scholarly journals A novel parameter derived from post-processing procedure of dual energy CT for identification of gout

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunlin Xiang ◽  
Hongyan Zhang ◽  
Gang Wu

AbstractROI analysis is frequently used for obtaining acid content on rapid-kV-switching dual energy CT (DECT), providing inadequate accuracy. A new parameter derived from post-processing procedure, maximum lower limit with stain visible (MLLSV), was used by us to diagnose gout. 30 gout patients and 20 healthy volunteers were analyzed by using MLLSV. MLLSV was defined as the maximum lower limit of display window allowing only one stained site visible. Radiologists were asked to continuously increase the lower limit of display window of uric acid to decrease number of stained sites until the last stained site disappeared. MLLSV obtained by this way was compared between gout patients and volunteers. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to determine the performance. MLLSV of gout patients was significantly higher than that of volunteers (1373.3 ± 23.0 mg/cm3 vs. 1315.4 ± 20.7 mg/cm3, p = 0.000). The area under ROC curve of MLLSV was 0.993 in identifying gout. When using the optimal cutoff of 1342 mg/cm3, the sensitivity and specificity of MLLSV in identification of gout were 96.7% and 95% respectively. MLLSV derived from post-processing procedure of DECT is useful in discriminating gout patients from healthy people.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hao Zi ◽  
Wen-Lin Tao ◽  
Lei Gao ◽  
Zhao-Hua Yu ◽  
Xiao-Dong Bai ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Prostate cancer is one of common cancers around the world, and in our country the incidence and mortality of PCa are both increasing. More and more reports have revealed that SOX9 is involved in various human cancers. In this study, we aimed to explore the relationship between SOX9 expression and diagnostic value of PCa patients. Methods In this study, quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was performed to determine the expression of SOX9 of the 131 PCa patients and 74 healthy volunteers. And receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to determine the diagnostic value of SOX9 for PCa patients. Results The results of qRT-PCR showed that the expression of serum SOX9 in PCa patients was higher than that in healthy controls (P < 0.05). And the expression of SOX9 was significantly associated with PSA (P = 0.001), differentiation (P = 0.000), and lymph node metastasis (P = 0.000). Besides, the area under the ROC curve (AUC) was 0.966 with the sensitivity of 93.2% and specificity of 87.8% respectively. The optimal cutoff value of SOX9 was 2.34. Conclusions Our results found that SOX9 is a novel oncogene for PCa, and may be a novel and effective biomarker for the diagnosis of patients with PCa.


Open Medicine ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 160-166
Author(s):  
Lei Yang ◽  
Wei Qin ◽  
Yue Li ◽  
Shuna Yang ◽  
Hua Gu ◽  
...  

AbstractPurposeWe hypothesized that the current criteria may be unsuitable for lacunar pontine infarctions (LPI) diagnosis and that size criteria may indicate different stroke mechanisms.MethodsA total of 102 patients with isolated pontine infarctions were divided into a parent artery disease (PAD) and non-PAD groups according to stenosis of basilar artery. Further, 86 patients from the non-PAD group were divided into paramedian pontine infarction (PPI) and LPI groups. Data were collected from the three groups. The “golden” criterion for LPI was established based on the location of the infarction. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were used to evaluate the optimal cutoff value to use as an LPI diagnostic indicator.ResultsThere was a high prevalence of patients with PAD in both asymptomatic carotid atherosclerosis (ACAS) and PPI groups. Patients with PPI had a higher prevalence in diabetes and ACAS than those with LPI. Based upon the ROC curve, the optimal lesion size cutoff value for use as an LPI diagnostic indicator was 11.8 mm.ConclusionsDiffusion weighted imaging (DWI) cutoff points for predicting LPI may differ from that of the middle cerebral artery territory. The diameter of LPI may also indicate different stroke mechanisms.


2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon S. Martin ◽  
Thomas J. Vogl ◽  
Julian L. Wichmann

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiaodong Xu ◽  
Yongcong Yan ◽  
Songgang Gu ◽  
Kai Mao ◽  
Jianlong Zhang ◽  
...  

Background. Inflammation is an important hallmark of cancer. Fibrinogen and albumin are both vital factors in systemic inflammation. This study investigated the prognostic value of the fibrinogen/albumin ratio in HCC patients who underwent curative resection. Methods. HCC patients (n=151) who underwent curative resection were evaluated retrospectively. The optimal cutoff value for the fibrinogen/albumin ratio was selected by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Correlations between preoperative fibrinogen/albumin ratios and clinicopathologic characteristics were analyzed by χ2 test. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was calculated to compare the prognostic value of the fibrinogen/albumin ratio with other prognostic scores (neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) score). The overall survival (OS) and time to recurrence (TTR) were assessed by the log-rank test and the Cox proportional hazard regression model. Results. An optimal cutoff value of the preoperative fibrinogen/albumin ratio (0.062) was determined for 151 patients who underwent curative resection for HCC via a ROC curve analysis. Fibrinogen/albumin ratio > 0.062 was significantly associated with microvascular invasion, an advanced BCLC stage, and ALBI grade. Multivariate analyses revealed that fibrinogen/albumin ratio was an independent predictor for OS (P=0.003) and TTR (P=0.035). The prognostic ability of fibrinogen/albumin ratio was comparable to other prognostic scores (NLR, PLR, and ALBI score) by AUC analysis. Patients with a fibrinogen/albumin ratio > 0.062 had lower 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS rates (66.0%, 41.8%, and 28.2% versus 81.9%, 69.3%, and 56.1%, resp., P<0.001) and higher 1-, 3-, and 5-year recurrence rates (60.9%, 79.2%, and 90.5% versus 49.5%, 69.1%, and 77.1%, resp., P=0.008) compared with patients with fibrinogen/albumin ratio ≤ 0.062. Conclusion. The preoperative fibrinogen/albumin ratio is an effective prognostic factor for HCC patients who underwent curative resection. An elevated fibrinogen/albumin ratio significantly correlates with poorer survival and a higher risk of recurrence in HCC patients.


2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 279-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Waleed Brinjikji ◽  
Gregory Michalak ◽  
Ramanathan Kadirvel ◽  
Daying Dai ◽  
Michael Gilvarry ◽  
...  

Background and purpose Because computed tomography (CT) is the most commonly used imaging modality for the evaluation of acute ischemic stroke patients, developing CT-based techniques for improving clot characterization could prove useful. The purpose of this in-vitro study was to determine which single-energy or dual-energy CT techniques provided optimum discrimination between red blood cell (RBC) and fibrin-rich clots. Materials and methods Seven clot types with varying fibrin and RBC densities were made (90% RBC, 99% RBC, 63% RBC, 36% RBC, 18% RBC and 0% RBC with high and low fibrin density) and their composition was verified histologically. Ten of each clot type were created and scanned with a second generation dual source scanner using three single (80 kV, 100 kV, 120 kV) and two dual-energy protocols (80/Sn 140 kV and 100/Sn 140 kV). A region of interest (ROI) was placed over each clot and mean attenuation was measured. Receiver operating characteristic curves were calculated at each energy level to determine the accuracy at differentiating RBC-rich clots from fibrin-rich clots. Results Clot attenuation increased with RBC content at all energy levels. Single-energy at 80 kV and 120 kV and dual-energy 80/Sn 140 kV protocols allowed for distinguishing between all clot types, with the exception of 36% RBC and 18% RBC. On receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, the 80/Sn 140 kV dual-energy protocol had the highest area under the curve for distinguishing between fibrin-rich and RBC-rich clots (area under the curve 0.99). Conclusions Dual-energy CT with 80/Sn 140 kV had the highest accuracy for differentiating RBC-rich and fibrin-rich in-vitro thrombi. Further studies are needed to study the utility of non-contrast dual-energy CT in thrombus characterization in acute ischemic stroke.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Yan ◽  
Xiaohui Du ◽  
Shaoyou Xia ◽  
Songyan Li ◽  
Da Teng ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: MicroRNA-124 (miR-124) regulates cell growth, angiogenesis, invasion, and apoptosis of many human tumors. Our objective was to evaluate the levels of miR-124 in serum samples of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients to explore whether miR-124 in serum can be used as a biomarker for the detection of CRC.Methods: Serum miR-124 level was measured in 85 patients with CRC and 60 healthy control subjects using reverse transcription quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The correlations between miR-124 levels and clinicopathologic factors were analyzed. Diagnostic performance of serum miR-124 level was calculated by using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.Results: The expression level of miR-124 in serum samples was significantly lower in CRC patients than in healthy controls (P<0.001). A positive correlation between miR-124 level and tumor size (P=0.010), invasion depth (P=0.021), lymph node metastasis (P=0.015), and TNM stage (P=0.004) was observed. The serum miR-124 yielded an AUC (areas under the ROC curve) of 0.832 with a sensitivity of 80.0% and a specificity of 81.7%, and the optimal cutoff point of miR-124 was 1.61.Conclusions: Serum miR-124 may have a potential as a novel biomarker for the detection of CRC.


2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (12) ◽  
pp. 5076-5082 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jakob Weiss ◽  
Christoph Schabel ◽  
Ahmed E. Othman ◽  
Georg Bier ◽  
Konstantin Nikolaou ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Roger H. Johnson

Using a modified SEM as a microfocus x-ray source and stimulable phosphor plates as detectors, we have built a conebeam microtomograph for 3D imaging of 1-10mm biological samples (Figure l). For individual projections, the resolution and exposure time are about three microns and two minutes, respectively, with the same parameters in the reconstruction depending on the number of views.In conventional computed tomography (CT) each detector element integrates the energy incident upon it from all transmitted photons regardless of their wavelength. All spectral information is lost. It can be beneficial to acquire two sets of projections: one using a higher peak x-ray source energy than the other. Figure 2 illustrates that tissue and bone will attenuate the two spectra differentially producing different contrast relationships in the high- and low-energy images. We have previously clinically applied post-processing dual-energy CT to analyze the mineral and fat content of lumbar vertebrae in perimenopausal, osteoporotic women.


Rheumatology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 845-851 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mihaela Gamala ◽  
Johannes W G Jacobs ◽  
Suzanne F Linn-Rasker ◽  
Maarten Nix ◽  
Ben G F Heggelman ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective To establish the performance of (subsets of) the 2015 ACR/EULAR gout classification criteria in patients with unclassified arthritis, and to determine the value of dual-energy CT (DECT) herein. Reference was the MSU crystal detection result in SF at polarization microscopy. Methods We included subjects with acute, unclassified mono or oligoarthritis, who underwent SF analysis and DECT. Performance was assessed by calculating area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of (i) the clinical criteria subset, (ii) the clinical+serum urate subset and (iii) the full set (including DECT). Results Of the 89 subjects enrolled, 40 met the clinical+serum urate subset criteria, and 49 (55%) subjects did not. Of these 49, 30 had a negative microscopy result, of whom 15 had positive DECT; of these 15, 14 met the full set criteria only after adding the positive DECT result. For the clinical-only subset, the areas under the curves (AUCs) were 0.68 and 0.69 without and with DECT result, respectively, and for the clinical+serum urate subset without and with DECT, AUCs were 0.81 and 0.81, respectively (results not significant). Conclusion Adding the serum urate results to the clinical subset improves the performance, but adding the DECT result does not, neither does adding the DECT results to the clinical+serum urate subset. However, DECT seems to have an additive value in gout classification, especially when microscopy of SF is negative; 14/89 of patients (16%) only met the classification criteria with the use of DECT. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, http://clinicaltrials.gov, NCT03038386.


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