Treatment and the clinical outcome of patients with head and neck cancer are determined by accurate staging and assessment of the cervical lymph nodes for metastases is an important step of this process. Ultrasonography, ultrasonography-guided fine needle aspiration (FNA), CT, MRI and PET/CT are used in the assessment of cervical lymph nodes. Ultrasonography guided FNA is advantageous in ease of application, minimumal invasiveness to patients, and less contraindications. Combined with cell block and molecular biology, FNA can be an effective tool for the diagnosis. The present article reviewed the diagnostic value of ultrasonography guided FNA in cervical lymph node assessment in patients with head and neck cancer.

Aspergillosis, Allergic Bronchopulmonary ; diagnosis ; etiology ; therapy ; Humans

Objective To investigate the effect of CD34+ stem cells seeded stent graft in venous system. Method Twelve mongrel dogs were randomized into 2 groups. Stent grafts covered with PTFE or Dacron were implanted into infrarenal vena cava through a delivery system. In each group, 4 stent grafts were seeded by autogenous bone marrow CD34+ cells, and 2 treated by autogenous blood only as control. The grafts were explanted at 2 weeks. Light and electron microscopy were used to examine endothelialization of neointima. CD34 and Ⅷ factor stain were applied to identify endothelial cells. Results All stent grafts were patent except for one Dacron stent without seeding. Light, electron microscopy, CD34 and Ⅷ factor stain demonstrated that confluent endothelial cells appeared on the neointima of seeded grafts. No endothelial cells were detected in the non-seeding grafts. Conclusions Rapid endothelialization of stent grafts can be achieved through bone marrow CD34+ cells seeding in venous systems.

Objective To analyze the ultrasonographic characteristics of breast cystic-solid lesions and to investigate the diagnostic value of BI-RADS breast imaging reporting and data system in this kind of disease Methods Imaging characteristics of 105 breast cystic-solid lesions of 93 patients were analyzed All the lesions were assessed by BI-RADS Histopathologic examination was used as the reference standard Results Among 105 lesions 57 54 3% were benign and 48 45 7% were malignant Differences in orientation shape margin calcification and vascularity were statistically significant between the benign and malignant lesions P < 0 05 whereas the echo pattern and the posterior acoustic feature did not show significant differences P >0 05).There were 5 1 predominantly solid mass,which appeared as solid mass with little dispersed or centralized cystic regions or solid mass with surrounding cystic regions,including 33 benign lesions and 1 8 malignant lesions.The area under the curves of ROC was 0.956 in this type.There were 25 lesions predominantly cystic,which had regular or irregular thick walls or septa,or had nodules protruding to the cystic component,including 1 1 benign lesions and 14 malignant lesions.The area under the curves of ROC was 0.753.There were 29 mixed solid-cystic mass,in which the solid component equaled to the cystic,including 13 benign lesions and 16 malignant lesions.The area under the curves of ROC was 0.887.The area under curves of ROC was 0.873 for the all breast cystic-solid lesions.The rates of malignant cystic-solid lesions in the three types had no significant difference(P >0.05).Conclusions Ultrasound is a useful tool for diagnosing breast cystic-solid lesions.The proportion of the cystic component is not helpful to differentiate malignancy from benignancy.

Objective To investigate the clinical significance and correlation between RAR-βgene methylation and p53 gene mutation in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid(BALF)in non-small-cell lung cancer.Methods BALF samples from 85 lung cancer pa-tients(lung cancer group)and 70 cases(benign lung diseases group)with benign lung diseases were collected.RAR-βgene methyla-tion in BALF samples was detected by methylation-specific PCR (MSP),and p53 gene mutation was detected by PCR and DNA se-quencing method.Results The rate of RAR-βmethylation and p53 mutation in BALF in lung cancer were 49.4% and 36.5%,re-spectively.Both were higher than in benign lung diseases group(P <0.01).RAR-βmethylation rate(32.5%)of patients with TNM stages(Ⅰ+Ⅱ)(32.5%)was higher than the p53 mutation rate(12.5%)over the same stages (P <0.05).RAR-βmethylation rate and p53 mutation rate of patients with stages(Ⅲ+Ⅳ)were higher than those with stages(Ⅰ+Ⅱ)(P <0.01).p53 mutation rate in lung cancer patients with RAR-βmethylation was higher than those with unmethylated(P <0.01).RAR-βmethylation rate of lung cancer patients with p53 mutation was higher than those without p53 mutation(P <0.01).Conclusion Detection of RAR-βmethyl-ation and p53 mutation in BALF contribute to the diagnosis of lung cancer.

Objective To evaluate the ultrasonographic ( US ) findings of granulomatous lobular mastitis( GLM ) ,and to compare the diagnostic accuracy among US ,mammographic ,and magnetic resonance imaging ( MRI) . Methods Imaging characteristics of 56 patients who were pathologically comfirmed as GLM were reviewed .All the lesions were assessed by BI‐RADS ( Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System) . Results Fifty‐eight lesions were found in 56 patients . Thirty ( 51 .7% ) were irregular ,20 (34 .5% ) were lobular and 8(13 .8% ) were round or oval in shape . Forty two lesions (72 .4% ) were hypoechoic ,14 (24 .1% ) were mixed echoic textur ,including 6 lesions (10 .3% ) with tubular connections and 8 lesions ( 13 .8% ) with irregular markly hypoechoic internal echoes . Two ( 3% ) were isoechoic .No calcification were found . Color Doppler signals were detected in 33 cases(56 .9% ) ,and the resistance index ( RI) ranged from 0 .61 to 0 .79 . Forty patients underwent mammography ,there were no distinct lesions in 6 cases(15% ) ,suspicious calcification in two(5% ) , asymmetric density in twenty(50% ) ,and solitary masses in twelve(30% ) . MRI was performed in 36 patients ,and revealed no abnormality in two patients(5 .6% ) , twenty nine lesions ( 80 .6% ) showed hypointensity on T1‐weighted images and hyperimensity on T2‐weighted images ,five lesions ( 13 .9% ) showed isointensity on T1‐weighted images and hyperimensity on T2‐weighted images ,and all the lesions showed heterogeneous enhancement after contrast .The diagnostic accuracy of ultrasonography , mammography and MRl was 63 .8% , 45% and 61 .1% , respectively . Conclusions There were no specific imaging characteristics of GLM ,the combination of ultrasonography , mammography and MRI might benefit the diagnosis of GLM .

Objective To investigate the value of shear wave elastography (SWE)for differential diagnosis of benign and malignant thyroid nodules.Methods A total of 1 56 patients referred for surgery of thyroid nodules underwent standard ultrasound as well as elastography.The following characteristics of all the nodules were assessed:location,size,shape,margin,echogenicity,calcification and blood flow.The SWE elasticity indices of maximum (Emax),mean (Emean),minimum (Emin),and standard deviation (Esd) were automatically calculated by the US system.Thresholds were calculated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC ) curve analysis.The diagnostic performance of conventional US and SWE were compared.Histopathologic examination was used as the reference standard.Results Among a total of 1 56 nodules,1 1 8 were malignant and 38 were benign.SWE elasticity indices were significantly higher in malignant than in benign nodules (P ≤0.001 ).Sensitivity and specificity for predicting malignancy were 83.9%,92.1 % respectively using Emean with a threshold of 32.1 kPa,the specificity was significantly higher than using conventional ultrasound (P <0.05 ).Area under the ROC curve (Az)of Emean was highest (0.880,95% CI:0.81 7,0.943),however the differences were not significant(P >0.05).Conclusions SWE provides higher specificity for predicting malignancy without losing sensitivity.

Objective:Based on relevant database data analysis,to explore the correlation of the abnormal expression of EMT related factors and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and its related non-small cell lung cancer.Methods: Based on some data sets of GEO in the NCBI database,to perform express analysis,survival analysis and correlation analysis.Results: ①Snai1 and other EMT related regulatory factors exist significantly higher expression in non-small cell lung cancer patients,and E-cadherin (CDH1) was showed significantly lower expression. ②A large number of COPD patients samples were analyzed,and some EMT-related molecules in patients with COPD also showed significant abnormal expression and consistented with the changes in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.Conclusion: The results showed that dysregulation expression of EMT related regulatory factors may have some correlation with disease progression of COPD patients through the EMT markers and their expression and correlation analysis in COPD patients.

To explore the epidemiological character of Methicillin-resistant Stapkylococcus aureus (MRSA) by the phenotyping and genotyping motheds and to investgate the source, transmission, and the spread of nosocomial MRSA infection, consequently, reducing the nosocomial infection of MRSA. In this study, 19 MRSA strains were isolated from patients and environment in a hospital in two months. Patterns of resistantce against 16 antimicrobial agents and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis ( PFGE) of these strains were analyzed to find the relationship among those isolates Clustering analysis was made from the patterns. Some isolates with high homology was found in 19 MRSA, 11 of them belong to type A, and 8 of them belong to the same subtype A1. They were endemic in burn ward, oncological ward and ICU. In addition, 4 isolates were clustered into group B, all found in the same ward of burn unit Thus, our results indicated a outbreak of MRSA ( A type) in this hospital and the potential prevalence of MRSA (B type) , which might be mediated by health care stuff. It is essential to enhance the infection control implementation and to utilize the PFGE genotyping system for the real-time surveillance of MRSA.

Objective To retrospectively study the anisotropy of shear wave elastography (SWE)quantitative parameters of breast lesions,and the correlation with histopathology.Methods A total of 281 consecutive women with 281 breast lesions (179 malignant,102 benign) were included,who underwent conventional ultrasound (US) and 2D SWE before surgical excision.Three acquisitions each for transverse and longitudinal planes were obtained,and maximum elasticity (Emax),mean elasticity (Emean),standard deviation (Esd) of the whole lesion and ratio between the elasticity in the mass and the fatty tissue (Eratio)were recorded.Anisotropic difference (AD) and anisotropy factors (AF) were calculated,and correlation with histopathology was analyzed.Results The average Emax,Emean and Esd of transverse planes were significantly higher than those of longitudinal planes.AF showed positive correlation with quantitative elasticity (Emax,Emean,Esd and Eratio) (P =0.000),and was significantly higher in malignant lesions than that in benign besions (P =0.000).AUC of AF was significantly higher than that of AD (P ＜0.001).AF was significantly higher in invasive ductal carcinoma than that in ductal carcinoma in situ.Higher AF was associated with higher histopathological grades of invasive ductal carcinoma (P =0.000),and correlated with ER/PR(+).Conclusions Anisotropy of SWE is an indicator of malignancy of breast lesions,and is of predictive value for prognosis in breast cancer.