Objectives
To investigate the influence of region-of-interest (ROI) placement on 3D tumour enhancement [Quantitative European Association for the Study of the Liver (qEASL)] in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients treated with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE).
Methods
Phase 1: 40 HCC patients had nine ROIs placed by one reader using systematic techniques (3 ipsilateral to the lesion, 3 contralateral to the lesion, and 3 dispersed throughout the liver) and qEASL variance was measured. Intra-class correlations were computed. Phase 2: 15 HCC patients with histosegmentation were selected. Six ROIs were systematically placed by AC (3 ROIs ipsilateral and 3 ROIs contralateral to the lesion). Three ROIs were placed by 2 radiologists. qEASL values were compared to histopathology by Pearson’s correlation, linear regression, and median difference.
Results
Phase 1: The dispersed method (abandoned in phase 2) had low consistency and high variance. Phase 2: qEASL correlated strongly with pathology in systematic methods [Pearson’s correlation coefficient=0.886 (ipsilateral) and 0.727 (contralateral)] and in clinical methods (0.625 and 0.879). However, ipsilateral placement matched best with pathology (median difference: 5.4 %; correlation: 0.89; regression CI: [0.904, 0.1409]).
Conclusions
qEASL is a robust method with comparable values among tested placements. Ipsilateral placement showed high consistency and better pathological correlation.
We demonstrate that neuronal spike frequencies and bursting activity in the VPM are increased in an animal model of CM compared to shams. Our results suggest that the mechanism of ONS may involve attenuation of neurons in the VPM of CM rats during the application of mechanical stimuli.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.