The diagnostic value of 1.5-T diffusion-weighted MR imaging in detecting 5 to 10 mm metastatic cervical lymph nodes of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

The aim of the study was to prospectively assess the diagnostic accuracy of 1.5 T diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) for 5 to 10 mm metastatic cervical lymph nodes of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). All patients with histopathologically confirmed NPC underwent DWI with 2 b values of 0 and 800 s/mm were enrolled. The shortest axial diameter and mean apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value were recorded when lymph nodes with a shortest axial diameter from 5 to 10 mm were measured. The correlation between the pathological diagnoses and mean ADC values in the benign and metastatic lymph nodes were compared using the Z test. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of DWI. Three hundred fourteen nodes of 52 patients with NPC consisted of 46.5% (146/314) metastatic lymph nodes and 53.5% (168/314) benign lymph nodes. The mean ADC value (×10 mm/s) of benign lymph nodes was (1.110 ±â€Š0.202), which was significantly higher than that of metastatic nodes (0.878 ±â€Š0.159) (P < 0.05). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value, accuracy for differentiating metastatic from benign lymph nodes using a cutoff ADC value of 0.924 × 10 mm/s was 83.56%, 82.74%, 80.79%, 85.28%, and 82.80%, respectively. The area under the ROC curve was 0.851 (95% confidence intervals: 0.807-0.889). This study demonstrated that DWI is helpful in detecting 5 to 10 mm metastatic lymph nodes of patients with NPC.

Consistency analysis of contrast-enhanced ultrasound and contrast-enhanced CT in diagnosis of small hepatocellular carcinoma.

UNLABELLED: To compare the consistency of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and contrast-enhance CT (CECT) in diagnosis of 1~2 cm and 2.1~3 cm small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and evaluate the value of CEUS in diagnosis of HCC. METHODS: A total of 74 patients (89 lesions) with small HCC and cirrhosis background were retrospectively analyzed. All of the eighty-nine lesions were confirmed by histopathological examination of surgical samples or needle biopsy. All the cases were divided into 1~2 cm group and 2.1~3 cm group. The CEUS and CECT enhanced pattern and diagnosis results of the two groups were compared and the consistency between the two imaging methods were statistically analyzed. RESULTS: In the diagnosis of 1.0-2.0 cm HCC, CEUS and CECT had a moderate consistency in arterial phase, CEUS showed a tolerable consistency with CECT in portal venous and delayphase. The two imaging methods have a better consistency for the diagnosis in 2.1-3.0 cm HCC. CONCLUSION: CEUS can be used as a supplement to provide important diagnostic information in clinical practice when positive results or definite diagnoses cannot obtain.

[A cross-sectional study on liver diseases in the rural residents in southern Guangxi, China].

OBJECTIVE: To study the epidemiological characteristics of liver diseases in a rural population in Southern Guangxi, China. METHODS: The enzyme immunoassays was used to detect of HBsAg and AFP. AFP positive serum samples were further examined for concentration of AFP by using a radio immunoassays. Liver morphological changes were measured with ultrasonography of type B. RESULTS: The positive rates of HBsAg in the studied population was 17.8% (2800/15,701). The prevalence rates of viral hepatitis B, cirrhosis, primary liver cancer, clonorchiasis, fatty liver disease, alcoholic liver disease were 1.1% (173/15,701), 0.4% (63/15,701), 299.3 per 100,000 (47/15,701), 6.6% (1036/15,701), 4.8% (754/15,701) and 0.3% (47/15,701), respectively. The positive rates of HBsAg and the prevalence rates of viral hepatitis B, cirrhosis, primary liver cancer, clonorchiasis, fatty liver disease in male were significantly higher as compared with those in female (5.98 < or = chi(2) < or = 394.78, P < 0.01). No difference was observed in the prevalence rates of liver cavernous hemangioma and hepatic cysts between male and female. The prevalence rates of intrahepatic bile duct stones was significantly higher in female than in male (chi(2) = 30.80, P < 0.01). The positive rates of HBsAg and the prevalence rates of viral hepatitis B and clonorchiasis were decreased with age. But the prevalence rates of cirrhosis, primary liver cancer, fatty liver disease, alcoholic liver disease, liver cavernous hemangioma, hepatic cysts and intrahepatic bile duct stones were increased with age. CONCLUSION: The rural areas in the southern Guangxi are high prevalence regions of liver illness, and the male resident are even at high risk.