No abstract

Multi-detector row CT with combined water and air distention can improve the accuracy of preoperative staging of gastric cancer. MPRs yield significantly better overall accuracy than transverse images for tumor staging but not for lymph node staging.

This study compared the effectiveness of relative cerebral blood volume, apparent diffusion coefficient, and spectroscopic imaging in differentiating between primary high-grade gliomas and solitary metastases. A 3.0-T MR unit was used to perform proton MR spectroscopy, diffusion imaging, and conventional MR imaging on 26 patients who had solitary brain tumors (14 high-grade gliomas and 12 metastases). All diagnoses were confirmed by biopsy. Twelve perfusion MR studies (8 high-grade gliomas and 4 metastases) were also performed. The results showed that the choline to creatine ratio and relative cerebral blood volume in the peritumoral regions of high-grade gliomas were significantly higher than they were in the metastases. The apparent diffusion coefficient values in tumoral and peritumoral regions of metastases were significantly higher than they were in the primary gliomas. Although conventional MR imaging characteristics of solitary metastases and primary high-grade gliomas may sometimes be similar, the peritumoral perfusion-weighted and spectroscopic MR imaging enable distinction between the two. Diffusion-weighted imaging techniques were complementary techniques to make a differential diagnosis between the two malignant tumors.

No abstract

This study aimed to evaluate brain correlates of cue-induced craving to play online games in subjects with Internet gaming addiction (IGA), subjects in remission from IGA and controls. The craving response was assessed by event-related design of functional magnetic resonance images (fMRIs). Fifteen subjects with IGA, 15 in remission from IGA and 15 controls were recruited in this study. The subjects were arranged to view the gaming screenshots and neutral images under investigation of fMRIs. The results showed that bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), precuneus, left parahippocampus, posterior cingulate and right anterior cingulate were activated in response to gaming cues in the IGA group and their activation was stronger in the IGA group than those in the control group. Their region-of-interest was also positively correlated with subjective gaming urge under cue exposure. These activated brain areas represent the brain circuit corresponding to the mechanism of substance use disorder. Thus, it would suggest that the mechanism of IGA is similar to substance use disorder. Furthermore, the IGA group had stronger activation over right DLPFC and left parahippocampus than did the remission group. The two areas would be candidate markers for current addiction to online gaming and should be investigated in future studies.

CT is an efficient imaging method for diagnosis, guiding the drainage procedures and monitoring response to percutaneous drainage of emphysematous pyelonephritis. Antibiotic therapy combined with CT guided percutaneous drainage of emphysematous pyelonephritis is an acceptable alternative to antibiotic therapy with surgical intervention.

Hepatic choline levels and ADCs may allow monitoring of therapeutic responses of HCC to TACE although larger, more definitive and quantitative studies with clinical end points are needed.

Type 2 pleural tags on conventional CT images can increase the accuracy of early diagnosis of visceral pleural invasion by NSCLC that does not abut the pleura.