Derivation of Power M-Mode Transcranial Doppler Criteria for Angiographic Proven MCA Occlusion

BACKGROUND: Stringent transcranial Doppler (TCD) criteria for diagnosing occlusion are needed for more reliable TCD performance at bedside in the acute stroke setting. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: At three academic stroke centers, we performed TCD examination for patients with symptoms of cerebral ischemia who underwent digital subtraction angiography (DSA). We used a standard insonation protocol with power M-mode Doppler (PMD) TCD (TCD 100 M, Spencer Technologies Inc., Seattle, WA). We collected mean flow velocity (MFV), pulsatility indices (PI), and power M-mode resistance signature (absent, high, or low) in symptomatic middle (MCA), anterior (ACA), posterior (PCA), and in affected (a), ipsilateral (i), and contralateral (c-lat) cerebral arteries. Ratios of aMCA/c-lat MCA, aMCA/iACA, and aMCA/iPCA MFV were subsequently calculated. PMD-TCD flow findings were evaluated with a receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis for angiographically proven MCA occlusion. RESULTS: We studied 120 patients with acute cerebral ischemia with PMD-TCD examinations prior to or immediately after DSA. Lower aMCA velocities pointed to higher probability of occlusion (P= .055). The aMCA/iPCA MFV ratio was superior to the aMCA/iACA ratio and strongly predictive of occlusion at a threshold ratio of 0.5 (RR 2.31 CI(95) 2.13-2.51). High resistance or absent M-mode flow signatures in the proximal MCA were present in 87% of M1 and M2 MCA occlusions (probability 87%). In the presence of a low-resistance PMD signature, obtaining the aMCA/iPCA MFV ratio <0.5 increases probability of occlusion to 87%. Normal MFV ratios and low-resistance M-mode signatures are highly predictive of a negative angiogram for MCA occlusion. CONCLUSION: In acute cerebral ischemia, reliable criteria for proximal MCA occlusion have been developed based on combination of MFV ratios and M-mode flow resistance signatures. Validation of these criteria will require multicenter studies.     

Relationship between serum albumin level before initiating haemodialysis and angiographic severity of coronary atherosclerosis in end-stage renal disease patients.

BACKGROUND: In patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), although strong associations have been observed between malnutrition and atherosclerosis, the relationship between serum albumin concentration and angiographic changes of coronary artery disease (CAD) remains poorly explored. The goal of the present study was, in patients with CKD, to clarify the relationship between the angiographic severity of CAD and serum albumin concentration reflecting either inflammation or nutrition or both. METHODS: In this study, 100 end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients were enrolled, who commenced long-term dialysis therapy at our hospital and underwent coronary angiography within 3 months of the first haemodialysis (HD) session. Mean age was 63+/-11 years, 20% of the subjects were female and 62% had diabetes. Severity of CAD was evaluated in terms of (i) number of vessels exhibiting CAD (>or=75% stenosis) and (ii) Gensini score (GS). Clinical characteristics and laboratory findings were recorded at initiation of long-term HD therapy. We then evaluated a possible association with the presence and degree of CAD. RESULTS: Sixty-four patients exhibited signs of CAD. Forty-one among them (64%) had multivessel disease. On univariate logistic regression analysis, age, diabetes and hypoalbuminaemia were significantly associated with multivessel CAD. Univariate linear regression analysis demonstrated a positive correlation of age and diabetes with GS, and an inverse correlation of BMI and serum albumin level with GS. Stepwise regression analysis showed age and serum albumin level to be independently associated with multivessel CAD and GS. The ROC curves demonstrated best cut-off levels of age and albumin for predicting multivessel CAD to be 70 years and 3.15 g/dl, respectively. CONCLUSION: Hypoalbuminaemia at the initiation of dialysis is an important predictor of advanced CAD, particularly in male and in diabetic patients. It may reflect mainly a state of inflammation. However, malnutrition as a confounding factor cannot be entirely excluded.     

螺旋CT多时相扫描鉴别诊断肝细胞癌和血管瘤

目的:探讨螺旋CT多时相扫描对肝细胞癌和血管瘤的鉴别诊断。材料和方法:对37例患者(肝癌16例,血管瘤21例)行螺旋CT平扫和增强扫描,分析其表现。结果:37例平扫均发现低密度灶。肝细胞癌在动脉期75%有显著增强,呈高密度,在门静脉期和延迟期则呈低密度;血管瘤54%动脉期有典型增强表现,门静脉期100%有增强,24%全部填充,延迟期91%为高密度或等密度。结论:肝细胞癌和血管瘤在螺旋CT多时相增强扫描中,各有其典型的CT表现,两者鉴别的关键是门静脉期。     

CT定位下经皮穿刺射频消融治疗肺肿瘤疗效分析

目的探讨CT引导下集束电极射频治疗肺恶性肿瘤的疗效。方法对1999年以来在cT定位引导下。采用WE7568集束电极射频肿瘤消融仪。用集束电极经皮穿刺到肺内肿瘤进行射频消融治疗，每针次温度75～95℃左右维持10min或15min．结果78例病人经CT引导行射频消融80例次，绝大多数病灶（77．4％）复查CT均有不同程度缩小或CT值下降30～37，疼痛等症状明显缓解。无严重并发症，无围手术期死亡。结论CT定位下经皮集束电极射频消融对肺恶性肿瘤的近期疗效明显，对晚期肺癌、多发性肺转移瘤及不能耐受手术者，可作为综合治疗的方法之一。     

多层螺旋CT灌注成像在颅脑系统疾病中的应用研究

随着多层螺旋CT的推广使用,使以脑血流动力学研究为目的的多层螺旋CT脑灌注成像(MSCT perfusion imaging)逐渐变为现实,为综合应用CT扫描技术提供了条件,为临床提供了一种全新的、极具潜力的、适用面广的影像检查新技术。一、CT脑灌注成像理论基础1.脑灌注成像理论的形成:在198     

经桡动脉行冠状动脉造影术的安全性观察

目的探讨经桡动脉行冠状动脉(冠脉)造影术的特点及安全性。方法200例患者接受经桡动脉径路行冠脉造影术。结果196例成功,4例失败,其中3例桡动脉迂曲畸形导丝不能通过,1例为锁骨下动脉闭塞。所有患者无严重的并发症出现。结论桡动脉径路行冠状动脉造影具有止血容易,患者卧床时间短和并发症少的优点,是一种安全、有效的介入途径。     

螺旋CT双期增强扫描与病灶延迟期扫描在肝癌诊断中的应用

目的：研究螺旋CT动脉期、门脉期及病灶延迟期扫描在肝癌诊断中的应用，以进一步选择理想的扫描时期和方案。方法：对48例肝细胞性肝癌患者行平扫及增强扫描，造影剂注射速率为3ml/s，然后开始动脉期、门脉期及病灶延迟期扫描。统计各期的病灶检出数，观察病灶在不同时期的特征。结果：动脉期、门脉期及病灶延迟期的病灶检出率分别为91.9％、76.9％、78.8％，动脉期和门脉期、病灶延迟期之间均有显著差异，而门脉期和病灶延迟期之间无差异。结论：在肝癌的检出方面动脉期价值最大，而门脉期和延迟期之间无差异。双期扫描（动脉期加门脉期）可作为肝癌CT诊断的常规技术，对不典型病例，病灶延迟期很有必要，有助于病灶的定性。     

Early computed tomographic scanning after resection of brain tumors in children

Enhanced and non-enhanced computed tomography (CT) brain scans were performed within 72 h of surgery on 21 children in whom brain tumors had been resected totally or subtotally, and scans were repeated at varying intervals thereafter. Biopsies of the resection margins were performed in 12 patients at the end of the surgical procedure. The immediate CT scan showed enhancement in the resection margin in 13 of the 21 patients and in 9 of the 13, the enhancement disappeared on follow-up scans. There was discordance between the results of immediate CT scan examination and the biopsies of the resection margins in 7 of the 12 cases. The advantages and disadvantages of an immediate postoperative scan versus a more delayed CT scan are discussed.     

Factors influencing the variations of ejection fraction during exercise in chronic aortic regurgitation

The influence of left ventricular volume variations and regurgitant fraction variations upon left ventricular ejection fraction, during exercise was examined using equilibrium radionuclide angiography in patients suffering from aortic regurgitation. Ejection fraction (EF), regurgitant fraction (RF), end diastolic volume (EDV) and end systolic volume (ESV) variations from rest to peak exercise were determined in 44 patients suffering from chronic aortic regurgitation (AR) and in 8 healthy volunteers (C). In C, EF increased (+0.10±0.03, P<0.01) and ESV decreased significantly (-23%±12%, P<0.01) RF and EDV did not vary significantly. In AR patients, EF, EDV and ESV did not vary significantly because of important scattering of individual values. Changes in EF and ESV were inversely correlated (r=-0.79, P<0.01) and RF decreased significantly (-0.12±0.10, P<0.01). Volumes and EF changes during exercise occurred in three different ways. In a 1st subgroup of 7 patients, EF increased (+0.09±0.03, P<0.05) in conjunction with a reduction of ESV (-24%±12%, P<0.05) without a significant change in EDV. In a 2nd group of 22 patients. EF decreased (-0.04±0.07, P<0.01) in association with an increase in ESV (+17%±16%, P<0.01) and no change in EDV. In a 3rd subgroup of 15 patients, EF decreased (-0.02±0.06, P<0.01) despite a reduction in ESV (-7%±6%, P<0.01) because of a dramatic EDV decrease (-10%±6%, P<0.05). In this subgroup, changes in EF were inversely correlated with changes in ESV (r=-0.55, P<0.01) and positively related to EDV variations (r=0.42, P=0.02). EDV related to EDV variations (r=0.42, P=0.02). EDV changes were weakly, but significantly, correlated to RF decrease (r=0.39, P<0.05). We conclude that changes in left ventricular ejection fraction during exercise in patients with chronic aortic regurgitation are significantly related in some patients to changes in ventricular loading conditions as well as contractile state. Therefore, a correct interpretation of EF changes during exercise requires the simultaneous determination of changes in LV volumes.Abbreviations EDV end diastolic volume - EF ejection fraction - ESV end systolic volume - LV left ventricle - RV right ventricle