The sonographic diagnosis of focal and diffuse infiltrating intrascrotal lesions

Thirty-six examples of inflammatory and neoplastic disease of the scrotum were evaluated with ultrasound. Analysis of the images suggests that sonographic differentiation of these conditions is possible in certain instances. The ability to separate testicular from extratesticular pathology is quite accurate. In some cases, neoplastic disease of the testis can be differentiated from malignancy, although surgical intervention is often required for diagnosis.     

Color Doppler sonographic findings in focal spleen lesions

Since focal lesions of the spleen are rare (0.2%), there is little data concerning color Doppler images of focal lesions of the spleen. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to describe the color Doppler images of 98 etiologically proved focal spleen lesions. METHODS: In about 110,000 consecutive abdominal ultrasound examinations, which included the spleen, 600 patients with focal lesions of the spleen were identified. In 98 of these patients a color Doppler scan of the lesion was performed and documented. These scans were analysed retrospectively and classified as avascular, hypovascular, isovascular, hypervascular and arterio-venous "high flow", using the surrounding spleen tissue as an in vivo reference. RESULTS: In color Doppler sonography (CDS) 68.4% (n=67) of the focal spleen lesions showed no flow. 15.3% (n=15) appeared hypovascular, 8.2% (n=8) isovascular, 5.1% (n=5) hypervascular, and in 3.1% (n=3) an arterio-venous "high flow"-pattern was found. CONCLUSIONS: In CDS about two thirds (68%) of focal spleen lesions appear to be avascular. Except from diagnosis of intra-splenic pseudo-aneurysm, the practical utility of CDS in diagnosing focal spleen lesions has to be estimated as low.     

超声显像下甲状腺结节内微钙化对乳头状癌的诊断价值

目的探讨超声显像下甲状腺结节内微钙化对乳头状癌的诊断价值。方法回顾性分析161例甲状腺结节患者超声检查与术后病理结果。结果乳头状癌组微钙化的发生率（88．5％）高于良性结节组（11．9％）,差异有统计学意义（P〈0．001）;超声检查中有微钙化组乳头状癌的发生率（78．0％）高于无微钙化组（5．9％）,差异有统计学意义（P〈0．001）,前者与后者相比发生乳头状癌的相对危险度（RelativeRisk,RR）为7．4,即超声显像发现有微钙化组患者获得乳头状癌的危险性是无微钙化组患者的7．4倍。结论超声显像下结节内微钙化是诊断甲状腺癌的良好指标。对超声检查发现甲状腺结节微钙化的患者,应高度警惕甲状腺癌可能。     

超声弹性成像在浅表软组织局灶性病变诊断中的应用

目的 探讨超声弹性成像技术在浅表软组织局灶性病变诊断中的临床应用价值.方法 收集在我院就诊并手术的浅表软组织局灶性病变65例,并对其行实时超声弹性成像检查,根据病灶软硬度不同进行评分,并与术后病理进行分析.结果 良性病灶超声弹性图中良性囊肿病变以红绿蓝相间为多,良性实质性病变以1～3分多见,而恶性病变以4～5分多见.两组病变的弹性评分情况比较差异具有统计学意义（P＜0.01）.以≥4分作为判断恶性病变的标准,其敏感度为84％,特异度为90％,准确率为88％.结论 超声弹性成像对浅表软组织局灶性病变良恶性病变的鉴别诊断提供有价值的信息.     

The real capabilities of contrast-enhanced ultrasound in the characterization of solid focal liver lesions

Contrast-enhanced US (CEUS) using intravenous agents is a rapidly evolving field even though the main clinically recognized application is the characterization of focal liver lesions. Several reports have described the improvement provided by CEUS in the characterization of focal liver lesions in comparison to unenhanced US. CEUS with low transmit power insonation allows the real-time assessment of focal liver lesion contrast enhancement and vascularity during the different dynamic phases after injection of an intravenous contrast agent. CEUS allows the accurate characterization of focal liver lesions as benign or malignant based on the lesion contrast enhancement pattern during the arterial phase and lesion vascularity during portal--late phase in comparison to the adjacent liver parenchyma. During the portal--late phase, benign lesions present prevalently a sustained contrast enhancement with hyper or isovascular appearance to the adjacent liver while malignant lesions present prevalently microbubble washout with hypovascular appearance. On the other hand, the histology of focal liver lesions can only be confidently predicted in selected cases by CEUS, as in liver haemangiomas presenting typical nodular peripheral enhancement with subsequent centripetal fill-in and focal nodular hyperplasia with central spoke wheel-shaped contrast enhancement.     

经量化的扩散加权成像对肝脏占位性病变的鉴别诊断价值

目的：探讨经量化的扩散加权成像(DWI)在肝脏占位性疾病影像诊断中的价值。方法本组回顾性分析120例肝脏占位性病变患者及对照组12例正常肝脏的影像资料,应用3.0T MR 行常规 MR 及 DWI,120例患者共检出179个病灶(其中53个肝癌、61个转移瘤、32个肝血管瘤及33个肝囊肿),分析其与对照组的 DWI 图及表观扩散系数(ADC)图,并测量 ADC 值,比较其间是否存在统计学差异。结果本组研究 b 值选择800 s/mm2,(1)其中33个肝囊肿呈低信号,51个肝癌、61个肝转移瘤及32个肝血管瘤呈高信号,肝囊肿的 DWI 图像信号与肝癌、肝转移瘤及肝血管瘤有显著性差异(P <0.05);(2)肝癌、肝转移瘤 ADC 伪彩图大体呈冷色系表现,肝囊肿、肝血管瘤 ADC 伪彩图大体呈暖色系表现;(3)肝癌、肝转移瘤、肝血管瘤、肝囊肿平均 ADC 值相互间行两两比较,总体上存在统计学差异(P <0.05),但肝癌与肝转移瘤之间两两比较,无统计学差异(P >0.05),通过结合背景肝,比较肝癌的病灶/背景肝 ADC 值与肝转移瘤的病灶/背景肝 ADC 值,二者差异有显著性(P <0.05)。结论DWI 和 ADC 图分析及ADC 值测量可为肝脏占位性病的诊断及鉴别诊断提供重要的补充信息。     

钙化征在CT鉴别甲状腺良、恶性病变中的价值

目的 探讨CT检出甲状腺内钙化灶对良、恶性病变的鉴别诊断价值.方法 搜集手术切除并经病理证实的甲状腺占位性病变318例,均有完整的CT及临床资料.CT平扫后行双期增强扫描,延迟时间为35、50 s.甲状腺钙化灶直径≤2 mm者定义为细颗粒钙化;钙化灶直径>2 mm者或呈壳状、大片不规则者定义为粗颗粒钙化;两种钙化兼有者归于混合性钙化.钙化数目为1个的定义为单发;钙化数目>1个的定义为多发.根据钙化在病灶内的分布分为内部钙化和边缘钙化.采用χ~2检验对良、恶性病变中钙化的多少、大小及分布进行统计学分析.结果 318例甲状腺占位性病变中甲状腺癌48例(乳头状癌26例,滤泡状癌7例,髓样癌3例,隐灶癌12例).甲状腺良性病变270例(包括结节性甲状腺肿36例,甲状腺腺瘤170例,结节性甲状腺肿伴腺瘤38例,腺瘤合并桥本甲状腺炎26例).共60例(18.9%)病灶发现钙化,包括甲状腺癌21例(43.8%),其中乳头状癌12例,隐灶癌6例,滤泡细胞癌2例,髓样癌1例;甲状腺良性病变39例(14.4%),其中甲状腺肿6例,腺瘤13例,甲状腺肿伴腺瘤19例,桥本甲状腺炎伴腺瘤1例,良性病变与恶性病变的钙化率差异有统计学意义(P<0.01);以甲状腺病灶钙化为标准诊断甲状腺癌的敏感度为43.8%(21/48),特异度为85.6%(231/270).细颗粒钙化37例,其中甲状腺癌8例,甲状腺良性病变29例;粗颗粒钙化23例,其中甲状腺癌13例,甲状腺良性病变10例,两者差异有统计学意义(P<0.01);以粗颗粒钙化为标准诊断甲状腺癌的敏感度为61.9%(13/21),特异度为74.4%(29/39).单发钙化的病灶31例,其中甲状腺癌13例,甲状腺良性病变18例;多发钙化的病灶29例,其中甲状腺癌8例,甲状腺良性病变21例,两者差异无统计学意义(P>0.05).恶性病变中钙化位于病灶内部的15例(71.4%),位于病灶边缘的6例;良性病变中钙化位于病灶内部的有12例(30.8%),位于病灶边缘的27例,两者差异有统计学意义(P<0.01);以钙化位于病灶内部作为标准诊断甲状腺癌的敏感度为71.4%(15/21),特异度为69.2%(27/39).结论 CT检查在甲状腺病灶中发现钙化且钙化位于病灶内部,和(或)为粗颗粒钙化时,考虑甲状腺癌的可能性大,应进一步行穿刺活检或手术切除.     

Quantitative characterization of mass lesions on digitized mammograms for computer-assisted diagnosis

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: To investigate features for discriminating benign from malignant mammographic findings by using computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) and to test the accuracy of CAD interpretations of mass lesions. METHODS: Fifty-five sequential, mammographically detected mass lesions, referred for biopsy, were digitized for computerized reevaluation with a CAD system. Quantitative features that characterize spiculation were automatically extracted by the CAD system. Data generated by 271 known retrospective cases were used to set reference values indicating the range for malignant and benign lesions. After conventional interpretation of the 55 prospective cases, they were evaluated a second time by the radiologist using the extracted features and the reference ranges. In addition, a pattern-recognition scheme based on the extracted features was used to classify the prospective cases. Accuracy of interpretation with and without the CAD system was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. RESULTS: Sensitivity of the CAD diagnosis for the prospective cases improved from 92% to 100%. Specificity improved significantly from 26.7% to 66.7%. This was accompanied by a significant increase in the accuracy of diagnosis from 56.4% to 81.8% and in the positive predictive value from 51.1% to 71.4%. The Az for the CAD ROC curve significantly increased from 0.73 to 0.90. The performance of the classification scheme was slightly lower than that of the radiologists' interpretation with the CAD system. CONCLUSIONS: Use of the CAD system significantly improved the accuracy of diagnosis. The findings suggest that the classification scheme may improve the radiologist's ability to differentiate benign from malignant mass lesions in the interpretation of mammograms.     

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound in diagnosis and characterization of focal hepatic lesions

The extensive use of imaging techniques in differential diagnosis of abdominal conditions and screening of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with chronic hepatic diseases, has led to an important increase in identification of focal liver lesions. The development of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) opens a new window in the diagnosis and follow-up of these lesions. This technique offers obvious advantages over the computed tomography and magnetic resonance, without a decrease in its sensitivity and specificity. The new second generation contrast agents, due to their intravascular distribution, allow a continuous evaluation of the enhancement pattern, which is crucial in characterization of liver lesions. The dual blood supply in the liver shows three different phases, namely arterial, portal and late phases. The enhancement during portal and late phases can give important information about the lesion's behavior. Each liver lesion has a different enhancement pattern that makes possible an accurate approach to their diagnosis. The role of emerging techniques as a contrast-enhanced three-dimensional US is also discussed. In this article, the advantages, indications and technique employed during CEUS and the different enhancement patterns of most benign and malignant focal liver lesions are discussed.     

Color flow Doppler characterization of focal hepatic lesions.

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to determine the sensitivity and specificity of color flow Doppler sonography for the specific diagnosis of focal hepatic lesions. SUBJECTS AND METHODS. Color flow Doppler images of 118 focal hepatic lesions in 108 patients were analyzed prospectively. In most patients, liver disease was suspected or known to be present before the Doppler images were obtained. Experienced sonologists obtained and interpreted all sonograms. The lesions were classified, according to their color flow pattern, into two main categories: lesions with internal vascularity and lesions with no internal vascularity. The color flow Doppler pattern of each lesion was correlated with the diagnosis of the lesion on a lesion-by-lesion basis. One hundred two lesions were proved by biopsy and 16 lesions were confirmed by evaluation with other imaging techniques. Lesions included 29 hepatocellular carcinomas, 64 metastases, one cholangiocarcinoma, and 24 benign lesions. The sensitivity and specificity of vascularity as shown by color Doppler imaging in the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma were determined. RESULTS. The majority of hepatocellular carcinoma lesions (76%) had internal vascularity. Most of the metastases (67%) and benign lesions (75%) had no internal vascularity. When the presence of internal vascularity was used as the discriminating criterion, the sensitivity of color flow Doppler findings for the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma was 0.76. The specificity of internal vascularity for the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma vs other focal lesions was 0.69; for hepatocellular carcinoma vs metastases it was 0.67. CONCLUSION. Although most hepatocellular carcinomas have internal vascularity on color flow Doppler images, a significant number of metastases also have internal vascularity. This overlap limits the usefulness of color flow Doppler imaging for distinguishing hepatocellular carcinoma from metastatic tumors.     

Improved tissue characterization of focal liver lesions with ferumoxide-enhanced T1 and T2-weighted MR imaging

The purpose of our study was to evaluate the potential value of ferumoxide-enhanced T1-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging for tissue characterization of focal liver lesions when combined with T2-weighted sequences. Images were acquired within 30 minutes after the end of ferumoxide administration, when ferrite particles were not totally cleared from the intravascular compartment. Thirty-eight patients with 47 focal liver lesions underwent T1-weighted gradient-echo (TR/TE 150/4.1 msec) and T2-weighted fast spin-echo (3180-8638/90 msec) MR imaging at 1.5 T before and after intravenous administration of ferumoxides (10 micromol/kg body weight). A qualitative and quantitative analysis was performed. During the early phase after infusion of ferumoxide, blood vessels showed hypersignal intensity on T1-weighted fast low-angle shot (FLASH) images, while liver signal decreased. Hemangiomas showed both homogeneous and inhomogeneous enhancement patterns, and liver metastasis most typically showed ring enhancement. Hypervascular tumors (hepatocellular carcinomas and focal nodular hyperplasias) showed a slight degree of homogeneous enhancement. Quantitatively, the degree of enhancement and lesion-to-liver contrast on ferumoxide-enhanced images were significantly different among these tumors. Our results demonstrate that distinct enhancement patterns obtained on ferumoxide-enhanced T1-weighted MR imaging improve tissue characterization of focal liver lesions when combined with T2-weighted images.     

Role of contrast enhanced ultrasound in characterization of focal liver lesions

Aim

The purpose of the study was to describe the enhancement patterns of focal liver lesions (FLLs) on contrast enhanced sonography (CEUS), assessing the potential of this technique for characterizing the lesions and to compare its diagnostic accuracy with conventional baseline sonography including color Doppler.

Materials and methods

Between August 2009 and July 2010, 50 patients with FLLs underwent gray scale sonography, color Doppler and CEUS. The enhancement patterns of these FLL’s were analyzed throughout the arterial phase, the portal venous phase and the extended portal venous phase (the late parenchymal phase). The final diagnosis was established on the basis of histopathologic examination or CT/MRI imaging.

Results

Out of these 50 FLLs, 33 were malignant (4 hepatocellular carcinoma and 29 metastasis) and 17 were benign (5 hemangioma, 5 abscess, 2 cyst and 1 each of FNH, focal fat sparing area, focal fatty infiltration, adenoma and benign/granulomatous lesion). The enhancement patterns after injecting microbubble contrast agent allowed characterization of FLLs. The malignant lesions showed intratumoral and/or peritumoral vascularity during the arterial phase and perfusion defect during the late parenchymal phase. Contrast enhanced sonography improved sensitivity in detecting malignancy (CEUS vs. baseline sonography, 100% vs. 81.8%).

Conclusion

CEUS improves detection and characterization of FLLs. It should be used as problem solving tool in cases where conventional gray scale and color Doppler sonography are non-diagnostic.     

The value of magnetic resonance tomography in the detection and differential diagnosis of focal liver lesions]

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the liver has made considerable progress due to improvements in the examination technique. Sensitivity for the detection of focal liver lesions is higher for MRI than for CT. In the differential diagnosis of liver tumors MRI is remarkably accurate. This is particularly true for hemangiomas, liver cell carcinomas and focal nodular hyperplasias. From a clinical view point differentiation between hemangiomas and metastases is of utmost importance. Future improvements in MR diagnosis of liver diseases are expected due to fast imaging techniques and liver-specific contrast agents.     

New sonographic imaging observations in focal pancreatitis

The imaging findings that ultrasonographically differentiate focal acute pancreatitis (FAP) from a malignant lesion of the pancreas are described. Focal acute pancreatitis is ultrasonographically (US) characterized as a hypoechoic, homogeneous, localized, subsegmental, non-expansive and diffusely demarcated lesion located mostly in the head of the pancreas. It could not be visualized using CT. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) performed in 13 of the 32 patients, showed chronic pancreatitis. Focal acute pancreatitis disappeared in 1–6 months at US follow-up. The clinical diagnoses were acute pancreatitis in 11 patients, chronic pancreatitis in 12 patients, biliary disease in 5 patients, hepatopathia in 1 patient while the diagnosis was unknown in 2 patients. No patient developed any pancreatic cancer during a median of 85 months of follow-up. In conclusion, the present data indicate that patients with FAP at US, without any focal lesion seen on either CT or ERCP, have a benign pancreatic lesion, which resolves in 1–6 months; thus, such patients probably do not need any further investigation or follow-up at all. Received: 9 February 1998; Revision received: 28 May 1998; Accepted: 7 August 1998     

超声造影对肝脏局灶性病变的定量分析及临床价值研究

目的 探讨超声造影对肝脏局灶性病变的定量分析结果及临床价值.方法 选取2017年1月～2019年1月100例肝脏病变患者,根据病变性质分为恶性组(n=67)和良性组(n=33).分别进行实时超声造影及彩色多普勒超声检查.应用时间-强度曲线(TIC曲线)分析超声造影图像.结合TIC曲线形态及由TIC曲线得到的病灶的始增时...     

彩色多普勒超声图像纹理分析诊断肝局灶性病变价值研究

目的探讨彩色多普勒(CDFI)超声图像纹理分析对肝局灶性病变的诊断价值。方法回顾性分析北部战区总医院2018年1—12月收治的48例肝局灶性病变患者的临床资料及影像资料。选择CDFI图像行纹理分析,并联合Fisher系数、交互信息、分类错误概率组合平均相关系数3种方法筛选出30个具有代表意义的纹理参数,然后应用Logistic回归线性分类模型分析出最优组合。最后,应用受试者工作特征(ROC)曲线计算出CDFI超声图像纹理分析诊断肝局灶性病变良恶性的灵敏度及特异度。结果单因素分析结果显示,良性与恶性纹理参数WavEnLH_s-4、WavEnLH_s-3、WavEnHH_s-4比较,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。Logistic线性回归分析结果显示,WavEnLH_s-4、S(3,3)InvDfMom、Teta4、Kurtosis、S(0,4)InvDfMom、Horzl_LngREmph六个纹理参数对肝局灶性病变良恶性具有良好的诊断价值,其联合诊断ROC曲线下面积为0.943,Youden指数J为0.8 504时,敏感度为96.15%,特异度为88.89%。结论 CDFI超声图像纹理分析对肝局灶性病变的诊断具有高敏度及特异度,具有一定的临床价值。