Blood Platelets ; Humans ; MicroRNAs

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.

Objective To investigate the feasibility and methodology of detecting the microcirculation of hilar bile duct wall with contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS). Methods Sixteen patients after orthotropic liver transplantation(OLT) were studied. The dosage of contrast agent(SonoVue) was set for 2 groups: 1.5 ml and 2.4 ml. Each group was composed of 8 patients. The imaging quality of CEUS were retrospectively analyzed and divided into 3 grades: good, ordinary and bad. There were 2 patients received retransplantation. Their morphologic features of hilar bile duct wall in baseline ultrasound (US) and CEUS were compared with those in pathological examination. Results Biliary perfusion could be displayed by CEUS continuously,real-timely and clearly. The imaging quality was good in 8 cases(50%), ordinary in 6 cases (37. 5%) and bad in 2 cases(12. 5%). There was no significant difference between the imaging quality of 1. 5 ml and that of 2. 4 ml group ( P = 0. 78). Conclusions The imaging quality of hilar bile duct wall in CEUS is good enough to detect its microcirculation. There is no significant difference between the imaging quality of 1. 5 ml and that of 2.4 ml group.

Objective To assess the value of three-dimensional contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (3D-CEUS) in evaluation of hepatic arteries variants.Methods Both two-dimensional contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (2D-CEUS) and 3D-CEUS were used to assess 30 patients including living donor candidates and patients with upper abdomen tumors.The reference standard was operation or CTA or DSA or MRA,and the accuracy for detecting hepatic artery variants provided by the two methods was evaluated.Arterial anatomic types were defined by using Michels classification.Results The total accuracy for detecting hepatic artery anatomy types by 2D-CEUS was 40.0% (12/30),while 83.3% (25/30) by 2D-CEUS.For convention anatomy types the accuracy on 2D-CEUS and 3D-CEUS were 40.9%(9/22)and 90.9%(20/22),respectively.The difference was statistically significant (P<0.05).For anatomy variants types the accuracy on 2D-CEUS and 3D-CEUS were 37.5%(3/8)and 62.5%(5/8),respectively.No significant difference between these two methods was observed.Conclusion 3D-CEUS was a new method in diagnosis of hepatic arteries anatomy types with practical clinical value in evaluation of the living liver donors.

Objective To evaluate the usefulness of baseline ultrasound(BUS) and contrast-enhanced ultrasound(CEUS) in diagnosis of portal vein(PV) patency and to explore the indication of CEUS. Methods The diagnostic capability of BUS and CEUS were assessed in 64 cases according to definition of PV on BUS,which was divided into high, moderate and low definition. Results Thirty-five patients with portal vein thrombosis(PVT) and 29 patients with normal portal vein were confirmed. The diagnostic accuracies by using BUS and CEUS were 93.1% and 96.6% with high definition of PV,56.3% and 87.5% with moderate definition,and 68.4% and 89. 5% with low definition, respectively. Conclusions In the case of high definition of PV,the validity of diagnosing of PV patency with BUS may be similar to that with CEUS,thus introduction of CEUS would probably not be necessary. Otherwise CEUS is recommended.

Objective To investigate the role of contrast-enhanced ultrasound(CEUS) for detection of hepatic artery stenosis(HAS) in recipients following orthotopic liver transplantation(OLT). Methods CEUS was performed in 50 OLT recipients (42 men and 8 women) with abnormal liver function test and/or abnormal findings on color Doppler ultrasound(CDUS). Digital subtraction angiography (DSA), computed tomographic angiography(CTA) or follow-up CDUS was used as the reference standard. The degree (mild,narrowing rate＜50 %; moderate, narrowing rate 50 % ～ 75 %; severe, narrowing rate＞ 75 % ), location and type (single or multiple) of HAS were evaluated. Moderate and severe stenosis were defined as substantial stenosis. Results CTA or DSA depicted substantial HAS in 39 patients, 8 patients with mild HAS or normal HA were depicted on CTA,and the remaining 3 patients were diagnosed as non-substantial HAS on clinical and CDUS follow-up. CEUS depicted substantial HAS in 38 cases. Moreover,CEUS corrected falsepositive findings on CDUS in 9 of 50 cases(18.0% ). The accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of CEUS in diagnosing HAS were 90.0% ,92.3% ,81.8% ,94. 7% and 75.0%,respectively. Conclusions CEUS is able to provide comprehensive information including presence,degree,location and type of HAS, which may facilitate the further interventional procedure or surgical treatment.

Aged ; Antigens, CD34 ; analysis ; Female ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; analysis ; Solitary Fibrous Tumors ; metabolism ; pathology

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Cadherins ; genetics ; metabolism ; physiology ; Female ; Humans ; Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins ; Ki-67 Antigen ; genetics ; metabolism ; Male ; Microtubule-Associated Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; physiology ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Invasiveness ; physiopathology ; Pituitary Neoplasms ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Young Adult

Objective To evaluate the in vitro effect of heat shock protein 70(HSP70)on interleukin-6 (IL-6)expression by cultured fibroblasts from psoriasis vulgaris lesions(PFbs).Methods Fibroblasts were isolated from the lesions of patients with psoriasis vulgaris and subjected to a primary culture.After 3 to 5 passages of culture,the fibroblasts were collected and used in the next experiment.Some PFbs were cultured with different concentrations(5,10,20,30 mg/L)of HSP70 for 48 hours,or with HSP70 of 30 mg/L for different durations(3,6,12,24,48,72 hours);some PFbs were incubated with HSP70 of 30 mg/L for 24 hours after pretreatment with pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate(PDTC,a specific inhibitor of nuclear factor-kappa B)for 30 minutes.PFbs receiving no treatment served as the control.Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)and semi-quantitative reverse transcription PCR were performed to measure the IL-6 protein expression in culture supematant and IL-6 mRNA expression by PFbs,respectively.Differences in the expression of IL-6 protein and mRNA between PFbs receiving different treatment were analyzed by using t test and Dunnett's t test.Results HSP70 significantly increased both protein production and mRNA expression of IL-6 in a time(0-48 h)-and dose(5-30 mg/L)-dependent manner.The expression levels of supernatant IL-6 protein and IL-6 mRNA were significantly higher in the PFbs treated with HSP70 of 10 mg/L for 48 hours than untreated PFbs((75.2 ± 15.4)ng/L vs.(47.2 ± 10.6)ng/L,0.439 ± 0.093 vs.0.249 ± 0.069,both P ＜ 0.05).A significant increase was observed as early as 6 hours in the level of IL-6 mRNA after the treatment with HSP70 of 30 mg/L,and 12 hours in the level of supematant IL-6 protein.Decreased supernatant IL-6 protein and IL-6 mRNA were noted for PFbs treated with PDTC and HSP70 of 30 mg/L compared with untreated PFbs((42.23 ± 9.41)ng/L vs.(68.40 ± 14.43)ng/L,0.144 ± 0.048 vs.0.295 ± 0.081,both P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion HSP70 may increase the expression of IL-6 mRNA and protein by cultured PFbs via the nuclear factor-kappa B pathway.

A laboratory scale combination process of anaerobic baffled reactor(ABR) with sequencing batch reactor(SBR) for treatment of real dyeing wastewater was studied.The effects of operational conditions were investigated.The results demonstrated that removal rates of COD,colour and aniline were 32%~95%,89%~99% and 50%~98%,respectively,the effluents of COD were 30.0 ~97.1mg/L,colour were 8 ~40 times dilution ratio,concentration of aniline were 0.20 ~0.95 mg/L,which could meet the National Discharge Criteria(GradeⅠ) under the operational conditions of HRTs of 24~36 h,organic loading rates of 0.43 ~2.46 kg COD/(m~(3)?d),the influent pH values of 6.5~8.0,ambient temperatures of 20℃~35℃ at the ABR stage and DOs of 2 mg/L,reaction times of 3~10h,settle times of 2 h at the SBR stage.