Objective:To evaluate the value of CT angiography (CTA) for vertebral artery (VA) injury in the transverse foramen region of cervical vertebra.Methods:The clinical and CTA imaging data of 56 patients with cervical spine trauma in People's Hospital of Yuxi City from January 2016 to December 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. To observe the VA were or not injuried and their degrees, and the relationship between fracture in transverse foramen region and injured of the VA by applying post processing techniques such as volume reconstruction (VR), image fusion, curved planar reconstruction (CPR), multi-planar reconstruction (MPR), vascular analysis and so on.Results:There were 35 cases in the positive group of transverse perforation stenosis among the 56 patients, and 21 cases in the negative group. There were 19 cases injuried the VA in the positive group of stenosis, but just 5 cases′VA were injuried in the negative group of stenosis, with statistically significant differences ( P<0.05). The risk of VA injuried caused by different degrees of transverse perforation stenosis in the positive stenosis group was statistically significant ( P<0.05). The VA damaged distribution were: 3 cases in V1 segment, 16 cases in V2 segment, 5 cases in V3 segment. The degree of luminal stenosis were: 9 cases of mild stenosi, 7 cases of moderate stenosis, 5 cases of severe stenosis, and 3 cases of luminal occlusion. Conclusions:The CTA of VA can clearly show its anatomical route, degree of injury, range and its adjacent relationship with the fracture end of the transverse foramina of cervical vertebra, which can provide evidences of objective and reliable imaging for spinal surgeons to assess their conditions and select the treatment plans.

Objective To explore the suitable delayed time of MSCT mesenteric venography and to probe the value of different post-processing methods.Methods 49 patients with abdominal pain (group A)underwent MSCT mesenteric venography with a delayed time of 15-20 s after the arterial phase,and the CT showed the mesenteric vein(MV)was normal.Meanwhile,other 49 ones with abdominal pain (group B)underwent conventional biphasic CT with a delay-time of 35 s after arterial phase.The CT value and diameter of superior mesenteric vein between two groups were compared,and the grading,scoring and display of mesenteric vein with different post-processingmethods were assessed.Results The diameters of SMV were (10.52±2.19)mm in group A and (9.88±2.60)mm in group B,exhibiting no statistically significant difference (P >0.05);Meanwhile the average attenuations of SMV were (1 96.55±40.59)HU in group A and (1 64.32± 28.35)HU in group B,exhibiting a statistically significant difference (P<0.05).In addition,the display ability and scoring of mesenteric vein and its branches on volume rendering (VR)in group A were better than those in group B (P <0.05).VR was better in display of the vascular space distribution than maximum intensity projection (MIP)and sliding thin slab maximum intensity projection (STS-MIP),the STS-MIP was better in display of tiny blood vessels than VR and MIP,and the curved planner reformation (CPR)was superior in display of vascular lumen and the relationship with adjacent structures.Conclusion The image quality of mesenteric vein with the delayed time of 1 5-20 s after arterial phase is superior to that with delayed time of 35 s,and different advantages of the post-processing methods are showed in display of MV.

BACKGROUND: To determine the prevalence and prognostic impact of hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS) in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) undergoing transarterial chemoembolization (TACE). METHODS: Fifty-four patients with unresectable HCC undergoing TACE between December 2014 and December 2015 were prospectively screened for HPS and were followed up for a maximum of 2 years or until the end of this prospective study. RESULTS: Nineteen of the 54 (35.2%) patients were considered to have HPS, including one (5.3%) with severe HPS, nine (47.4%) with moderate HPS, and nine (47.4%) with mild HPS. The median overall survival (OS) was 10.1 (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.9-16.3) months for patients with HPS and 15.1 (95% CI, 7.3-22.9) months for patients without HPS, which is not a significant difference ( P  = 0.100). The median progression-free survival was also not significantly different between patients with and without HPS (5.2 [95% CI, 0-12.8] vs. 8.4 [95% CI, 3.6-13.1] months; P  = 0.537). In the multivariable Cox regression analyses, carbon monoxide diffusing capacity (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.033 [95% CI, 1.003-1.064]; P  = 0.028) and Child-Pugh class (HR = 1.815 [95% CI, 1.011-3.260]; P  = 0.046) were identified to be the independent prognostic factors of OS. CONCLUSION Mild or moderate HPS is common in patients with unresectable HCC undergoing TACE, but it does not seem to have a significant prognostic impact.
Humans ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/pathology* ; Chemoembolization, Therapeutic ; Prospective Studies ; Liver Neoplasms/pathology* ; Prognosis ; Hepatopulmonary Syndrome/therapy* ; Prevalence ; Treatment Outcome ; Retrospective Studies