Background and Aim: Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been highlighted to exert essential biological functions in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). The purpose of this study was explore diagnostic utility of circRNAs in PTC patients. Patients and Methods: The distinctive expression profile of serum circRNAs was determined by individual quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) in two independent cohorts of 113 PTC patients, 80 thyroid nodules, and 111 healthy controls (HCs). A combination of circRNAs (circRNA-based combination index) was constructed by logistic regression. Results: Individual qRT-PCR identification showed that two circRNAs (circRAPGEF5 and hsa_circ_0058124) were significantly up-regulated in PTC patients compared with HCs and thyroid nodules. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis suggested that a combination of circRNAs was superior to individual circRNA in distinguishing PTC patients from HCs and thyroid nodules with area under ROC curve of more than 0.80. Furthermore, the combination of circRNAs increased significantly after systematic treatment, suggesting that it could monitor PTC dynamics. Additionally, the combination of circRNAs was independently correlated with PTC presence. Conclusion:The combination of these altered circRNAs was correlated with PTC and may serve as a novel diagnostic approach.

Aims: This study aims to evaluate and validate a simple quantitative ultrasound (US) method for determining the hepatic fat content (HFC) based on the combination of quantitative US hepatic/renal ratio (US-HRR) and quantitative US hepatic echo-intensity attenuation rate (US-HAR) as compared with [1H]-magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS).Material and methods: There were a total of 242 subjects recruited in the present study. All subjects were examined for HFC by quantitative US and 1H-MRS methods. The QUS-HRR and QUS-HAR were calculated from ordinary ultrasound images of liver and kidney with a triple modality 3D abdominal phantom using the Image J software.Results: The results found that US-HRR and US-HAR correlated with 1H-MRS HFC (US-HRR: r=0.946, p<0.001; US-HAR: r=0.936, p<0.001). The equation for HFC prediction by using quantitative US was: HFC (%) = 28.965 × US-HRR + 218.045 × US-HAR - 8.892. Subgroup analysis in study subjects with body mass index (BMI) ≥28 showed that quantitative US HFC was associated with 1H-MRS HFC (R2=0.953, p<0.001). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis observed that the cut-off value of fatty liver diagnosis was 6.71% in using the quantitative US model; the sensitivity and specificity for fatty liver diagnosis were 94.15% and 96.30%, respectively. Variability analysis indicated that there was a relative high degree of consistency in the measurement of HFC with different operators or ultrasonic apparatus.Conclusions: Quantitative US measurement could be regarded as a simple, sensitive tool to accurately assess HFC. It provides a valid alternative to 1H-MRS as an easy, non-invasive option for the precise estimation of HFC in clinical practice.

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Castleman's disease is a rare disease which is difficult to diagnose early due to its lack of specific manifestations, and also is easily confused with lymphoma or other solid tumors. Castleman's disease can occur in any part of the body containing lymph nodes and is most common in the chest, followed by the neck, abdomen, and axillae. A 37-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of a tumor near the adrenal gland found by computed tomography. Positron emission tomography-computed tomography revealed that the retroperitoneal tumor may be a malignant disease. However, the pathological diagnosis after laparoscopic resection was retroperitoneal Castleman's disease, hyaline vascular type.followed by the neck, abdomen, and axillae [3,4]. However, retroperitoneal CD is relatively rare. We report on a patient with retroperitoneal CD who presented no clinical symptoms; only by computed tomography (CT) was a large abdominal tumor found.