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Introduction: It has been reported that low-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid (LMWHA) exhibits a potentially beneficial effect on cancer therapy through targeting of CD44 receptors on tumor cell surfaces. However, its applicability towards tumor detection is still unclear. In this regard, LMWHA-conjugated iron (Fe 3 O 4 ) nanoparticles (LMWHA-IONPs) were prepared in order to evaluate its application for enhancing the T2* weighted MRI imaging sensitivity for tumor detection., Methods: LMWHA and Fe 3 O 4 NPs were produced using γ-ray irradiation and chemical co-precipitation methods, respectively. First, LMWHA-conjugated FITC was prepared to confirm the ability of LMWHA to target U87MG cells using fluorescence microscopy. The hydrodynamic size distribution and dispersion of the IONPs and prepared LMWHA-IONPs were analyzed using dynamic light scattering (DLS). In addition, cell viability assays were performed to examine the biocompatibility of LMWHA and LMWHA-IONPs toward U87MG human glioblastoma and NIH3T3 fibroblast cell lines. The ability of LMWHA-IONPs to target tumor cells was confirmed by detecting iron (Fe) ion content using the thiocyanate method. Finally, time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) imaging and in vitro magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were performed to confirm the contrast enhancement effect of LMWHA-IONPs., Results: Florescence analysis results showed that LMWHA-FITC successfully targeted the surfaces of both tested cell types. The ability of LMWHA to target U87MG cells was higher than for NIH3T3 cells. Cell viability experiments showed that the fabricated LMWHA-IONPs possessed good biocompatibility for both cell lines. After co-culturing test cells with the LMWHA-IONPs, detected Fe ion content in the U87MG cells was much higher than that of the NIH3T3 cells in both thiocyanate assays and TOF-SIMs images. Finally, the addition of LMWHA-IONPs to the U87MG cells resulted in an obvious improvement in T2* weighted MR image contrast compared to control NIH3T3 cells., Discussion: Overall, the present results suggest that LMWHA-IONPs fabricated in this study provide an effective MRI contrast agent for improving the diagnosis of early stage glioblastoma in MRI examinations., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work., (© 2021 Huang et al.)

Objective: To report our experiences with 40 patients who were treated with magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound surgery (MRgFUS) for uterine fibroids and their 6-month follow-up status., Materials and Methods: A total of 40 patients with uterine fibroids underwent MRgFUS from January 2009 to November 2011. The Uterine Fibroid Symptoms and Quality of Life Questionnaire was used to determine the patients' Symptom Severity Scores (SSS) prior to and 6 months after treatment. The nonperfused volume (NPV) values and NPV ratio were obtained immediately at the end of the treatment and at 6 months follow-up., Results: No procedure-related complications were noted throughout the 6-month follow-up period among the 40 patients who underwent MRgFUS for uterine fibroids. The mean reduction in SSS in our patients after 6 months was 43.7%, and the mean reduction of fibroid volume was 31.7%. In addition, the mean reduction of NPV and mean NPV ratio was 52.7% and 33.3%, respectively., Conclusion: The results obtained from this study demonstrated that MRgFUS can be safely and effectively used to ablate uterine fibroids to produce a significant decrease in mean fibroid volume and improve SSS for up to 6 months after treatment., (Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Objective: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is more sensitive than mammography and sonography for breast cancer detection, but its diagnostic specificity is still being debated, and standardised criteria are lacking., Methods: This study used a dedicated breast MRI system with a Spiral RODEO pulse sequence, and applied postprocessing techniques including multiplanar reformation (MPR) with ductal orientation, early subtracted phase (ESP) and a postcontrast kinetic curve. We discuss the possible MRI/pathology correlations based on pathogenetic concepts. We retrospectively collected data from 13 cases of benign intraductal and early-stage malignant lesions to observe the capability of MPR, ESP and kinetic curve techniques to diagnose early lesions differentially. MRI features and pathological findings for these cases were collected., Results: Thirteen cases of ductal carcinoma in situ with MRI characteristics and pathological findings were identified. We analysed early ductal lesions, such as intraductal epithelial hyperplasia, intraductal papilloma, ductal carcinoma in situ and small focal invasive ductal carcinoma. Using MRI with MPR to demonstrate ductal orientation, we found 12 cases with a ductogram appearance and 6 with crossing-over glandular tissue. The tumour size estimated by MRI was accurate in 6 cases, but overestimated in seven., Conclusion: Dedicated breast MRI with MPR, ESP and kinetic curve analyses might be helpful in defining some characteristics of early-stage malignant lesions., (Copyright © 2010 Asian Surgical Association. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background and Purpose: Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) is a non-invasive method for evaluating the hepatobiliary system. This study investigated the anatomic variants of the biliary tree in Taiwanese using MRCP., Methods: 170 patients with abdominal or liver diseases underwent diagnostic MRCP over the 29-month study period. We identified the type of biliary tree variants in 130 patients., Results: The imaging findings showed that the most common biliary tree variants were type I and type IIA, which together comprised 70% of all variants. Type I is a triple confluence, which is an anatomy characterized by simultaneous emptying of the right posterior segment duct, right anterior segment duct, and left hepatic duct into the common hepatic duct. Type IIA involves drainage of the right posterior segment duct into the right anterior segment duct to form the right hepatic duct, and then confluence with the left hepatic duct to form the common hepatic duct. There was a mean percentage of 10 to 20% among the 7 types of variants identified., Conclusion: Comparison of these findings with previous investigation indicates that biliary tract structure shows racial and ethnic variation.

Low-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid (LMWHA) was integrated with superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles (Fe3O4 NPs). The size distribution, zeta potential, viscosity, thermogravimetric and paramagnetic properties of the LMWHA-Fe3O4 NPs were systematically examined. For cellular experiments, MCF7 breast cancer cell line was carried out. In addition, the cell targeting ability and characteristics of the LMWHA-Fe3O4 NPs for MCF7 breast cancer cells were analyzed using the thiocyanate method and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS). The experimental results showed that the LMWHA-Fe3O4 NPs were not only easily injectable due to their low viscosity, but also exhibited a significant superparamagnetic property. Furthermore, the in vitro assay results showed that the NPs had negligible cytotoxicity and exhibited a good cancer cell targeting ability. Overall, the results therefore suggest that the LMWHA-Fe3O4 NPs have considerable potential as an injectable agent for enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and/or hyperthermia treatment in breast cancer therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]