Long-term Outcomes of Drug-eluting Stents in Symptomatic Intracranial Stenosis / 신경중재치료의학

PURPOSE: The use of drug-eluting stent (DES) to treat intracranial stenosis has shown short-term success. However, there are no reports regarding the long-term results of DES. We present the long-term clinical outcome after DES stenting for symptomatic severe intracranial stenosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Our study included a consecutive series of 11 patients who underwent intracranial stenting using DES between March and July, 2006, during the time when bare metal stents were not available at our medical institution. The mean patient age was 59 years. Lesion location was the middle cerebral artery in five patients, the intradural vertebral artery in three, the basilar artery in one, the vertebrobasilar junction in one, and the cavernous internal cerebral artery in one patient. We evaluated the technical success, defined as reduction of residual stenosis or =50% at during the mean follow-up period of 55 months. One patient died of a sudden heart attack 59 months following the procedure which was regarded as unrelated to the cerebral lesion. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrates that DES shows long-term stability and safety, and results in good clinical outcomes with a low rate of restenosis.

Eosinophilic Otitis Media: CT and MRI Findings and Literature Review

Eosinophilic otitis media (EOM) is a relatively rare, intractable, middle ear disease with extremely viscous mucoid effusion containing eosinophils. EOM is associated with adult bronchial asthma and nasal allergies. Conventional treatments for otitis media with effusion (OME) or for chronic otitis media (COM), like tympanoplasty or mastoidectomy, when performed for the treatment of EOM, can induce severe complications such as deafness. Therefore, it should be differentiated from the usual type of OME or COM. To our knowledge, the clinical and imaging findings of EOM of temporal bone are not well-known to radiologists. We report here the CT and MRI findings of two EOM cases and review the clinical and histopathologic findings of this recently described disease entity.

Imaging Findings in a Case of Mixed Acinar-Endocrine Carcinoma of the Pancreas

Mixed acinar-endocrine carcinoma (MAEC) of the pancreas is extremely uncommon. We report here a rare case of MAEC of the pancreas presenting as watery diarrhea. This is the first report in the English-language literature that describes the imaging findings of MAEC of the pancreas, including computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, and MR cholangiopancreatography features.

Measurement of Renal Cortical Thickness Using Spiral CT in Early Diabetic Nephropathy

PURPOSE: To compare the ratio of renal cortical thickness to renal parenchymal thickness in early diabetic nephropathy and in normal control group. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed spiral CT in 17 patients suffering from diabetic nephropathy without renal failure or renal atrophy. The normal control group consisted of 19 persons who were normal on renal function test and did not show any abnormality of the kidney. Renal cortical and parenchymal thicknesses were measured at renal hilum level perpendicular to the renal surface by electronic caliper on contrast-enhanced transverse scan demonstrating the cortical nephrogram phase. Using student's test, the difference in renal parenchymal and cortical thickness between the two groups was tested for statistical significance. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in renal parenchymal thickness between the two groups(P>0.05) ; the patient group had a thicker renal cortex than the normal control group however (P<0.05). The ratio of renal cortical thickness to parenchymal thickness in early diabetic nephropathy patients(Rt.:0.041+/-0.051, Lt.:0.382+/-0.053) was significantly higher than in the normal control group (Rt.:0.331+/-0.067, Lt.:0.323+/-0.064). CONCLUSION: The kidney of early diabetic nephropathy patients had a thicker renal cortex than normal kidney.

Measurement of Renal Cortical Thickness Using Spiral CT in Early Diabetic Nephropathy

PURPOSE: To compare the ratio of renal cortical thickness to renal parenchymal thickness in early diabetic nephropathy and in normal control group. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed spiral CT in 17 patients suffering from diabetic nephropathy without renal failure or renal atrophy. The normal control group consisted of 19 persons who were normal on renal function test and did not show any abnormality of the kidney. Renal cortical and parenchymal thicknesses were measured at renal hilum level perpendicular to the renal surface by electronic caliper on contrast-enhanced transverse scan demonstrating the cortical nephrogram phase. Using student's test, the difference in renal parenchymal and cortical thickness between the two groups was tested for statistical significance. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in renal parenchymal thickness between the two groups(P>0.05) ; the patient group had a thicker renal cortex than the normal control group however (P<0.05). The ratio of renal cortical thickness to parenchymal thickness in early diabetic nephropathy patients(Rt.:0.041+/-0.051, Lt.:0.382+/-0.053) was significantly higher than in the normal control group (Rt.:0.331+/-0.067, Lt.:0.323+/-0.064). CONCLUSION: The kidney of early diabetic nephropathy patients had a thicker renal cortex than normal kidney.