Objective To investigate the value of ultrasound in differential diagnosis of benign and malignant thyroid lesions with rimlike peripheral calcification.Methods Seventy-three patients of thyroid nodules with rimlike peripheral calcification were analyzed retrospectively.All cases were confirmed by surgery and pathology.The efficacy of sonographic features on diagnosis of thyroid nodules was analyzed.Results Among 73 patients,58 (58/73,79.45％) were benign and 15 (15/73,20.55％) were malignant.Among the sonographic features mentioned,the mean size,margin,internal echo and presence of halo showed no significant differences between malignant and benign nodules (all P＞0.05).Proportion of thyroid nodules coexisting with nodular goiter,irregular thickness and interruption of rimlike peripheral calcification had significant differences between malignant and benign nodules (all P＜0.05).The sensitivity,specificity,positive predictive value and negative predictive value of coexisting with nodular goiter for diagnosing benign nodules were 77.59％ (45/58),60.00％ (9/15),88.24 ％ (45/51),40.91％ (9/22),respectively.The sensitivity,specificity,positive predictive value and negative predictive value of irregular thickness for diagnosing malignant nodules were 53.33 ％ (8/15),87.93％ (51/58),53.33％ (8/15),87.93％ (51/58),respectively.The sensitivity,specificity,positive predictive value and negative predictive value of interruption of rimlike peripheral calcification for diagnosing malignant nodules were 73.33％ (11/15),68.97％ (40/58),37.93％ (11/29),90.91％ (40/44),respectively.Conclusion Ultrasonography is helpful to diagnosis of thyroid nodules with rimlike peripheral calcification.Irregular thickness and interruption of calcification are associated with malignancy.

Objective To explore the best cutoff point of the quantitative analysis of organization diffusion for differentiating liver fibrosis and to assess its diagnostic value.Methods Sixty-five patients with chronic hepatitis B were examined with quantitative analysis of organization diffusion before liver biopsy,and made a ROC analysis of diagnostic test.All cases confirmed by pathology.Results 114.95 was the best cutoff point of the strain average value which was one parameter of the quantitative analysis of organization diffusion,the area under the curve of ROC was 0.950 (P=0.000),and the sensitivity,specificity,accuracy were 92.3%,87.2% and 89.2%,respectively.Conclusions The quantitative analysis of organization diffusion is helpful in diagnosing liver fibrosis.

Objective To investigate the value of ultrasound elastosonography in the diagnosis of liver fibrosis. Methods One hundred and twenty patients with chronic hepatitis B were examined by ultrasound elastosonography and given elasticity scores,the correlation coefficient between the elasticity scores and the histologic fibrosis stage was evaluated and its difference in the diagnosis of liver fibrosis was compared. Results The Spearman's correlation coefficient between the elasticity scores and the histologic fibrosis stage was 0. 875,which was highly significant ( P＜0. 01). There was no significantly difference between elasticity scores and fibrosis staging in the diagnosis of liver fibrosis by Marginal Homogeneity (Z=- 1. 144, P = 0. 149). The sensitivity,specificity and accuracy of ultrasonic elastography for diagnosing liver fibrosis were 92. 5%, 85.0%, 90.0%, respectively. Conclusions Elastosonography is helpful for the diagnosis of liver fibrosis.

Objective To evaluate the value of grey scale ultrasonography (US) combined with elastography in the difference diagnosis of benign and malignant thyroid lesions. Methods Sixty-two patients with 81 lesions were examined by grey scale US and elastography preoperatively. All the lesions were confirmed by pathology. According to their features of grey scale ultrasonograms and elastograms, two receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were drawn, one for gray ultrasound and one for the combination methods. The area under curve (AUC) of them were made a comparison. Results The cut-off value of the grey scale group was equal or more than 5, the sensitivity,specificity was 60. 0% ,98. 5%. And the cut-off value of grey scale US combined with elastography group was equal or more than 6, the sensitivity, specificity was 80.0%, 89.4%. The AUC of grey scale US was 0.860 and that of the combination group was 0. 916. The difference between them was statistically significant Z = - 7. 863, P = 0. 000). Conclusions The grey scale US combined with elastography could improve sensitivity and decrease omission diagnose rate. It may be more helpful in the difference diagnosis of malignant from benign thyroid lesions.

Objective To explore value of detecting fetal thymus size with the thymic-thoracic ratio (TT-ratio).Methods Prenatal ultrasonography examinations were performed on totally 317 normal singleton healthy pregnancies from 18 to 39 gestational weeks.The normal thymus of fetus were observed on the three-vessel-trachea (3VT) view.The anteroposterior diameter of the thymus (T1) was measured between the anterior border of the aortic arch and posterior border of sternum.The intrathoracic mediastinal diameter (T2) was measured between the anterior border of thoracic vertebral body and posterior border of sternum.The TT-ratio was then calculated as the ratio of T1 to T2.Scatter plot between TT-ratio and gestational age was drawn.And the Spearman regression analysis was performed.Results The thymus of fetus was shown as an irregular homogenous structure in the anterior mediastinum on the 3VT view.The mean TT-ratio was 0.45± 0.03.There was no correlation between TT-ratio and gestation (rs =0.06,P=0.29).Conclusion Prenatal ultrasound can display the thymus obviously.TT-ratio could be applied to assess the fetal thymus size,which can provides clinical basis for the detection of absent or hypoplastic thymus in fetus.

PurposeTo explore the value of ultrasound radio frequency technique in the quantitative evaluation of common carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) and elasticity change in patients with dyslipidemia, and to discuss the influence of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) upon carotid artery structure and elasticity function. Materials and Methods A hundred and fifty patients with abnormal serum lipid were selected as case group and further divided into three groups: group A--50 patients with hyperlipidemia and high HDL-C, group B--50 patients with hyperlipidemia and normal HDL-C, group C--50 patients with hyperlipidemia and low HDL-C. Meanwhile, 50 healthy people were enrolled in the study as control group (group D). The ultrasound radio frequency-data technique was employed to analyze the influence of hyperlipidemia and HDL-C upon IMT, CC,β, PWV and AIx.Results The IMT,β, PWV and AIx in group B were higher than those in group D, but group B had lower CC (the differences with statistic significance,t=5.141, 4.219, 4.898, 4.142 and-3.758,P<0.01). Compared with group A, group B had higher IMT,β, PWV and AIx and lower CC (the differences with statistic significance,t=3.425, 2.807, 2.913, 2.209 and-2.091,P<0.05 orP<0.01). Compared with group B, group C had higher IMT,β, PWV and AIx and lower CC (the differences with statistic significance,t=4.937, 2.195, 3.337, 2.067 and-3.049, P<0.05 orP<0.01). Group A had higher IMT and PWV than group D (the differences with statistic significance,t=2.236 and 2.407,P<0.05), but CC,β, and AIx showed no difference between group A and group D (t=-1.693, 1.845 and 1.967,P>0.05). In patients with hyperlipidemia, the increase of HDL-C led to the reduction of the common carotid artery IMT and wall stiffness and the increase of elasticity and vice versa.Conclusion The ultrasound radio frequency technique could measure the real-time common carotid artery IMT and elasticity automatically and accurately, thus provides reliable quantitative index for the evaluation of early artery structure and change of function in lipid lowering therapy.

Objective To investigate the characteristics of TCM syndromes of Tourette syndrome (TS) to find out the basis for its TCM treatment. Methods Based on the preliminary studies,the TCM syndrome scale of TS is designed to investigate the general data,main symptoms and syndromes of 126 cases of TS children to find out the frequency of each syndrome. Results Of the 126 TS cases,97 were males,accounting for 77%; the average age was 8.31 years; and 32 had a positive family history,accountting for 25.4%. In the tic behavior,the facial twitching and limb twitching occupied 91.6% of the muscular stereotyped tic. In the vocal behavior,the throat and nasal sound occupied 42.1%. In the accompanied symptoms,the inattention occupied 69.8%. In the personality offset,the willfulness occupied 49.2%,irritable hyperactivity occupied 78.6%,and silence occupied 7.1%. More than 50% of the patients had red or dark red tongue with thick or sticky coating. Nearly 70% of them had string-taut or rolling pulse. As for the syndromes,heart-liver deficiency with deficiency wind stirred up,and liver-kidney yin deficiency with yang hyperactivity stirring up wind were common,being 41.3% and 34.1% respectively. Conclusion TS takes the heart-liver deficiency with deficiency wind stirred up and liver-kidney yin deficiency with yang hyperactivity stirring up wind as the common syndromes. The basic treating principle is enriching yin and reducing yang,and smoothing the liver to stop wind. At the same time,reinforcing the spleen and nourishing the heart,and dissolving phlegm and enlightening the brain should be applied for treatment.

Objective To find out the valuable ultrasonographic features for differentiating benign and malignant thyroid solitary nodular, and to apply the binary Logistic regression model in analysis of ultrasonography of thyroid solitary nodular. Methods Two-dimensional ultrasonography was performed in 194 patients with thyroid solitary nodular confirmed with surgical pathology. A Logistic model was obtained on the basis of ultrasonographic features. A receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve was constructed to assess the performance of the Logistic model. Results Three ultrasonographic features including shape, calcification and heterogeneous texture were finally entered into the Logistic model. The percentage of correct prediction was 91.75%. The area under ROC curve was 0.916±0.035. Conclusion The binary Logistic regression can select the valuable indexes in the differential diagnosis of thyroid solitary nodular. The application of binary Logistic regression model can improve the diagnosis accuracy of thyroid solitary nodular.

Objective To construct recombinant adeno-associated virus and lentivirus carrying siRNA of TIMP-1 and to investigate the efficiency of infection and short-term inhibitory effect of TIMP-1 gene expres-sion on rat hepatic stellate cells. Methods One pair of siRNA which could effectively inhibit expression of the TIMP-1 gene in HSC-T6 was screened and cloned into AAV vector and lentiviral vector to construct the recombinant AAV/siRNA-TIMP-1/GFP and Lenti/siRNA-TIMP-1/GFP. AAV/GFP and Lenti/GFP as neg-ative control were also obtained. Experiments were assigned to five groups: AAV/siRNA-TIMP-1/GFP, AAV/GFP, Lenti/siRNA-TIMP-1/GFP, Lenti/GFP group and mock group. Rat HSC-T6 cells were infected by these recombinant viruses at a concentration of MOI by 10. To monitor the efficiency of infection, fluores-cence microscope and flow cytometer were used. After 7 d post-infection, Western blot was used to detect the TIMP-1 protein expression. Results HSC-T6 had no significant changes after infection. The efficiency of infection in AAV/GFP and Lenti/GFP group were 72.7% and 70.0%, AAV/siRNA-TIMP-1/GFP and Lenti/siRNA-TIMP-1/GFP group were 64.58% and 61.86%. The protein expression levels of TIMP-1 in HSC-T6 cells at 7 d post-infection by the recombinant AAV and Lentivirus were decreased 40.0% compared with those in mock control and normal HSC-T6 (P<0.05). Conclusion Recombinant AAV/siRNA-TIMP-1/GFP and Lenti/siRNA-TIMP-1/GFP could effectively infect HSC-T6 with similar efficiency and suppress the expression of TIMP-1 in rat HSC-T6 remarkably.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the characteristics,diagnosis and therapy of post-biopsy renal artery pseudoaneurysm in children and to study the clinical value of arterial embolization for traumatic renal hemorrhage when conservative treatment failed.

METHODData were compiled from medical records of a child in whom renal artery pseudoaneurysm occurred after biopsy in the Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University , and the related literature was reviewed to analyze the diagnosis and treatment of such pseudoaneurysm.

RESULTA 13-year-old boy had gross hematuria, aggravated dysuria and decreased hemoglobin 10 days after percutaneous renal biopsy. Hb decreased from 110 g/L on the first day after admission to 92 g/L on the 4th day, 83 g/L on the 7th day and the minimum to 74 g/L at the 8th day after admission. Ultrasound showed solid echogenic mass in the right renal pelvis as well as the bladder. Color Doppler ultrasound shows the red and blue rotation of blood flow in the polar capsule under the right kidney. Contrast-enhanced CT in the arterial phase showed a 0.5 cm sized renal mass with a strongly enhanced dot in the lower pole of the right kidney, suggesting a renal artery pseudoaneurysm. Haemostatic, supplement of red blood cells and blood volume and other integrative treatment of hematuria were applied for seven days, but his gross hematuria continued to be worsened. He was diagnosed as pseudoaneurysm by digital subtraction angiography (DSA) on the 19th day after renal biopsy. Superselective renal artery embolization using micro-coils and gelatin sponge particles was performed, and the blood clots were cleaned under cystoscope. Macro-haematuria and dysuria disappeared after the interventional treatment. Retrieval of reports on post-biopsy renal artery pseudoaneurysm in children by using "pseudoaneurysm, child" as the search term showed report of one case from the Chinese CNKI database and 3 cases from the PubMed database. The underlying disease was Henoch-Schonlein purpura nephritis in 3 cases and Sneedon syndrome in 1 case; clinical manifestation of gross haematuria was present in 4 cases, lumbago or pain at the site of the puncture in 2 cases, dysuria in 1 case, and fever in 2 cases.

CONCLUSIONThe post-biopsy renal artery pseudoaneurysm in children is often manifested as gross hematuria, lumbago, pain at the site of the puncture, fever and dysuria, DSA can be used for definite diagnosis and the interventional treatment is effective.

Adolescent ; Aneurysm, False ; therapy ; Angiography, Digital Subtraction ; Biopsy ; Embolization, Therapeutic ; Hematuria ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Kidney ; blood supply ; pathology ; Kidney Diseases ; diagnosis ; Male ; Nephritis ; Renal Artery ; pathology