Objective To explore the value of three-dimensional contrast-enhanced ultrasound angiography in the differential diagnosis of breast masses. Methods A total of 120 patients with breast masses who were treated in our hospital from July 2013 to February 2016 were selected as the research objects retrospectively, including 70 patients of benign tumor (benign group) and 50 patients of malignant tumor (malignant group) that confirmed by surgery and pathology. All patients were given conventional two-dimensional ultrasound and three-dimensional contrast-enhanced ultrasound angiography during the diagnosis. Compared the imaging features of benign group and malignant group, and compared the diagnostic value of two-dimensional ultrasound and three-dimensional contrast-enhanced ultrasound angiography for breast masses. Results Compared with benign group, the rates of irregular masses, unclear boundary, inhomogeneous echo, lateral shadowing, echo attenuation, and micro calcification in the malignant group were all higher (P<0.05). The three-dimensional contrast-enhanced ultrasound angiography scores in malignant group and benign group were significantly different with each other (P<0.05), the score of the malignant group was higher than that of benign group. The 2- and 3-score was common in benign group, but 4- and 5-score was common in malignant group. The diagnostic sensitivity of two-dimensional ultrasound and three-dimensional contrast-enhanced ultrasound angiography for breast masses were 97.1% (68/70) and 98.6% (69/70) respectively, and the specificity were 80.0% (40/50) and 96.0% (48/50) respectively, the specificity of three-dimensional contrast-enhanced ultrasound angiography was significantly higher than that of two-dimensional ultrasound (P<0.05). Conclusion Two-dimensional ultrasound and three-dimensional contrast-enhanced ultrasound angiography both have a certain diagnostic value in the differential diagnosis of breast masses, but the three dimensional contrast-enhanced ultrasound angiography can get more information through assessment of richness of the microvascular in tumor tissue, so as to improve the diagnostic specificity and is worthy of popularization and application.
Takayasu arteritis (TA) is a chronic nonspecific inflammation that commonly occurs in the aorta and its main branches. Most patients with TA are lack of clinical manifestations, leading to misdiagnosis. When the TA is correctly diagnosed, the patients may already have stenosis or occlusion in the involved arteries, resulting in arterial ischemia and hypoxia symptoms, and in severe cases it will be life-threatening. Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) is an emerging method for assessing TA, but the assessment relies heavily on experiences of radiologists performing manual and qualitative analyses, so the diagnostic results are often not accurate. To overcome this limitation, this paper presents a computer-assisted quantitative analysis of TA carotid artery lesions based on CEUS. First, the TA lesion was outlined on the carotid wall, and one homogeneous rectangle and one polygon were selected as two reference regions in the carotid lumen. The temporal and spatial features of the lesion region and the reference regions were then calculated. Furthermore, the difference and ratio of the features between the lesion and the reference regions were computed as new features (to eliminate interference factors). Finally, the correlation was analyzed between the CEUS features and inflammation biomarkers consisting of erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP). The data in this paper were collected from 34 TA patients in Zhongshan Hospital undergoing CEUS examination with a total of thirty-seven carotid lesions, where two patients were with two lesions before and after treatment and one patient was with left and right bilateral lesions. Among these patients, 13 were untreated primary patients with a total of 14 lesions, where one patient was with bilateral lesions. The results showed that for all patients, the neovascularization area ratio in the 1/3 inner region of a lesion (ARi1/3) achieved a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.56 (P=0.001) with CRP, and for the primary patients, the neovascularization area ratio in the 1/2 inner region of a lesion (ARi1/2) had an r-value of 0.76 (P=0.001) with CRP. This study indicates that the proposed computer-assisted method can objectively and semi-automatically extract quantitative features from CEUS images, so as to reduce the effect on diagnosis due to subjective experiences of the radiologists, and thus it is expected to be used for clinical diagnosis and severity evaluation of TA carotid lesions.
Objective To explore therapeutic effect of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) guided by contrast-enhanced ultrasound in patient with advanced primary liver cancer following transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE). Methods The patients with advanced primary liver cancer treated with the TACE firstly from January to December 2014 in this hospital were prospectively collected, then were randomly divided into a conventional ultrasound guided RFA group (control group) and contrast-enhanced ultrasound guided RFA group (study group). The complete ablation rate, liver function, serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level, and 1-, 2-, and 3-year survival rates were observed in the two groups. Results A total of 42 patients with advanced primary liver cancer treated with the TACE were enrolled in this study, there were 21 patients in each group. ① There were no significant differences in the baseline data such as the gender, age, BCLC stage, AFP level, and Child grade of liver function between the two groups (P>0.05). ② All the treatments were completed according to the plan, no serious complications or treatment-related death happened. The complete ablation rate of the study group was significantly higher than that of the control group (χ2=5.717, P=0.017), and the AFP level was significantly lower than that of the control group (t=2.618, P=0.012). There was no significant difference in the Child grade of liver function between the 2 groups (P>0.05). ③ The rate of repeat RFA in the study group was significantly lower than that in the control group (χ2=4.434, P=0.035), and there was no significant difference in the TACE treatment rate between the two groups (χ2=1.659, P=0.197). ④ The survival rate of the study group was significantly better than that of the control group by comparing the survival curves (χ2=3.999, P=0.046). Conclusion Contrast-enhanced ultrasound guided RFA is superior to conventional ultrasound guided RFA in treatment of advanced primary liver cancer following TACE.
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is now recognized as a worldwide public health challenge, and the incidence rate and hospitalization rate have significantly increased in recent years. Without prompt diagnoses and effective treatment in the early renal function damage of CKD, the symptoms will continue to worsen and eventually develop into end-stage renal disease. Functional imaging techniques such as single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS), computerized tomography perfusion (CTP), and magnetic resonance perfusion weighted imaging (MR-PWI) could be used to quantitatively analyze renal perfusion and renal filtration function. Their diagnostic values are increasingly evident and have become the research hotspot in evaluating renal function. The aim of this review is to briefly evaluate the research and application advances in the early renal function damage assessment of CKD, so as to raise the efficiency of clinical applications.
Objective To investigate the anatomy of anterior and posterior terminal perforators of the peroneal artery and its clinical applications. Methods Six lower limb specimens were obtained from 3 fresh cadavers. The anterior and posterior terminal perforators and the perforator of terminal peroneal artery were exposed under surgical microscope, and the distances from the beginning of each perforator branch to the lateral malleolus tip and the external diameter of each perforator were measured. With these anatomical knowledge and contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) guidance, the pedicle flaps with above-mentioned perforators were rationally selected and precisely designed for 18 patients with skin defects in the ankle and foot region between October 2016 and December 2018. Among the patients, there were 14 males and 4 females, aged 28-62 years, with an average age of 40 years. The area of wound ranged from 4 cm×3 cm to 13 cm×10 cm and the area of skin flap ranged from 5 cm×4 cm to 14 cm×10 cm. The anterior peroneal artery terminal perforator flap were applied in 13 cases and the posterior peroneal artery terminal perforator flap in 5 cases. The donor sites were closed directly in 7 cases and repaired with full thickness skin graft in 11 cases. Results The distance from the beginning of the anterior terminal perforator to the lateral malleolus tip was (5.1±0.5) cm, the external diameter of the anterior terminal perforator was (1.51±0.05) mm. The distance from the beginning of the posterior terminal perforator to the lateral malleolus tip was (4.9±0.9) cm, the external diameter was (1.78±0.17) mm; the distance from the beginning of the perforator of terminal peroneal artery to the lateral malleolus tip was (1.7±0.7) cm, the external diameter was (0.58±0.12) mm. Clinical application results: The edge of the flap was dark in 2 cases after operation and healed after surgical dressing, and 1 case of wound infection healed gradually after debridement. The other flaps survived and healed by first intention. Three patients underwent plastic surgery at 3 months after operation due to flap swelling. All patients were followed up 3-18 months. During the follow-up period, the flaps had good texture and appearance, and partial recovery of sensation. All cases were assessed by the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) score at last follow-up. The results were excellent in 9 cases, good in 6 cases, fair in 2 cases, and poor in 1 case, with the excellent and good rate of 83.3%. ConclusionFurther classification of peroneal artery perforators in the lateral malleolus region can improve clinical understanding and be helpful to selection and application of perforator flaps in the lateral malleolus.
ObjectiveTo investigate the application value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) technique to assist the repair of oral and maxillofacial defects by superficial inferior epigastric artery perforator flap.MethodsSixteen oral cancer patients, 10 males and 6 females, who were to undergo superficial inferior epigastric artery perforator flap repair between June 2018 and February 2020, were selected, with an average age of 55.8 years (range, 24-77 years). There were 13 cases of squamous cell carcinoma, 2 cases of adenoid cystic carcinoma, and 1 case of mucinous epidermis-like carcinoma. The color Doppler ultrasound (CDUS) and CEUS were used to screen the superficial inferior epigastric artery, assisted in the design of the flap, and compared it with the actual intraoperative exploration. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of CEUS and CDUS examinations were analyzed. Fourteen of 16 patients were repaired with superficial inferior epigastric artery perforator flap, and 2 patients were repaired with superficial iliac artery flap because the source artery was not found. After surgery, regular follow-up was performed to check for disease recurrence and metastasis and to evaluate the appearance of the patien’s donor area, the recovery of transoral feeding function, and the presence of complications.ResultsComparison of preoperative CDUS and CEUS findings and intraoperative exploration showed that CEUS had 100% sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value for vascular exploration of the superficial inferior epigastric artery perforator flap, compared with 57%, 100%, 100%, and 25% for CDUS. The preoperative CDUS identified 25 penetrating vessels in 14 cases repaired with superficial inferior epigastric artery flaps. All vessel signals were enhanced by CEUS enhancement, and an additional 11 penetrating vessels were identified confirmed intraoperatively. The preoperative CEUS measurements of the initial diameter of superficial arteries in the abdominal wall were significantly higher than both CDUS and intraoperative measurements (P<0.05); the difference in peak systolic velocity between CEUS and CDUS measurements was significant (t=3.708, P=0.003). One case of superficial epigastric artery perforator flap developed venous embolism crisis at 48 hours after operation, the wound healing delayed. The other incisions in donor sites healed by first intention. All the patients were followed up 3-12 months, with an average of 8 months. No recurrence or metastasis appeared during the follow-up. There was no serious complications such as abdominal wall hernia, the location of abdominal scarring was hidden, and transoral feeding was resumed.ConclusionThe superficial inferior epigastric artery perforator flap with small injury in supply area and hidden scar location is a better choice for repairing oral and maxillofacial defects. The use of CEUS technique to assist the preoperative design of the superficial inferior epigastric artery perforator flap has good feasibility and high accuracy.
Objective To investigate the application and clinical efficacy of orthotopic autologous renal transplantation combined with inferior vena cava (IVC) resection and reconstruction in retroperitoneal tumor. Methods The clinical data of a patient with complex retroperitoneal tumor was analyzed retrospectively. Abdominal CT examination showed that the tumor originated from IVC and invaded the retrohepatic IVC and bilateral renal vein trunks. Intraoperative ultrasound exploration revealed mechanized thrombosis in the IVC and bilateral renal vein trunks. After blocking the left renal vein, no significant hemodynamic changes were seen before and after intraoperative ultrasound exploration and contrast-enhanced ultrasound. Results After complete removal of the left renal vein and suture of the severed end, the right renal vein was successfully reconstructed with an orthotopic autologous right kidney graft combined with IVC resection after removal of the mechanized thrombus. The patient recovered well after surgery, and a repeat CT showed that the reconstructed artificial IVC was patent, and the color Doppler ultrasonography of both kidneys showed good perfusion and no obstruction of return. The patient was given oral rivaroxaban anticoagulant therapy after operation, and discharged at 19 days after operation. The postoperative pathological findings suggested inferior vena cava smooth muscle sarcoma. Conclusion Orthotopic autologous renal transplantation combined with IVC resection and reconstruction for complex retroperitoneal tumor is safe and feasible, and the left renal vein can be ligated and dissected intraoperatively, but a comprehensive evaluation with intraoperative ultrasound (imaging) is required.