference between the two sequences for the degree of BME in quadrants was statistically significant ( Z=-3.132, P=0.002). But there was no statistically significant difference between sequences for numbers of quadrants in detecting BME (χ2=0.244, P=0.622). Area under the ROC curve of MAGiC STIR sequence in diagnosis of BME was 0.920 ( P<0.001). Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value for the MAGiC STIR sequence in the detection of BME were 82.0%, 95.1%, 89.1% and 91.5%, respectively. Conclusion:MAGiC STIR sequence can be used to evaluate bone marrow edema of SIJ in AS patients with high sensitivity and specificity.

Radiomics models based on non-enhanced MRI can differentiate chondrosarcoma from enchondroma / 南方医科大学学报

OBJECTIVE@#To develop and validate radiomics models based on non-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging for differentiating chondrosarcoma from enchondroma.@*METHODS@#We retrospectively evaluated a total of 68 patients (including 27 with chondrosarcoma and 41 with enchondroma), who were randomly divided into training group (=46) and validation group (=22). Radiomics features were extracted from TWI and TWI-FS sequences of the whole tumor by two radiologists independently and selected by Low Variance, Univariate feature selection, and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO). Radiomics models were constructed by multivariate logistic regression analysis based on the features from TWI and TWI-FS sequences. The receiver-operating characteristics (ROC) curve and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) analyses of the radiomics models and conventional MR imaging were performed to determine their diagnostic accuracy.@*RESULTS@#The ICC value for interreader agreement of the radiomics features ranged from 0.779 to 0.923, which indicated good agreement. Ten and 11 features were selected from the TWI and TWI-FS sequences to construct radiomics models, respectively. The areas under the curve (AUCs) of TWI and TWI-FS models were 0.990 and 0.925 in training group and 0.915 and 0.855 in the validation group, respectively, showing no significant differences between the two sequence-based models (>0.05). In all the cases, the AUCs of the two radiomics models based on TWI and TWI-FS sequences and conventional MR imaging were 0.955, 0.901 and 0.569, respectively, demonstrating a significantly higher diagnostic accuracy of the two sequence-based radiomics models than conventional MR imaging (<0.01).@*CONCLUSIONS@#The radiomics models based on TWI and TWI-FS non-enhanced MR imaging can be used for the differentiation of chondrosarcoma from enchondroma.

The expression of apoptosis associated protein 3 and nuclear factor 3 of activated T-cell in the tissue of epithelial ovarian tumors and its correlation with clinicopathological features / 中国基层医药

Objective To investigate the expressions of apoptosis associated protein 3 (APR3) and nuclear factor 3 of activated T-cell (NFAT3) in the tissue of epithelial ovarian tumors and its correlation with the clinicopathological features.Methods 92 patients with epithelial ovarian tumor were collected,23 cases with malignant tumor,24 cases with borderline tumor,45 cases with benign tumor.The expressions of APR3 and NFAT3 were detected by immunohistochemical methods,and the differences of different types of epithelial ovarian tumor were compared.The correlation of the expressions of APR3 and NFAT3 with the clinicopathological features of epithelial ovarian tumor was analyzed.The correlation of the expressions of APR3 with the expressions of NFAT3 in epithelial ovarian tumor was analyzed.Results The positive expression rate of APR3 in patients with malignant epithelial ovarian tumors (78.26％) was significantly higher than borderline tumors (41.67 ％) and benign tumors (22.22 ％),the differences were statistically significant (x2 =5.864,7.632,all P ＜ 0.05).The expression of APR3 in patients with malignant epithelial ovarian tumors was significantly correlated with differentiation,clinical stage,lymph node and abdominal organs metastasis and ascites (x2 =7.425,7.262,8.421,5.031,all P ＜ 0.05).The positive expression rate of NFAT3 in patients with malignant epithelial ovarian tumors (56.52％) was significantly higher than borderline tumors (29.17％) and benign tumors(17.78％),the differences were statistically significant (x2 =6.829,7.547,all P ＜0.05).The expression of NFAT3 in patients with malignant epithelial ovarian tumors was significantly correlated with differentiation,clinical stage,lymph node and abdominal organs metastasis (x2 =5.253,6.367,8.021,all P ＜ 0.05).The expressions of APR3 and NFAT3 in patients with malignant epithelial ovarian tumors were positively correlated (r =0.032,P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion The expressions of APR3 and NFAT3 in the tissue of malignant epithelial ovarian tumor obviously increase,are significantly correlated with differentiation,clinical stage,lymph node and abdominal organs metastasis and are positively correlated,and it may be correlated with the development and progression of malignant epithelial ovarian tumor.

The relationship between serum cystatin C level and insulin resistance in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes / 中华老年医学杂志

Objective To study the relationship between serum cystatin C(Cys C)level and the development of insulin resistance(IR)in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).Methods A cross-sectional survey research involving 757 elderly patients with T2DM was performed and patients were divided into groups according to Cys C and IR levels.Serum 1evels of fasting insulin (FBI),fasting blood glucose(FPG),fasting C-peptide (FCP),glycosylated hemoglobin A1 c (H bA1 c),homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (IR) (HOMA2 IR-C),homeostasis model assessment of insulin secretion,homeostasis model assessment of insulin sensitivity(HOMA2-％ S-C),micro-albuminuria(mALB)and serum lipid were measured and compared among the groups.Possible influence factors were adjusted,and the correlation between Cys C levels and IR was analyzed.The influencing factors on IR were also analyzed.Results There were statistically significant differences in ages,course of T2 DM,FBI,FCP,HbA1c,urinary mALB,IR,insulin secretion,insulin sensitivity,morbidity rate of coronary heart disease,hypertension and diabetic nephropathy among the three groups(allP＜0.05).Insulin sensitivity was decreased with the increase of Cys C level,while others were increased.Among 757 patients,the level of serum Cys C was positively correlated with FCP,HOMA2-IR C levels,and was negatively correlated with HOMA2-％ S-C levels(P＜0.05).Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the higher level of Cys C was independent risk factors for IR in elderly T2DM patients(OR=3.41,95％CI:2.22-5.22,P＜0.05).Conclusions Serum Cys C level is closely related with IR in elderly T2DM,and the elevated level of serum Cys C is one of independent risk factors for elderly T2DM.