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Background Accurate risk stratification for gastric stromal tumors (GSTs) has become increasingly important. The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) had higher accuracy and reliability in prognostic assessment and treatment strategies for patients with GSTs. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of multi-slice CT (MSCT) features of GSTs in predicting AFIP risk classification. Methods Clinical data and MSCT features of 424 patients with solitary GSTs were retrospectively reviewed. According to pathological AFIP risk criteria, 424 GSTs were divided into low-risk group (n = 282), moderate-risk group (n = 72) and high-risk group (n = 70). Clinical data and MSCT features of GSTs were compared among the three groups. Results We found significant differences in tumor location, morphology, necrosis, ulceration, growth pattern, feeding artery, vascular-like enhancement, fat positive sign around GSTs, CT value in venous phase, CT value increment in venous phase, longest diameter, and maximum short diameter (p

Introduction Microwave ablation(MWA) is well recommended for RCC, image guided ablation has increasingly been combined with computer-assisted stereotactic navigation. In this case series, we aim to analyze clinical outcomes of selective renal artery embolization (RAE) combined with DynaCT-guided MWA in the treatment of small renal cell carcinoma(RCC) Methods We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 27 consecutive patients with RCC (≤4 cm) received RAE combined with simultaneous DynaCT-guided MWA. The overall survival, progression-free survival, surgery-related complications and renal function changes were analyzed. Results The technical success rates was 100%. The duration of ablation was 5 (4-7) minutes and the generator power was 55 (45-60) watts. There were no life-threatening complications related to the procedures though one instance of abscess, one of renal failure, one of subcapsular hematoma and two of hematuria were seen after MWA. The mean GFR 1 month after treatment was significantly decreased, which was comparable to that 3 months. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year progression-free survival rates and overall survival rates were 100.0%, 96.3%, 85.2% and 100.0%, 100.0%, 92.6% respectively. Conclusions The result of the present study at 5-year mean follow up showed that DynaCT-guided MWA+ RAE is a safe and effective method for the treatment of early renal tumors, which usually provides an accurate tumor puncture path and better clinical outcomes.

Transient hepatic attenuation differences (THAD) are areas of high parenchymal enhancement observed during the hepatic arterial phase on computed tomography (CT). THAD in the left lobe of the liver can lead to surgical complications. A retrospective study was conducted on patients who underwent multislice computed tomography (MSCT) examination of the upper abdomen to understand the morphology, distribution, and causes of THAD and their correlation with hepatic artery variation. Among 179 cases, 65 and 114 belonged to diseased and normal groups, respectively. THAD as observed in MSCT demonstrated various shapes: lobe/segment (127 cases; 70.9%), irregular sheet (31; 17.3%), strip shape (9; 5.02%), arc/semicircle (7; 3.9%), and segment + flaky (5; 2.79%). THAD were found to be caused by liver tumor (32.3%), hepatic inflammatory lesions (6.15%), biliary tract diseases (13.8%), perihepatic disease compression (9.23%), portal vein obstructive disease (1.53%), and lesion in left hepatic lobe with hepatic artery variation (29.2%). THAD exhibited variation in distribution in the left lobe of the liver. Among 114 cases, THAD in 18 (15.7%) cases were observed in the S2 segment, six (5.26%) in the S3 segment, and 90 (78.9%) in multiple segments of the liver, that is, 50 cases in S2 and S3 segments and 40 cases in S2, S3, and S4 segments. The hepatic artery of 179 cases was of various types based on Hiatt classification: 57 cases of Hiatt I (31%), 65 cases of Hiatt II (37%), 11 cases of Hiatt III (6%), 17 cases of Hiatt IV (10%), 7 cases of Hiatt V (4%), 12 cases of large left hepatic artery (7%), 6 cases of right hepatic artery originating from the celiac trunk (3%), and 4 cases (2%) of superior mesenteric artery originating from the celiac trunk. THAD can occur as a result of specific pathological causes and hence should be considered as a diagnostic sign in liver pathologies.

Gastric metastases (GMs) are rare and often accompanied with synchronous metastases of other organs. Synchronous isolated GMs from ascending colon carcinoma are uncommon and rarely studied. GMs may be confused with primary gastric tumors.A 45-year-old man presented to our hospital with abdominal distensionand anal pendant expansion. The abdominal physical examination was negative. The positive fecal occult blood test and the negative tumor marker were obtained. Colonoscopy and gastroduodenoscopy revealed a polypoidal lesion in the ascending colon and a polypoid mass in the gastric body, respectively. CT showed the thickened wall of ascending colon and polypoid mass in the gastric body with homogenous enhancement. Additionally, synchronous gastric metastases from the ascending colon carcinoma were confirmed by pathology after laparoscopic right hemicolectomy and partial gastrectomy. After 13 individual doses of fluorouracil (2.8 g/time), calcium leucovorin (0.8 g/time), and oxaliplatin (85 mg/time), the patient was discharged without any discomfort, without any additional metastases detected during the following 18 months.1.A rare case of synchronous isolated gastric metastasis from ascending colon carcinoma was confirmed by computed tomography (CT) and pathological diagnosis.GM may appear as a polypoid lesion. Surgery combined with chemotherapy may improve the prognosis in patients with synchronous isolated GM.

Objective To evaluate the feasibility and safety of using cone-beam CT (CBCT) to measure changes in parenchymal blood volume (PBV) of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) and to guide microwave ablation (MWA) for residual tumors. Methods A retrospective study was performed on 42 patients with HCC who completed TACE and received CBCT-guided perfusion imaging. The residual active lesions after TACE were supplemented with MWA to complete the treatment process according to the residual PBV. The outcomes were analyzed, including PBV changes, interventional-related complications, local tumor progression (LTP) and overall survival (OS). Results Technical success was achieved in all lesions. Correlation analysis revealed that greater volume of residual PBV after MWA is negatively correlated with LTP. (p = .000); and the decrease of PBV was positively correlated with LTP (p = .000). All adverse events and complications were CTCAE Grade 1/2. After combination treatment, the 1-, 3-, and 5-year LTP-free survival were 97.6%, 69.0% and 15.1%, respectively, with a median LTP of 49.0 months (95% CI:43.129,54.871). Multivariate Cox regression revealed that the residual PBV > 13 ml/1000 was an independent factor predicting a shorter OS and LTP (Both p

Purpose. The goal of this study was to assess the clinical efficacy and safety of the arsenic trioxide (ATO)/lipiodol emulsion in the transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) combined with apatinib in the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods. From December 2015 to February 2017, a total of 87 patients were consecutively enrolled and underwent ATO-TACE (aTACE) combined with apatinib in the treatment of advanced HCC. The treatment response and adverse events were assessed at the first month and third month after aTACE therapy. Progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and treatment-related adverse events were also analyzed. Results. 87 patients (57 men; 30 women) were enrolled in the present study. Compared to that at the pre-aTACE examination, the levels of AST and ALT were elevated at the first week after procedure (65.84 U/L ± 22.93 U/L vs. 54.15 U/L ± 19.60 U/L, p = 0.032 ; 63.44 U/L ± 22.50 U/L vs. 51.60 U/L ± 13.89 U/L, p = 0.027 , respectively). Most of the adverse events were grade 1 or 2 according to National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Event (CTCAE). Of the exception, 4 persons (2%) did have grade 3 hand-foot skin reactions, 1 (1%) had grade 3 diarrhea, 1 (1%) had grade 3 hypertension, and 3 (3%) had grade 3 proteinuria and forced to reduce the dose of apatinib by half. The survival analysis of the combination with aTACE and apatinib therapy found that the median PFS was 10.2 months (95% CI: 8.543–11.857), and the median OS was 23.300 months (95% CI: 20.833–25.767). Additionally, both univariate and multivariate Cox regression revealed that the tumor burden (≤50%) and the patients without portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT) significantly impacted the patient’s PFS and OS and were related to better survival. Conclusion. aTACE combined with apatinib is a safe and promising treatment approach for patients with advanced HCC. Additionally, tumor burden (≤50%) and the patients without PVTT are associated with better PFS and OS.

Background Given their widespread availability and relatively low cost, percutaneous thermal ablation is commonly performed under the guidance of computed tomography (CT) or ultrasound (US). However, such imaging modalities may be restricted due to insufficient image contrast and limited tumor visibility, which results in imperfect intraoperative treatment or an increased risk of damage to critical anatomical structures. Currently, magnetic resonance (MR) guidance has been proven to be a possible solution to overcome the above shortcomings, as it provides more reliable visualization of the target tumor and allows for multiplanar capabilities, making it the modality of choice. Unfortunately, MR-guided ablation is limited to specialized centers, and the cost is relatively high. Is ablation therapy under MR guidance better than that under CT guidance? This study retrospectively compared the efficacy of CT-guided and MR-guided microwave ablation (MWA) for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC ≤ 5.0 cm). Methods In this retrospective study, 47 patients and 54 patients received MWA under the guidance of CT and MR, respectively. The inclusion criteria were a single HCC ≤ 5.0 cm or a maximum of three. The local tumor progression (LTP), overall survival (OS), prognostic factors for local progression, and safety of this technique were assessed. Results All procedures were technically successful. The complication rates of the two groups were remarkably different with respect to incidences of liver abscess and pleural effusion (P P = 0.629, log-rank test). The mean OS was 56.772 months in the patients who underwent the CT-guided procedure versus 58.123 months in those who underwent the MR-guided procedure (P = 0.630, log-rank test). Multivariate Cox regression analysis further illustrated that tumor diameter ( Conclusions Both CT-guided and MR-guided MWA are comparable therapies for the treatment of HCC (

Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) have been widely regarded as an important inducing factor in the pathogenesis of diabetic arteriosclerosis, and the proliferation and migration of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) are also involved in this process. However, it is not clear whether AGEs promote atherosclerosis by inducing the proliferation and migration of VSMCs. To figure out this question, this study investigated the effects of AGEs on the proliferation and migration of human aorta vascular smooth muscle cells (HASMCs) and the underlying mechanisms. This study evaluated the effects of different concentrations of AGEs on cell proliferation and migration. CCK8, transwell, and western blotting assays demonstrated that AGEs significantly increased cell proliferation and migration in a concentration-dependent manner and that the optimal proproliferative and promigratory concentrations of AGEs were 10 mg/L and 20 mg/L, respectively. AGE-induced cell proliferation, migration, and expression of filament actin (F-actin) were markedly attenuated by a PI3K inhibitor (LY2940002). Additionally, the phosphorylation of AKT was reduced when the receptor of advanced glycation end product (RAGE) gene was silenced by lentivirus transfection, which led to a concomitant reduction of the expression of proliferation and migration-related proteins. These data indicate that AGEs may activate the PI3K/AKT pathway through RAGE and thus facilitate the proliferation and migration of HASMCs.

// Yongzhao Zhao 1, * , Guangyan Si 2, * , Fengshang Zhu 3, * , Jialiang Hui 4, * , Shangli Cai 5 , Chenshen Huang 1 , Sijin Cheng 1 , Abdel Hamid Fathy 1 , Yi Xiang 4 , Jing Li 3 1 School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China 2 Department of Interventional Radiology, Affiliated Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China 3 Department of Gastroenterology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji University, Shanghai, China 4 Department of General Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China 5 Mental Health Institute of the Second Xiangya Hospital, National Technology Institute of Psychiatry, Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health of Hunan Province, Central South University, Hunan, China * These authors contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Jing Li, email: lijingshengping@163.com Keywords: platelet to lymphocyte ratio, hepatocellular carcinoma, prognostic, overall survival Received: September 09, 2016 Accepted: January 29, 2017 Published: February 11, 2017 ABSTRACT Background and Aims: Several studies were conducted to explore the prognostic significance of platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), however, contradictory results across most reports were documented. To this end, we present a systematic review that aims to summarize the prognostic significance of PLR in patients with HCC. Results: A total of 10 studies involving a total of 2,315 patients were identified. The Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale (NOS) of each included study was greater than or equal to 5. The results indicated that high PLR was significantly associated with a worse OS when compared to the low PLR (HR = 1.60, 95% CI = 1.23−2.08, p = 0.0005; I 2 = 88%, p < 0.00001). Similar results were detected in the subgroup analysis of the analysis model, cut-off value, ethnicity, sample size and therapy. However, no obvious correlation between the PLR and DFS/RFS in patients with HCC was observed (HR = 1.21, 95% CI = 0.87−1.67, p = 0.26; I 2 = 61%, p = 0.07). Materials and Methods: A complete literature search in the PubMed, Cochrane Library and Embase database was performed. Retrospective and prospective studies focusing on the role of PLR on the prognosis in HCC were all deemed as “suitable” for our scope. The endpoints determined were: the overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), recurrence-free survival (RFS) and the progress free survival (PFS). Conclusions: The study revealed that high PLR is an unfavorable predictor of OS in patients with HCC, and high PLR is a promising prognostic biomarker for HCC, especially for patients in Asia.

Objective. To evaluate the feasibility and safety of portal vein stenting (PVS) combined with 125I particle chain implantation and sequential arsenic trioxide (As2O3) for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with portal vein tumour thrombus (PVTT) by transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE). Methods. From January 2015 to January 2018, the clinical data of 30 patients with HCC complicated by PVTT were retrospectively analysed (26 men and 4 women). The laboratory examinations, incidence of adverse events, cumulative survival rate, and stent patency were analysed for all enrolled patients. Results. The success rate of interventional treatment in all patients was 100%. The results of the laboratory tests before and 1 week after surgery showed that the mean concentrations of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) decreased from 50.9 U/L ± 25.8 to 41.8 U/L ± 21.6 (P<0.001) and 57.6 U/L ± 19.9 to 44.2 U/L ± 26.1 (P<0.001), respectively. No complications in grade 3 or higher according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) were observed. The cumulative survival rates at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months were 83.1%, 69.2%, 43.7%, and 31.2%, respectively, while the patency rates of the stents were 83.3%, 80.0%, 52.2%, and 38.3%, respectively. Of the 30 deaths during the follow-up period, 16 patients died of liver failure, 8 died of gastrointestinal bleeding, 3 died of lung metastasis, 2 died of brain metastases, and 1 died of heart failure because the tumour invaded the atria. Conclusion. PVS combined with 125I particle chain implantation followed by TACE with As2O3 is safe and feasible for patients with PVTT. The long-term efficacy of this treatment needs to be further studied.

Purpose To evaluate the method and effectiveness of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) combined with simultaneous DynaCT-guided Microwave ablation (MWA) for the treatment of small hepatocellular carcinoma (SHCC). Materials and methods From June 2015 to May 2017, a total of 28 consecutive patients with SHCC received single treatment of TACE and 23 subjects received a combination treatment of TACE with simultaneous DynaCT-guided MWA. Following 1 month of treatment, the tumor response was assessed using the mRECIST criteria and the outcomes were analyzed including intervention-associated complications, changes in liver function, imaging response, and progression-free survival (PFS). Results The technical success rate was 100%. The rates of CR (65%) in the combined TACE and MWA group were higher than those of the TACE group (46%). The rate of common adverse events, such as liver abscess, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis and liver dysfunction, in the combined TACE and MWA group (56%) was comparable to the corresponding rate of the TACE group (P > 0.411). The median and mean PFS of the TACE group were significantly lower than those of the combined TACE and MWA group (19.00 months vs. 29.00 months, 21.076 months vs. 24.693 months, p = 0.019, log-rank test). Conclusion Stereotactic DynaCT-guided MWA is a safe and effective method for the treatment of SHCC, which usually provides an effective tumor puncture path, notably for lesions that cannot be detected following TACE. Overall, the data suggested that this treatment method could improve the clinical outcome of patients with SHCC.

To explore the feasibility of fenestration in the treatment of shunt dysfunction after transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS). Between February 2012 and December 2017, 12 TIPS patients with shunt dysfunction underwent fenestration to resolve recurrent portal hypertension with gastric variceal bleeding or ascites. The demographic data, operative data, postoperative recovery data, hemodynamic data, and complications were analyzed. Twelve patients underwent TIPS revision by fenestration, with a technical success rate of 100%. After stent reconstruction, the portal vein diameters decreased gradually with time (before the procedure: at 5 days/1 month/3 months/6 months; after procedure: 1.45 ± 0.11 cm/1.38 ± 0.06 cm/1.36 ± 0.05 cm/1.34 ± 0.05 cm/1.32 ± 0.06 cm, respectively, P = 0.057). Additionally, the blood flow velocity and blood flow rapidly increased in the portal veins and shunts after TIPS revision (P

To evaluate the outcomes of the transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) combined with AngioJet thrombectomy in patients with noncirrhotic acute portal vein (PV) thrombosis. Retrospective analysis from January 2014 to March 2017, 23 patients underwent TIPS combined with AngioJet thrombectomy for acute PV thrombosis in noncirrhosis. The rates of technical success, the patency of the PV, liver function changes, and complications were evaluated. Twenty-three patients underwent combined treatment, with a technical success rate of 100%. Twenty-four hours after treatment, PV thrombosis grade was improved significantly (P = .001). Before and after treatment, Albumin (gm/dl), aspartate transaminase (IU/l), alanine transaminase (IU/l), and platelets (109/L) were all significantly improved (P