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Background Extrahepatic metastases and proper staging of HCC are mandatory for proper assessment of the disease process and its exact extent. Subsequently, clinicians can put precise management and treatment strategies for patients with metastatic HCC. 18FFDG PET/CT is one of the best imaging modalities for the proper detection of metastases and staging. It can provide both functional information and high contrast resolution of CT. Results On comparison between 18F FDG PET/CT and triphasic CT regarding metastases PET/CT showed greater sensitivity (92.3%) and specificity (84.4%), than triphasic CT (51.3%), (81/3%), and (76.9%), respectively. PET/CT revealed that the SUV max cutoff point for diagnosis of HCC was > 3.PET/CT revealed an SUV max cutoff point of > 5.57 for predicting that HCC has extrahepatic metastases. PET/CT revealed an SUV max cutoff point of > 3.35 for differentiating between metastatic and nonmetastatic lesions. Conclusions PET/CT combines the advantages of the excellent functional information provided by PET and the contrast resolution of CT. It increases the rate of detection of extrahepatic metastases, so it is more sensitive than triphasic CT in the staging of HCC. Using the standard uptake value proved to be efficient in HCC diagnosis and staging being more related to the functional activity of the tumor cells.

Background and study aim: Epidemiological data reported lower death rates of COVID-19 cases in countries with higher & recent coverage by measles containing vaccines. In this study we aim to identify measles IgG titer in COVID-19 patients & correlate it with disease severity. Patients and Method: This is a Crosssectional study where 78 patients admitted to Ain Shams University Quarantine hospitals with positive PCR for SARS-CoV-2 were enrolled. All patients underwent quantification of serum measles IgG titer. Then classified according to the COVID-19 severity into mild, moderate and severe.Results: Measles IgG was positive in 53 patients (68%) with median of 1600 (IQR 1000-or3100), borderline in 18 patients (23%) with median 250 and negative in seven patients (9%) with median 100 (IQR 80-120). Patients with positive measles IgG were significantly older (56±16 years) than those with negative measles IgG ( 48±15 years) (P=0.03).No significant difference was found in measles IgG titer between mild , moderate and severe COVID19 cases. Intensity of pulmonary involvement by CT chest was not correlated with measles IgG titer. The median of measles IgG titer of the ICU admitted patients and those who were not, was 1150 (IQR=600-3500) and 1050 (IQR=200-1800) respectively (p=0.46). No difference in measles IgG titer between patients who recovered or died. Conclusion:Severity of COVID-19 disease and its outcome seem to be unaffected by measles IgG titer.

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