The amygdala volume moderates the relationship between childhood maltreatment and callous-unemotional traits in adolescents with conduct disorder.

CU traits, characterized by shallow affect, lack of fear, and absence of remorse, have been moderately associated with childhood maltreatment in a recent meta-analysis. However, the potential impact of brain structures remains undetermined. This paper examines the relationship between callous-unemotional (CU) traits, childhood maltreatment, and amygdala volumes. In this study, we used a region-of-interest (ROI) analysis to explore the interaction between the volumes of the amygdala, childhood maltreatment, and the manifestation of CU traits in adolescents diagnosed with conduct disorder (CD, N = 67), along with a comparison group of healthy-control youths (HCs, N = 89). The ROI analysis revealed no significant group differences in the bilateral amygdalar volumes. Significant positive correlation was discovered between all forms of child maltreatment (except for physical neglect) and CU traits across subjects. But the interaction of physical abuse and amygdala volumes was only significant within CD patients. Notably, a sensitivity analysis suggested that gender significantly influences these findings. These results contribute critical insights into the etiology of CU traits, emphasizing the need for customized clinical assessment tools and intervention strategies.

Structural abnormalities in adolescents with conduct disorder and high versus low callous unemotional traits.

There may be distinct conduct disorder (CD) etiologies and neural morphologies in adolescents with high callous unemotional (CU) traits versus low CU traits. Here, we employed surface-based morphometry methods to investigate morphological differences in adolescents diagnosed with CD [42 with high CU traits (CD-HCU) and 40 with low CU traits (CD-LCU)] and healthy controls (HCs, N = 115) in China. Whole-brain analyses revealed significantly increased cortical surface area (SA) in the left inferior temporal cortex and the right precuneus, but decreased SA in the left superior temporal cortex in the CD-LCU group, compared with the HC group. There were no significant cortical SA differences between the CD-HCU and the HC groups. Compared to the CD-HCU group, the CD-LCU group had a greater cortical thickness (CT) in the left rostral middle frontal cortex. Region-of-interest analyses revealed significant group differences in the right hippocampus, with CD-HCU group having lower right hippocampal volumes than HCs. We did not detect significant group differences in the amygdalar volume, however, the right amygdalar volume was found to be a significant moderator of the correlation between CU traits and the proactive aggression in CD patients. The present results suggested that the manifestations of CD differ between those with high CU traits versus low CU traits, and underscore the importance of sample characteristics in understanding the neural substrates of CD.

Brain Anatomy in Boys with Conduct Disorder: Differences Among Aggression Subtypes.

Aggression is a core feature of conduct disorder (CD), but the motivation, execution of aggression may vary. A deeper understanding of the neural substrates of aggressive behaviours is critical for effective clinical intervention. Seventy-six Boys with CD (50 with impulsive aggression (I-CD) and 26 with premeditated aggression (P-CD)) and 69 healthy controls (HCs) underwent a structural MRI scan and behavioural assessments. Whole-brain analyses revealed that, compared to HCs, the I-CD group showed significant cortical thinning in the right frontal cortex, while the P-CD group demonstrated significant folding deficits in the bilateral superior parietal cortex. Both types of aggression negatively correlated with the left amygdala volume, albeit in different ways. The present results demonstrated that the complex nature of aggression relies on differentiated anatomical substrates, highlighting the importance of exploring differential circuit-targeted interventions for CD patients.

Health Protection of CT Radiographers During the Outbreak of COVID-19: Application of Automatic Positioning Technology for Relocatable CT in the Fang Cang Hospital.

Background: To investigate the value of automatic positioning technology in improving the protection of radiographers in the relocatable CT room of a Fang Cang hospital during the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods: The National Emergency Medical Team of our hospital assumed command of Wuchang Fang Cang Hospital and treated confirmed COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms. Relocatable CT was used to examine patients in this hospital. Automatic positioning technology was applied to avoid close contact between medical staff and patients and to protect medical staff more effectively. Results: Seven hundred lung CT scans acquired from 269 patients were completed from February 17 to 26, 2020 with automatic positioning technology for relocatable CT in a Fang Cang hospital. All scans were conducted successfully using automatic positioning technology. All patients entered the scanning room from a separate door. All the position lines were accurate, and all images met the requirement for diagnosis of COVID-19, with satisfied quality. None of our medical staff had any close contact with patients. Conclusion: Automatic positioning technology applied to relocatable CT can minimize the close contact between technologists and patients and effectively improve the protection of medical staff without sacrificing image quality.

Application value of CAIPIRINHA-VIBE with MOCO in liver magnetic resonance examination.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the image quality of VIBE sequence using controlled aliasing in parallel imaging results in higher acceleration (CAIPIRINHA-VIBE) and using generalized autocalibrating partially parallel acquisitions (GRAPPA-VIBE) in liver magnetic resonance examination, and to evaluate the effect of non-rigid 3D-registration motion correction (MOCO) combined with CAIPIRINHA-VIBE on liver spatial location registration. METHODS: A total of 85 patients underwent pre-contrast GRAPPA-VIBE and CAIPIRINHA-VIBE breath-hold scan in the mask phase, and then underwent CAIPIRINHA-VIBE breath-hold scan in arterial phase, portal vein phase and delay phase after administration. After the scanning of four phases of CAIPIRINHA-VIBE completed, 3D images without and with MOCO of each phase were automatically generated. The images quality of GRAPPA-VIBE and CAIPIRINHA-VIBE without MOCO in the mask phase was scored subjectively by two physicians. The number of slices at the top of the diaphragm in the arterial phase was taken as the base slice, and that in the other stages subtracted with the base slice for CAIPIRINHA without and with MOCO. The range of diaphragm movement in each phase was counted by + N/- N statistics. RESULTS: The image quality and the scores of CAIPIRINHA-VIBE were significantly higher than those of GRAPPA-VIBE in respiratory motion artifact suppression, liver edge sharpness and intrahepatic vascular sharpness (p < 0.05). The spatial position consistency of the liver with MOCO is significantly better than that without MOCO. CONCLUSION: CAIPIRINHA-VIBE with MOCO can be used instead of conventional GRAPPA-VIBE sequence in upper abdominal MRI enhancement examination, especially for patients with poor breath-hold.

Impaired global efficiency in boys with conduct disorder and high callous unemotional traits.

Callous unemotional (CU) traits differentiate subtypes of conduct disorder (CD). It has been suggested that CU traits may be related to topographical irregularities that hinder information integration. To date, there is limited evidence of whether CU traits may be associated with abnormal brain topology. In this study, 43 CD boys with high and low CU trait (CD-HCU, CD-LCU), and 46 healthy controls (HCs) were subjected to resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate how CU trait level and conduct problems may be reflected in topological organization. Brain functional networks were constructed and network/nodal properties, including small-world properties and network/nodal efficiency, were calculated. Topological analysis revealed that, compared with HCs, CD-HCU group were characterized by decreased small-worldness (σ), decreased global efficiency, and increased path length (λ). These variables were similar between the CD-LCU and HC groups. Self-reported CU traits in CD patients correlated negatively with global efficiency and positively with λ. Regional analysis revealed diminished nodal efficiency in the right amygdala in the CD-HCU group compared with HCs. The present results suggest that disrupted global efficiency, together with a regional abnormality affecting the amygdala, may contribute to abnormal information processing and integration in adolescents with CD and high CU traits.

Gray Matter Changes in the Orbitofrontal-Paralimbic Cortex in Male Youths With Non-comorbid Conduct Disorder.

Conduct disorder is one of the most common developmental psychiatric disorders which is characterized by persistent aggressive and antisocial behaviors during childhood or adolescence. Previous neuroimaging studies have investigated the neural correlates underlying CD and demonstrated several constructive findings. However, Individuals with CD are at high risk for comorbidities, which might give rise to the inconsistencies of existed findings. It remains unclear which neuroanatomical abnormalities are specifically related to CD without comorbidities. Using structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) data of 69 CD and 69 typically developing (TD) male youths (aged 14-17 years), the present study aims at investigating gray matter volume alterations of non-comorbid CD (i.e., not comorbid with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, substance abuse disorder, anxiety or depression). We also examined how regional gray matter volumes were related to callous-unemotional (CU) traits and conduct problems in the CD group. The whole-brain analysis revealed decreased gray matter volumes in the right pre-postcentral cortex, supramarginal gyrus and right putamen in CD youths compared with TD youths. The region-of-interest analyses showed increased gray matter volumes in the superior temporal gyrus (STG) and right orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) in CD youths. Correlation analysis found that gray matter volume in the left amygdala was negatively correlated with CU traits in CD participants. These results demonstrated that gray matter volume in the orbitofrontal-paralimbic cortex, including OFC, STG and amygdala, might characterize the male youths with non-comorbid CD and might contribute to different severe forms and trajectories of CD.

Networks Are Associated With Depression in Patients With Parkinson's Disease: A Resting-State Imaging Study.

BACKGROUND: Disturbance of networks was recently proposed to be associated with the occurrence of depression in Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the neurobiological mechanism of depression underlying PD remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to investigate whether intra-network and inter-network brain connectivity is differently changed in PD patients with and without depression (PDD and PDND patients, respectively). METHODS: Forty-one PDD patients, 64 PDND patients, and 55 healthy controls (HCs) underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The default mode network (DMN), executive control network (ECN), salience network (SN), precuneus network (PCUN), and sensorimotor network (SMN) were extracted using independent component analysis (ICA), and then the functional connectivity (FC) values within and between these networks were measured. RESULTS: PDD patients exhibited abnormal FC values within the DMN, ECN, SN, PCUN, and SMN. In addition, PDD patients demonstrated decreased connectivity between anterior SN (aSN) and bilateral ECN, between posterior SN (pSN) and dorsal DMN (dDMN), and between PCUN and dDMN/SMN/bilateral ECN. Connectivity within the left hippocampus of dDMN and the right medial superior frontal gyrus of aSN was a significant predictor of depression level in PD patients. CONCLUSIONS: Aberrant intra- and inter-network FC is involved in several important hubs in the large-scale networks, which can be a biomarker for distinguishing PDD from PDND.

Effects of BDNF Val66Met polymorphisms on brain structures and behaviors in adolescents with conduct disorder.

Accumulating evidence suggests that neural abnormalities in conduct disorder (CD) may be subject to genetic influences, but few imaging studies have taken genetic variants into consideration. The Val66Met polymorphism of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has emerged as a high-interest genetic variant due to its importance in cortical maturation, and several studies have implicated its involvement in neurodevelopmental disorders. Thus, it is unclear how this polymorphism may influence brain anatomy and aberrant behaviors in CD. A total of 65 male adolescents with CD and 69 gender-, IQ- and socioeconomic status-matched healthy controls (HCs) (age range 13-17 years) were enrolled in this study. Analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were used to assess the main effects of CD diagnosis, BDNF genotype, and diagnosis-genotype interactions on brain anatomy and behaviors. We detected a significant main effect of BDNF genotype on temporal gyrification and antisocial behaviors, but not on CD symptoms. Diagnosis-genotype interactive effects were found for cortical thickness of the superior temporal and adjacent areas. These results suggest that the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism may exert its influence both on neural alterations and delinquent behaviors in CD patients. This initial evidence highlights the importance of elucidating potentially different pathways between BDNF genotype and cortical alterations or delinquent behaviors in CD patients.

Altered Functional Connectivity of Striatum Based on the Integrated Connectivity Model in First-Episode Schizophrenia.

Background: The human striatum is a heterogeneous structure involved in diverse functional domains that related to distinct striatum subregions. Striatal dysfunction was thought to be a fundamental element in schizophrenia. However, the connectivity pattern of striatum solely based on functional or structural characteristics leads to inconsistent findings in healthy adult and also schizophrenia. This study aims to develop an integrated striatal model and reveal the altered functional connectivity pattern of the striatum in schizophrenia. Methods: Two data-driven approaches, task-dependent meta-analytic connectivity modeling (MACM) and task-independent resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC), were used for seven anatomical connectivity-based striatum subregions to provide an integrated striatal model. Then, RSFC analyses of seven striatal subregions were applied to 45 first-episode schizophrenia (FES) and 27 healthy controls to examine the difference, based on the integrated model, of functional connectivity pattern of striatal subregions. Results: MACM and RSFC results showed that striatum subregions were associated with discrete cortical regions and involved in distinct cognitive processes. Besides, RSFC results overlapped with MACM findings but showed broader distributions. Importantly, significantly reduced functional connectivity was identified between limbic subregion and thalamus, medial prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and insula and also between executive subregions and thalamus, supplementary motor area, and insula in FES. Conclusions: Combing functional and structural connectivity information, this study provides the integrated model of corticostriatal subcircuits and confirms the abnormal functional connectivity of limbic and executive striatum subregions with different networks and thalamus, supporting the important role of the corticostriatal-thalamic loop in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.

[Imaging changes in brain microstructural in long-term abstinent from methamphetamine-dependence].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the mechanism for changes in brain microstructure in long-term abstinent from methamphetamine-dependence by using the diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).
 Methods: A total of 26 patients with long-term abstinent methamphetamine-dependence, whose abstinence time more than 14 months, and 26 normal controls all underwent cognitive executive function tests and DTI scans. We used voxel-based analysis to compare the fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) to obtain the abnormal brain regions of DTI parameters between the two groups. Spearman correlation analysis was used to explore the correlation between FA, MD of the brain regions with abnormal parameters and cognitive executive function tests.
 Results: There were no statistical differences in the cognitive executive function tests between the two groups (P>0.05). Compared with the normal control group, the long-term abstinent from methamphetamine-dependence group showed the decreased FA in the right precuneus, right superior frontal gyrus, right calcarine, left inferior temporal gyrus and the increased MD in the right triangular part of inferior frontal gyrus, right precuneus, right posterior cingulate, right middle temporal gyrus, bilateral middle occipital gyrus, left superior parietal lobule, and lobule VIII of cerebellar hemisphere. The MD values of the right middle temporal gyrus in the long-term abstinent group were negatively correlated with the number of completions within 60 seconds (r=-0.504) and within 120 seconds (r=-0.464) .
 Conclusion: The DTI parameters in multiple brain regions from the methamphetamine-dependence patients are still abnormal after a long-term abstinence. DTI can provide imaging evidence for brain microstructural abnormalities in long-term abstinent from methamphetamine-dependence.

Disrupted Topological Patterns of Large-Scale Network in Conduct Disorder.

Regional abnormalities in brain structure and function, as well as disrupted connectivity, have been found repeatedly in adolescents with conduct disorder (CD). Yet, the large-scale brain topology associated with CD is not well characterized, and little is known about the systematic neural mechanisms of CD. We employed graphic theory to investigate systematically the structural connectivity derived from cortical thickness correlation in a group of patients with CD (N = 43) and healthy controls (HCs, N = 73). Nonparametric permutation tests were applied for between-group comparisons of graphical metrics. Compared with HCs, network measures including global/local efficiency and modularity all pointed to hypo-functioning in CD, despite of preserved small-world organization in both groups. The hubs distribution is only partially overlapped with each other. These results indicate that CD is accompanied by both impaired integration and segregation patterns of brain networks, and the distribution of highly connected neural network 'hubs' is also distinct between groups. Such misconfiguration extends our understanding regarding how structural neural network disruptions may underlie behavioral disturbances in adolescents with CD, and potentially, implicates an aberrant cytoarchitectonic profiles in the brain of CD patients.

Application of diffusion tensor imaging for detecting structural changes in the brain of schizophrenic patients.

OBJECTIVE: Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric illness. Although magnetic resonance imaging has been widely used for detecting brain structural and functional abnormalities in patients with schizophrenia, the findings are highly inconsistent between reports. This study investigates structural changes in the brains of schizophrenic patients. METHODS: The brains of fifty male adults with schizophrenia and fifty age- and gender-matched healthy controls were scanned by diffusion tensor imaging. The differences in fractional anisotropy (FA) values between schizophrenic patients and healthy controls were analyzed. RESULTS: Schizophrenic patients exhibited significantly decreased FA values in the right middle frontal gyrus, right inferior frontal gyrus, right superior temporal gyrus, left sub-temporal gyrus, left middle temporal gyrus, left cingulate gyrus, and left precentral gyrus compared with the control group. We did not find any brain regions with higher FA values in the patient group than in the control group. CONCLUSION: This study suggested that structural abnormalities in the frontal region of gray matter and white matter are present at the same time in patients with schizophrenia.

Sex differences of uncinate fasciculus structural connectivity in individuals with conduct disorder.

Conduct disorder (CD) is one of the most common behavior disorders in adolescents, such as impulsivity, aggression, and running from school. Males are more likely to develop CD than females, and two previous diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies have demonstrated abnormal microstructural integrity in the uncinate fasciculus (UF) in boys with CD compared to a healthy control group. However, little is known about changes in the UF in females with CD. In this study, the UF was illustrated by tractography; then, the fractional anisotropy (FA), axial diffusivity, mean diffusion, radial diffusivity (RD), and the length and number of the UF fiber bundles were compared between male and female patients with CD and between female patients with CD and female healthy controls, as well as between males with CD and healthy males. We found that males with CD showed significantly higher FA of the bilateral UF and significantly lower RD of the left UF when comparing with females with CD. Meanwhile, significantly higher FA and lower RD of the bilateral UF were also found in boys with CD relative to the male healthy controls. Our results replicated previous reports that the microstructural integrity of the UF was abnormal in boys with CD. Additionally, our results demonstrated significant gender effects on the UF of patients with CD, which may indicate why boys have higher rates of conduct problems than girls.

Increased structural connectivity in corpus callosum in adolescent males with conduct disorder.

OBJECTIVE: Adolescents with conduct disorder (CD) are at high risk for developing adult antisocial personality disorder. However, the underlying neuropathophysiology of CD remains poorly understood. We hypothesized that the microstructure of white matter (WM) of males with CD may differ from that of healthy control subjects (HCs). METHOD: Tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) and quantitative tractography were used to assess WM microstructural differences between 36 teenaged boys with CD and 33 demographically matched HCs. RESULTS: The CD group behavioral scale scores were significantly higher than those of the HCs on the Barratt Impulsivity Scale, the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire, and the Antisocial Process Screening Device total scales. TBSS revealed that, relative to HCs, the CD group had higher fractional anisotropy (FA) in the corpus callosum (CC) region, bilaterally, including the genu and body of the CC, as well as in some projection fibers in the region of the left anterior coronal radiate and right superior coronal radiate. Tractography confirmed higher FA of fibers passing through the regions with significant differences in the TBSS results. Exploratory analysis revealed that impulsivity associated positively with the FA of these fibers in the CD group. CONCLUSIONS: Maturation of WM microstructure in CD subjects differed from that in HCs, mainly in the CC. The abnormal maturation of WM structures may play an important role in the impulsivity and aggression of teenagers with CD.

[Lung MRI at 3T: comparison of CT and MRI in initial evaluation of pulmonary alveolar proteinosis].

OBJECTIVE: To explore whether the phospholipidoproteinaceous material deposit within the alveoli by a high-field 3T MRI has signal characters and its application for diagnosing pulmonary alveolar proteinosis. METHODS: A total of 11 patients with pulmonary alveolar proteinosis previously diagnosed by fiberoptic bronchoscope lung biopsy underwent 64-slice helical CT scans and 3T MRI scans, and the CT scans and the MRI scans were compared. RESULTS: The phospholipidoproteinaceous material deposit within the alveoli presented longer or equal T1 relaxation time and longer T2 relaxation time, without characters of fatty or deposits of protein-like substance signals and enhancement. The distribution, form, number and size of the lesions at T2WI were almost the same as those at CT, the lesions were irregular in morphology, and there was a clear boundary between the lesions and the adjacent normal lung tissues. Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI showed thickened pulmonary arteriolae and venulae in the lesions with more obviously thickened pulmonary venulae, which were in conformity with the pulmonary artery and venule enhancement. CT scan in 1 out of the 11 cases showed lesions in both lungs mainly consisted of stripe-shaped and reticular structures, and no obvious sign of pulmonary alveolar proteinosis residue was found. MRI scan detected alveolar proteinosis that failed to be shown by CT scan. CONCLUSION: 3T MRI T2WI can easily detect the lesions of long T2 signals formed by the lipoproteinaceous material deposit within the alveoli. In the lesions, geographic appearance was presented, and the crazy paving pattern was dimly visualized. MRI can reflect the morphological characters of PAP like CT and it is slightly better compared with CT in such aspects as evaluating the theraputic effect of lung lavage. As supplement to CT, high-field 3T MRI can serve as an important examination for lung diseases.

[MR subtraction in the differentiation of benign and malignant tumors].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI in conjunction with MR subtraction in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant breast tumors at 3 Tesla. METHODS: A total of 78 patients with breast tumors enrolled in this study, including 45 malignant lesions and 33 benign lesions verified by histopathology. Dynamic MR contrast enhanced imaging was done by T1 high resolution isotropic volume excitation sequence. MR subtraction was used to retrospectively analyze the MR dynamic image. A dynamic phase subtraction (DPS) map is a map image with pixel-by-pixel subtraction of an early-phase image from a delayed maximum enhancement phase image obtained in a dynamic study. The sensitivity and specificity were calculated with or without subtraction in the diagnosis of benign and malignant breast tumors. RESULTS: The sensitivity of benign breast masses increased from 0.879 to 0.939, and the specificity increased from 0.818 to 0.909 with reference to the DPS map. There was statistical difference between with or without DPS (Z=2.023, P=0.043). The sensitivity of breast malignant masses increased from 0.889 to 0.933, and the specificity increased from 0.867 to 0.911 with reference to the DPS map, with statistical difference between with or without DPS map (Z=2.294, P=0.021). The pattern of TIC changed from continuous to a plateau in 8 patients, from a plateau to washout in 10, and from continuous to washout in 5. No changes were observed in the other 55 patients. CONCLUSION: MR Subtraction is a simple and useful technique to identify breast lesions. It helps to accurately set the location of the ROI TIC and improve the detection rate of benign and malignant breast tumors.

[Multislice spiral computer tomography imaging characteristics of urachus lesions].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the multislice spiral computer tomography (MSCT) manifestations and its value in the diagnosis of urachus lesions. METHODS: A total of 26 patients with urachus disease diagnosed by pathological examination in our hospital between October 2007 and May 2011 were included in this study. We retrospectively analyzed MSCT images on the size, location, and shape character of the foci, and the image features of Retzius space. RESULTS: In the group, 12 patients had simple urachal cyst with homogeneous fluid filling the cavity with thin wall in CT scanning; five had infected urachal cyst with thickened and enhanced wall, some patch and strip appearing in Retzius space surrounding the lesion; two had infected urachal sinus, and another 3 had urachus leakage. Four had urachal tumor showing irregular cysticsolid mass over the apex of the bladder with apparent enhancement in contrast imaging, and 2 had calcification. Invasion of the bladder wall was found in 4 patients, extensive invasion of the ileum, rectum, uterus and retroperitoneal lymph nodes was found in 1. CONCLUSION: MSCT scan can demonstrate the location, shape, extent of the lesion as well as the relation with adjacent structures, thereby providing valuable information for the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of urachus lesions.

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy on hepatocellular carcinoma after transcatheter arterial chemoembolization.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) of the liver in vivo is in experimental phase. MRS observation on liver cancer after transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) has seldom been reported. This study was to investigate the value of MRS in assessing the metabolic changes of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after TACE. METHODS: Twenty-five consecutive patients with pathologically-confirmed HCC received 1H MRS of all hepatic lesions using 1.5T whole body MR scanner before TACE and at 3-10 days after TACE. Choline-to-lipid (Cho/Lip), glucogen/glucose-to-lipid (Glu/Lip), and glytamine/glutamate-to-lipid (Glx/Lip) ratios were measured and analyzed statistically. RESULTS: The Cho/Lip, Glu/Lip, and Glx/Lip ratios were 0.21 +/- 0.08, 0.11 +/- 0.05, 0.28 +/- 0.10 before TACE, respectively, and were 0.10 +/- 0.08, 0.07 +/- 0.07, 0.18 +/- 0.12 after TACE, respectively, with significant differences (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Using MRS can evaluate the early metabolic responses of HCC to TACE.

[SLOT Scan imaging in teenagers with scoliosis].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the improvement effect of SLOT Scan technology (narrow seam exposure capture technology) and the radiography techniques on the quality of the scoliosis X-ray films in teenagers. METHODS: The Sonialvision Safire II equipment of Shimadzu corporation and SLOT Scan were applied to take the radiography for 60 patients taller than 1.50 metres. All the data were collected through a continual exposure, and the images were sewn up through a seamless connection software. RESULTS: Cervical, thoracic, and lumbar and sacral segments could clearly present at the same time on one X-ray film by seamless splicing,and the quality of one time radiograph was as good as one film. CONCLUSION: As a new radiology technique, SLOT Scan can wipe off splitting artifact effectively and make the whole spine seamless present on one X-ray film. It helps the spinal surgeons to observe, calculate and measure accurately. It is useful to choose the operation mode and judge the curative effect.