Objective To approach the enhancing patterns of hepatic focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) under contrast-enhanced ultrasound, and improve the recognition on diagnosis for FNH by contrast-enhanced ultrasound. Methods The clinical data of 12 patients with histologically proved FNHs having accepted contrast-enhanced ultrasound examination from May 2007 to February 2009 in West China Hospital of Sichuan University were retroptectively analyzed, and related literatures were reviewed. Results All FNHs were rapidly enhanced in arterial phase and spoke-wheel-like sign was detected in 9/12 lesions. Slightly hyper-enhancement or iso-enhancement were showed in 11/12 lesions, while 1/12 lesions showed hypo-enhancement in late phase. Conclusion Contrast-enhanced ultrasound can display the dynamic blood perfusion of FNH, especially spoke-wheel-like arterial flow in early arterial phase, which is of great value for the diagnosis of FNH.
目的 探讨超声造影对门静脉癌栓和血栓的鉴别诊断价值。方法 应用超声造影剂（SonoVue）对16例门静脉癌栓及8例门静脉血栓行实时低机械指数超声造影，观察并分析其造影增强特征。 结果 16例癌栓超声造影动脉相10例呈整体均匀性增强，2例呈整体不均匀性增强，2例呈整体轻度增强，2例栓子一部分增强，另一部分无增强； 门脉相特别是门脉相晚期和延迟相14例栓子呈充盈缺损状态，2例栓子仍呈轻微强化。4例常规彩超检查未能检出动脉血流信号而不能确诊的癌栓，超声造影均显示其动脉相增强。8例血栓行超声造影后整个造影过程栓子均未见增强。结论 超声造影可敏感地反映门静脉栓子的血流灌注，门静脉癌栓和血栓在超声造影后有显著的特征，有助于两者的鉴别诊断。
ObjectiveTo investigate the application value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) technique to assist the repair of oral and maxillofacial defects by superficial inferior epigastric artery perforator flap.MethodsSixteen oral cancer patients, 10 males and 6 females, who were to undergo superficial inferior epigastric artery perforator flap repair between June 2018 and February 2020, were selected, with an average age of 55.8 years (range, 24-77 years). There were 13 cases of squamous cell carcinoma, 2 cases of adenoid cystic carcinoma, and 1 case of mucinous epidermis-like carcinoma. The color Doppler ultrasound (CDUS) and CEUS were used to screen the superficial inferior epigastric artery, assisted in the design of the flap, and compared it with the actual intraoperative exploration. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of CEUS and CDUS examinations were analyzed. Fourteen of 16 patients were repaired with superficial inferior epigastric artery perforator flap, and 2 patients were repaired with superficial iliac artery flap because the source artery was not found. After surgery, regular follow-up was performed to check for disease recurrence and metastasis and to evaluate the appearance of the patien’s donor area, the recovery of transoral feeding function, and the presence of complications.ResultsComparison of preoperative CDUS and CEUS findings and intraoperative exploration showed that CEUS had 100% sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value for vascular exploration of the superficial inferior epigastric artery perforator flap, compared with 57%, 100%, 100%, and 25% for CDUS. The preoperative CDUS identified 25 penetrating vessels in 14 cases repaired with superficial inferior epigastric artery flaps. All vessel signals were enhanced by CEUS enhancement, and an additional 11 penetrating vessels were identified confirmed intraoperatively. The preoperative CEUS measurements of the initial diameter of superficial arteries in the abdominal wall were significantly higher than both CDUS and intraoperative measurements (P<0.05); the difference in peak systolic velocity between CEUS and CDUS measurements was significant (t=3.708, P=0.003). One case of superficial epigastric artery perforator flap developed venous embolism crisis at 48 hours after operation, the wound healing delayed. The other incisions in donor sites healed by first intention. All the patients were followed up 3-12 months, with an average of 8 months. No recurrence or metastasis appeared during the follow-up. There was no serious complications such as abdominal wall hernia, the location of abdominal scarring was hidden, and transoral feeding was resumed.ConclusionThe superficial inferior epigastric artery perforator flap with small injury in supply area and hidden scar location is a better choice for repairing oral and maxillofacial defects. The use of CEUS technique to assist the preoperative design of the superficial inferior epigastric artery perforator flap has good feasibility and high accuracy.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the differential diagnostic value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and contrast-enhanced CT (CECT) for renal solid space-occupying lesions. MethodsDatabases including EMbase, PubMed, The Cochrane Library (Issue 11, 2014), CNKI, CBM, VIP and WanFang Data were searched for diagnostic tests about CEUS and CECT for renal solid space-occupying lesions from inception to September, 2014. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the methodological quality of included studies. Then meta-analysis was performed using Meta-Disc 1.4 software. ResultsA total of 13 studies involving 754 specimens were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that:the sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, diagnostic odds ratio (combined effect and its 95%CI) in the CEUS group were 0.96 (95%CI 0.94 to 0.97), 0.77 (95%CI 0.70 to 0.83), 3.82 (95%CI 2.93 to 4.97), 0.06 (95%CI 0.04 to 0.10), 64.33 (95%CI 36.79 to 112.51), and in the CECT group were 0.84 (95%CI 0.81 to 0.87), 0.73 (95%CI 0.65 to 0.79), 2.81 (95%CI 2.22 to 3.56), 0.23 (95%CI 0.16 to 0.34), 13.85 (95%CI 6.79 to 28.26). There were significant differences between the CEUS group (0.960 8, 95%CI 0.927 3 to 0.994 3) and the CECT group (0.866 8, 95%CI 0.788 8 to 0.944 8) in the area under the summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve (P<0.05). The similar results were observed in cases with small renal tumors≤4 cm (AUC:0.973 7 vs. 0.861 3, P<0.05). ConclusionCEUS has higher differential diagnostic value than CECT for renal solid space-occupying lesions.
Progress in the treatment of acute myocardial infarction (AMI)， chronic coronary artery disease and their immediate complications has led to an increasing number of surviving patients with residual left ventricular dysfunction. It has been shown that viable myocardium in post-AMI patients and chronic heart failure patients plays an important role in predicting their prognosis and making clinical decisions. Viable myocardium refers to myocardium with reversible contractile dysfunction that occurs in coronary ischemia or after ischemia-reperfusion, but still has contractile reserve. Myocardial microvascular integrity is in correspondence with myocardial viability. Myocardial contrast echocardiography can evaluate the microvascular integrity of myocardial dysfunctional areas in patients with AMI or chronic coronary artery disease, detect viable myocardium， predict the potential for functional recovery in dysfunctional areas following reperfusion， and provide clinicians with valuable information for individualized treatment.
Objective To explore the diagnostic value of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) in axillary and internal mammary lymph node metastasis of invasive breast cancer. Methods A total of 100 patients with invasive breast cancer treated from September 2020 to September 2022 were selected. Preoperative CEUS examination was completed, and the perfusion sequence, enhancement mode and enhancement sequence of lymph nodes were dynamically observed. The CEUS characteristics of metastatic and benign lymph nodes were compared. Using postoperative pathological results as the gold standard, the diagnostic efficacy of CEUS in evaluating lymph node status was analyzed. Results Among the 100 patients, 28 patients were diagnosed with metastatic axillary lymph nodes (ALN) by pathological biopsy. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive prediction rate and negative prediction rate of CEUS in evaluating ALN status were 71.4%, 87.5%, 83.0%, 69.0% and 88.7%, respectively. In 9 patients, CEUS showed internal mammary lymph node metastasis, and postoperative pathological examination confirmed that 5 patients had internal mammary lymph node metastasis, so the positive predictive rate of CEUS was 55.6%. Conclusion CEUS can evaluate the metastatic status of axillary and internal mammary lymph nodes.
Objective To investigate the application and clinical efficacy of orthotopic autologous renal transplantation combined with inferior vena cava (IVC) resection and reconstruction in retroperitoneal tumor. Methods The clinical data of a patient with complex retroperitoneal tumor was analyzed retrospectively. Abdominal CT examination showed that the tumor originated from IVC and invaded the retrohepatic IVC and bilateral renal vein trunks. Intraoperative ultrasound exploration revealed mechanized thrombosis in the IVC and bilateral renal vein trunks. After blocking the left renal vein, no significant hemodynamic changes were seen before and after intraoperative ultrasound exploration and contrast-enhanced ultrasound. Results After complete removal of the left renal vein and suture of the severed end, the right renal vein was successfully reconstructed with an orthotopic autologous right kidney graft combined with IVC resection after removal of the mechanized thrombus. The patient recovered well after surgery, and a repeat CT showed that the reconstructed artificial IVC was patent, and the color Doppler ultrasonography of both kidneys showed good perfusion and no obstruction of return. The patient was given oral rivaroxaban anticoagulant therapy after operation, and discharged at 19 days after operation. The postoperative pathological findings suggested inferior vena cava smooth muscle sarcoma. Conclusion Orthotopic autologous renal transplantation combined with IVC resection and reconstruction for complex retroperitoneal tumor is safe and feasible, and the left renal vein can be ligated and dissected intraoperatively, but a comprehensive evaluation with intraoperative ultrasound (imaging) is required.
Correlation between nonlinear subharmonic scattering of ultrasound contrast agent microbubbles and ambient pressure is expected to be used for local brain tissue pressure monitoring. Although high-frequency ultrasound has achieved high-resolution imaging of intracranial microvessels, the research on high-frequency subharmonic scattering characteristics of microbubbles is insufficient at present, which restricts the research progress of estimating local brain tissue pressure based on high-frequency subharmonic scattering of microbubbles. Therefore, under the excitation of 10 MHz high-frequency ultrasound, the effects of different acoustic pressures and ambient pressures on the high-frequency subharmonic scattering characteristics of three different ultrasound contrast agents including SonoVue, Sonazoid and Huashengxian were investigated in this in vitro study. Results showed that the subharmonic scattering amplitudes of the three microbubbles increased with the increase of ambient pressure at the peak negative acoustic pressures of 696, 766 and 817 kPa, and there was a favorable linear correlation between subharmonic amplitude and ambient pressure. Under the above three acoustic pressures, the highest correlation coefficient of SonoVue was 0.948 (P = 0.03), the highest sensitivity of pressure measurement was 0.248 dB/mm Hg and the minimum root mean square error (RMSE) was 2.64 mm Hg. Sonazoid's highest correlation coefficient was 0.982 (P < 0.01), the highest sensitivity of pressure measurement was 0.052 dB/mm Hg and the minimum RMSE was 1.51 mm Hg. The highest correlation coefficient of Huashengxian was 0.969 (P = 0.02), the highest sensitivity of pressure measurement was 0.098 dB/mm Hg and the minimum RMSE was 2.00 mm Hg. The above in vitro experimental results indicate that by selecting ultrasound contrast agent microbubbles and optimizing acoustic pressure, the correlation between high-frequency subharmonic scattering of microbubbles and ambient pressure can be improved, the sensitivity of pressure measurement can be upgraded, and the measurement error can be reduced to meet the clinical demand for local brain tissue pressure measurement, which provided an important experimental basis for subsequent research in vivo.