Magnetic resonance elastography with guided pressure waves

Magnetic resonance elastography aims to non-invasively and remotely characterize the mechanical properties of living tissues. To quantitatively and regionally map the shear viscoelastic moduli in vivo, the technique must achieve proper mechanical excitation throughout the targeted tissues. Although it is straightforward, ante manibus, in close organs such as the liver or the breast, which practitioners clinically palpate already, it is somewhat fortunately highly challenging to trick the natural protective barriers of remote organs such as the brain. So far, mechanical waves have been induced in the latter by shaking the surrounding cranial bones. Here, the skull was circumvented by guiding pressure waves inside the subject's buccal cavity so mechanical waves could propagate from within through the brainstem up to the brain. Repeatable, reproducible and robust displacement fields were recorded in phantoms and in vivo by magnetic resonance elastography with guided pressure waves such that quantitative mechanical outcomes were extracted in the human brain.     

Anticarcinogenic action of diallyl sulfide in hamster buccal pouch and forestomach.

The anticarcinogenic action of the garlic constituent diallyl sulfide (DAS), was examined in the hamster buccal pouch and forestomach. Groups of hamsters were topically treated, for up to 14 weeks, with a 0.5% solution of the buccal pouch and forestomach carcinogen 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA). Prior to, during and after DMBA treatment, groups of hamsters were also treated, on alternate days, with a 1% solution of DAS. In addition to tumor formation, the induction of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (gamma GT) buccal pouch epithelial lesions served as an additional presumptive index of in vivo carcinogenesis/anticarcinogenesis. DAS resulted in a significant reduction in buccal pouch tumor frequency, buccal pouch tumor burden, buccal pouch gamma GT lesion frequency and forestomach tumor frequency. In a separate experiment, DAS also reduced the level of autoradiographically quantified unscheduled DNA repair synthesis (UDS) in pieces of hamster buccal pouch concurrently exposed in vitro to the potent buccal pouch carcinogen N-methyl-N-benzylnitrosamine (MBN). This study demonstrates that DAS is an effective anticarcinogenic agent in squamous mucosa of the hamster and suggests novel cost-effective strategies for the rapid identification of tissue-specific anticarcinogens and a quantitative assessment of their efficacy.     

Comparison of 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional acquisition for 18F-FDG PET oncology studies performed on an LSO-based scanner.

Three-dimensional (3D) PET acquisition has the potential to reduce image noise but the advantage of 3D PET for studies outside the brain has not been well established. To compare the performance of 2-dimensional (2D) and 3D acquisition for whole-body (18)F-FDG applications, a series of patient studies were performed using a lutetium oxyorthosilicate (LSO)-based tomograph. METHODS: Comparative 2D and 3D images were acquired for 27 oncology patients using an LSO-based tomograph. Data acquisition (350-650 keV, 6 ns) started 99 +/- 12 min (mean +/- SD) after injection of 624 +/- 76 MBq (18)F-FDG. Bias caused by tracer redistribution and decay was eliminated by acquiring dynamic data over a single-bed position using a protocol that alternated between septa-in and septa-out modes (2D, 3D, 2D, 3D, 2D, 3D). Frames were combined to form 8 statistically independent sinograms: four 2D replicates (105 s) and four 3D replicates (90 s). The different frame durations in 2D and 3D compensated for the different number of overlapping bed positions required for an 85-cm whole-body study. Images were reconstructed with either 2D or fully 3D ordered-subsets expectation maximization (2 iterations and 8 subsets; 2D 6-mm gaussian, 3D 5- and 6-mm gaussian). Image target-to-background ratio was assessed by dividing the lesion maximum by the mean within a neighboring background region. Image noise was assessed by applying background regions of interest to the replicate images and calculating the within-patient coefficient of variation. RESULTS: The difference in target-to-background ratio between the 2D and 3D images, when they were filtered with 6-mm and 5-mm gaussian filters, respectively, was not highly statistically significant (P = 0.16). The mean ratio of 3D to 2D image values was 0.94 with 95% limits of agreement of 0.63-1.41. The within-patient coefficients of variation for the 2D and 3D images were 13% +/- 15% and 9% +/- 10%, respectively (P = 0.0005). CONCLUSION: Under conditions of matched target to-to-background ratios, the 3D mode was found to produce images with significantly less variability than the 2D mode. These data provide support for the use of 3D acquisition with LSO detectors to reduce scan times in whole-body (18)F-FDG applications.     

Expression of collagen and elastic fibers in duct-ligated submandibular glands of mice

Atrophy of salivary glands may occur by ductal obstruction caused by calculus, infection or neoplastic processes, or as consequence of systemic diseases and aging. In the present work, we have used histochemical methods to study the expression of elastic and collagen fibers during experimental atrophy of the submandibular gland of mice. Glandular atrophy was accompanied by a rapid increase in collagen deposition in both septal and intralobular regions. The expression of elastic fibers was not significantly altered during atrophy; a discrete increase of elastic fibers was noted only around ductal structures. The results showed that experimental ductal obstruction is a useful in vivo model to study molecular events that take part in the remodeling of the extracellular matrix during atrophy of salivary glands.     

Radiologic features compared to clinical findings in a prospective study of 153 patients with metastatic spinal cord compression treated by radiotherapy

Summary Plain radiography, myelography and post-myelographic CT-scan are described and related to clinical findings in a prospective study of 153 consecutive patients with myelographic signs of spinal cord compression. The majority of the metastatic tumours arise in the vertebral body or the pedicles. In 80% of the patients with total blockage to the contrast medium on myelography the post-myelographic-CT showed passage of the contrast medium. Ambulatory function at time of diagnosis was correlated to the degree and the localization of the epidural block. In 64 patients who underwent a second myelography, the post-treatment findings of sensory function were correlated to radiological regression.