Purpose:To evaluate the usefulness of echo-planar MR imaging for assessing the thyroid function and confirm the clinical use of MR imaging for thyroid diseases.
Materials and Methods:Thirty-four patients with a variety of thyroid disorders (24 Graves disease; five subacute thyroiditis; five Hashimoto thyroiditis) were examined using T1-, T2-, and diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and thyroid scintigraphy with Tc-99m pertechnetate.
Results:The ADC values obtained from the diffusionweighted images of the patients with Graves disease were significantly higher than those of patients with subacute hyroiditis and Hashimoto thyroiditis, though no difference among those disorders was observed on T1-and T2-weighted images. Based on the ADC value, anisotropy was not observed in the thyroid gland. An ADC value of 1.82 ϫ 10 Ϫ3 mm 2 /second or higher indicated the presence of Graves disease (sensitivity 75%, specificity 80%).
Conclusion:Diffusion-weighted MR images may be of value for the diagnosis of thyroid diseases and could be clinically important in the evaluation of thyroid function.
We compared the growth rate of locally recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with that of primary HCC. After the first treatment by transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE), 60 locally recurrent HCC nodules were reviewed. The tumor volume doubling time (DT) of locally recurrent HCC was significantly shorter than that of primary HCC. The 95% lower threshold value was 17.7 days. The 6-, 12-, and 36-month recurrence-free rates of the tumors having DTs more than 70 days after the second TACE (77.7%, 53.8%, and 40.4%) were significantly higher than those of the tumors having DTs less than 70 days (26.7%, 26.7%, and 17.8%). Locally recurrent HCCs cannot double in diameter in less than 53 days. In the case that an equivocal lesion smaller than the section collimation depicted during a contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) screening cannot be ruled out as local recurrence, the next CECT screening should be performed 2 months later.
Local therapeutic results of single new lesions were better than those of multiple new lesions, and the local therapeutic effect of TACE was not affected by the number of treatments on the basis of patient, tumor location, or tumor size.
The aim of this study was to retrospectively evaluate the long-term results of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) for the treatment of local recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after the first TACE. Between September 1992 and October 2004, 85 recurrent HCC nodules of 35 patients were treated by TACE. During the median follow-up period of 15.5 months (range 1.9-58.6 months), 58 of the 85 treated tumors developed local recurrence again after the second TACE. The overall 6-, 12-, and 36-month recurrence-free rates of these tumors after the second TACE were 47.0%, 36.2%, and 25.8%, respectively. Local recurrence of HCC after the first TACE was treated by a second TACE with equivalent efficacy as that of the initial TACE, if segmental chemoembolization was achieved. We regard TACE as the treatment of choice for the management of local recurrence of HCC.
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