Objective To study the features of pulmonary cryptococcosis and the curative effect of thoracoscopic operation for it. Methods The authors retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 11 patients with pulmonary cryptococcosis in this hospital between January 1996 and December 2002, consisting of 8 cases of thoracoscopic wedge resection, 2 cases of thoracoscopy-assisted modified posterolateral mini-lobectomy, and 1 case of pulmonary wedge resection. Results Ten patients were preoperatively misdiagnosed. Solitary lesions were found in 8 patients and multiple lesions in both lungs in 3 patients. Complete removal of lesions was achieved in 8 patients and pulmonary biopsy was conducted in 3 patients. Except for 3 cases of wound effusion, there were no other postoperative complications. Follow-up for (38.6?10.8) months (range, 12～72 months) found no pyothorax, bronchopleural fistula, or recurrence of cryptococcosis. Conclusions Pulmonary cryptococcosis usually makes its appearance as a solitary lesion without underlying diseases or symptoms, which is difficult to diagnose preoperatively. Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery can remove the lesion completely, giving a minimal invasion and rapid recovery.

Background and purpose:As a minimally invasive procedure, video-assisted thoracospic surgery for definitive resection of lung cancer is the focus of thoracic surgeons controversy.We studied the application of video-assisted thoracospic surgery and conventional thoracotomy for definitive resection of lung cancer from viewpoint of lymphadenectomy. Methods:From January 2001 to December 2005,549 patients with lung cancer underwent video-assisted thoracospic surgery lobectomy or pneumonectomy with systematic thoracic lymphadenectomy. The total number and average of dissected lymph nodes were recorded. Some studies on VAT and conventional lobectomy or pneumonectomy with systematic thoracic lymphadenectomy for lung cancer were compared.Results:In all 549 cases,7360 lymph nodes were dissected. The average of dissected lymph nodes was 13.41. There were no significant difference between video-assisted thoracospic surgery and conventional thoracotomy.Conclusions:Video-assisted thoracospic surgery should fulfill the same quality of lymphadenectomy WT5"and lung cancer radical resection. WT5"HZ

Objective To investigate the reversal effect of verapamil on the drug resistance of NCI-H 446 small cell lung cancer cell line induced by fractionated radiation.Methods Exponentially grown NCI-H 446 cells were exposed to total radiation dose of 50 Gy,which was given in 25 fractions of 2 Gy per fraction.The survival rate of NCI-H 446 cell line,before and after fractional radiation,was observed after adding different concentrations of mitomycin C(MMC).The change in survival rate of NCI-H 446 cell line was also observed while verapamil was added additionally to the above.Results The survival rate of the radiated cell line was higher than that of the unradiated cell line under the same concentration of MMC(P0.05),or the survival rate of radiated cell line was obviously lower than that of unradiated cell(P

Objective To detect the correlations between vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression, microvessel density ( MVD) and time intensity parameters of contrast enhanced ultrasound in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods Seventy-three patients of HCC were analyzed with time intensity curve of contrast enhanced ultrasound. VEGF and CD34 in different degree of differentiated HCC specimens were detected by immunohistochemistry. The correlations between VEGF, MVD and time intensity parameters were analyzed. Results Arrival time had no significant difference among different differentiated groups. However, the area under the curve, enhanced time and washout time had significant difference among different differentiated groups respectively ( P <0. 05). There was a positive correlation between VEGF expression and MVD in HCC. MVD was associated with enhanced time and the area under the curve ( r = - 0. 615,0. 563,respectively). The area under the curve,enhanced time and washout time of VEGF positive expression group had significant difference comparing to those of VEGF negative expression group ( P < 0. 05). Conclusions It was helpful to assess HCC differentiated degree with time intensity parameters of contrast enhanced ultrasound.

Objective To explore the value of transrectal elastography and contrast-enhanced ultrasound in evaluation of the efficacy of neoadjuvant therapy for rectal cancer.Methods Forty patients with final diagnosis of advanced(T≥3) rectal cancer were respectively examined with transrectal ultrasound (TRUS),endorectal elastography and contrast-enhanced ultrasound(CEUS) before and after neoadjuvant therapy(NET).The tumor size,strain ratio and quantitative parameters of contrast-enhanced ultrasound including arrival time(AT),time-to-peak (TTP),peak intensity(PI) and area under the curve(AUC) were recorded and compared before and after NET.In addition,the TRUS stages and postoperative pathological diagnosis were compared after NET.Results ①There were significant decreases in tumor size and strain ratio after the therapy compared with pre-therapy in all these patients(t =-6.13,P ＜0.001;t =-24.92,P ＜ 0.001).②PI and AUC were lower after NET than those of pre-therapy and the differences were significant(t =-9.66,P =0.001;t =-13.58,P ＜0.001).However,the changes of AT and TTP were no statistical significances (t =-1.17,P =0.307;t =-1.26,P =0.275).③The accuracys of preoperative TRUS for T stage and N stage of tumor evaluated according to pathology were respectively 75.0 ％ (30/40,Kappa =0.593,P =0.000) and 72.5 ％ (29/40,Kappa =0.396,P =0.009).Conclusions Transrectal elastography and contrast-enhanced ultrasound can reflect the pathological changes and perfusion characteristics of lesions in a certain extent and have high value in clinical therapy.

Objective To observe the blood flow changes of left ventricular cavity and quantify the energy loss (EL) and circulation of left ventricular during systole and diastole in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy(DCM) via vector flow mapping(VFM).Methods Thirty-six healthy volunteers and 32DCM patients were enrolled.According to the severity of mitral regurgitation(MR),DCM patients were divided into two groups.The quantitative parameters,including average energy loss(EL-base,EL mid,EL-apex) and circulation (vortex quantity,vortex area,circulation) were measured in the different periods of VFM imaging mode in apical four-chamber view,apical three-chamber view and apical two-chamber view respectively.The difference of parameters was evaluated between different groups during the different periods.The early transmitral valve blood flow velocity E,the late transmitral valve blood flow velocity A,the ratio of early transmitral valve blood flow velocity to the early diastolic mitral valve velocity E/e,the ratio of early transmitral valve blood flow velocity to the late transmitral valve blood flow velocity E/A and Tei index were derived via dual-Doppler imaging technology.Meanwhile,the correlation between VFM parameters with E,A,E/A,E/e or Tei index was also analyzed.Results ①The level of EL were decreased significantly among EL-mid and EL-apex during early diastole,EL-mid during mid-systole,EL-mid and EL-apex during late-systole (P ＜0.05),when compared with the control group.The vortex quantity,vortex area and circulation during early diastole and the vortex area and circulation during atrial contraction period were significantly different between two groups (all P ＜ 0.05).As for mid-diastole,only vortex area showed significant difference (P ＜0).01).(②) When compared with different grades of MR in DCM patients,the level of all segments EL during diastole and EL-base during systole increased with severity of MR(P ＜0.05).The circulation during diastole also increased with the severity of MR(P ＜0.05).③The vortex area and circulation had positive correlation with E/e during diastole in all subjects(all P ＜0.05).The vortex area during atrial contraction period and early diastole had positive correlation with E/A and Tei index in all subjects(r =0.630,0.345,0.468,0.316,0.663,0.264,respectively,allP ＜0.01).EL-mid during late-systole were negatively correlated with LV end diastolic volume,end systolic volume,but positively correlated with ejection fraction in all subjects(r =0.335,-0.312,0.340,respectively,all P ＜0.05).While,there was positive correlation between E/A with the basal segment of mid-diastole(r =0.376,P ＜0.01).Conclusions The visualization of hydromechanics inside the heart of DCM patients could be directly accomplished by VFM,which can provide a new method for diagnosis and evaluation of DCM.

Objective To investigate hepatic parenchyma and kidney cortex's gray-scale ratio as a new index in evaluating hepatic fibrosis degree.Methods Sixty patients with hepatic fibrosis verified by liver biopsy and 40 normal individuals used as controls were scanned with Acuson Sequoia 512 with the same set-up of all the parameters.The hepatic-right kidney section was selected for offline analysis.The gray-scale value of near-area hepatic,mid-area hepatic,far-area hepatic parenchyma and right kidney cortex were measured by histogram of Photoshop software.The gray-scale ratio of hepatic parenchyma to kidney cortex was calculated and compared with the hepatic firbrosis degree.Results With development of hepatic fibrosis,the ratio of hepatic and kidney gray-scale value was increased.The results between control and experimental groups were significant(P＜0.01).Conclusions Hepatic and kidney gray-scale ratio obtained from gray scale ultrasound was rarely affected by individual conditions of acoustic windows.It could be used as a new index for diagnosing of hePatic fibrosis and evaluating its therapeutic effects.

Objective To measure cerebral circulation time(CCT) of a group of normal adults by contrast-enhanced ultrasound. Methods Forty-seven cases of healthy volunteers without any cardio-cerebral disease history were enrolled in the study. Internal carotid artery and vertebral artery were observed and the blood flow was measured with high frequency probe. Contrast-enhanced agent SonoVue was injected bolus into median cubital vein. CCT was measured and calculated according to the contrast curve analysis. Contralateral CCT measurement was repeated when the blood flow signal resume to the baseline intensity. Cerebral blood volume was then calculated according to CCT and cerebral blood flow. Results All the imaging of carotid vessels was presented clearly in all objects. Cerebral blood flow was 603 ～ 990 ml/min with an average (778 ± 171)ml/min. Bi-lateral CCT was measured successfully,the value ranged 4. 1 ～ 10.2 s with average (6.22 ± 1.47) s. There were no significant differences both in contrast of left and right side of the carotid vessels and in contrast of three dosage groups ( P ＞0.05). The cerebral blood volume was 54～96ml with average (76 ± 27)ml. Conclusions Contrast-enhanced ultrasound can be useful in measurement and calculation of CCT and cerebral blood volume.

Objective To compare the respective diagnostic efficiency for breast cancer with ultrasound diffusion optical imaging (DOI),ultrasonic elastography (UE),contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS),X-ray mammography(XRM),magnetic resonance imaging (MRI),and combinations of these imaging modalities.Methods Seventy-five breast lesions were collected.These lesions were confirmed by surgery and histopathology.All of breast lesions were examined ultrasound,mammography and enhancedMRI examinations before surgical excision.The specificity,sensitivity,positive predictive value and negative predictive value of each modality were compared.Results The sensitivities and the diagnostic negative predictive values for MRI + US + XRM (97.44％,96.15％),CEUS (92.31％,90.63％) and MRI (94.87 ％,92.86％) were significantly higher than those for XRM (74.36 ％,71.43 ％),respectively.The sensitivity for DOI + CEUS + UE was the same as one for CEUS,they were not significantly higher than those for UE and DOI (P ＞0.05),while they were significantly higher than that for XRM (P ＜0.05).The kappa values for DOI,UE,CEUS,USG(UE + DOI + CEUS),XRM,MRI and MRI + US + XRM were 0.678,0.624,0.732,0.705,0.439,0.677 and 0.676,respectively.Conclusions Different imaging modalities have themselves advantages to diagnose malignant or benign lesions.CEUS,MRI and combinations of these imaging modalities have highly important clinical values in breast disease diagnosis.

Objective To investigate the effect of spleen spontaneous shunt on portal vein hemodynamics in patients with liver cirrhosis with Doppler ultrasound. Methods Eighty-seven patients were divided into chronic hepatitis group, liver cirrhosis group and control group. Liver function of cirrhosis patients was classified into Child A and Child B/C according to Child-Pugh categorization criteria. Hemodynamic parameters of hepatic artery, portal vein, superior mesenteric artery/vein and spleen artery/vein were examined on resting condition. Then the blood shunt ratio of spleen vein and superior mesenteric vein with portal vein, as well as hepatic circulation index (HCI) were calculated. The relationship between spleen blood shunt and HCI was analyzed. Results Portal vein blood flow was not significantly different among groups. Spleen vein blood flow increased in cirrhosis group, which was significantly different to that of control group and chronic hepatitis group. The spleen shunt ratio of cirrhosis group was greater than that of control group and chronic hepatitis group, as well as the Child B/C and Child A in cirrhosis group;the ratio of spleen vein flow to portal vein flow and spleen vein flow to superior mesenteric vein flow increased, but the ratio of superior mesenteric vein flow to portal vein flow decreased with the liver function decreased in cirrhosis group. There was non-linear negative correlation between HCI and the spleen shunt ratio. Conclusion Spleen spontaneous shunt and splenic hyperdynamic circulation play an important role in liver perfusion. Detecting Vspv/Vpv ratio with Doppler ultrasound in patients with liver cirrhosis is helpful in assessing liver function reserve.