Ultrasound in medicine & biology
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Ultrasound Med Biol · May 2016
Comparative StudyPredictive Value of Conventional Ultrasound and Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound in Early Recurrence of Hepatocellular Carcinoma after Surgical Resection.
The goals of the work described here were to study the pre-operative risk factors associated with early recurrence (ER) of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after surgical resection and discuss the value of conventional ultrasound (US) and contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in predicting ER of HCC, so as to provide more information for optimizing clinical treatment and improving prognosis. A retrospective analysis was conducted on 59 patients who underwent both US and CEUS examinations pre-operatively and surgical resection for HCC between December 2010 and January 2014 in our hospital. The patients' clinical data, laboratory examination data and ultrasonic imaging diagnostic data were collected. ⋯ A pre-operative serum α-fetoprotein level ≥400 ng/mL, tumor diameter ≥5 cm and "fast wash-out" enhancement pattern are independent risk factors for ER of HCC after surgical resection. In addition, the "fast wash-out" enhancement pattern could probably be used to screen populations at high risk of recurrence owing to its high sensitivity in predicting ER of HCC post-operatively. All these findings provide beneficial information for management of HCC.
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Ultrasound Med Biol · May 2016
Association of Renal Resistive Index with Markers of Extrarenal Vascular Changes in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.
Recent data suggest that renal hemodynamic parameters obtained by duplex Doppler sonography, especially the intrarenal resistive index (RRI), may be associated with systemic vascular changes. We evaluated the relationships between RRI and arterial stiffness, assessed by aortic pulse wave velocity, and between RRI and subclinical atherosclerosis, assessed by measuring carotid intima-media thickness in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. We enrolled 39 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (mean age 39 y) compared with 19 healthy controls, matched for age and sex. ⋯ RRI correlated significantly with aortic pulse wave velocity (r = 0.44, p = 0.006), and with carotid intima-media thickness (r = 0.46, p = 0.003). Both correlations held (p = 0.01), even after correction for age, mean arterial pressure and glomerular filtration rate. Our results suggest that the RRI may be considered a marker of systemic vascular changes and probably a predictor of cardiovascular risk in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.
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Ultrasound Med Biol · Mar 2016
Ultrasonographic Evaluation of Optic Nerve Sheath Diameter among Healthy Chinese Adults.
The aim of the work described here was to establish the range for optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) and potential factors influencing ONSD in healthy Chinese adults. Both ONSDs were measured twice in the sagittal and transversal planes by two observers. The final ONSD value for each participant was the average of 16 measurements of both eyes. ⋯ After adjustment for potential confounds between these factors, sex (coefficient = 0.225, p < 0.001) and body mass index (coefficient = 0.042, p < 0.001) were independently associated with ONSD. Underweight women had the smallest ONSD. These results suggest that racial, sex, and body mass index differences should be noted when assessing ultrasonographic criteria.
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Ultrasound Med Biol · Feb 2016
Comparative StudyShear Wave Elastography in Head and Neck Lymph Node Assessment: Image Quality and Diagnostic Impact Compared with B-Mode and Doppler Ultrasonography.
The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic performance of shear wave elastography (SWE) in comparison to B-mode and Doppler ultrasonography in differentiating benign from malignant head and neck lymph nodes (HNLNs). Sixty-two HNLNs from 56 patients were prospectively examined using B-mode, Doppler and SWE. The standard of reference was histopathology or cytology and follow-up. ⋯ Among the quantitative criteria, μmax had the highest diagnostic accuracy (area under the curve = 0.903 ± 0.042), especially in the sub-centimeter subgroup (area under the curve = 0.929 ± 0.045; p < 0.001) in which the area under the curve was significantly higher compared with the other quantitative criteria (p < 0.05). The additional use of SWE combined with B-mode tended to improve diagnostic accuracy (p > 0.05). SWE is a promising reproducible quantitative tool with which to predict malignant HNLNs, especially sub-centimeter nodes.
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Ultrasound Med Biol · Feb 2016
Virtual Touch Tissue Imaging Quantification Shear Wave Elastography: Prospective Assessment of Cervical Lymph Nodes.
The goal of this study was to prospectively evaluate the diagnostic performance of Virtual Touch tissue imaging quantification (VTIQ) shear wave elastography in the discrimination of benign and malignant cervical lymph nodes in routine clinical practice. Shear wave velocity was analyzed using VTIQ in 100 patients with 100 histologically proven cervical lymph nodes. Diagnostic performance was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis and leave-one-out cross-validation. ⋯ The cross-validated accuracy, sensitivity and specificity were 77%, 78.9% and 74.4%, respectively. Agreement of measurements with VTIQ was excellent (intra-class correlation coefficient = 0.961). VTIQ shear wave elastography may be a feasible quantitative imaging method for differentiating benign and malignant cervical lymph nodes.