PurposeTo evaluate the accuracy of shear wave elastography (SWE) in the quantitative diagnosis of liver fibrosis severity.MethodsThe published literatures were systematically retrieved from PubMed, Embase, Web of science and Scopus up to May 13th, 2016. Included studies reported the pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, as well as the diagnostic odds ratio of SWE in populations with liver fibrosis. A bivariate mixed-effects regression model was used, which was estimated by the I2 statistics. The quality of articles was evaluated by quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies (QUADAS).ResultsThirteen articles including 2303 patients were qualified for the study. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of SWE for the diagnosis of liver fibrosis are as follows: ≥F1 0.76 (p<0.001, 95% CI, 0.71–0.81, I2 = 75.33%), 0.92 (p<0.001, 95% CI, 0.80–0.97, I2 = 79.36%); ≥F2 0.84 (p = 0.35, 95% CI, 0.81–0.86, I2 = 9.55%), 0.83 (p<0.001, 95% CI, 0.77–0.88, I2 = 86.56%); ≥F3 0.89 (p = 0.56, 95% CI, 0.86–0.92, I2 = 0%), 0.86 (p<0.001, 95% CI, 0.82–0.90, I2 = 75.73%); F4 0.89 (p = 0.24, 95% CI, 0.84–0.92, I2 = 20.56%), 0.88 (p<0.001, 95% CI, 0.84–0.92, I2 = 82.75%), respectively. Sensitivity analysis showed no significant changes if any one of the studies was excluded. Publication bias was not detected in this meta-analysis.ConclusionsOur study suggests that SWE is a helpful method to appraise liver fibrosis severity. Future studies that validate these findings would be appropriate.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) in combination with ultrasound elastography (UE) is able to accurately predict the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in breast cancer patients. A total of 65 breast cancer patients who received NAC at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University (Hangzhou, China) between February 2016 and August 2017 and were recruited for the present study. Prior to and after NAC, examination by CEUS, UE or their combination was performed. Pathological results were obtained at the end of each chemotherapy cycle, based on which 41 cases were assigned to the response group and 24 to the non-response group. Kappa values were 0.710, 0.434 and 0.836 for CEUS, UE and CEUS+UE, respectively. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curves for CEUS, UE and CEUS+UE for determining the response to NAC was 0.864 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.765–0.964], 0.715 (95% CI, 0.579–0.850) and 0.910 (95% CI, 0.826–0.993), respectively. It was identified that the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of CEUS+UE were higher than those of CEUS and US individually. The prediction accuracy was 89.2, 90.8 and 100% for CEUS, UE and their combination, respectively. CEUS and UE have their own advantages in evaluating the clinical efficacy of NAC in breast cancer, and a higher accuracy was achieved when the two techniques were applied in combination. Therefore, a combination of CEUS and UE may be a preferred method for the clinical assessment of the efficacy of NAC in breast cancer patients.

ObjectiveTo report the efficacy and safety of CT-guided percutaneous laser ablation (PLA) for metastatic lung tumors.MethodsThree cases of metastatic lung cancer underwent CT-guided PLA, and we searched for previously published articles on the minimally invasive CT-guided RFA or MWA for lung tumors in recent five years.ResultsWith the guidance of CT, all lesions had good prognosis under laser ablation. Case 1 suffering from severe pulmonary dysfunction and diffuse pulmonary bullae, had small pneumothorax. CT scan obtained four months following the ablation showed two lesions had complete responses and one partial response. Case 2 had successful complete response with absent lung mass, and also had a good postoperative condition without any discomfort in the two-month follow-up. Case 3 showed partial response and improved greatly after five months. 962 cases (mean age of 45.7 years, 62.2% male) of 1297 lung tumors with detailed information were identified from 27 articles. Of these cases, the minority manifested complications such as pneumothorax, hemoptysis, hemothorax, pneumonia, pain and fever.ConclusionsPercutaneous CT-guided PLA could be a safe and promising minimally invasive treatment for patients with primary lung cancer or unresectable pulmonary metastases, especially multineedle PLA in large tumors, which still needs more large-scale prospective studies to convince this method in the future.

BackgroundLaser ablation with a neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) laser is a minimally invasive approach which is able to achieve a precise tissue necrosis. The study was aimed to assess the feasibility and efficiency of laser ablation in the treatment of retroperitoneal and hepatic portal unresectable metastatic lymph nodes.MethodsEight patients including 11 pathologically proven metastatic lymph nodes, 4 in retroperitoneal, 7 in hepatic portal region, were treated by laser ablation. Primary cancers were cholangiocarcinoma (n = 4) and hepatocellular carcinoma (n = 4). Under sonographic guidance, the laser ablation was performed percutaneously. Follow-up contrast computed tomography or magnetic resonance image was performed.ResultsThe treatments were completed in single process in all the patients. No severe complications occurred. Follow-up contrast computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging at 1 and 3 months showed partial responses in 11 lymph nodes. The local response rate at the 6 month follow-up was 75.0 %. The overall response rate was 62.5 %. Abdominal pain scores decreased significantly in all patients. Tumor marker levels decreased in six patients. The Child-Pugh grade did not change.ConclusionsThe results suggest that sonographically guided laser ablation is technically feasible for the local treatment of unresectable retroperitoneal and hepatic portal lymph nodes from hepatic cancer. Although further study is needed to evaluate its long time efficacy, abdominal pain relief is prominent.

In conclusion, 2D-SWE is a valuable, reliable, and quantitative approach to successfully assess acute liver congestion, and it is well consistent with histopathological characteristics. Besides, acute liver congestion is an important factor influencing LS that increases LS in a reversible way.