Cholangiocarcinomas that involve areas from the peripheral intrahepatic duct to the distal common duct have similar morphologic features, and traditional classification schemes based on the location of the involved ducts sometimes overlap. Nevertheless, cholangiocarcinoma is usually classified as either intrahepatic or extrahepatic, and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma is further classified as either peripheral or hilar. However, the distinction between peripheral intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and hilar cholangiocarcinoma is largely based on the site of origin. Therefore, in some tumors that arise peripheral to the secondary bifurcation of one of the hepatic ducts, clear differentiation between the two types of cholangiocarcinoma is not always possible. In addition, the distinction between hilar cholangiocarcinoma and extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma is not clearly defined. The different biologic behaviors of the tumors seem to be caused by their varying locations and their size at the time of diagnosis. Further molecular or biochemical investigation is needed to support the "field theory," which states that all cholangiocarcinomas are biologically the same tumor originating from the same biliary epithelium.

Serous oligocystic adenoma of the pancreas has characteristic CT findings that differentiate it from other cystic tumors. It appears as a multicystic or lobulated cystic lesion with septation.

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Autonomous self-healable crosslinked materials designed with built-in ability to repair physical damage and cracks can prevent catastrophic failure and thus extend the lifetime of materials. They also retain their dimensional stability, mechanical strength, thermal stability, and solvent resistance. These features promote the development of effective self-healing materials for various applications. This review summarizes recent advances in the development of novel self-healable polymeric materials, both through extrinsic methods involving the encapsulation of extra healing agents in microcapsules and through intrinsic methods utilizing the formation of reversible chemical or physical crosslinks. Further, the outlook is briefly discussed on the important aspects for the current and future development of self-healable materials.

Ultrasonographic findings suggesting malignancy should be preferentially considered as indicators for FNA, regardless of size, in nonpalpable thyroid nodules. However, extracapsular invasion and lymph node metastasis are closely related to the size of the thyroid nodule.

ANNs might be a useful tool to categorize whether a donor liver is appropriate for transplantation with respect to macrosteatosis on the basis of multiple variables related to laboratory and US features. Further study is needed.

Polymer-based crosslinked networks with intrinsic self-repairing ability have emerged due to their built-in ability to repair physical damages. Here, novel dual sulfide-disulfide crosslinked networks (s-ssPxNs) are reported exhibiting rapid and room temperature self-healability within seconds to minutes, with no extra healing agents and no change under any environmental conditions. The method to synthesize these self-healable networks utilizes a combination of well-known crosslinking chemistry: photoinduced thiol-ene click-type radical addition, generating lightly sulfide-crosslinked polysulfide-based networks with excess thiols, and their oxidation, creating dynamic disulfide crosslinkages to yield the dual s-ssPxNs. The resulting s-ssPxN networks show rapid self-healing within 30 s to 30 min at room temperature, as well as self-healing elasticity with reversible viscoelastic properties. These results, combined with tunable self-healing kinetics, demonstrate the versatility of the method as a new means to synthesize smart multifunctional polymeric materials.

OBJECTIVE. The objective of our study was to determine whether gadobenate dimeglumine-enhanced MRI is practical as the sole preoperative imaging technique for the examination of living liver donors.SUBJECTS AND METHODS. Forty-four consecutive living donor candidates underwent liver MRI on a 1.5-T MR unit. The MR examination included in-and opposed-phase T1-weighted gradient-echo imaging, T2-weighted MR cholangiography, MR angiography (MRA) and parenchymal phase imaging after the administration of gadobenate dimeglumine, and 60-minute delayed T1-weighted MR cholangiography. Two abdominal radiologists analyzed the images regarding the depiction of the biliary duct anatomy and the hepatic vascular anatomy and for the presence of focal or diffuse liver disease. The findings were compared with intraoperative cholangiographic and surgical findings in 24 patients who underwent partial hepatectomy.RESULTS. In the 24 patients who underwent liver harvesting, 10 had biliary anatomic variants confirmed by intraoperative cholangiography. T2-weighted MR cholangiography allowed a correct diagnosis in 75% (n = 18/24) and T1-weighted MR cholangiography in 79% (n = 19/24) of these patients. When we evaluated the bile duct anatomy using the combined findings of T2-and T1-weighted MR cholangiographic images, the diagnostic accuracy increased to 92% (n = 22/24), but the difference was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). MRA showed a diagnostic accuracy of 79% (n = 19/24) for the hepatic arterial anatomy, 100% (n = 24/24) for the portal venous anatomy, and 96% (n = 23/24) for the hepatic venous anatomy.CONCLUSION. Gadobenate dimeglumine-enhanced MRI allows comprehensive assessment of the biliary and hepatic vascular systems and the hepatic parenchyma and can serve as the sole preoperative imaging test for living liver donor candidates.