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Hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) is one of the independent risk factors for youth cerebral infarction. Gene mutation of key enzymes in homocysteine metabolism is the main cause of HHcy. Few cases of cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS) compound heterozygous mutation complicated with pulmonary embolism and lower extremity artery embolism have been reported. This article reported a young cerebral infarction patient complicated with pulmonary embolism and lower extremity artery embolism, who was subsequently detected with significantly elevated blood Hcy, and finally etiologically diagnosed with CBS 833 T>C/1082C>T compound heterozygous mutation. With the treatment of folic acid, methyl cobalt amine, vitamin B 6 and anticoagulant, the blood Hcy has been gradually declined, and no new thrombotic events occurred during the follow-up period of a year.
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Objective To explore the value of ultra-large pitch Turbo Flash scan mode in the diagnosis of tracheal foreign body in infants.Methods The imaging data of 60 infants with foreign body in trachea confirmed by bronchus endoscopy were analyzed retrospectively. The 60 infants were equally divided into 2 groups according to the scanning time.For group A,the routine scan with the mode of CARE Dose 4D/CARE kV and pitch as 1.9 was performed.For group B,the scan with ultra-large pitch Turbo Flash model was performed.The scanning time,volume CT dose index (CTDIvol)and dose length product (DLP)of each patient were recorded in both groups and statistically analyzed.Results The scanning time,DLP and CTDIvol of group A and group B were statistically significant.CTDIvol and DLP of group B were significantly lower than those of group A (P＜0.05).The diagnostic accuracy of group A and B were 100%(30/30),respectively (P＞0.05).The foreign body display of group A and B were 100% (30/30),respectively (P＞0.05).Conclusion Ultra-large pitch Turbo Flash can be used to detect tracheal foreign body in infants.It can significantly reduce radiation dose,shorten examination time and obtain satisfactory image quality.
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Objective Exploration of the application value of the third-generation dual source CT low tube voltage (70 kVp) scanning combined with advanced modeling iterative reconstruction (ADMIRE) technique in children with adenoid examination. Methods CT scans were performed in patients with clinically suspected adenoid hypertrophy. They were divided into two groups according to the time of treatment. Group A (40 cases) : low tube voltage (70 kVp) scan, reference tube current 163 mAs, reconstruction with ADMIER, Intensity 3; Group B (40 cases) : conventional 100 kVp, reference tube current 163 mAs, conventional (filtered back-projection, FBP) reconstruction;rest of the scanning parameters remained unchanged. The subjective scores and objective quality indicators of the images (CT value, image noise, signal noise ratio (SNR) , contrast noise ratio (CNR)) and radiation dose of the two groups were compared. Results The difference of radiation dose between group A and group B was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The radiation dose of group A was lower than that of group B by 77.58％.Compared with group B, the image noise of group A increased by 0.002％; the SNR decreased by 0.01％; CNR increased by 0.03％; there was no significant difference in objective quality evaluation index and subjective score between two groups in the image quality (P> 0.05). Conclusion The third-generation dual-source CT low-tube voltage (70 kVp) combined with ADMIRE reconstruction technique for children with adenoid scan can effectively reduce the radiation dose while ensuring image quality.
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Objectives: To investigate the expression of phosphoserine aminotransferase 1 (PSAT1) in pancreatic cancer tissues, and its potential role in pancreatic cancer. Methods: The expression of PSAT1 in 98 human pancreatic cancer tissues, which were collected from the People＇s Hospital of Guizhou, between July 2013 to July 2017, and the corresponding adjacent normal tissues was analyzed by immunohistochemical staining. Additionally, the relationship between the expression of PSAT1 and the clinicopathological parame-ters, overall survival (OS), and disease-free survival (DFS) of patients with pancreatic cancer was evaluated. The human pancreatic can-cer cell lines, BxPC-3 and SW1990, were transfected with PSAT1-siRNA, to investigate the effect of PSAT1 knockdown on cell prolifera-tion, migration, and invasion. Additionally, we performed Western blot to assess the expression of PI3K/Akt/mTOR-related proteins in PSAT1-knockdown cells. Results: The percentages of PSAT1-positive cells in pancreatic cancer and adjacent non-tumor tissues were 69.4% (68/98) and 5.0% (5/98), respectively, indicating a significantly higher expression of PSAT1 in pancreatic cancer tissues com-pared to adjacent non-tumor tissues (P<0.05). The increased expression of PSAT1 in pancreatic cancer tissues correlated with lymph node metastasis and TNM stage. Kaplan-Meier analysis suggested that a high expression of PSAT1 correlated with a poor OS and DFS compared to a low expression of PSAT1 (P<0.05). Cox regression analysis showed that the expression of PSAT1 is an independent prog-nostic marker for OS and DFS in pancreatic cancer patients (P<0.05, all). Transient transfection of BxPC-3 and SW1990 cells with PSAT1-siRNA markedly reduced the cell proliferation, migration, and invasion abilities of these cells compared to transfection with NC-siRNA (P<0.05). Knockdown of PSAT1 in pancreatic cancer cells also inhibited the expression of p-Akt and p-mTOR (P<0.05). Conclusions: The expression of PSAT1 increases in human pancreatic cancer tissues and cell lines. Additionally, PSAT1 regulates cell proliferation and in-vasion through the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway.
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Objective To investigate the feasibility of T2 mapping in evaluating the composition of shoulder cartilage,and to quantitatively analyze T2 values of articular cartilage in healthy young volunteers.Methods Oblique coronal T2 mapping imaging with 8 echo was performed in bilateral shoulder of 16 young healthy volunteers.The pseudo-color map was obtained with post-processing.The shoulder joint cartilage was equally divided into the external,central and internal zones,and T2 values were measured quantitatively.T2 values in the external,central and internal zones were analyzed and compared.T2 values of cartilage between male and female volunteers as well as between left and right sides were analyzed.Resuits T2 values in the external,central and internal zones of cartilage were (38.67 ± 2.82)ms,(38.41 ± 2.52)ms and (36.49± 1.80)ms,respectively.The overall difference was statistically significant (F=7.789,P=0.001).T2 values in the external and central zones of cartilage were larger than those in the internal zone (both P＜0.05).T2 values of cartilagehad no significant differences between the left and right sides in the external,central and internal zones (all P＞0.05).There was significant difference of T2 value in the central zone (P＜0.05),while no significant difference of T2 value in the external and internal zones between different genders was found (both P＞0.05).Conclusion T2 mapping imaging can be used to evaluate the composition of shoulder cartilage changes.
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Objective To investigate the feasibility of chest examination using ultra-large pitch Turbo Flash in Force CT in preschool children without sedative.Methods A total of 90 preschool children evaluated as nervous or frightened were equally divided into 3 groups according to the scanning time.For group A,the routine scan with the mode of CARE Dose 4D/CARE kV was performed,and the sedative was used.For group B,the scan with ultra-large pitch Turbo Flash model and pitch as 3.0 was performed,and the sedative was used.For group C,the same scan mode as group B was performed but without sedative.The scanning time,radiation dose,image quality and the diagnostic efficiency were compared among 3 groups.Results There were no significant differences of the CT values of the aorta root,spinal posterior muscles and subcutaneous fat,the noise of the aorta root,SNR and CNR among 3 groups (all P＞0.05).Moreover,no significant differences of the subjective score of image quality in pulmonary window and mediastinum window images were found among 3 groups (both P＞0.05).The scanning time and radiation dose indexes (CT dose index volume [CTDIvo1],doselength product [DLP],effective dose [ED]) of group A were significantly higher than those of group B and group C (all P ＜0.05),while there were no significant differences between group B and group C (all P＞0.05).There were no significant differences between the CT diagnosis and clinical diagnosis results in all 3 groups (all P＞0.05).Conclusion It can shorten the scanning time and decrease the radiation dose by using the mode of ultra-large pitch Turbo Flash.And the satisfactory image quality can be obtained without sedative for nervous or frightened preschool children.
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Objective Based on the teeth in vitro skull specimen to investigate the feasibility and accuracy of CARE kV CT scan for reducing radiation dose. Methods Of eight fixed and preserved skull teeth were scanned repeatedly in groups of A, B, C. In expose factors of 100 kVp/150 mAs in conventional scanning of group A, open CARE Dose 4D scan of group B and CARE kV scan of group C. We assessed the radiation dose in the group A, B and C, the average CT values of the images, noise, SNR, CNR and subjective ratings. Results Three groups of actual scan tube current, tube voltage and radiation dose were statistically significant (P 0.05). Conclusion CARE kV technology based on the use specimens tooth can reduce the radiation dose, protect image quality, and be consistent to the reports of previous researches.
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Objective To investigate the performance of dual source CT scanning combined with low-tube-voltage iterative reconstruction (SAFIRE) for demonstrating coronary artery calcium plaques. Methods 70 patients with clinically suspected coronary atherosclerosis and with normal BMI received SAFIRE-3 or filtered back projection (FBP) for reconstruction after undergoing CT scans with tube voltage range of 100 kV. The CT images (average CT values, noise, SNR, and CNR) and subjective scores (number of calcium plaque, calcium plaque adjacent artifacts, and image quality) were compared between the two groups. Results The average CT value of the aortic root did not differ significantly between the two procedures for reconstruction (P > 0.05). Ob jective evaluation of the images (noise, SNR, and CNR) between the two groups was statistically significant (P < 0.05 for all comparisons), so was image subjective rating (number of calcium plaque and rate of calcium plaque edge)(P < 0.05 for all comparisons). SAFIRE-3 reconstruction was markedly superior to FBP reconstruc-tion. Conclusions Low kilovoltage combined with reconstruction of SAFIRE-3 can reduce calcium plaque adja-cent artifacts and enhance quality of images , which is better than FBP in displaying the morphology and adjacent conditions of calcified plaque; therefore it is worth popularizing.
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Objective To evaluate the value of the SAFIRE reconstruction technique for the nasal traumatic lesions .Methods Six‐ty‐seven patients with nasal traumas were scanned by the orbital scan and were reconstructed with FBP and SAFIRE (strength grade 1 to 5) respectively .Then a comparative analysis for six kinds of reconstructed images were conducted on the average CT value ,noise ,signal to noise ratio (SNR) ,contrast to noise ratio (CNR) ,subjective scoring and lesion detection .Results Compared with reconstruction by FBP , SAFIRE (strength grade 1 to 5)reconstruction ,for the noise ,decreased to 20 .4% ,31 .4% ,39 .7% ,46 .5% and 57 .2% respectively ;For the SNR ,increased to 33 .3% ,54 .7% ,75 .4% ,87 .4% and 101 .4% respectively ;For the CNR ,it also increased to 23 .0% ,36 .4% ,57 .7% , 87 .4% and 106 .5% respectively ;The difference was statistically significant (P< 0 .05) .For the images of SAFIRE‐1 and SAFIRE‐5 ,the image subjective scoring was lower than that by FBP ;for the images of SAFIRE‐2 and SAFIRE‐4 ,the image subjective scoring was higher than that by FBP ;and SAFIRE‐3 had the highest score .But for the rate of lesion detection ,all the images were the same .Conclusion CT scan combined SAFIRE reconstruction technique can decrease effectively the noise and increase the image quality in the traumatic nasal scan , as well as has a potential effect to decrease the scan dose .
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Objective To investigate the value of low tube voltage with sinogram affirmed iterative reconstruction (SAFIRE) through comparing the image quality of regular dose scanning with filtered back projection (FBP) reconstruction and low-dose scanning with SAFIRE. Methods Eleven healthy adult domestic dogs were scanned with different doses. The regular dose of 120 kV/65 mA in combination with FBP reconstruction was set as the normal control group, and 100 kV/65 mA plus SAFIRE reconstruction was used as the low kV group. The CT dose index (CTDI), dose length product (DLP), and the effective dose (ED) at different doses were compared, and the average CT value, noise, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) and the image quality score of two groups of images were also analyzed. Results ED in the low kV groups was reduced by 39.33%compared to that in the normal control group. No significant differences were found in the average CT value of the same tissue among these two groups (P > 0.05). Compared with the normal control group, image noise of the lung tissue, superior vena cava and spinal muscle of low kV group were consistently decreased, SNR was in also creased, while the noise ratio contrast between superior vena cava and fat was increased. The image quality score of the low kV group was increased by 1.70%compared to that of the normal control group. Conclusion The low kV scan with SAFIRE technology can decrease the radiation dose and improve image quality in chest CT examination of domestic dogs, with a potential value in the clinical promotion and the application.
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PurposeTo analyze the urinary stone chemical composition using dual source CT (DSCT) dual energy imaging.Materials and MethodsNinety-seven stone samples with known chemical composition were placed in fresh swine kidneys and examined with DSCT dual energy scan, including 55 calcium oxalate stones, 13 hydroxyapatite stones, 9 uric acid stones, 4 cystine stones, 2 struvite stones and 14 mixed stones. The mean attenuation values and dual energy index (DEI) were measured at 80 kV and 140 kV. The stone composition was analyzed to determine the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy.ResultsDual energy analysis showed 59 calcium oxalate stones, 11 hydroxyapatite stones, 9 uric acid stones, 4 cystine stones and 14 mixed stones. 2 hydroxyapatite stones were erroneously marked as calcium oxalate stones and 2 struvite stones as calcium oxalate stones. The accuracy was 95.88% (93/97). The difference CT value at 80 kV and 140 kV and DEI value were statistically significant (P<0.05). The sensitivity for detecting calcium oxalate stones, hydroxyapatite stones, uric acid stones and cysteine stones were 100.00%, 84.60%, 100.00% and 100.00%, respectively; with specificity of 85.70%, 100.00%, 100.00% and 100.00%, respectively; and the accuracy were 95.18%, 97.59%, 100.00% and 100.00%, respectively.ConclusionDSCT dual energy imaging accurately analyzes the chemical composition of urinary stone in vitro, which provides important clinical value in analyzing the urinary stonesin vivo.
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Objective To investigate the value of low kilovoltage (100 kVp)in combination with sinogram affirmed iterative re-construction (SAFIRE)of flash dual source CT in pelvic scan in comparison with routine kilovoltage (120 kVp)and filtered back projection (FBP).Methods 88 patients with suspected pelvic lesions underwent CT scan,and the range of BMI was 1 9 kg/m2
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Objective To explore the optimized scanning parameters of low-dose un-enhanced chest CT with sinogram affirmed iterative reconstruction (SAFIRE).Methods Eleven healthy adult domestic dogs underwent chest scanning of 120 kV,100 kV,80 kV,70 kV with a fixed tube current of 65 mA and halved tube current of 32 mA with a fixed tube voltage of 100 kV.The data were reconstructed with filtered back projection (FBP)and SAFIRE (strength grade 3)respectively to obtain ten groups of images.The regular dose (120 kV/65 mA ) combining with FBP reconstruction was as normal control group,and other groups as experimental groups.CT dose index (CTDI), dose length product (DLP),and effective dose (ED)at different dose were compared,and average CT value,noise,signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR)and image quality score of ten groups of images were comparatively analyzed.Results No significant differences were found in average CT value for lung tissue,the superior vena cava,the aortic arch,and spinal muscles among ten groups (P >0.05),except adipose tissue (P 3),and the radiation dose of this group decreased by 81.33%.Conclusion Reconstructed with SAFRIE technology,the image quality of 100 kV/65 mA scanning of chest CT is similar to that of routinely reconstructed images in regular dose,while the image quality of 70 kV/65 mA scanning can not only meet the requirements of diagnosis but also obviously reduce radiation dose.
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Objective To study the value of SAFIRE reconstruction technique in the liver plain CT scan by the comparison of dis-plays to the liver separately by SAFIRE and traditional FBP reconstructions after DSCT scan.Methods 48 patients clinically doub-ted to have hepatic lesions were scanned by DSCT in liver,then the average CT value,noise,signal to noise ratio (SNR),contrast to noise ratio (CNR)and subjective scoring on image quality were compared after FBP and SAFIRE 1-5 reconstructions.Results There was no statistical difference on the average CT value of liver parenchyma in all 6 groups (P >0.05).The differences were sta-tistically significant (P <0.05)on noise,SNR,CNR and subjective scoring.SAFIRE 5 reconstruction had the least noise and the largest SNR and CNR.For the images of SAFIRE 1 and SAFIRE 5,the image subjective scoring was lower than that by FBP;for the images of SAFIRE 2-4,the image subjective scoring is higher than that by FBP;and SAFIRE 3 had the highest score.But for the rate of lesion detection,all the images were the same.Conclusion SAFIRE reconstruction strength 3 could produce the idealest image quality.SAFIRE reconstruction can decrease noise and improve SNR and CNR,and have a potential effect on decreasing the scan dose.
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<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To elucidate the inhibitory effects of recombinant Chinese scorpion neurotoxin BmK IM on seizures induced by pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) and the possible mechanism.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>After purifying recombinant BmK IM from an E. coli cell line, its toxicity (both LD50 and minimum lethal dose) on rats was determined. BmK IM was then microinjected into the CA3 region of the right hippocampus and its ability to inhibit the effects of an intraperitoneal injection of PTZ was assessed. The effects of BmK IM on the electrophysiological properties of isolated CA3 pyramidal neurons were then studied using whole-cell patch clamp techniques.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>BmK IM can significantly prolong the latent period of epileptic seizures, decrease the degree of seizures, and decrease the frequency of epileptiform discharges induced by PTZ. At the same time, 24h after injection of BmK IM into the hippocampal tissue, BmK IM significantly reduces the concentration of the neurotransmitter glutamate and alleviates PTZ-induced lesions in the hippocampus. Whole-cell patch clamp recordings indicate that BmK IM inhibits INa of rat hippocampal neurons in a dose-dependent manner. BmK IM significantly shifts the activation curve of INa in a positive direction, indicating that BmK IM enhances the threshold potential of INa.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>BmK IM has significant anti-epileptic properties, and may prove useful as a drug in the therapy of epilepsy. The inhibitory effects of BmK IM on seizures caused by pentylenetetrazol might depend on reductions in the release of presynaptic glutamate via the blocking of Na+ channels.</p>