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Objective To explore the diagnostic value of qualitative and quantitative parameters of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) for differentiating thyroid carcinoma nodules and benign thyroid nodules. Method The qualitative and quantitative CEUS parameters of 290 thyroid nodules confirmed by pathology were analyzed retrospectively. The evaluation indexes included wash in, wash out, enhancement degree, enhancement homogeneity, morphology after angiography, and ring enhancement. Results Malignant nodules had an unclear margin, uneven perfusion, and low perfusion (all p

This study aimed to retrospectively analyze the features of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) of renal masses that cannot be detected by conventional ultrasound (CUS). The data of 264 patients who underwent CEUS for renal lesions from January 2016 to December 2019 were retrieved. Of these, 16 patients with renal masses which were not detected by CUS were included in the final analysis. The corresponding characteristics of CEUS were evaluated, including intensity of enhancement, homogeneity, wash-in and wash-out patterns, and perilesional rim-like enhancement. Of the 16 patients, 10 patients had clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) and 6 patients had urothelial carcinoma of the renal pelvis (UCRP). Compared with the location on non-enhanced computed tomography (CT) scan, all tumors were detected on CEUS. Most (7/10) of the ccRCCs appeared as hyperenhancement, homogeneous enhancement, synchronous-in, and no perilesional rim-like enhancement. Most (4/6) of the UCRPs appeared as isoenhancement, slow-in, fast-out, and no perilesional rim-like enhancement. CEUS may be helpful in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of renal tumors which were not observed on CUS, and it might be an alternative method for some patients when contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) cannot be performed.

To investigate the independent risk factors for cervical lymph node metastasis (CLNM) in patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and establish a prediction model via conventional ultrasound (US) and contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS).A total of 275 patients with single PTC, who were admitted to our hospital from January 2016 to December 2018, were enrolled in this study. The clinical characteristics and features of the tumor on conventional US and CEUS were retrospectively analyzed. A binary logistic regression model was established, and the diagnostic efficacy of conventional US and CEUS was compared.The binary logistic regression analysis showed that age younger than 38 years, size of 10.0 mm or greater, solid composition, peak of the nodule interior of 28.3750 or greater, and area under the curve (AUC) of the peripheral ring of less than 3.2500 were independent risk factors of CLNM (P .05, for all). Prediction model: Logit (p) = -4.135 + 1.040 (age) + 1.920 (size) + 1.769 (composition) + 1.230 (peak of nodule interior) + 0.812 (AUC of peripheral ring). The model positively predicted CLNM at a value of L -0.199. The AUC, sensitivity, and negative predictive value of the receiver operating characteristic curve for the model were 0.727, 71.7%, and 75.2%, respectively, which were significantly higher than those of conventional US (Z = -2.403; P = .016; Z = -5.330; P .001; and Z = -2.390; P = .017). The specificity of the model was 73.7%, which was lower than that of conventional US (Z = 3.508; P .001).The preoperative prediction model established via conventional US and CEUS may be helpful to evaluate CLNM in patients with PTC and determine the appropriate treatment options.

Complex network theory has been applied to reveal the transport patterns and cooperative regions of fine (< 2.5 µm) particulate matter (PM2.5) in the whole of China over a long-term record. The results show the degrees, weighted degrees, and edge lengths of PM2.5 cities follow power-law distributions. Cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei-Henan-Shandong (BTHHS) region have a strong ability to import PM2.5 pollution to other cities. By analyzing the transport routes, we show that a mass of links extends southward from the BTHHS to the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) regions with one- or two-day time lags. Hence, we conclude that earlier emission reduction in BTHHS and early-warning measures in YRD will help to improve air quality in both regions. Moreover, significant links are concentrated in wintertime, suggesting the impact of the winter monsoon. In addition, cities have been divided into nine clusters according to their synchronicity characteristics. Cities in the same clusters should be regarded as a whole to control the level of air pollution. The results are derived by an economic approach of complex network theory, which avoids the time-consuming of traditional model simulation approach and suggests a highly efficient approach to the studies of transport and cluster of PM2.5. This approach, beyond doubt, is certainly also applicable to the studies of other air pollutants such as ozone, NOx, and so on.

Purpose: To investigate the clinical and ultrasonographic features of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) in the isthmus.Methods: A total of 823 patients with 823 PTCs including 133 in the isthmus and 690 in the lateral lobe were included in our study. All patients were confirmed by post-operative pathology. The clinical and ultrasonographic characteristics were retrospectively analyzed and compared. Univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression analysis were performed.Results: Multi-factor analyses showed that PTC in the isthmus was significantly different from PTC originating from the lateral lobe in aspect ratio, microcalcification, extrathyroid extension, lymph node metastasis（LNM）, lymph node density（LND） (P < 0.05, for all). There were no significant differences in age, gender, tumor size, margin, halo, echogenicity and homogeneity (P > 0.05, for all).Conclusions: The sonographic appearance of PTC in the isthmus was not typical, however, it had a higher incidence of extrathyroidal extension, central lymph node involvement and a tendency of higher lymph node density. Therefore, more careful ultrasound evaluation should be performed for these nodules.

To explore the characteristics of breast ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) on real-time grayscale contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) imaging and the diagnostic value of CEUS in DCIS.A total of 127 histopathologically confirmed DCIS lesions and 124 fibroadenomas (FAs; controls) were subjected to conventional ultrasound and CEUS. Next, the CEUS findings of DCIS and FA lesions, including morphologic features and quantitative parameters, were analyzed.Binary logistic regression was used to identify the independent risk factors from DCIS and FA lesions detected by CEUS. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound revealed significant differences between DCIS and FA. The wash-in time, enhancement mode, enhancement intensity, blood perfusion defects, peripheral high enhancement, enhancement scope, intratumoral vessels and their courses and dilatation degree, and penetrating vessels on CEUS were identified as features correlated with DCIS (P .05). Moreover, a multivariate logistic regression analysis was developed, and the area under receiver operating characteristic curve of each index was generated, including the wash-in time, enhancement intensity, blood perfusion defects, enhancement scope, penetrating vessels, arrival time, and peak intensity (P .05; area under the curve,0.6).The contrast-enhancement patterns and DCIS parameters appeared different from FA lesions, thus suggesting that CEUS can be very useful in distinguishing DCIS from FA lesions.