Background::Carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and diameter, stiffness, and wave reflections, are independent and important clinical biomarkers and risk predictors for cardiovascular diseases. The purpose of the present study was to establish nationwide reference values of carotid properties for healthy Chinese adults and to explore potential clinical determinants.Methods::A total of 3053 healthy Han Chinese adults (1922 women) aged 18-79 years were enrolled at 28 collaborating tertiary centers throughout China between April 2021 and July 2022. The real-time tracking of common carotid artery walls was achieved by the radio frequency (RF) ultrasound system. The IMT, diameter, compliance coefficient, β stiffness, local pulse wave velocity (PWV), local systolic blood pressure, augmented pressure (AP), and augmentation index (AIx) were then automatically measured and reported. Data were stratified by age groups and sex. The relationships between age and carotid property parameters were analyzed by Jonckheere-Terpstra test and simple linear regressions. The major clinical determinants of carotid properties were identified by Pearson’s correlation, multiple linear regression, and analyses of covariance.Results::All the parameters of carotid properties demonstrated significantly age-related trajectories. Women showed thinner IMT, smaller carotid diameter, larger AP, and AIx than men. The β stiffness and PWV were significantly higher in men than women before forties, but the differences reversed after that. The increase rate of carotid IMT (5.5 μm/year in women and 5.8 μm/year in men) and diameter (0.03 mm/year in both men and women) were similar between men and women. For the stiffness and wave reflections, women showed significantly larger age-related variations than men as demonstrated by steeper regression slopes (all P for age by sex interaction <0.05). The blood pressures, body mass index (BMI), and triglyceride levels were identified as major clinical determinants of carotid properties with adjustment of age and sex. Conclusions::The age- and sex-specific reference values of carotid properties measured by RF ultrasound for healthy Chinese adults were established. The blood pressures, BMI, and triglyceride levels should be considered for clinical application of corresponding reference values.

Objective:To explore the diagnostic value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound combined with fine-needle aspiration biopsy and BRAF gene detection for TI-RADS category 4 nodules.Methods:The clinical datas of 80 patients who underwent surgery in the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine and Lishui People′s Hospital and diagnosed with TI-RADS 4 thyroid nodules from January 2019 to January 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. All patients received contrast-enhanced ultrasound combined fine-needle aspiration biopsy and BRAF gene detection, the ROC curves were plotted, the area under the ROC curve(AUC) and the best diagnostic cut-off values were calculated, and the application value of ultrasound-enhanced contrast, fine-needle aspiration biopsy and BRAF gene detection were compared.Results:Based on the results of pathological diagnosis, in diagnosing TI-RADS 4 thyroid nodules, the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were 77.61%, 70.97% and 75.51% for contrast-enhanced ultrasound, respectively; 80.60%, 74.19%, and 78.57% for ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy, respectively; 79.10%, 96.77%, and 84.69% for the BRAF gene test, respectively; and 98.51%, 70.97% and 89.80% for the combined diagnosis, respectively. The AUC was 0.790 for contrast-enhanced ultrasound, and 0.774 for ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy, 0.799 for BRAF genetic testing, and 0.847 for combined testing. The diagnostic value of combined diagnosis was significantly higher than other diagnostic methods ( P<0.05). Conclusions:Contrast-enhanced ultrasound combined with fine-needle aspiration biopsy and BRAF gene detection is valuable for the diagnosis of TI-RADS 4 class thyroid nodules and improves the preperative diagnosis.

Objective:To explore the value of constrast-enhanced ultrasound-micro flow imaging (CEUS-MFI) in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant renal tumors.Methods:Totally 96 patients with renal space occupying found in two-dimensional gray-scale ultrasound examination in the First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University from November 2020 to August 2021 were collected, and 97 lesions were examined by CEUS-MFI and constrast-enhanced ultrasound(CEUS), respectively. The microvascular morphology and contrast-enhanced characteristics of renal tumors were recorded, ROC curves were constructed, and the diagnostic efficacies of the two methods were compared.Results:In the CEUS examination, the enhancement modes of malignant tumors were mainly fast wash-in(52/66, 78.8%) and fast wash-out (49/66, 74.2%) and high perfusion (56/66, 84.8%), and ring enhancement can be seen in 48.5%(32/66) of the lesions. The enhancement patterns of benign tumors were mainly slow wash-in (17/31, 54.8%) and slow wash-out (20/31, 64.5%) and low perfusion (18/31, 58.1%), and no circular blood flow was found in 31 lesions.In the CEUS-MFI examination, the vascular morphology of malignant tumors was mainly irregular (46/66, 69.7%), 93.9%(62/66) of malignant tumors had circular blood flow. Most of benign tumors were of linear vascular structure(12/31, 38.7%) and dendritic vascular structures (14/31, 45.2%), 93.5% (29/31) of benign tumors showed no circular blood flow. The detection rate of the annular blood flow in malignant tumors by CEUS-MFI was higher than that by CEUS, and the difference was statistically significant (93.9% vs 48.5%, P<0.001). The accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of diagnosing renal tumors for using CEUS-MFI were 90.7%, 93.9% and 83.8%, respectively; and 84.5%, 92.4% and 67.7%, respectively, for using CEUS. The areas under the ROC curve were 0.898 and 0.814 for using CEUS-MFI and CEUS, respectively, the difference between the two techniques was not significant ( P=0.151). Conclusions:CEUS-MFI can sensitively and clearly display the microvascular morphology inside the tumor, and greatly improve the detection rate of annular blood flow in renal malignant tumors, which provides a new method for clinicians to identify benign and malignant renal tumors.

Objective:To compare the efficacy of anhydrous ethanol and lauromacrogol in the treatment of ovarian endometriosis cyst (OEC), and to provide evidence for more effective use of these two sclerotic drugs.Methods:Thirty-three cysts in 30 patients with OEC, who were admitted to Taizhou Hospital of Zhejiang Province from February 2017 to June 2018, were treated by ultrasound interventional therapy, followed by catheter aspiration, saline cavity cleaning, anhydrous ethanol rinsing and sclerotherapy, and lauromacrogol alcohol 1∶1 mixed solution retained in the capsule (mixed group). The therapeutic effects were observed 6 and 12 months after operation. A total of 30 OEC in 28 cases admitted to the same hospital from 2013 to 2015 were retrospectively analyzed after similar treatment steps, but the intracapsular retention fluid was anhydrous ethanol (ethanol group). A total of 28 OEC in 26 patients admitted to the same hospital from 2015 to 2017 were washed with normal saline, then washed with lauromacrogol and retained in the capsule with lauromacrogol (lauromacrogol group). The therapeutic effects of 6 and 12 months after treatment between the three groups were compared.Results:According to the classification of cure, marked effect and inefficacy, there was a weak correlation among the three groups. The mixed group did not tend to be ineffective, while the lauromacrogol group tended to be ineffective 6 and 12 months after treatmen.the difference was statistically significant (adjusted standardized residual >2). According to the total effective (cure+ markedly effective) and ineffective classification, the effective rate of the mixed group was significantly higher than that of the lauromacrogol group ( P<0.016 7). There was no significant difference for the effective rate between the mixed group and the ethanol group, and between the ethanol group and the lauromacrogol group ( P>0.0167). Conclusions:The retention of ethanol-lauromacrogol mixture in the capsule of sclerotic OEC, after pre-rinsing with anhydrous ethanol is helpful to improve the curative effect of OEC and give full play to the therapeutic effect of common sclerosing agents used in ultrasound intervention.

Objective: To explore the value of full-angle ultrasonic shear wave elastography in differentiating benign and malignant breast diseases. Methods: After constructing a new ultrasonic shear wave elastography system, the clinical and ultrasonographic data of 74 patients with mass breast diseases were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into benign group and malignant group according to the pathologic results. Meanwhile, the significant indicators of difference were screened out for ROC analysis, and the curve characteristics were compared. Results: Eratio-45°, Eratio-225°, Emax-90°, Emax-270°, Emean-0° and Emean-180° were significantly different between the benign and malignant groups. The AUC of ROC were 0.71, 0.81, 0.83, 0.80, 0.86 and 0.83, respectively. The results of model evaluation showed that the specificity of model-Eratio-45° was relatively low (0.42), while the other 5 indicators showed high specificity (0.73-0.78). Conclusions The full-angle ultrasonic shear wave elastography can provide more information for differentiating benign from malignant breast diseases.

Animals ; Macaca mulatta ; surgery ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Neuronavigation ; standards ; Stereotaxic Techniques ; standards

Objective To observe the value of virtual tough tissue imaging quantification (VTIQ) in differential diagnosis of thyroid imaging reporting and data system(TI-RADS) 4 thyroid nodules.Methods A total of 185 patients with 192 TI-RADS 4 nodules were included in this study.The nodules were divided into three groups according to the maximum size as follows:Group Ⅰ,the maximum size≤0.6 cm;Group Ⅱ,0.6 cm＜ the maximum size≤ 1.0 cm;Group Ⅲ,the maximum size ＞ 1.0 cm.Shear wave velocities (SWV) of nodules were measured by means of VTIQ technique.With pathological diagnosis as the gold standard,SWV value of benign and malignant nodules were analyzed and ROC curve was drawn to assess the diagnostic efficiency.Results By the ROC curve test,at SWV cut-off values of 2.44 m/s for group Ⅰ and group Ⅱ,2.49 m/s for group Ⅲ,the sensitivity were 79.0 ％,76.0 ％,88.6％,specificity were 88.6％,89.5 ％,93.7 ％,accuracy were 83.5 ％,81.8 ％,90.1％,Youden index were 0.68,0.66,0.82,respectively.Conclusions VTIQ can reflect the hardness of TI-RADS 4 nodules,the value of the differential diagnosis of such nodules is high,convenient,noninvasive and not limited by the size of nodules.

Objective To evaluate the relation of appearance of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) to Ki 67 and C-erbB-2 in breast invasive ductal carcinoma and ductal carcinoma in situ.Methods The appearance of CEUS in 29 patients with breast invasive ductal carcinoma and 12 patients with ductal carcinoma in situ,which was diagnosed by surgery or biopsy,was analysed retrospectively.The Ki-67 and CerbB-2 were measured by immunohistochemical test.The relation of the above two factors to appearance of contrast ultrasonography was analysed.Results The positive rate of Ki-67 was 68.97％ (20/29) in patients with breast invasive ductal carcinoma and 16.67％ (2/12) in patients with ductal carcinoma in situ.The positive rate of C-erbB-2 was 48.2％ (14/29) in patients with breast invasive ductal carcinoma and 42.6％ (5/12) in patients with ductal carcinoma in situ.The masses had a common appearance of high enhance in patients with breast invasive ductal carcinoma and ductal carcinoma in situ,which was not correlated to C-erbB-2.The Ki-67 was significantly higher in patients with ductal carcinoma in situ than that in patients with breast invasive ductal carcinoma,the appearance of CEUS was correlated to Ki 67.Conclusions The features of micro-vessels by CEUS were correlated to Ki-67 in patients with breast invasive ductal carcinoma and ductal carcinoma in situ.

Objective To evaluate the safety of percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (RFA ) in hepatic malignant tumors under the guidance of ultrasonography .Methods The clinical data and the follow‐up radiographic images of the patients with hepatic malignant tumors treated by percutaneous RFA between January 2012 and February 2014 were retrospectively reviewed ,and the major or minor complications of RFA were both calculated .Results 1 568 lesions were ablated by 1 080 percutaneous RFA procedures in 900 patients with hepatic malignant tumors under the guidance of the sonography .The average size of the tumors was (2 6.± 1 2.)cm .The total complications rate of 1 080 RFA procedures was 5 9.3% (64/1 080) , which including intra‐abdominal bleeding 2 7.8% (30/1 080) ,hepatic abscess 0 7.4% (8/1 080) ,biliary tract damage 0 6.4% (7/1 080 ) ,vascular damage 0 5.6% (6/1 080 ) ,tract seeding 0 4.6% (5/1 080 ) ,pleural hemorrhage 0 3.7% (4/1 080) ,gastrointestinal damage 0 1.8% (2/1 080) ,hepatic encephalopathy 0 0.9% (1/1 080) ,and death 0 0.9% (1/1 080) .While major complications was 1 9.4% (21/1 080) vs minor 3 9.8% (43/1 080) .Sixty three patients with complications recovered after treatments including blood transfusion , ablation ,surgery ,interventional drainage procedure and liver transplantation ,only one patient died for irreversible liver failure .Conclusions RFA for hepatic malignant tumors under the guidance of sonography is a safe method with lower complications rate ,however ,the potential major complications and the indications of RFA liver malignant tumors should be carefully focused on .

Objective To evaluate the short-term efficiency and risk factors for effects after percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for hepatic malignant tumors under the guidance of sonography.Methods The clinical data and the follow-up radiographic images of the patients with hepatic malignant tumors treated by percutaneous RFA were reviewed between June 2011 and May 2012,and the short-term incomplete ablation rate,recurrance rate and tumor progression rate were calculated,and the factors affecting the incomplete ablation rate,recurrence rate and progression rate were analyzed.Results 610 lesions were ablated in the total of 462 RFA procedures for 405 patients under the guidance of sonography with percutaneous method.The average size of the tumor was (2.5 ± 1.1)cm.During at least 3-month follow-up,complete and incomplete ablation rate was 89.2％ (544/610) and 10.8％ (66/610)separately,and recurrance rate and progression rate of tumor was 17.5％ (81/462) and 23.8％ (110/462).The numbers (≥3) and the size (≥3 cm) and the location (close to vessels) of the lesions reduced the complete ablation rate.The numbers (≥3) of lesions affected the recurrence rate and progression rate of lesions as only risk factor.Recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and metstasis from gastrointestine or non-gastrointestine had higher recurrence rate and progression rate comparing with primary HCC.Conclusions RFA can effectively control local progression of hepatic maglinant tumors,and the tumor's size,number and location close to velssels could effect complete ablation rate,the number of tumors could effect the recurrence and porgression rate.Recurrent HCC and metstasis from gastrointestine or nongastrointestine had higher recurrence and progression rate comparing with primary HCC.