1.0 cm in diameter.

Objective To analyze the double contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (DCUS) features of periamupullary carcinoma for enhancing the ultrasound diagnostic value of the disease.Methods The DCUS and clinical data of 40 patients with periampullary carcinoma confirmed by histopathology were reviewed.Results (1) The displaying rate of the lesions and the judgment of lesion location was statistically higher on DCUS than that of ordinary ultrasound (P ＜ 0.05).(2) DCUS features of periampullary carcinoma:the size of most lesions was less than 30 mm except for 1 case in which no lesion was found; In 100％ (39/39) of the lesions,the morphology did not change with duodenum movement ; In 64.1％ (25/39) of lesions hyperenhancement or isoenhancement was displayed in the arterial phase,with low enhancement in the venous phase; In 87.2％ (34/39) of lesions homogeneous enhancement was displayed; In 95％ (38/40) the bile ducts were moderately or severely dilated.The lesion locations and whether the lesions projected into the duodenal cavity or not were statistically different between the three different types of periampullary carcinoma (P ＜ 0.05).The lesions projected into the duodenal cavity of duodenum were more commonly seen in papillary carcinoma and ampullary carcinoma than distal common bile duct carcinoma.The lesion size,whether the lesion morphology changed or not with duodenum movement,enhancement level,enhancement homogeneity,the degree of bile duct dilatation,whether there was pancreatic duct dilatation or not were not statistically different between the three different types of periampullay carcinoma (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions DCUS is an effective way to show periampullay carcinoma,and is helpful to diagnose periampullary carcinoma and distinguish the three different types of periampullary carcinoma.

Objective To evaluate the clinical value of artificial hydrothorax combined with one-lung ventilation to aid ablation treatment of liver carcinoma in the hepatic dome.Methods Twenty-one patients with liver carcinoma located in the hepatic dome and affected by the lung gas were enrolled.Double lumen endobronchial intubation anesthesia was used and thoracical tube was used to apply artificial pleural effusion.The lesions'ultrasound image were recorded for the patients without artificial hydrothorax,or with artificial hydrothorax only and artificial hydrothorax combined with one-lung ventilation.Ultrasound images were reviewed and scored as 1-5 according to the clarity and completeness of the lesion.Ablation efficacy and adverse reactions were recorded in the follow-up.Results Twenty-one patients were successfully applied artificial hydrothorax and one lung ventilation.The average normal saline used for artificial hydrothorax were (738± 260)ml.The ultrasound score for not using artificial hydrothorax,using artificial hydrothorax only and artificial hydrothorax combined with one lung ventilation were 1.13 ± 0.35 (1-2),3.00 ± 0.85 (2-5) and 4.53 ± 0.64(3-5),respectively,statistical difference was found between each method(P ＜0.05).Artificial hydrothorax combined with one-lung ventilation had much higher ultrasound score than the other 2 methods.No complication related to artificial hydrothorax or one-lung ventilation was found.CT/MRI at one month after ablation showed that all the lesions were completely ablated.In the follow-up for 2-14 months on average,1 case of local tumor progression and 1 case of intrahapetic relapse were found.Conclusions Artificial hydrothorax combine one-lung ventilation could effectively enhance ultrasound image for the lesions in the dome whose acoustic window was affected by lung gas.

Objective To analyze the reasons of focal liver lesions that difficult to detect by conventional ultrasound ultrasound-CT/MR fusion imaging.Methods 101 lesions which were confirmed by pathology or clinical diagnosis standards were recruited in the research.All of them were difficult to detect by conventional ultrasound but CT/MR display clearly.Ultrasound-CT/MR fusion imaging was used to observe the size,location and internal echo of the lesions,as well as the background of the surrounding liver parenchyma.Results All cases were successfully registrated,the registration time were 2-6min [(4.1 ±0.6)min].For these 101 lesions,93.1％(94/101) of which the diameter ≤20 mm,56.4％ (57/101) were located in hepatic segments near the diaphragm (such as S2,S4,S7,S8),78.2％ (79/101) were internal isoecho,and 79.2％(80/101) in the background of liver cirrhosis.Conclusions The important reasons that focal liver lesions detected difficult by conventional ultrasound includes:lesion size,location,internal echo and the hepatic background.

Objective To assess the characterization and usefulness of contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS)to diagnose solid focal lesions of pancreas(s-FLPs)in comparison to contrast enhanced computed tomography(CECT).Methods Forty-nine s-FLPs with final diagnosis were studied with low mechanical index CEUS and CECT.The enhanced patterns and diagnostic capability of CEUS were analyzed,and these results were compared with those from CECT.Results ①In CEUS,the perfusion of capillary could be detected in vascular phase.②The concordance of dual-phases enhanced patterns between CEUS and CECT was 73.5%(36/49).The concordance of enhanced level between early parenchymatous perfusion phase in CEUS and pancreatic phase in CECT could achieve 87.8%(43/49).Hypo/hypo enhancement was the most common enhanced pattern of pancreatic carcinoma in CEUS and CECT.③There was no statistical significance between CEUS and CECT in the differential diagnostic.Conclusions The concordance of enhanted patterns between CEUS and CECT is satisfactory.CEUS is similar to CECT in the differential diagnosis of s-FLPs.CEUS would become an important non-invasive diagnostic method for s-FLPs.

Objective To evaluate the clinical value of intraoperative image fusion assisted contrastenhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in real-time assessing the curative effect on radiofrequency ablation of hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC).Methods From November 2010 to August 2011,the patients with HCC which would accept radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in our hospital were divided into image fusion assisted CEUS group and conventional CEUS group.The HCC lesion in each group was named as difficult lesion if it was invisible in B-mode ultrasound,larger than 50 mm in diameter or the puncuture route was affected by lung,ribs or blood vessels.Ten minutes after RFA,two groups of patients were performed intraoperative image fusion assisted CEUS examination and conventional CEUS examination respectively.All the patients received CT/MRI one month after ablation to decide whether the HCC had been completely ablated.Difference of complete ablation rate of HCC was compared between the two groups as well as between the difficult lesions in each group.Results Forty-eight lesions in 39 patients were enrolled in image fusion assisted CEUS group including 19 difficult lesions.Sixty-eight lesions in 53 patients were enrolled in conventional CEUS group including 18 difficult lesions.No statistical difference was found between the two groups in lesion size,proportion of difficult lesions,proportion of lesions received TACE or RFA plus PEIT (P =0.052,P =0.136,P =0.185,P =1.000).Postoperation following-up results demonstrated that complete ablation rate of HCC in navigation assisted CEUS group(100 ％,48/48) was not statistically higher than that in conventional CEUS group(92.6％,63/68) (P =0.145).But the difficult lesions in navigation assisted CEUS group (100％,19/19) had statistically higher complete ablation rate than that in conventional CEUS group(72.2％,13/18) (P =0.020).Conclusions Intraoperative navigation assisted CEUS could real-time assess the curative effect on RFA of HCC,especially in the difficult lesions,and could be used as the beneficial supplement of the conventional CEUS.

Objective To study the enhancement patterns of hilar bile duct wall of ischemic-type biliary lesion (ITBL) on contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS).Methods Eighteen healthy subjects,18 orthotropic liver transplantation (OLT) recipients without complications,and 36 patients,which were subdivided into 2 groups according to the final diagnosis:patients with (n =24) and without (n =12)ITBL,were enrolled in this study.The patients without ITBL had anastomotic biliary stricture (n =3),cholangitis (n =4),biliary sludge (n =1),and acute rejection (n =4),respectively.The images of baseline sonography and CEUS were retrospectively analyzed in consensus by 2 readers.The enhancement time and level of hilar bile duct wall,hepatic artery and liver parenchyma were recorded.Results Hilar bile duct wall became enhancing earlier than liver parenchyma in all of 4 groups.During arterial phase,hyper-or isoenhancing bile duct walls were present in most cases in the groups of healthy subjects,OLT recipients without complications and patients without ITBL.However,non-or hypo-enhancement of hilar bile duct wall were present in 16 (66.7％) ITBL patients,which is different from the other groups (P ＜0.05).Conclusions The main features of ITBL differing from the other groups were non-or hypo-enhancement of hilar bile duct wall in arterial phase.It may be a diagnostic index to apply in detecting ITBL with CEUS.

Objective To evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of three-dimensional ultrasound (3DUS) automatic image fusion based on hepatic vessel in clinical application.Methods Forty pairs of 3D ultrasound volumetric images from 10 healthy volunteers were acquired and enrolled in the study,including 10 pairs of each following lobe of the liver:left lateral lobe,left medial lobe,right anterior lobe and right posterior lobe.3DUS automatic registrations were performed based on hepatic vessel.The technical successful rate and accuracy of the image fusion using the 3DUS data from four hepatic lobes were observed and compared.Results Thirty-six pairs of volumetric data were successfully fused together by automatic registration.The technical successful rate was 90％ (36/40) and the registration error distance was 1.48 mm (0.98-2.76 mm).There were no statistical differences in the successful rate for the four different hepatic lobes (P =0.891),but the registration error of right anterior lobe was less than left lateral lobe of liver (P =0.014).Conclusions The new technology of 3DUS automatic registration based on hepatic vessel was feasible and reliable,and it has a wide prospect in future clinical application.

Objective To discusse the feasibility and application value of the computer-assisted liver cancer ablation planning based on the three dimensional ultrasound.Methods Forty three-dimensional ultrasound images of 39 patients with 40 tumors'maximum diameter between 21 to 70 mm were collected and then acquired image segmentation and visualzation.The computer-assisted liver cancer ablation planning based on three dimensional ultrasound was comparied with the artificial ablation planning based on two dimensional ultrasound to find out the differences in the success rate,damage rate,time-consuming and the number of insertions between these two methods.Results Compared with the artificial ablation planning based on two dimensional ultrasound,the computer-assisted liver cancer ablation planning had a higher success rate(92.31% vs 53.85%,P =0.000),lower damage rate(7.50% vs 25.00%,P =0.034),shorter time-consuming(44.0 s vs 263.0 s,P =0.000)and less insersion times(3 vs 4,P =0.009).Conclusions The computer-assisted liver cancer ablation planning based on three dimensional ultrasound is more efficient and safety than the traditional way.

Objective To assess the value of three-dimensional contrast-enhanced ultrasound (3D-CEUS) in evaluation origin of segment Ⅳ feeding artery in living liver donors. Methods 3D-CEUS were used to examine 20 living liver donors. The origin of segment Ⅳ feeding artery were evaluated by two radiologists who blinded to other imaging information. The findings obtained on operation and (or) CTA were used as the reference standard. Results Segment Ⅳ feeding artery originating from left artery, both left and right artery, proper hepatic artery were demonstrated on 3D-CEUS in 13, 1 and 2 patients,respectively. 3D-CEUS accurately depicted the origin of segment Ⅳ feeding artery in 16(80%) patiens.Conclusions 3D-CEUS could be a useful method to demonstrate the origin of segment Ⅳ feeding artery in preoperative evaluation for LDLT.