Objective To evaluate the feasibility of fluoroscopy-guided anterograde forceps biopsy for diagnosing uretero-ileal neobladder anastomotic stenosis.Methods Twenty-two patients who underwent Bricker surgery presented with hydronephrosis were selected.Using a catheter-wire technique,percutaneous nephrostomy tract was used to access the uretero-ileal neobladder stric-ture and establish a sheath biopsy channel.Forceps biopsy was performed at the uretero-ileal neobladder anastomotic site,followed by placement of a 10.2F ureteral stent.The technical success rate,complications,biopsy sensitivity,specificity,accuracy were recorded,and preoperative versus postoperative white blood cell counts,creatinine,and urea nitrogen levels were compared.Results The tech-nical success rate was 100％(22/22),with no serious complications,such as ureteral perforation and major bleeding.The accuracy,sensitivity and specificity of the biopsy were 95.45％(21/22),85.71％(6/7)and 100％(15/15),respectively.Preoperative and post-operative white blood cell counts were(9.17±2.16)× 1012/L vs(6.03±1.51)×1012/L,creatinine levels were(219.95±78.47)U/mL vs(78.91±17.23)U/mL,and urea nitrogen levels were(19.85±5.27)U/mL vs(5.95±1.60)U/mL.All three parameters showed statistically significant differences(P＜0.05).Conclusion The fluoroscopy-guided anterograde forceps biopsy for diagnosing uretero-ileal neobladder anastomotic stenosis is safe and feasible.

Objective To evaluate the feasibility of fluoroscopy-guided anterograde forceps biopsy for diagnosing uretero-ileal neobladder anastomotic stenosis.Methods Twenty-two patients who underwent Bricker surgery presented with hydronephrosis were selected.Using a catheter-wire technique,percutaneous nephrostomy tract was used to access the uretero-ileal neobladder stric-ture and establish a sheath biopsy channel.Forceps biopsy was performed at the uretero-ileal neobladder anastomotic site,followed by placement of a 10.2F ureteral stent.The technical success rate,complications,biopsy sensitivity,specificity,accuracy were recorded,and preoperative versus postoperative white blood cell counts,creatinine,and urea nitrogen levels were compared.Results The tech-nical success rate was 100％(22/22),with no serious complications,such as ureteral perforation and major bleeding.The accuracy,sensitivity and specificity of the biopsy were 95.45％(21/22),85.71％(6/7)and 100％(15/15),respectively.Preoperative and post-operative white blood cell counts were(9.17±2.16)× 1012/L vs(6.03±1.51)×1012/L,creatinine levels were(219.95±78.47)U/mL vs(78.91±17.23)U/mL,and urea nitrogen levels were(19.85±5.27)U/mL vs(5.95±1.60)U/mL.All three parameters showed statistically significant differences(P＜0.05).Conclusion The fluoroscopy-guided anterograde forceps biopsy for diagnosing uretero-ileal neobladder anastomotic stenosis is safe and feasible.

Objective To evaluate the efficacy of microwave ablation(MWA)synchronously with biopsy for pulmonary nodules.Methods The data of 64 patients with MWA combined with biopsy were analyzed retrospectively.Thirty-one patients(non-synchronous group)were treated with ablation following biopsy in turn to identify malignant tumors,and 33 patients(synchronous group)were treated by ablation and biopsy synchronously.The technical success rate,operation time,complications,hospitalization time and expenses were compared between non-synchronous group and synchronous group.Results The technical success rate,pneumothorax,and pleural effusion rate showed no significance between the two groups(P>0.05).There were all significant differences in operation time(42.00 min vs 54.26 min),hospitalization time(5.09 days vs 9.26 days),hospitalization expenses(26 840.61 yuan vs 32 527.26 yuan),lung hemorrhage(27.27%vs 87.10%)and hemoptysis(3.03%vs 19.35%)between synchronous group and non-synchronous group,respectively(P<0.05).Conclusion MWA synchronously with biopsy for pulmonary nodules is safe and feasible,which can reduce intraoperative bleeding,shorten treatment period and reduce hospitalization expenses.

Objective To explore the efficiency and safety of trans-sheath intraluminal forceps biopsy under digital subtraction angiography(DSA)guidance for assisting diagnosis of pulmonary artery obstructive diseases.Methods Data of 16 patients who underwent trans-sheath intraluminal forceps biopsy for pulmonary artery obstructive diseases were retrospectively analyzed,and the clinical manifestations were recorded.The technical success of biopsy was defined as tissue obtained met the needs of pathology diagnosis.For patients with malignant pathology results,the final diagnosis was malignant,for those with benign pathology results after biopsy and no obvious changes after 6-month or longer follow-up,or benign pathology results after surgical resection,the final diagnosis was benign,otherwise was no clear diagnosis.The operation time,technical success rate,diagnostic efficiency,complications and changes of pulmonary artery pressure before and after the biopsy were observed.Results Among 16 patients,9 complained of intermittent chest tightness,4 complained of chest pain with chest tightness,2 complained of chest pain but 1 denied any symptoms.The lesions located in the left lung in 10 cases and in the right lung in 6 cases,all with enhanced CT showed filling defects of the involved branch of pulmonary artery.Totally 16 trans-sheath intraluminal forceps biopsies were performed in 16 patients,with an average operation time of(31.02±6.02)min and technical success rate of 100%.Malignant tumors were finally diagnosed in 10 cases,including 1 case of lung cancer with false-negative biopsy result,while biopsy correctly diagnosed benign lesions in the other 6 cases.Transient worsening chest pain with chest tightness occurred in 2 cases and relieved after symptomatic treatments.No statistically significant difference of pulmonary artery pressure was found before([53.38±14.28]mmHg)and after([53.69±14.15]mmHg)biopsy(P＞0.05).Conclusion DSA-guided trans-sheath intraluminal forceps biopsy was relatively safe and valuable for assisting diagnosis of pulmonary artery obstructive diseases.

Objective To observe the feasibility and effectiveness of fluoroscopy-guided Fustar adjustable bent sheath clamp biopsy for diagnosing obstructive esophageal diseases.Methods Totally 29 patients with esophageal or esophagogastric junction obstruction who failed to complete endoscopic biopsy were retrospectively analyzed.Real-time fluoroscopy-guided clamp biopsy of lesion areas were performed through 10F Fustar adjustable bent sheath under local anesthesia.The technical success rate,operation time,radiation dose were recorded,and the complications were evaluated.Results Clamp biopsy of lesion areas were successfully performed in all 29 cases,with technical success rate of 100%(29/29),the average operation time of(29.81±10.05)min and the average radiation dose of(127.14±100.36)mGy.No serious complication such as esophageal perforation nor massive bleeding occurred.After biopsy,22 cases(22/29,75.86%)were preliminarily diagnosed as positive,among them 2 cases underwent surgical operation,and the postoperative pathological results were consistent with biopsy.Negative biopsy results were found in 7 cases(7/29,24.14%),among them 2 cases underwent clamp biopsy again 3 months later which showed positive results.Conclusion Fustar adjustable bent sheath clamp biopsy was feasible and effective for diagnosing obstructive esophageal diseases,which could be regarded as the substitution and supplementation of endoscopic clamp biopsy.

Aiming at the problems of missing important features, inconspicuous details and unclear textures in the fusion of multimodal medical images, this paper proposes a method of computed tomography (CT) image and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) image fusion using generative adversarial network (GAN) and convolutional neural network (CNN) under image enhancement. The generator aimed at high-frequency feature images and used double discriminators to target the fusion images after inverse transform; Then high-frequency feature images were fused by trained GAN model, and low-frequency feature images were fused by CNN pre-training model based on transfer learning. Experimental results showed that, compared with the current advanced fusion algorithm, the proposed method had more abundant texture details and clearer contour edge information in subjective representation. In the evaluation of objective indicators, Q ^AB/F, information entropy (IE), spatial frequency (SF), structural similarity (SSIM), mutual information (MI) and visual information fidelity for fusion (VIFF) were 2.0%, 6.3%, 7.0%, 5.5%, 9.0% and 3.3% higher than the best test results, respectively. The fused image can be effectively applied to medical diagnosis to further improve the diagnostic efficiency.
Image Processing, Computer-Assisted/methods* ; Neural Networks, Computer ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging/methods* ; Algorithms

The development of new biomarkers or therapeutic targets for cancer immunotherapies requires deep under-standing of T cells. To date, the complete landscape and systematic characterization of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in T cells in cancer immunity are lacking. Here, by systematically analyzing full-length single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data of more than 20,000 libraries of T cells across three cancer types, we provided the first comprehensive catalog and the functional repertoires of lncRNAs in human T cells. Specifically, we developed a custom pipeline for de novo transcriptome assembly and obtained a novel lncRNA catalog containing 9433 genes. This increased the number of current human lncRNA catalog by 16％and nearly doubled the number of lncRNAs expressed in T cells. We found that a portion of expressed genes in single T cells were lncRNAs which had been overlooked by the majority of previous studies. Based on metacell maps constructed by the MetaCell algorithm that partitions scRNA-seq datasets into disjointed and homogenous groups of cells (metacells), 154 signature lncRNA genes were identified. They were associated with effector, exhausted, and regulatory T cell states. Moreover, 84 of them were functionally annotated based on the co-expression networks, indicating that lncRNAs might broadly participate in the regulation of T cell functions. Our findings provide a new point of view and resource for investigating the mechanisms of T cell regulation in cancer immunity as well as for novel cancer-immune biomarker development and cancer immunotherapies.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the value of MRI with CUBE sequence in early evaluation of the efficacy of neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) for locally advanced rectal cancer.

METHODSInclusion criteria: (1) rectal cancer proven by biopsy; (2) locally advanced rectal cancer (T3-4 or positive lymph nodes) with distance from lower edge of tumor to anal verge within 12 cm diagnosed by MRI before NAT; (3) acceptance of NAT treatment regulations and completion of NAT; (4) completion of routine MRI scan and CUBE scan before and after 2-course NAT chemotherapy (including new neoadjuvant chemotherapy and chemoradiotherapy); (5) completion of surgery 6-8 weeks after NAT; (6) exclusion of any previous NAT due to rectal malignant tumor or other tumors; (7) exclusion of poor image quality of preoperative routine MRI insufficient for rectal cancer staging or of CUBE image insufficient for tumor volume measurement. Fifty patients with advanced local rectal cancer were recruited in our hospital from February 2014 to January 2016. All the patients underwent MRI before and after 2-course neoadjuvent therapy. Tumor volume on CUBE were measured and the volume changes were calculated: volume difference= pre-treatment volume-post-treatment volume, volume change rate= (pre-treatment volume-post-treatment volume)/ pre-treatment volume. All the patients were categorized into sensitive and non-sensitive group according to postsurgical pathology. Comparisons were made between both groups before and after therapy. ROC curve was used to evaluate the value of CUBE-associated parameters in predicting the efficacy of rectal cancer.

RESULTSAmong enrolled 50 patients with rectal cancer, 31 were male and 19 were female, with mean age of 49.1 years (range 21 to 70 years). T-staging by MRI before NAT was T2N1-2 in 1 case, T3 in 43 cases, T4 in 6 cases. The number of patients after NAT from tumor regression grading (TRG) 0 to TRG3 was 14, 13, 18, 5, respectively. The sensitive group and insensitive group were 45 cases and 5 cases. Mean tumor volume before and after preoperative 2-course NAT was 18.70 (4.14 to 91.77) cmand 9.26 (1.02 to 52.58) cm, respectively, whose difference was significant (U=-5.826, P<0.001). Both measure values of overall tumor volume before and after preoperative NAT between sensitive group and insensitive group did not show significant differences(all P>0.05). While sensitivity group had significantly higher volume difference and change rate compared to insensitive group [ (11.90±10.01) cmvs. (0.65±3.93) cm, P=0.005; 0.45±0.28 vs. 0.09±0.36, P=0.010]. ROC curve revealed that the optimal cutoff value of accurate identification of patients with NAT sensitive was 1.96 cmfor volume difference with sensitivity 86.7% and specificity 80%, and 0.06 for volume change rate with sensitivity 93.3% and specificity 60%.

CONCLUSIONMRI CUBE can predict the efficacy of NAT for early rectal cancer patients accurately and sensitively through the detection of tumor volume change before and after NAT.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the diagnostic value of magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) in anal fistula. METHODS: A total of 2160 patients were clinically diagnosed with anal fistula at the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from March 2010 to September 2015. Among them, 232 cases with operative history at other hospital, 218 with Crohn's disease, 6 with rectum cancer and 8 with other disease were excluded, and 1696 patients were finally enrolled and retrospectively analyzed. The saggital FSE T2WI imaging was confirmed based on the midline of body, and then the coronal and axial scanning line were confirmed. The key point was that the coronal scanning line must parallel and the axial scanning line must be perpendicular to the major axis of anal canal. The characteristics of anal fistula were recorded, and anal fistula were classified as five types, including intersphincteric, transphincteric, suprasphincteric, extrasphincteric and superficial fistula according to the Parks classification and our experience. The distribution of internal opening was described by using lithotomy position clock method. RESULTS: Of 1696 patients, 1456 were males and 240 females with median age of 26.5 (0.2 to 87.0) years. Age of 8.4% (143/1696) cases was under 20 years old, of 57.4%(973/1696) cases was between 20 to 40, of 28.4%(482/1696) cases was between 40 to 60, of 5.8%(98/1696) cases was over 60. The 1696 MR examinations included 1128 on 1.5T MR and 568 on 0.5T MR. Of all the anal fistulas was 29.0%(492) high position and 71.0%(1204) was low position. Among the 1696 patients, 1057 were intersphincteric fistulas(62.3%), 407 were transphincteric fistulas(24.0%), 68 were suprasphincteric fistulas(4.0%), 54 were extrasphincteric fistulas (3.2%), 67 were superficial fistulas(4.0%), and 43(2.5%) were difficult to classify. A total of 1996 internal openings were found and most of them were located around the dentate line of 5-7 o'clock in lithotomy position(47.7%, 952/1996). CONCLUSIONS Anal fistula mainly occur in young men, and the most common type is intersphincteric fistula. MRI can accurately classify anal fistulas and clearly demonstrate internal openings, and provide reliable evidence for clinical treatment and surgery.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Anal Canal ; diagnostic imaging ; Female ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Rectal Fistula ; classification ; diagnostic imaging ; Retrospective Studies ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the application of low-dose CT enterography with adaptive iterative dose reduction(AIDR) technique in diagnosing Crohn's disease.

METHODSRetrospective analysis was performed on 26 patients diagnosed as Crohn's disease by the multidisciplinary team in our hospital. Low-dose CT enterography with 640-slice MDCT was performed on these 26 patients using adaptive iterative dose reduction(AIDR) technique. Characteristics of Crohn's disease in CT enterography images were independently analyzed by two radiologists who were experienced in Crohn's disease with calculating the total radiation dosage.

RESULTSThe radiation dosage of 26 patients ranged from 5.58 to 12.90 [mean (9.00±2.00)] mSv, which was lower than conventional scan (around 15 mSv) known from the literatures. According to the images of CT enterography of 26 cases, bowel wall thickening with abnormal enhancement and lymphadenectasis were found in 25 cases with total 109 segmental bowel wall thickening. Among 25 thickening cases, enterostenosis was found in 16 cases, stratification enhancement in 12 cases and comb sign in 14 cases. Besides, it was found that 8 cases with hyperdense fat on the mesenteric side, 7 cases with intestinal fistula, 6 cases with abdominal cavity abscess, and 3 cases with anal fistula.

CONCLUSIONCT enterography of Crohn's disease with adaptive iterative dose reduction technique is an effective method to evaluate Crohn's disease without compromising image quality with reduced radiation dosage.