Reproducibility of temporal volume change in CT of lung cancer: comparison of computer software and manual assessment.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the reproducibility of volumetric software evaluation and manual evaluation of tumour growth. Three observers manually evaluated whether tumour volume was increasing, if it was unchanged, or if it had decreased in size in 2 serial CT examinations of 45 solid lung cancers. The tumour volumes were calculated 3 times using volumetric software and were evaluated using the same classifications as for manual evaluation. Both data sets were divided into three groups: growth or reduction with consistency among all three evaluations (group A), growth or reduction with consistency between only two evaluations (group B), and others (group C). The volume variation and relative volume variation were calculated from the median volumes measured by volumetric software. Although all 45 tumours were categorised in group A by volumetric software, only 21 tumours were categorised in group A by manual assessment. The relative volume variation of the manual assessment was 88.5 +/- 76.5%, 20.8 +/- 28.3% and 12.9 +/- 12.8% in group A, B and C, respectively. Significant differences were found between groups A and B (p<0.01) and between groups A and C (p<0.001). Inconsistency is often seen in manual assessment; in contrast, evaluation using volumetric software has good reproducibility, even when the relative change in tumour volume is small.

[Analysis of Vibrio cholerae O1 isolated in Japan by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis].

Vibrio cholerae O1 strains isolated mostly in Japan between 1977 and 1995 were typed according to restriction fragment patterns by cleavage of genomic DNA with Sfi I and Not I and separation by Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Two hundred sixty five strains from human were divided into 60 PFGE patterns (provisional types). Strains of type 2-3, 3-4, 4-5 and 51-54 were dominant in the Philippines, Thailand, India and Indonesia, respectively. Types 1-1, 2-3, 2-53, and 3-4 were detected over a long period of time in contrast to the other types. Strains of the same type (Types 1-1, 2-3, 2-53 and others) isolated from the Japanese who had never been outside Japan were often found among strains from Southeast Asia. Most strains from humans were cholera-toxin (CT)-positive, while those from the environment and the sea were generally not. 23 strains from the environment and the sea in Japan were divided into 12 types. Strains of the same types as CT-positive strains from humans could not be found in the environment and sea. These results suggest that cholera in Japan is closely related with cholera in Southeast Asia and PFGE is useful for epidemiological analysis of cholera in Japan.

Iodine-123 iodoamphetamine brain scan in a patient with auditory hallucination.

The case of an alcoholic patient with auditory hallucination is reported in which [123I] iodoamphetamine (IMP) brain imaging demonstrated increased accumulation in the left superior temporal lobe which corresponded to the left primary and secondary auditory areas. Thus, IMP brain scans seem to have the potential to objectively localize the brain abnormalities in auditory hallucination.

Increased accumulation of N-isopropyl-(I-123) p-iodoamphetamine in the left auditory area in a schizophrenic patient with auditory hallucinations.

A schizophrenic patient with auditory hallucinations is reported in which IMP markedly accumulated in the left superior temporal and inferior parietal lobes which correspond to the left primary and secondary cortical auditory areas and angular gyrus, respectively.