Objective To retrospectively evaluate the role of consolidative repeat radiofrequency ablation (CRRFA) based on safety margin (SM) analyses in local tumor control for alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) negative hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients who had been shown to have radiological complete ablation (CA) with radiofrequency ablation (RFA). Methods From July 2002 to July 2009,152 AFP negative HCC patients who were shown to have radiological CA with RFA therapy were retrospectively analyzed. Among them, 110 patients had a SM of less than 1 cm and the other 42 patients had a SM of 1cm or more. Among 110 patients with SM less than 1 cm, fifty nine patients accepted CRRFA within 6 months after the first RFA and 51 did not. From these patients, a narrow SM-CRRFA group (n=41) and a narrow SM-single RFA group (n=37) were enrolled respectively. The wide SM-single RFA group (n= 30) was enrolled from the 42 patients with a SM of 1 cm or more.The LTP (local tumor progression)-free survival rate of the 3 groups were compared with a log-rank test. Results One-, two-, three-, four-, and five-year LTP-free survival rates respectively were 97. 1%, 90.9%, 69.6%, 47.2%, and 33. 0% in the narrow SM-CRRFA patients. 85.9%, 66. 5%,43.5%, 15.8%, and 0. 0%, in the narrow SM-single RFA patients, and were 92.7%, 83.7%,59.3%, 36. 9%, and 9.2% in the wide SM-single RFA patients. There were statistically significant differences (χ2 = 14. 789, P= 0. 001) between the groups. Conclusions An ablation zone with an SM of 1 cm or greater was the most important factor for local control of AFP negative HCC ranging from 3 to 5 cm in diameter. For these patients with a SM of less than 1 cm, CRRFA improved the overall local control outcomes.

Purpose:To evaluate the role of multi - detector row CT(MDCT) using reconstruction techniques in the assessment of patients with obstructed diseases of biliary tract.Materials and Methods: 47 Patients with obstructed diseases of biliary tract confirmed clinically underwent MDCT and their reconstructed images of biliary tract including multi-planar reconstruction (MPR) images and curved planar reconstruction(CPR) images were compared with those of 50 patients without obstruction and dilatation of biliary tract.The display effect of biliary duct structure and biliary duct wall and the display ability of biliary tract by MPR and CPR images between the 2 groups were compared and analysed.The reconstruction images of biliary tract were analysed retrospectively to evaluate the location and possible causes of biliary obstruction.Results: The display effect of biliary duct structure and biliary duct wall in MPR and CPR images of the group with biliary obstruction is better than that of control group,and the display ability of biliary tract in CPR images of the group with biliary obstruction is also better than that of control group.The accuracy of localization and cause evaluation of obstruction by MPR and CPR images is 100% and 89.4% respectively.Conclusions: The MPR and CPR images of MDCT provide a good display of biliary duct structure,biliary duct wall and an accurate evaluation of obstruction localization.The reconstruction technique of MDCT such as MPR and CPR should be widely applied in the evaluation of biliary obstruction.

Objective To compare short-term therapeutic outcomes and the safety of percutane-ous radiofrequency ablation (PRFA) with left single lung ventilation (LSLV) for liver cancer of the hepatic dome (LCHD) and that of PRFA for right liver carcinoma in favorable location. Methods Thirty one patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (belonging to LCHD) receiving PRFA with LSLV (Group LCHD) between January 2006 and January 2009 in our hospital were selected, and 45 control patients with right lobe HCC ≥1 cm away from the liver capsule, gallbladder, and main portal bran-ches were also included. One month after PRFA, residual tumors were followed up with contrast en-hanced CT and alpha fetal protein and PRFA was repeated in the presence of residual foci. Tumor-free survival time was defined as the duration from complete ablation to diagnosed local tumor progression.The Mann-Whitney test was used to compare age, tumor diameter, and average number of punctures between LCHD patients and controls. A χ2 test was used for comparison of the incidence of complica-tions and incomplete tumor ablation rate. The Kaplan-Meier's method was used for calculation of local tumor-free survival rate compared with a log-rank test. Results The incidence of right shoulder pain was significantly higher in LCHD patients than in controls (87. 1% vs 11. 1%, P<0. 01). LCHD pa-tients showed no difference from controls in the average number of punctures (2. 8±. 5 vs 3. 2±. 5,P>0. 05). Meanwhile, there was no difference between the 2 groups in average duration of treatment and hospitalization, and the complete tumor ablation rate at first PRFA. No differences were observed in the 1-, 2- and 3-year local tumor-free survival rates between LCHD patients (85. 5% , 65. 8% , and 36. 4% ,respectively) and controls (87.7%, 62. 3% , and 34.0% , respectively). Conclusion PRFA with LSLV for LCHD seems to promise comparable short-term outcomes and safety to PRFA for right liver carcinoma of fa-vorable location and should be preferred as one of the therapeutic options for LCHD patients with tumor di-ameters≤5 cm regardless of its unique location.

Objective To assess the therapeutic efficacy and safety of CT-guided percutaneous radiofrequency ablation(PRFA) for hepatocellular carcinoma in the bare area (HCCBA). Methods During the period from April 2000 to June 2009, 26 patients with HCCBA were treated with CTguided PRFA, and 26 other HCC patients were selected as controls, whose lesions were located in the right lobe ≥1.0 cm away from the liver capsule, gallbladder, and main portal branches. One month after PRFA, the residual tumors of each patient were examined by contrast-enhanced CT and alpha-fetoprotein test, and repeated PRFA was undertaken if residual was present. Tumor-free survival was defined as the duration from complete ablation to diagnosed local recurrence. The 2-independent-samples t-test was used to compare tumor diameter between HCCBA patients and controls. The MannWhitney U test was used to compare patient's age, etiologies of liver disease, liver function status,number of needle punctures and the value of AFP. A χ2 test was used for comparison of the complete tumor ablation rate and the cumulative local tumor-free survival rate. Results No significant difference was observed in the incidence of complication between the HCCBA patients and the controls (26. 9% vs 19.2%,P＞0.05). There were no differences between the two groups in the number of needle punctures and the complete tumor ablation rate at first PRFA. Furthermore, no differences were observed in the cumulative 1-,3- and 5-year local tumor-free survival rates between HCCBA patients (88. 5%, 46.2% and 19. 2% respectively) and patients in the control group (92.3%, 53.8% and 15.4% respectively). Conclusion CT-guided PRFA is effective and safe for HCCBA and could be preferred as one therapeutic option for HCCBA.

Objective To discuss the value of clinical radiomic nomogram(CRN)and deep convolutional neural network(DCNN)in distinguishing atypical pulmonary hamartoma(APH)from atypical lung adenocarcinoma(ALA).Methods A total of 307 patients were retrospectively recruited from two institutions.Patients in institu-tion 1 were randomly divided into the training(n=184:APH=97,ALA=87)and internal validation sets(n=79:APH=41,ALA=38)in a ratio of 7∶3,and patients in institution 2 were assigned as the external validation set(n=44:APH=23,ALA=21).A CRN model and a DCNN model were established,respectively,and the performances of two models were compared by delong test and receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curves.A human-machine competition was conducted to evaluate the value of AI in the Lung-RADS classification.Results The areas under the curve(AUCs)of DCNN model were higher than those of CRN model in the training,internal and external validation sets(0.983 vs 0.968,0.973 vs 0.953,and 0.942 vs 0.932,respectively),however,the differences were not statistically significant(p=0.23,0.31 and 0.34,respectively).With a radiologist-AI com-petition experiment,AI tended to downgrade more Lung-RADS categories in APH and affirm more Lung-RADS cat-egories in ALA than radiologists.Conclusion Both DCNN and CRN have higher value in distinguishing APH from ALA,with the former performing better.AI is superior to radiologists in evaluating the Lung-RADS classification of pulmonary nodules.