Evaluation of adrenal metastases from renal cell carcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma: use of delayed contrast-enhanced CT.

Purpose: To retrospectively compare absolute and relative washout of adrenal metastases in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) to that of adrenal adenoma.

Materials And Methods: Between November 1994 and August 2011, in this institutional review board-approved study (with waiver of informed consent), 16 patients with 19 adrenal metastases (16 in 13 RCC patients, three in three HCC patients) and 20 patients with 21 adrenal adenomas (16 in 15 RCC patients, five in five HCC patients) underwent dedicated adrenal protocol consisting of unenhanced, 1-minute contrast material-enhanced, and 15-minute delayed contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT). The attenuation values and percentage enhancement washout, including absolute percentage washout (APW) and relative percentage washout (RPW), were calculated.

Uniform graphene quantum dots patterned from self-assembled silica nanodots.

Graphene dots precisely controlled in size are interesting in nanoelectronics due to their quantum optical and electrical properties. However, most graphene quantum dot (GQD) research so far has been performed based on flake-type graphene reduced from graphene oxides. Consequently, it is extremely difficult to isolate the size effect of GQDs from the measured optical properties.

Evaluation of therapeutic response to concurrent chemoradiotherapy in patients with cervical cancer using diffusion-weighted MR imaging.

Purpose: To investigate the changes in apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) in cervical cancer patients receiving concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT), and to assess the relationship between tumor ADCs or changes in tumor ADCs and final tumor responses to therapy.

Materials And Methods: Twenty-four patients with cervical cancer who received CCRT were examined with 3 Tesla (T) MRI including diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI). All patients had three serial MR examinations: before therapy (pre-Tx); at 4 weeks of therapy (mid-Tx); and 1 month after completion of therapy (post-Tx).

Sodium bicarbonate therapy for the prevention of contrast-induced acute kidney injury – a systematic review and meta-analysis –.

Background: Sodium bicarbonate has been postulated to prevent contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI) by various mechanisms, although the reports are conflicting.

Methods And Results: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane databases for randomized controlled trials that compared a sodium chloride with a sodium bicarbonate hydration regimen with regard to CI-AKI. Data across 19 clinical trials consisting of 3,609 patients were combined.

Recurrence patterns of bladder transitional cell carcinoma after radical cystectomy.

Background: Multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) is widely accepted as an effective imaging modality in monitoring for bladder cancer recurrence after radical cystectomy. Elucidating the pattern of bladder cancer recurrence on CT can increase the diagnostic accuracy.

Purpose: To evaluate the recurrence patterns of transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder and the factors associated with cancer recurrence.

A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials appraising the efficacy and safety of cilostazol after coronary artery stent implantation.

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of cilostazol on the angiographic and clinical outcomes in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with stents and treated with aspirin and thienopyridine.

Methods: A total of 11 randomized controlled trials including 8,525 patients comparing triple antiplatelet therapy (aspirin, thienopyridine and cilostazol) with standard dual antiplatelet therapy were included in the analysis. The primary end points were in-segment late loss and angiographic restenosis at angiographic follow-up.

Somatostatin analog therapy for severe polycystic liver disease: results after 2 years.

Background: We showed in a randomized double-blinded placebo-controlled clinical trial that octreotide long-acting repeatable depot.® (OctLAR(®)) for 12 months reduces kidney and liver growth in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney patients with severe polycystic liver disease (PLD) and liver growth in patients with severe isolated PLD. We have now completed an open-label extension for one additional year to assess safety and clinical benefits of continued use of OctLAR for 2 years (O → O) and examined drug effect in the placebo group who crossed over to OctLAR in Year 2 (P → O).

Biliary tract cancers in Olmsted County, Minnesota, 1976-2008.

Objectives: The epidemiology of biliary tract cancers has changed in the United States in the past several decades. The aim of this study is to evaluate biliary tract cancers with regard to the incidence rates, etiology, treatment, and survival in Olmsted County between 1976 and 2008.

Methods: Community residents over 20 years of age with a newly diagnosed biliary tract cancers were identified using the Rochester Epidemiology Project.

Prognostic value of creatine kinase-myocardial band isoenzyme elevation following percutaneous coronary intervention: a meta-analysis.

Objectives: To assess whether different degrees of creatine kinase-myocardial band isoenzyme (CK-MB) elevation after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) affect the subsequent risk of death.

Background: While there is consensus that extensive cardiac enzyme elevation increase mortality significantly, there is uncertainty about the exact clinical impact of smaller CK-MB elevations after PCI.

Methods: The published literature was scanned by formal searches of electronic databases such as PubMed and MEDLINE from January 1999 to October 2011.

Dynamic contrast-enhanced 3-T MR imaging in cervical cancer before and after concurrent chemoradiotherapy.

Objective: To investigate the changes of dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging (DCE-MRI) parameters at 3 T in cervical cancer patients before and after concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT), and to correlate the parameters with final tumour response to therapy.

Methods: Thirty-five patients with cervical cancer underwent DCE-MRI before CCRT, 4 weeks after starting therapy and at 1 month after the end of therapy. DCE-MRI parameters were calculated in the tumour and normal gluteus muscle.

Meta-analysis of cytochrome P450 2C19 polymorphism and risk of adverse clinical outcomes among coronary artery disease patients of different ethnic groups treated with clopidogrel.

Loss-of-function (LOF) variants of cytochrome P450 2C19 (CYP2C19) have been hypothesized to be associated with lesser degrees of platelet inhibition and increased risk for recurrent ischemic events in patients with coronary artery disease on clopidogrel therapy; however, studies from Western countries have yielded mixed results. We aimed to assess the impact of CYP2C19 LOF variants on clinical outcomes from different ethnic groups. Sixteen prospective cohort studies including 7,035 patients carrying ≥ 1 CYP2C19 LOF allele and 13,750 patients with the wild-type genotype were included in this meta-analysis.

The transradial versus the transfemoral approach for primary percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with acute myocardial infarction: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Aims: There is an increasing amount of data suggesting that transradial approach is associated with lower incidence of complications in vascular access site and improved clinical outcomes compared with transfemoral approach in the setting of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). The objective of this study was to assess the safety and efficacy of radial versus femoral percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for patients with STEMI.

Methods And Results: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases for randomised, case-control, and cohort studies comparing access-related complications and clinical outcomes from January 2001 to October 2011.

Evaluation of transplanted kidneys using blood oxygenation level-dependent MRI at 3 T: a preliminary study.

Objective: The objective of our study was to investigate the feasibility and reproducibility of blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) MRI using different gradient echoes at 3 T in patients with renal allografts and healthy volunteers and to evaluate whether BOLD MRI can be used to distinguish between cases of acute allograft rejection and normally functioning allografts.

Subjects And Methods: BOLD MRI at 3 T was performed of eight patients with normal allografts, four patients with acute allograft rejection, and 10 healthy volunteers. Multiple fast-field echo sequences were performed at gradient echoes of 8, 16, and 20 to obtain T2(*)-weighted images.

MR elastography in renal transplant patients and correlation with renal allograft biopsy: a feasibility study.

Rationale And Objectives: Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) images the propagation of mechanical shear waves in tissue and uses that information to generate quantitative measures of tissue stiffness. Hepatic MRE has been successfully performed in thousands of patients, with good correlation between histologic grade of fibrosis and tissue stiffness. There has been no prior investigation of the utility of MRE for the assessment of kidney transplants.

Intravaginal gel for staging of female pelvic cancers--preliminary report of safety, distention, and gel-mucosal contrast during magnetic resonance examination.

To more fully outline cervical and vaginal contours and distend the vagina, we have filled the vagina with sterile water-based gel before the magnetic resonance (MR) examination. The technique is similar to that used for defecating MR proctography and other MR examinations, but has not been well described for MR imaging of female pelvic cancer. We present our preliminary clinical experience, including a review of safety imaging characteristics and maintenance of the distention during the examination.

Model to estimate survival in ambulatory patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Unlabelled: Survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is determined by the extent of the tumor and the underlying liver function. We aimed to develop a survival model for HCC based on objective parameters including the Model for Endstage Liver Disease (MELD) as a gauge of liver dysfunction. This analysis is based on 477 patients with HCC seen at Mayo Clinic Rochester between 1994 and 2008 (derivation cohort) and 904 patients at the Korean National Cancer Center between 2000 and 2003 (validation cohort).

Hepatocellular carcinoma in olmsted county, Minnesota, 1976-2008.

Objective: To analyze longitudinal trends in the incidence, etiology, and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in community residents in Olmsted County, Minnesota, and their survival.

Patients And Methods: Olmsted County residents 20 years or older with HCC newly diagnosed from January 1, 1976, through December 31, 2008, were identified using a community-wide medical record linkage system (Rochester Epidemiology Project). The incidence rate of HCC was calculated by age and sex according to the 2000 US Census population.

Early changes in apparent diffusion coefficient from diffusion-weighted MR imaging during radiotherapy for prostate cancer.

Purpose: To investigate the feasibility of diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI) as an early and reproducible change indicator in patients receiving radiotherapy for prostate cancer (PC).

Methods And Materials: Eight consecutive patients with biopsy-proven PC underwent DWI at 3T. All patients who received external-beam radiotherapy had four serial MR scans, as follows: before therapy (PreTx); after 1 week of therapy (PostT1); after 3 weeks of therapy (PostT2); and 1 month after the completion of therapy (PostT3).

MRI and its role in the evaluation and surgical decision making in patients with challenging IPP presentations: descriptions of MRI findings and algorithm for patient management.

Unlabelled: Study Type - Diagnostic (case series) Level of Evidence 4 What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? It is known that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is safe and effective for imaging patients with inflatable penile prostheses (IPPs). Previous series have reported results of MRI for imaging series of patients with IPPs. The impact on management in particular with regard to salvage procedures is not well defined.

Imaging evaluation of amyloidosis of the urinary tract and retroperitoneum.

Amyloidosis is a heterogeneous group of disorders and may be classified as systemic or localized on the basis of the distribution of amyloid deposition. Infrequently, the urinary tract and supporting retroperitoneum may be involved, and the imaging findings are nonspecific and diverse. Localized amyloidosis usually involves the bladder and often mimics malignancy.

Assessment of renal lesions with blood oxygenation level-dependent MRI at 3 T: preliminary experience.

Objective: The purpose of this article is to prospectively determine the feasibility of using blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) MRI at 3 T in differentiating various renal lesions.

Subjects And Methods: Seventy-one patients (mean age, 53.8 years; range, 22-80 years) underwent kidney MRI, including BOLD MRI at 3 T.

De Novo Superinfection of Hepatitis B Virus in an Anti-HBs Positive Patient with Recurrent Hepatitis C Following Liver Transplantation.

A 60-year-old woman with end stage liver cirrhosis caused by genotype 2 hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection received an orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). The patient was negative for the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and positive for the anti-hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs) prior to and one and a half months following the OLT. Due to reactivation of hepatitis C, treatment with interferon-alpha and Ribavirin started two months following the OLT and resulted in a sustained virological response.

MR staging accuracy for endometrial cancer based on the new FIGO stage.

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been frequently used to determine a preoperative treatment plan for gynecologic cancers. However, the MR accuracy for staging an endometrial cancer is not satisfactory based on the old FIGO staging system.

Purpose: To evaluate MR accuracy for staging endometrial cancer using the new FIGO staging system.