Graves' ophthalmopathy: the role of diffusion-weighted imaging in detecting involvement of extraocular muscles in early period of disease.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate involvement of the extraocular muscle (EOM) using diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), to determine whether there is correlation with conventional orbital MRI and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values in patients with Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO). METHODS: 35 patients known clinically with GO and 21 healthy controls were studied. Patients were assessed with clinical activity scores. All subjects underwent conventional MRI and DWI study. Involvement of the EOM was evaluated. The patients were classified as involved or uninvolved on orbital MRI and their ADC values in DWI compared. RESULTS: There was significant difference in the mean ADC value of all the EOMs in patients vs controls. The ADC values of all the EOMs were higher in patients. There were significant differences in ADC values between uninvolved muscles on conventional MRI and controls for the MR, SR and LR. There was no significant difference in ADC value between the two groups when considering the IR. ADC values of medial, lateral and superior rectus muscles were increased. CONCLUSION: Increased ADC values of the EOM in patients with GO suggest that EOM damage begins at a very early stage before being detected on routine orbital MRI. The routine MRI with DWI sequence will be a useful adjunct in the selection of a group of patients most likely to benefit from early treatment. ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE: This study can help to evaluate the involvement of GO in early period with MRI added DWI.

The outcome effect of double-hormonal therapy in premenopausal breast cancer patients with high nodal-status: Result of a prospective randomized trial.

PURPOSE: The combination of taxanes and anthracyclines has proven efficacy in node-positive (N+) premenopausal primary breast cancer patients. Ovarian ablation is also associated with better survival outcomes in premenopausal hormone-receptor positive (HR+) patients. Therefore, this trial aims to determine the superiority of combined hormonal treatment of ovarian ablation with tamoxifen (TMX) versus TMX alone, in premenopausal N+, HR + patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) with taxane and anthracycline. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Premenopausal women who had surgically removed breast cancer with histologically confirmed N + and HR+ were included in the trial. The AC consisted of six cycles of taxotere, adriamycin, cytoxan or taxotere, epirubicin and cytoxan with the completion of radiation therapy. Patients were randomly assigned to receive TMX 20 mg/day for 5 years or up to menopause or TMX 20 mg/day for 5 years plus goserelin (GOS) 3.6 mg injection per month for 2 years. The primary end point was disease-free survival (DFS). RESULTS: Between 2003 and 2011, 101 consecutive patients were allocated to TMX (51 patients) and TMX/GOS (50 patients) groups. The mean follow-up period was 52.4 ± 2.8 months. DFS was 43.0 ± 3.6 months versus 49.9 ± 4.22 months (P = 0.13) and overall survival was 51.1 ± 3.8 months versus 53.1 ± 4.2 months (P = 0.50) in the TMX and TMX/GOS groups, respectively. The results showed 9% absolute risk reduction with respect to DFS in favor of the TMX/GOS group. CONCLUSION: This study group was comprised of stage II and III disease patients with high nodal status. The TMX/GOS combination reduced absolute risk of developing first locoregional or distant relapse by almost 9%. Longer follow-up is required to justify this protocol for routine use.