Ryo Metoki

Effect of Gd-EOB-DTPA on T2-weighted and diffusion-weighted images for the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma.

To evaluate the effect of gadolinium ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd‐EOB‐DTPA) on T2‐weighted imaging (T2WI) and diffusion‐weighted imaging (DWI) for the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Analysis of morphological vascular changes of hepatocellular carcinoma by microflow imaging using contrast-enhanced sonography.

Aim:  To determine whether the findings of microflow imaging (MFI), composed of a flash replenishment and a maximum intensity holding sequence, using contrast‐enhanced sonography, correlate with the degree of histological differentiation of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Parametric imaging of contrast ultrasound for the evaluation of neovascularization in liver tumors.

Aim:  To assess the efficacy of parametric imaging for the diagnosis of neovascularization in liver tumors.

Analysis of intrahepatic vascular morphological changes of chronic liver disease for assessment of liver fibrosis stages by micro-flow imaging with contrast-enhanced ultrasound: preliminary experience

ObjectiveTo assess morphological vascular changes due to an increase in liver fibrosis by using micro-flow imaging (MFI) of contrast-enhanced ultrasound.MethodsMFI was performed in 47 patients who underwent liver biopsy, and in 10 normal cases. For 27/57 cases, we performed MFI twice in order to assess the reproducibility of the examination, thus yielding a total of 84 examinations. Seven physicians interpreted each case individually by assigning confidence levels for the presence or absence of three imaging features that were related to alteration of portal vein morphology: angle widening, tapering/interruption and tortuosity.ResultsPearson’s correlation coefficient between the average rating scores based on tortuosity and the histological fibrosis stage was 0.806 (p < 0.001). The diagnostic accuracy of the average area under the ROC curve, which was estimated by use of the confidence levels of tapering/interruption, tortuosity and angle widening, was 0.964 for F1 vs. F2–4, 0.968 for F1–2 vs. F3–4 and 0.910 for F1–3 vs. F4. The average correlation coefficient between the ratings on different images from the same patients was 0.838.ConclusionAssessment of morphological intrahepatic vascular changes on MFI may be useful for grading liver fibrosis.

Flexible imaging color enhancement improves visibility of transnasal endoscopic images in diagnosing esophageal varices: a multicenter prospective blinded study.

To clarify the usefulness of transnasal esophagogastroduodenoscope (N‐EGD) with all flexible imaging color enhancement (FICE) patterns (0–9) for the diagnosis of esophageal varices (EV).