Objective To investigate the short?term functional connectivity (FC) changes of default mode network (DMN) after liver transplantation (LT) by using seed?based functional connectivity analysis of resting?state functional MRI (rs?fMRI). Methods Eighteen cirrhotic patients as transplant candidates and 20 healthy controls were included in this study. All the patients underwent rs?fMRI examination before and one month after LT. The data were analyzed using DPARSF and REST software. Seed?based functional connectivity analysis was used to isolate the DMN. The posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) was chosen as seed region for the DMN map. Maps of the DMN were compared among the groups. Values of Z reflecting the functional connectivity of 3 groups were obtained. Two?sample t?test was performed to explore the DMN difference between cirrhotic patients and controls, and we used paired t tests to examine for any differences in functional connectivity before and after LT. Pearson correlation analysis was performed to explore the relationship between the changes of functional connectivity with that of clinical indexes and neuropsychological test scores pre?and post?LT. Results Typically spatial distributions of the DMN were found in all the groups. According to paired t test, post?LT patients showed increased FC in left medial prefrontal cortex (t=3.31, P<0.05), while decreased FC in left precuneus and left lateral temporal cortex (t=-3.37,-4.53,respectively, both P<0.05). Compared to healthy controls, pre?LT patients showed decreased FC in the right precuneus, bilateral medial prefrontal cortex, bilateral inferior parietal cortex, and bilateral lateral temporal cortex(t=-4.32—3.00, all P<0.05), and post?LT patients showed decreased FC in right precuneus, left posterior cingulate cortex, bilateral inferior parietal cortex, and bilateral lateral temporal cortex(t=-4.33—2.99,all P<0.05). Pearson correlation analysis revealed positively correlation between the changes of functional connectivity in left medial prefrontal cortex with that of DST (r=0.543, P=0.02). Conclusions This study found that the DMN FC of post?LT patients still lower than that of healthy controls one month after LT. The left medial prefrontal cortex was the first brain region that showed increased FC, while the FC of some regions continued to decrease, suggesting that brain function reorganization can continue after LT. Rs?fMRI can be used to observe the DMN changes in post?LT patients.

Objective To investigate the consistency and stability of two types of pubococcygeal line (PCL) determined by dynamic MRI used in evaluating pelvic organ prolapse (anterior and apical compartments).The first type of PCL was measured from the inferior pubic symphysis to the tip of coccyx (PCLtip) and the second was to the sacrococcygeal joint (PCLjnt).Methods Dynamic MRI changes of 50 female patients who were diagnosed with pelvic organ prolapse by pelvic organ prolapse quantification were retrospective reviewed.Chi-square test was used to compare the staging of each pelvic compartment (anterior,apical) with the two PCLs.The lengths and the degree of the oblique angle of the two PCLs during the rest and straining were compared using a paried t test.Results Agreement of PCLjnt with PCLtip was 96％ (48/50) for anterior compartment and 94％ (47/50) for apical compartment.There was no difference between the two PCLs in staging of each pelvic compartment (anterior,apical)(x2 values were 2.000 and 3.000,P values were 0.368 and 0.223).The length of the PCLtip at rest and straining was (10.1±0.8),(10.2± 0.8) cm respectively and the result was statistical significance (t=-2.339,P=0.023).Twenty patients (40％) in the 50 pelvic organ prolapse patients demonstrated a shortening of the PCLtip,while the rest including 30 patients (60％) was longer.The oblique angle of the PCLtip at rest and straining was 22°±6° and 18°±11° respectively(t=3.490,P=0.001).The length of the PCLjnt at rest and straining were (11.2±0.8) and (11.2± 0.8)cm respectively(t=-1.845,P=0.071).The oblique angle of the PCLjnt at rest and straining were 29°±6° and 26°± 10° (t=2.836,P=0.007),but the degree of PCLjnt's oblique angle had a mild fluctuate compared with the PCLtip.Conclusions PCLjnt and PCLtip have the equal level in staging of anterior and apical pelvic organ prolapse.Meanwhile the oblique angle and the length of PCLjnt illustrated the better the stability.

Objective To investigate the prompt value of abnormal vaginal morphology on diagnosing pelvic organ prolapse . Methods Forty eight pelvic organ prolapse female patients diagnosed by pelvic organ prolapse quantification were enrolled in the pelvic organ prolapse group and 51 normal female volunteers were enrolled in the control group in this study. Pelvic MRI T2WI were performed in all cases. The vaginal shape were evaluated according to Delancey Ⅱ level on the transverse images, which were divided into two categories:normal morphology (H-shaped) and abnormal morphology(non H-shaped). The vaginal shape distribution of different prolapse degree(0,Ⅰ,Ⅱ,Ⅲ,Ⅳstage) and types(anterior,middle, posterior pelvic prolapse) were recorded. Chi-square test was used to analyse distribution difference of vaginal shape between the two groups. The ROC curve was used to analyse the diagnostic efficiency of abnormal vaginal morphology for diagnosing pelvic organ prolapse. Results In the control group, there were 40 cases with normal vaginal morphology and 11 cases with abnormal morphology mainly including W-shaped and U-shaped abnormal morphology. In the prolapse group, there were 5 cases with normal vaginal morphology and 43 cases with abnormal morphologymainly including U-shaped (13 cases), W-shaped (26 cases) and O-shaped(4 cases) abnormal morphology. There was significant difference between the two groups(c2=46.137,P<0.01). The area under the curve (AUC) was 0.800. The sensitivity and specificity of abnormal vaginal shape for diagnosing pelvic organ prolapse were 89.6% and 78.4%respectively.The distribution of vaginal morphology in different degrees and types of prolapse were different:vaginal morphology of 0 stage prolapse showed H-typed mainly (40/51, 78.4%), Ⅰ stage prolapse showed W-shaped (16/28 57.1%), Ⅱ,Ⅲ stage prolapse all showed non H-shaped (20/20, 100%), Ⅱstage mainly showed W-shaped (9/14), Ⅲ stage mainly showed O-shaped (3/6). Anterior pelvic organ prolapse were manifested mainly with W-shaped vaginal morphology (4/9) and middle pelvic organ prolapse mainly showed O-shaped vaginal morphology (4/7). Conclusions The abnormal vaginal morphology has the prompt value on diagnosing pelvic organ prolapse.Moreover, the different shape probably indicates the different degrees and types of pelvic organ prolapse.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) appearance of prostate tuberculosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Six patients with prostate tuberculosis were analyzed retrospectively. The mean age of the patients was 60.5 years (range, 48-67 years). The mean prostate specific antigen concentration was 6.62 ng/mL (range, 0.54-14.57 ng/mL). All patients underwent a multiparametric MRI examination. RESULTS: The histopathological results were obtained from biopsies in four men and from transurethral resection of the prostate in two men after the MRI examination. Nodular (33%, 2/6 patients) and diffuse lesions (67%, 4/6 patients) were seen on MRI. The nodular lesions were featured by extremely low signal intensity (similar to that of muscle) on T2-weighted imaging (T2WI). The T2WI signal intensity of the diffuse lesions was low but higher than that of muscle, which showed high signal intensity on diffusion weighted imaging and low signal intensity on an apparent diffusion coefficient map. MR spectroscopic imaging of this type showed a normal-like spectrum. Abscesses were found in one patient with the nodular type and in one with the diffuse type. CONCLUSION: The appearance of prostate tuberculosis on MRI can be separated into multiple nodular and diffuse types. Multiparametric MRI may offer useful information for diagnosing prostate tuberculosis.
Aged ; Biopsy ; Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging/*methods ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prostate/*pathology ; Prostate-Specific Antigen/blood ; Prostatitis/*diagnosis/pathology ; Retrospective Studies ; Tuberculosis/*diagnosis/pathology

OBJECTIVE: To investigate brain regional homogeneity (ReHo) changes of multiple sub-frequency bands in cirrhotic patients with or without hepatic encephalopathy using resting-state functional MRI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study recruited 46 cirrhotic patients without clinical hepatic encephalopathy (noHE), 38 cirrhotic patients with clinical hepatic encephalopathy (HE), and 37 healthy volunteers. ReHo differences were analyzed in slow-5 (0.010−0.027 Hz), slow-4 (0.027−0.073 Hz), and slow-3 (0.073−0.198 Hz) bands. Routine analysis of (0.010−0.080 Hz) band was used as a benchmark. Associations of abnormal ReHo values in each frequency band with neuropsychological scores and blood ammonia level were analyzed. Pattern classification analyses were conducted to determine whether ReHo differences in each band could differentiate the three groups of subjects (patients with or without hepatic encephalopathy and healthy controls). RESULTS: Compared to routine analysis, more differences between HE and noHE were observed in slow-5 and slow-4 bands (p < 0.005, cluster > 12, overall corrected p < 0.05). Sub-frequency band analysis also showed that ReHo abnormalities were frequency-dependent (overall corrected p < 0.05). In addition, ReHo abnormalities in each sub-band were correlated with blood ammonia level and neuropsychological scores, especially in the left inferior parietal lobe (overall corrected p < 0.05 for all frequency bands). Pattern classification analysis demonstrated that ReHo differences in lower slow-5 and slow-4 bands (both p < 0.05) and higher slow-3 band could differentiate the three groups (p < 0.05). Compared to routine analysis, ReHo features in slow-4 band obtained better classification accuracy (89%). CONCLUSION: Cirrhotic patients showed frequency-dependent changes in ReHo. Sub-frequency band analysis is important for understanding HE and clinical monitoring.
Ammonia ; Benchmarking ; Brain* ; Classification ; Healthy Volunteers ; Hepatic Encephalopathy* ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Parietal Lobe

Objective To investigate MR T2-mapping in evaluating birth-related levator ani muscle injury.Methods 25 primiparas at 6 weeks after first vaginal delivery as primiparous group and 12 nulliparous volunteers as control group were prospectively studied. All the subjects underwent pelvic MRI including T2-mapping,mDIXON-T2 WI sequences.Levator ani muscle were divided into two subgroups:levator ani muscle injury group and non-injury group according to if there were edema,avulsion,or rupture in each levator ani muscle subdivisions[puborectal muscle(PRM);iliococcygeal muscle(ICM)],which were showed on mDIXON-T2 WI images.Two radiologists evaluated T2 values of PRM,ICM and observed artificial color images respectively.The consistency between two observers for T2 values of PRM,ICM were evaluated using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC ),the difference of T2 values in each levator ani muscle subdivisions among control group,non-injury group and muscle injury group were analyzed using ANOVA .Results There were 26 PRM injury cases and 24 non-injury cases in primiparous group on mDIXON-T2 WI images,and no ICM injured cases in our study.Inter-rater reliability for T2 values between two observers were good(ICC >0.75).T2 values in PRM injury group,non-injury group and control group were(62.78±1.23)ms,(49.75±3.17)ms,(49.96±4.37)ms respectively and the difference was significant. There were significant difference between PRM injury group and non-injury group,control group respectively(P =0.000,P =0.000). The T2 values of ICM in PRM injury group,non-injury group and control group were(70.80±6.50)ms,(62.41±7.32)ms,(62.78±6.91)ms and there were significant difference(P =0.000),meanwhile the difference between PRM injury group and non-injury group,control group were significant respectively(P =0.000,P =0.000).The color gradation of PRM in PRM injury group were mixed with blue, green,and yellow,and tone were lightened on T2-mapping artificial color images;ICM color gradation were uneven with green and yellow, a d tone were higher than those of control group and non-injurygroup.Conclusion T2-mapping can quantitatively assess birth-related levator ani muscle injury and T2-mapping artificial color images show the range and degree of levator ani muscle injury visually.It is hopeful to find micro lesions that T2 WI images are difficult to find.

Objective To determine the optimal electron beam energy at different field size through a Monte Carlo-based simulation of the therapy head of Varian X 6 MV linear accelerator so as to study the influence of radial intensity on depth dose.Methods Firstly,keeping the radial intensity unchanged for the field of interest while changing electron beam energy,compassion was carried out of calculated percentage depth doses between measured values.Thus,the optimal energy was identified for this field size.Then,the obtained energy was set the optimal value to study the radial intensity influence on the depth doses.Results The optimal electron energy for 4 cm ×4 cm,10 cm × 10 cm,20 cm × 20 cm and 30 cm × 30 cm field sizes was 5.9,6.0,6.3 and 6.4 MeV respectively.Changes in radial intensities resulted in negligible changes in percentage depth doses for4 cm ×4-cm and 10 cm × 10 cm fields,but led to observable discrepancy for 20 cm × 20 cm and 30 cm × 30 cm fields.Conclusions The optimal electron energies for different field sizes are slightly different.Change in radial intensity distribution has significant influence on the depth dose for large field.To improve simulation accuracy,the field size needs to be taken into consideration in determining the electron beam energy and radial intensity distribution.

Objective:To evaluate the effect of unilateral pediatric kidney donation for adult kidney transplantation.Methods:Retrospective analysis was conducted on the cases of children who donated unilateral donor kidney for adult kidney transplantation recipients in our hospital, and those who were followed up for more than three years were included in this study. The body weight of the recipients in group A was ≤50 kg, and the body weight of the recipients in group B was ≤70 kg.The recipients were divided into 0-5 year old donor group (group A) and 6-17 year old donor group (B group). Clinical data, recipient/kidney survival, graft function and growth, and complications of the recipient were analyzed.Results:A total of 45 adult recipients were enrolled, including 12 in group A and 33 in group B. The renal survival rate at 3 years after operation was (100%, 96.9%)/(91.6%, 93.9%). One week after the operation, the early postoperative recovery of renal function in group B was better than that in group A, and the difference of serum creatinine was statistically significant ( P<0.05), while the difference of serum creatinine in other postoperative follow-up time points was not statistically significant ( P>0.05). Within a year, both groups of grafts continued to grow, reaching adult levels in one year. There was no statistical significance in the incidence of complications between the two groups ( P>0.05). The incidence of protein in the two groups was 33.3% and 6.1%, respectively, 1 case in each group still had proteinuria at 1 year after surgery, and only 1 case in the infant donor kidney recipient in group A had proteinuria at 3 years after surgery. Conclusions:Unilateral donor kidney transplantation from children can provide good results for adult patients with uremia by selecting suitable donors according to the weight of the recipient.

Objective To explore the efficacy difference of diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) and ultrasound elastography (UE) in the diagnosis of liver fibrosis. Methods Thirty-five patients whose serological examination showed hepatitis B or hepatitis C virus infection, disease course≥ 1 year, and finally liver biopsy confirmed pathological fibrosis grade in Tianjin Second People's Hospital from December 2015 to April 2017 were prospectively enrolled as patient group. During the same period, twenty healthy volunteers who matched the age, sex and BMI with patient group and showed normal liver function within the last month were enrolled as control group. All of the subjects underwent DKI experiment, and subjects in patient group underwent UE experiment in addition. Liver mean apparent diffusion (MD) and mean kurtosis (MK) were obtained in all subjects and liver stiffness measurement (LSM) was obtained in patient group. The patient group was staged for hepatic fibrosis based on liver biopsy results (S0 to S4). Differences in liver MD and MK values between control and patient groups were tested using independent sample t test (normal distribution) or Mann-Whitney U test (skewed distribution). Differences in liver MD, MK, and LSM between patients with different fibrosis stages were tested using One-way ANOVA (normal distribution) or Kruskal-Wallis test (skewed distribution). The correlation between liver MD, MK and LSM values with fibrosis stages were analyzed using Pearson correlation test. The diagnostic performance in staging fibrosis was analyzed using ROC analysis. Results Liver MD in patient group was lower than that in control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.01). There was no significant difference in liver MK between the two groups (P>0.05). The AUC value for the diagnosis of liver fibrosis by MD was 0.950 (95％CI:0.855 to 0.990). Of the 35 patients, 15 were S1 (mild fibrosis), 13 were S2 (moderate fibrosis), 4 were S3, 3 were S4 (S3+S4 were severe fibrosis). The difference of MD and LSM between different stages of liver fibrosis was statistically significant (P<0.05), and there was no significant difference in MK (P>0.05). Liver fibrosis stages was highly correlated with MD (r=-0.757, P<0.01), and had no correlation with MK (r=-0.010, P=0.956), and moderately correlated with LSM (r=0.440, P<0.01). The AUC values of liver MD and LSM for characterization of ≥S2 stage liver fibrosis were 0.867 and 0.800, respectively, without statistically significant difference (P=0.486). The AUC values for characterization of≥S3 stage liver fibrosis were 0.918 and 0.653, respectively, with a statistically significant difference (P=0.032). Conclusion MD derived from DKI can be used for noninvasive assessment of liver fibrosis, and it is superior to LSM in distinguishing different fibrosis stages and detecting severe fibrosis.

Objective: To investigate the influential factors of efficacy of the first ¹³¹I ablation therapy for thyroid remnant in papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) patients after thyroidectomy. Methods: Eighty-nine PTMC patients who underwent twice ¹³¹I ablation therapy and ¹³¹I whole body follow-up scan (¹³¹I-WBS) within 5 to 8 months in our department from September 2007 to October 2016 were identified and enrolled in present study. Patients were divided into complete-ablation group and uncomplete-ablation group according to whether or not radioactivity was detected at the thyroid bed in ¹³¹I-WBS. The χ² test and multi-variance Binary logistic regression were performed for the factors which might affect the therapeutic efficacy. Results: The first ¹³¹I ablation therapy was successful in 41 of 89 patients (46.07%). Residual thyroid weight was found to be associated with therapeutic efficacy (P<0.05), while gender, age, surgical method, lesions′maximum diameter, with or without LN metastasis, with or without distant metastasis, time of operation from first ¹³¹I treatment, lesions′number, thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), thyroglobulin (Tg), the consistency of ¹³¹I-WBS and ⁹⁹Tc^m-pertechnatate, TNM stage, ATA risk, Tg/TSH ratio were not significant associated with therapeutic efficacy. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed in these respects and it indicated that residual thyroid weight and ATA risk were not statistically significant independent variable (P>0.05). Conclusions Residual thyroid weight might affect efficacy of the first ¹³¹I ablation therapy on thyroid remnant in PTMC patients after thyroidectomy, but it is not an independent factor. Multiple interrelated factors should be considered when predicting the efficacy of the first ¹³¹I ablation therapy.