Search

The aim of this study was to summarize the imaging features of chronic radiation proctitis (CRP) on endorectal ultrasound (ERUS) and investigate the value of ERUS in the evaluation of disease activity. 40 CRP patients and 30 control patients were investigated by ERUS. Rectal wall thickness and layers, ulcers and rectovaginal fistulas were evaluated by B-mode ultrasound. Power Doppler imaging was used to evaluate the vascularity of the rectal wall using a semiquantitative score. Disease activity was calculated according to the National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events 4.0 (CTCAE 4.0). Imaging findings for patients with mild and severe CRP were compared. For 30 patients in the control group, the average maximum thickness of the rectal wall was 3.07 ± 0.73 mm, with all exhibiting typical wall stratification and level 0 vascularity. For the 40 CRP patients, there was marked thickening of the rectal wall (average thickness = 9.42 ± 1.94 mm), which was significantly thicker than in the control group (p 0.05). The rectal walls of the mild group were significantly thinner than those of the severe group (8.71 ± 1.67 mm vs. 10.00 ± 2.00 mm, p 0.05). Among the 22 severe cases, 19 cases (19/22, 86.4%) exhibited hyper-vascularity (level IV) or blurred wall stratification (including hypo-echoic submucosa, ulcer and fistula); 12 of the 18 mild cases (166.7%) exhibited a vascularity of level III and typical wall stratification. A significant association (p 0.05) was observed between stratification and vascularity of the rectal wall and CRP activity. When ERUS findings of blurred rectal wall stratification or increasing vascularity (level IV) were used to evaluate CRP activity, the sensitivity was 86.4% (95% confidence interval: 64.0-96.4) and the specificity was 66.7% (95% confidence interval: 41.2-85.6). Thickening of the rectal wall, blurred wall stratification and increased vascularity are characteristic ERUS findings of CRP. ERUS is helpful in the comprehensive evaluation of disease activity and may provide objective evidence during treatment planning and follow-up.

To compare the performance of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) using high-frequency linear and convex probes in the detection of small colorectal liver metastases (CRLMs). A total of 85 patients with 143 small CRLMs were evaluated. High-frequency ultrasound (US) and CEUS detected significantly more superficial lesions within 60 mm below the skin than a convex probe (p

The aims of the present study are to assess the impact factors on acoustic structure quantification (ASQ) ultrasound and find the optimal parameter for the assessment of liver fibrosis. Twenty healthy volunteers underwent ASQ examinations to evaluate impact factors in ASQ image acquisition and analysis. An additional 113 patients with liver diseases underwent standardized ASQ examinations, and the results were compared with histologic staging of liver fibrosis. We found that the right liver displayed lower values of ASQ parameters than the left (p = 0.000–0.021). Receive gain experienced no significant impact except gain 70 (p = 0.193–1.000). With regard to different diameter of involved vessels in regions of interest, the group ≤2.0 mm differed significantly with the group 2.1–5.0 mm (p = 0.000–0.033) and the group >5.0 mm (p = 0.000–0.062). However, the region of interest size (p = 0.438–1.000) and depth (p = 0.072–0.764) had no statistical impact. Good intra- and inter-operator reproducibilities were found in both image acquisitions and offline image analyses. In the liver fibrosis study, the focal disturbance ratio had the highest correlation with histologic fibrosis stage (r = 0.67, p < 0.001). In conclusion, the testing position, receive gain and involved vessels were the main factors in ASQ examinations and focal disturbance ratio was the optimal parameter in the assessment of liver fibrosis.

The usefulness of a new three-dimensional ultrasound (3DUS) volumetric system developed recently was validated in volume measurement of liver tumor in the present study. The system was used to estimate the volumes of 22 regular phantoms, 25 irregular phantoms and 37 liver tumors from 33 patients. The results showed that the consumed time of measurement with the system ranged from 1 to 15 min, depending on different rotation angles. The measured volumes at different rotation angles all significantly correlated with the true volumes and there were no significant differences among measured volumes at different angles. The measurement error of 3DUS was 0.3% +/- 3.3% in regular phantoms, -0.4% +/- 3.7% in irregular phantoms and 0.9% +/- 11.3% in liver tumors, respectively, as compared with -5.3 +/- 9.4%, 13.6 +/- 28.0% and 15.3 +/- 37.3% for two-dimensional ultrasound, respectively (all p < 0.05). The volume estimation with 3DUS also had significant intraobserver and interobserver reproducibility both in vitro and in vivo. It can be concluded that the new system that we used can greatly reduce the consumed time and manual labor for volume measurement with high accuracy and reproducibility. 3DUS volumetry using the new system is more acceptable and valuable in clinical practice and is expected to be useful for evaluation of the efficacy of tumor therapy in situ in patients with hepatic tumors.