Jong Beum Lee

Lithiasis in a heterotopic pancreas of the stomach

A heterotopic pancreas is a relatively uncommon abnormality and usually of no clinical importance. A heterotopic pancreas is subject to various pathologic changes occurring in the pancreas, however, such as acute pancreatitis, cyst or abscess formation, pancreatic cancer, and islet cell tumor. We describe a rare case of a heterotopic pancreas presenting as a gastric submucosal mass with punctate calcifications occurring in a 43-year-old man.

How to Differentiate Borderline Hepatic Nodules in Hepatocarcinogenesis: Emphasis on Imaging Diagnosis

Background: Rapid advances in liver imaging have improved the evaluation of hepatocarcinogenesis and early diagnosis and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In this situation, detection of early-stage HCC in its development is important for the improvement of patient survival and optimal treatment strategies. Because early HCCs are considered precursors of progressed HCC, precise differentiation between a dysplastic nodule (DN), especially a high-grade DN, and early HCC is important. In clinical practice, these nodules are frequently called “borderline hepatic nodules.” Summary: This article discusses radiological and pathological characteristics of these borderline hepatic nodules and offers an understanding of multistep hepatocarcinogenesis by focusing on the descriptions of the imaging changes in the progression of DN and early HCC. Detection and accurate diagnosis of borderline hepatic nodules are still a challenge with contrast enhanced ultrasonography, CT, and MRI with extracellular contrast agents. However, gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI may be useful for improving the diagnosis of these borderline nodules. Key Messages: Since there is a net effect of incomplete neoangiogenesis and decreased portal venous flow in the early stage of hepatocarcinogenesis, borderline hepatic nodules commonly show iso- or hypovascularity. Therefore, precise differentiation of these nodules remains a challenging issue. In MRI using hepatobiliary contrast agents, signal intensity of HCCs on hepatobiliary phase (HBP) is regarded as a potential imaging biomarker. Borderline hepatic nodules are seen as nonhypervascular and hypointense nodules on the HBP, which is important for predicting tumor behavior and determining appropriate therapeutic strategies.

Comparison of Knowledge-based Iterative Model Reconstruction and Hybrid Reconstruction Techniques for Liver CT Evaluation of Hypervascular Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Objective The purpose of this work was to evaluate the image quality, lesion conspicuity, and dose reduction provided by knowledge-based iterative model reconstruction (IMR) in computed tomography (CT) of the liver compared with hybrid iterative reconstruction (IR) and filtered back projection (FBP) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods Fifty-six patients with 61 HCCs who underwent multiphasic reduced-dose CT (RDCT; n = 33) or standard-dose CT (SDCT; n = 28) were retrospectively evaluated. Reconstructed images with FBP, hybrid IR (iDose4), IMR were evaluated for image quality using CT attenuation and image noise. Objective and subjective image quality of RDCT and SDCT sets were independently assessed by 2 observers in a blinded manner. Results Image quality and lesion conspicuity were better with IMR for both RDCT and SDCT than either FBP or IR (P < 0.001). Contrast-to-noise ratio of HCCs in IMR-RDCT was significantly higher on delayed phase (DP) (P < 0.001), and comparable on arterial phase, than with IR-SDCT (P = 0.501). Iterative model reconstruction RDCT was significantly superior to FBP-SDCT (P < 0.001). Compared with IR-SDCT, IMR-RDCT was comparable in image sharpness and tumor conspicuity on arterial phase, and superior in image quality, noise, and lesion conspicuity on DP. With the use of IMR, a 27% reduction of effective dose was achieved with RDCT (12.7 ± 0.6 mSv) compared with SDCT (17.4 ± 1.1 mSv) without loss of image quality (P < 0.001). Conclusions Iterative model reconstruction provides better image quality and tumor conspicuity than FBP and IR with considerable noise reduction. In addition, more than comparable results were achieved with IMR-RDCT to IR-SDCT for the evaluation of HCCs.

Right double inferior vena cava associated with retrocaval ureter: computed tomographic findings in two cases.

Two cases of right double inferior vena cava (RDIVC) were observed on computed tomography. In one case, the duplicated IVCs were both located to the right of the abdominal aorta and were nearly on the same coronal plane. In the other case, the right IVC showed partial duplication. The right ureter coursed posterior to the lateral IVC, then emerged between the duplicated IVC in both cases. The findings from the two cases presented in this report showed novel anatomical differences, likely attributable to different embryologic processes, as compared to previously reported cases of RDIVC.

Sonographic findings of an ovarian serous surface papillary borderline tumor

Sonographic findings of a serous surface papillary borderline tumor of the ovary have rarely been reported in the English literature. Here, we describe a case of serous surface papillary borderline tumor, which was depicted on gray-scale and Doppler ultrasonography as smoothly lobulated and polypoid heterogeneous echoic bilateral adnexal masses encased or surrounded by what was presumed to be normal-appearing ovarian follicles with increased vascular flow.

Comparison and Combination of Strain and Shear Wave Elastography of Breast Masses for Differentiation of Benign and Malignant Lesions by Quantitative Assessment: Preliminary Study

To compare the diagnostic performance of strain and shear wave elastography of breast masses for quantitative assessment in differentiating benign and malignant lesions and to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of combined strain and shear wave elastography.

A Case of Nonsecretory Multiple Myeloma with Atypical Imaging Features

Multiple myeloma usually shows homogeneous enhancement on contrast-enhanced Magnetic Resonance imaging (MRI), and is accompanied by a monoclonal gammopathy in serum or urine. We report a case of nonsecretory myeloma, the diagnosis was difficult due to the absence of a monoclonal gammopathy and the presence of atypical imaging features.

Counting ribs on CT by assessing costal attachments to the proximal xiphoid: Is this method accurate?

Objectives To evaluate the usefulness of the method of counting ribs by assessing anatomic variations of the attachments of costal cartilages to the proximal xiphoid. Materials and Methods From January to September 2005, 224 subjects (136 men, 88 women, age 13 to 89 years, mean age 55 years) underwent computed tomography examination of the chest. Axial images of the chest were obtained on a 16-slice multidetector computed tomography. Counting ribs was performed by using the medial clavicle as an anatomic landmark to identify the first costal cartilage. We analyzed variety and incidence of the attachment patterns of costal cartilages to the proximal xiphoid. Result Out of the 224 patients, the last costal attachments to the proximal xiphoid were the sixth costal cartilages bilaterally for 2 (0.9%) subjects, one 6th and one 7th for 4 (1.8%) subjects, bilateral seventh for 191 (85.3%) subjects, one 7th and one 8th for 15 (6.7%) subjects, and bilateral eighth for 12 (5.4%) subjects. Conclusions The method of counting ribs from the proximal xiphoid is inaccurate because the sixth, seventh, and eighth costal cartilages may each attach to the proximal xiphoid.

Efficacy of Superb Microvascular Imaging for Diagnosing Acute Cholecystitis: Comparison with Conventional Ultrasonography

We evaluated the diagnostic performance of ultrasonography (US) plus superb microvascular imaging (SMI) compared with conventional US alone for diagnosing acute cholecystitis. We included 54 patients with suspected biliary disease. The SMI pixel count showing flow signal was measured in the region of interest of the gallbladder bed of the liver. Two radiologists independently evaluated imaging features and rated five-point diagnostic likelihood level before versus after the additional SMI using the cutoff SMI pixel count. The SMI pixel count was significantly higher in acute than in non-acute cholecystitis (169.84 vs. 27.48, p < 0.001). The optimal SMI cutoff pixel count for predicting acute cholecystitis obtained by receiver operating characteristic curve was 56.67(82.8% sensitivity, 92.0% specificity). The area under the curve value was significantly higher after the additional SMI than before (0.798-0.863 vs. 0.701-0.736, p < 0.05). US plus SMI could objectively improve diagnostic performance compared with conventional US for acute cholecystitis.

Adenofibroma in the Uterine Cervix Manifesting as Multilocular Cystic Lesions

Uterine cervical adenofibroma, a very rare benign neoplasm, has rarely been reported in imaging features in the English literature. Herein, we describe a case of uterine cervical adenofibroma that was depicted as a multilocular cystic lesion with enhanced solid portions.