Application of texture analysis method for classification of benign and malignant thyroid nodules in ultrasound images

The aim of this study was to evaluate computer aided diagnosis [CAD] system with texture analysis [TA] to improve radiologists' accuracy in identification of thyroid nodules as malignant or benign. A total of 70 cases [26 benign and 44 malignant] were analyzed in this study. We extracted up to 270 statistical texture features as a descriptor for each selected region of interests [ROIs] in three normalization schemes [default, 3 [small sigma] and 1%-99%]. Then features by the lowest probability of classification error and average correlation coefficients [POE+ACC], and Fisher coefficient [Fisher] eliminated to 10 best and most effective features. These features were analyzed under standard and nonstandard states. For TA of the thyroid nodules, Principle Component Analysis [PCA], Linear Discriminant Analysis [LDA] and Non-Linear Discriminant Analysis [NDA] were applied. First Nearest-Neighbour [1-NN] classifier was performed for the features resulting from PCA and LDA. NDA features were classified by artificial neural network [A-NN]. Receiver operating characteristic [ROC] curve analysis was used for examining the performance of TA methods. The best results were driven in 1-99% normalization with features extracted by POE+ACC algorithm and analyzed by NDA with the area under the ROC curve [A[z]] of 0.9722 which correspond to sensitivity of 94.45%, specificity of 100%, and accuracy of 97.14%. Our results indicate that TA is a reliable method, can provide useful information help radiologist in detection and classification of benign and malignant thyroid nodules

Therapeutic implication of coenzyme Q10 during statin therapy: pros and cons

Coenzyme Q10 [CoQ10] is a vitamin-like substance, and a natural intermediate of electron transport chain [ETC] of mitochondria which can accepts and donates electrons from complex I to complex II. CoQ10 shares a biosynthetic pathway with cholesterol, therefore it can be a potential target of the widely available lipid-lowering agents. The lipid lowering drugs such as statins, are widely administered to individuals who have high cholesterol levels and potential risk for cardiovascular diseases. Statins do not cause serious adverse effects in human however its long-term administration can cause a variety of myopatic complaints.This article reviews the a] clinical benefits of CoQ10 b] association between administration of statin and CoQ10 deficiency and c] involvement of CoQ10 in statin-associated myopathy

Effect of lycopene on cyclophosphamide-induced hemorrhagic cystitis in rats

Cylophosphamide is used alone or in combination with other drugs for treatment of neoplastic diseases. Hemorrhagic cystitis is a major potential toxicity and dose limiting side effect of cyclophosphamide. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of lycopene compared with some antioxidants for the prevention of cyclophosphamide induced hemorrhagic cystitis in rats. In this study, male Sparague-Dawley rats divided into 17 groups of six animals. Group 1 received saline [10 ml/kg, i.p] as normal control, group 2 received cyclophosphamide [200 mg/kg, i.p] as a single dose, groups 3-10 received Mesna [40 mg/kg, i.p], N-acetylcysteine [100 mg/kg i.p], dithiotheritol [50 mg/kg, i.p], L-carnitine [200 and 400 mg/kg, i.p], grape seed extract [500 mg/kg i.p] and lycopene [0.1 and 0.5 mg/kg, i.p] alone. Groups 11-17 received Mesna [40 mg/kg, i.p], N-acetylcysteine [100 mg/kg, i.p], dithiotheritol [50 mg/kg, i.p], L-carnitine [400 mg/kg, i.p], grape seed extract [500 mg/kg, i.p] and lycopene [0.1 and 0.5 mg/kg, i.p], 5 minutes before, and 2 and 6 hours after administration of 200 mg/kg cyclophosphamide. Pathological and biochemical analysis was evaluated 24 hours after cyclophosphamide administration Mesna and N-acetylcysteine resulted in some but not full protection against cyclophosphamide toxicity compared to the controls. Lycopene [0.1 and 0.5 mg/kg] was efficient in protecting the bladder from cyclophosphamide induced hemorrhagic cystitis. However, dithiotheritol, L- carnitine and grape seed extract did not prevent hemorrhagic cystitis. Our results suggest that pre and co- treatment of lycopene [0.1 and 0.5 mg/kg] with cyclophosphamide may have therapeutic potential to inhibit the hemorrhagic cystitis by cyclophosphamide

Diagnostic accuracy of ultrasonography in blunt abdominal trauma

Patients in unstable clinical conditions with blunt abdominal trauma require rapid evaluation of the abdominal organ injury to assess the need for laparatomy. This prospective study was conducted to determine the use of emergency sonography for evaluating patients with blunt abdominal trauma and to compare the accuracy of sonography with the results of diagnostic peritoneal lavage [DPL], exploratory laparatomy and CTscan. Emergency sonography was performed prior to any of the diagnostic methods, peritoneal lavage, exploratory laparatomy and CT, on 204 patients with blunt abdominal trauma. Sonography was performed with the "focused abdominal sonography for trauma" [FAST] technique and six areas of the abdomen were examined to detect free peritoneal fluid. Sonography showed a sensitivity of 95.4%, specificity of 78.4% and an overall accuracy of 89% in the diagnosis of free peritoneal fluid. The positive and negative predictive values of sonography were 89.2% and 90.6%, respectively. Sonography is a reliable and accurate method for the emergency evaluation of blunt abdominal trauma