Objective:To explore the inconsistent and consistent classifications for lesions ≤2 cm by contrast-enhanced ultrasound(CEUS) Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System(LI-RADS) v2017 and contrast-enhanced computed tomography/contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging(CECT/MRI) LI-RADS v2018.Methods:The focal liver lesions ≤2 cm underwent CEUS and CECT/MRI within 1 month were enrolled in this retrospective study.Each nodule was categorized according to the CEUS LI-RADS v2017 and CECT/MRI LI-RADS v2018. Intermodality agreement between the CEUS LI-RADS and CECT/MRI LI-RADS for each lesion was assessed with Cohen′s Kappa. Lesions with inconsistent classification for CEUS LI-RADS and CECT/MRI were analyzed.Results:A total of 145 lesions with a size of (1.65±0.33)cm in 145 patients were included. The numbers of lesions in LR-3, 4, 5 and M were 16, 23, 90 and 16 on CEUS LI-RADS, 25, 31, 87 and 2 on CECT/MRI, respectively. And 73.1% lesions were classified as LR-5 or M on CEUS, while 61.4% lesions were classified as LR-5 or M on CECT/MRI ( P=0.033). The incidences of HCC in LR-3, 4 and 5 were 37.5%, 52.2% and 97.8% on CEUS LI-RADS, 56.0%, 64.5% and 96.6% on CECT/MRI LI-RADS respectively. Among the 145 lesions, 56 lesions had inconsistent classifications of CEUS and CECT/MRI LI-RADS. Twenty-eight lesions in CECT/MRI LR-3 and 4 were escalated to LR-4 and 5 by CEUS and 82.1% of them were found to be HCC. Fourteen lesions on CEUS LR-3 and 4 were escalated to LR-4 and 5 by CECT/MRI and 85.7% of them were found to be HCC. Conclusions:The LR-5 of the CEUS and CECT/EOB-MRI LI-RADS has a comparable incidence of HCC. However, the inter-modality agreement of the LI-RADS category between CEUS and CECT/EOB-MRI is poor. The proportion of lesions in CEUS LR-5 and M is much higher than that in CECT/MRI LR-5 and M, while the proportion of lesions in CECT/MRI LR-3 and 4 is high than that in CEUS LR-3 and 4.

Objective:To compare enhancement patterns of combined hepatocellular-cholangiocarcinoma (CHC) in CEUS and CECT/MRI and to explore the role of imaging, the discordance of imaging findings and tumor markers, differences in tumor markers in the diagnosis of CHC.Methods:Thirty-five CHCs from July 2011 to August 2019 in Third Central Hospital of Tianjin confirmed by pathological diagnosis were retrospectively reviewed. The enhancement patterns of CHCs on CEUS and CECT/MRI were compared. A combination of the discordance of CEUS and CECT/MRI, the discordance of elevated tumor markers and imaging findings and the discordance of tumor markers was applied to diagnose CHC.Results:About 62.9% and 37.1% lesions showed the HCC and ICC enhancement patterns on CEUS, while 48.6%, 31.4% and 20% lesions showed the HCC, ICC and CHC enhancement patterns, on CECT/MRI, respectively. For 12 lesions with a diameter≤3.0 cm, all of which presented HCC enhancement patterns on CEUS, and 91.7% lesions showed HCC enhancement pattern and 9.3% lesions showed ICC enhancement pattern on CECT/MRI, respectively. For 23 lesions with a size >3.0 cm, 43.5% and 56.5% of which showed the HCC and ICC enhancement patterns on CEUS, respectively. And 26.1%, 43.5% and 30.4% of the lesions showed the HCC, ICC and CHC enhancement patterns on CECT/MRI, respectively. If the discordance of CEUS and CECT/MRI, the discordance of image features and tumor markers, or simultaneous elevation of AFP and CA19-9, were used as diagnostic information, 78.6% of the lesions met at least one of the three criteria.Conclusions:CHCs show different enhancement patterns on CEUS and CECT/MRI. With the increase of size of tumors, the enhancement patterns of CHCs have changed from HCC-like to ICC-like or CHC-like. Combination of the discordance of CEUS and CECT/MRI, the discordance of imaging findings and tumor markers and differences in tumor markers can improve the detection rate of CHCs.

Objective: To compare the diagnostic efficacies of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) and gadoxetic acid-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (EOB-MRI) in the diagnosis of liver nodules ≤2.0 cm in patients with cirrhosis, and to explore the clinical values of combining the arterial phase of CEUS and hepatobiliary phase of EOB-MRI in the diagnosis of early hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: One hundred and thirteen nodules with diameters lower than 2.0 cm in 98 patients from February to December 2016 in Tianjin Third Central Hospital were included in this retrospective study. The enhancement patterns of nodules in CEUS and EOB-MRI were analyzed. The reference standard was pathological diagnosis or substantial lesion growth at a follow-up of at least 6 months. The efficiencies of CEUS and EOB-MRI in the diagnosis of liver lesions with a diameter lower than 2.0 cm were compared. A new diagnostic strategy, which combines the arterial phase of CEUS and hepatobiliary phase of EOB-MRI was presented to diagnose the early HCC in this study. Results: The area under the ROC curve of CEUS and EOB-MRI were 0.858 and 0.814(P>0.05), the sensitivity were 79.1%, 81.4%, specificity were 92.6%, 81.5% and diagnostic accuracy were 82.3% and 81.4%, respectively. By combination of CEUS and EOB-MRI, the area under the ROC curve was 0.831, without difference from CEUS, EOB-MRI (0.831 vs 0.858, 0.814; all P>0.05); its sensitivity was 66.3%, specificity was 100% and diagnostic accuracy was 74.3%. The area under the ROC curve of the new diagnostic strategy, combining the arterial phase of CEUS and hepatobiliary phase of EOB-MRI was 0.934, which was larger than that of CEUS, EOB-MRI and the combination of CEUS and EOB-MRI(0.934 vs 0.858, 0.814, 0.831; all P<0.05). The sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy of new strategy were 94.2%, 92.6% and 93.8%, respectively. Conclusions The new diagnostic strategy based on the arterial phase of CEUS and hepatobiliary phase of EOB-MRI improves the sensitivity and accuracy in detecting small lesions, which can be used as a complementary diagnostic enhancement pattern for lesions with an atypical enhancement pattern in CEUS or EOB-MRI.

Objective To investigate the clinical application of serum interleukin-6 (IL-6)and interleukin-22 (IL-22) levels in predicting the recurrence of hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related early hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after receiving microwave ablation (MWA).Methods Preoperative peripheral blood samples were collected in 49 patients with early-stage HBV-related HCC,and serum concentrations of IL-6 and IL-22 were measured by using ELISA.Thirty healthy volunteers were recruited and used as the control group.The xtile software was used to define the best cut-off value,and the IL-6 and IL-22 levels were divided into highlevel group and low-level group.The tumor-free survivals of high-level and low-level groups were analyzed with Kaplan-Meier analysis,log rank test was adopted to determine the difference,and Cox regression model was employed to screen the risk factors affecting HBV-related HCC recurrence.Results The serum IL-6 and IL-22 levels of HCC group were 13.20 pg/ml (11.87-15.79 pg/ml) and 42.18 pg/ml (34.39-57.44 pg/ml) respectively,which were significantly higher than 10.47 pg/ml (9.50-13.82 pg/ml) and 25.45 pg/ml (22.31-30.12 pg/ml) of the control group (P=0.001 and P＜0.001 respectively).Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that preoperative lower IL-6,higher total bilirubin and lower albumin levels indicated a shorter disease-free survival (DFS),and IL-22 levels had no statistically significant effect on the recurrence of HCC.Cox regression multivariate analysis showed that lower serum IL-6 level (≤ 13.2 pg/ml;hazard ratio=3.721;95％ CI=1.674-8.272;P=0.001) and lower serum albumin level (≤41.0 g/L;hazard mtio=2.085;95％CI=1.101-3.950;P=0.024) were independent risk factors affecting HBV-related HCC recurrence Conclusion Preoperative serum IL-6 level and serum albumin level can be used as the predictors of HCC recurrence in patients with HBV-related early HCC who are receiving MWA treatment.(J Intervent Radiol,2017,26:232-236)

Objective To compare the clinical efficacy and postoperative liver function in patients with primary hepatic carcinoma treated by transcatheter arterial chemoembolization(TACE) or TACE combined with portal vein chemoembolization.Methods 48 patients with primary hepatic carcinoma, randomly divided into 2 groups (hepatic artery group in 25 cases and dual interventional group in 23 cases),underwent interventional treatment.The hepatic artery group underwent conventional hepatic artery interventional therapy, while the dual interventional group underwent hepatic artery and portal vein interventional treatment.The postoperative clinical efficiency, liver volume and liver function between the two groups'' patients were compared.Results To the endpoint of observation,the clinical efficacy and tumor reduction degree of dual interventional group were better than that of hepatic artery group.Compared with hepatic artery group, the postoperative ALT, AST and TBIL of dual interventional group were higher on the first and third days.On the seventh and fourteenth days, the statistical difference was not significant.The volume of non-embolization part in dual interventional group was larger than that in preoperative volume to different degrees.The most obvious change of liver volume happened in the 4th weeks after treatment.There was no treatment-related death or severe adverse reaction in two groups.Conclusion The treatment of TACE combined with portal vein chemoembolization is a safe and effective method, which may effectively inhibit the growth and reduce the volume of tumor, and result in compensatory hypertrophy of non-embolization part.

Objective To compare the diagnostic value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and contrast-enhanced helical computed tomography (CECT) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with liver cirrhosis. Methods Two hundreds and forty-one focal liver lesions in 207 patients with Hepatitis B virus (HBV) cirrhosis were detected with CEUS and CECT, respectively. Pathological results were used asgold standardto compare the two methods. Diagnostic results of the two methods were compared with pathological results. Differences were assessed using the McNemar test, and the Kappa test was used for consistency evaluation. Results (1) For 113 liver lesions that were ≤2 cm, the number of HCC lesions was 63, and the number of benign lesions was 50. There were no significant differences in results of CEUS and CECT compared with that of the gold standard of McNemar test results (P = 0.824, P = 0.082). Consistency of the Kappa test results of CEUS and CECT in comparison with the gold standard was general (Kappa = 0.643, Kappa = 0.421). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy of HCC diagnosed by CEUS were higher than those of CECT. The rate of arterial enhancement was better for CEUS [87.30% (55/63)] than that for CECT [69.84%(44/63),χ2=5.704, P=0.017]. (2) For 128 liver lesions that were>2 cm, the number of HCC lesions was 77, and the number of benign lesions was 51. There were no significant differences in the diagnostic results between McNemar test and CEUS and CECT tests (P = 0.481, P = 0.167). Consistency of the Kappa test results of CEUS and CECT and gold standard was general (Kappa = 0.710, Kappa = 0.697). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy of HCC were not different between two diagnostic methods. The rate of arterial enhancement was 89.61%(69/77) for CEUS and 85.71%(66/77) for CECT, and there was no significant difference between the two groups (χ2=0.540, P=0.462). Conclusion For HCC≤2 cm, the diagnostic performance of CEUS is better than that of CECT. For HCC>2 cm, the diagnostic performance is similar for the two diagnostic methods.

OBJECTIVETo compare the efficacies ofentecavir and adefovir in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and cirrhosis when administered as monotherapies using a 240-week course.

METHODSNinety patients diagnosed with CHB and cirrhosis (compensated or decompensated) were randomly divided into two treatment groups for administration of either entecavir (0.5 mg/day, oral; n =38) or adefovir (10 mg/day, oral; n =52) for 240 weeks. All participants underwent B-ultrasound and were tested for levels of HBV-DNA, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and various serological markers of the hepatitis B virus at baseline and at treatment weeks 24, 48, 96, 144, 192, and 240. Instances of drug-related complications and adverse reactions were recorded. Patients who did not achieve complete virological response by treatment week 48 or who experienced virological breakthrough at any time during the study course were recorded and started on an appropriate combination therapy regimen. Statistical analyses were carried out using the t-test, chi-square test, and Cox regression modeling.

RESULTSThe dropout rate in the entecavir group was 2.6% and in the adefovir group was 13.5%. At treatment week 240, significantly more patients in the entecavir group had undetectable serum HBV-DNA (91.9% vs. adefovir group: 57.8%; x2=10.362, P=0.001), a negative conversion rate of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) (46.2% vs. adefovir group: 24%; x2=5.055, P=0.025), and rate of HBeAg seroconversion (23.1% vs. adefovir group: 8%, P=0.047).The entecavir group and the adefovir group showed no significant differences upon per-protocol analysis and intention-to-treat analysis, nor in the rates of hepatocellular carcinoma development (entecavir group: 8.1% vs. adefovir group: 6.7%; x2=0.000, P=1.000) or mortality (entecavir group: 8.1% vs. adefovir group: 4.4%; x2=0.051, P=0.821). The possibility of achieving undetectable serum HBV-DNA was 2.761 times higher in the entecavir group than in the adefovir group (95.0% CI: 1.630 to 4.679). The possibility of HBeAg seroconversion was 0.192 times higher for males than for females (95.0% CI: 0.046 to 0.806).

CONCLUSIONCompared to adefovir, entecavir provides high efficiency and rapid viral suppression as a monotherapy for CHB patients when administered in a 240-week course.

Adenine ; analogs & derivatives ; Aged ; Alanine Transaminase ; Antiviral Agents ; Aspartate Aminotransferases ; Biomarkers ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; Female ; Guanine ; analogs & derivatives ; Hepatitis B e Antigens ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Liver Neoplasms ; Male ; Organophosphonates ; Time Factors ; alpha-Fetoproteins

Objective To explore the thoracic and diaphragmatic complications of treating hepatic malignant tumor using thermal ablation techniques.Methods The patients received thermal ablations were involved as subjects from January 2002 to December 2013.The thoracic and diaphragmatic complications of treating hepatic malignant tumor with percutaneous thermal ablation were retrospectively analyzed.Results A total of 1 520 patients with 2 789 hepatic tumors [average largest diameter of tumor (2.30 ± 1 .03)cm] underwent 2 066 thermal ablation treatments.Five hundred and six radiofrequency ablation (RFA)and 1 560 microwave ablation procedures were performed,respectively.The complete ablation rate was 96.8%(2 701/2 789)at 1 month after treatment.The major thoracic and diaphragmatic complication rates were 0.8%(1 7/2 066 ),meanwhile the minor complication rates were 6.5% (134/2 066 ).Conclusions The thoracic and diaphragmatic complication rate of percutaneous thermal ablation is low in the treatment of hepatic malignant tumors.However,the major complications may cause serious consequences.Therefore, the patients of diaphragm-abutting liver tumors are fully assessed before thermal ablation treatments,and relevant prevention measures are completed.Open or laparoscope is used to assist thermal ablation treatment when necessary.

Objective To investigate the in vitro effects of acitretin on the apoptosis and expressions of insulin-like growth factor binding protein 7 (IGFBP7) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in HaCaT cells.Methods Cultured HaCaT cells were treated with various concentrations (10-5,10-64,10-7,10-8 mol/L) of acitretin for various durations,with those cultured in acitretin-free medium serving as the control group.Then,CCK-8 assay was performed to evaluate the proliferation of cells after 24-,48-and 72-hour treatment,flow cytometry to detect the apoptosis of HaCaT cells,and Western blot and reverse transcription-PCR to quantify the protein and mRNA expressions of IGFBP7 and VEGF in HaCaT cells,respectively,after 48-hour treatment.Statistical analysis was carried out by one-way analysis of variance and Pearson correlation analysis.Results The proliferation of HaCaT cells was inhibited by the treatment with acitretin,and the inhibitory effect increased with the elevation of concentration and prolongation of treatment duration of acitretin.A significant decrease was observed in the proliferative activity of HaCaT cells treated with acitretin of 10-8 mol/L for 48 hours,and when the concentration of acitretin was 10-5 mol/L,the proliferation of HaCaT cells was inhibited by 39.94％ ± 2.27％ and 49.77％ ± 1.87％ at 48 and 72 hours respectively,compared with the control cells.The HaCaT cells treated with acitretin of 10-5 mol/L for 48 hours showed a significant elevation in apoptosis rate (7.617％ ± 0.767％ vs.1.803％ ± 0.313％,P ＜ 0.05),IGFBP7 protein and mRNA expressions (0.939 ± 0.040 vs.0.436 ± 0.013,0.872 ± 0.079 vs.0.190 ± 0.056,both P ＜ 0.05),but a significant reduction in VEGF protein and mRNA expressions (0.213 ± 0.032 vs.0.798 ± 0.036,0.274 ± 0.041 vs.0.933 ± 0.054,both P ＜ 0.05) in comparison to the control cells.Conclusions Acitretin can induce the apoptosis of HaCaT cells,and up-regulate IGFBP7 but down-regulate VEGF expressions in HaCaT cells at protein and mRNA levels.

Objective To investigate the effects of prophylactic antiviral therapy for HBV DNA negative HBV-relat-ed hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients undergoing hepatic arterial chemoembolization (TACE). Methods Fifty-four consecutive patients with HBV-related HCC and received TACE were enrolled in this study. Thirty patients received pre-emptive antiviral drugs before TACE were defined as the treatment group. Twenty-four patients, who did not use antiviral drugs until HBV reactivation after TACE, were included in control group. The incidence of HBV reactivation, duration from HBV DNA positive point to the last time of TACE, the occurrence of abnormal alanine aminotransferase (ALT) caused by HBV reactivation, the peak of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and the number of liver failure caused by HBV reactivation were observed after TACE in two groups. Results The incidence of HBV reactivation, the occurrence of abnormal ALT, the occurrence of abnormal ALT caused by HBV reactivation, the peak ALT and peak AST were significantly lower in treatment group than those of control group (P ＜ 0.05). No liver failure caused by HBV reactivation was found in treatment group. There were four patients with liver failure caused by HBV reactivation in control group. There was no significant difference in cumulative survival rate between two groups (P=0.071). Conclusion It is suggested that preemptive antiviral therapy can prevent the reactivation of hepatitis B virus, prevent the deterioration of liver function,and decrease the occurrence of liv-er failure caused by HBV reactivation in patients receiving TACE.