The inferior phrenic artery (IPA) is the most common source of extra-hepatic collateral blood supply for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and frequently supplies HCCs located in the bare area of the liver. Other pathologic conditions including hemoptysis, diaphragmatic or hepatic bleeding due to trauma or surgery, and bleeding caused by gastroesophageal problems (eg, Mallory-Weiss tear or gastroesophageal cancer) may be related to the IPA. Over a 4-year period, the authors performed 383 interventional procedures related to the IPA. The right and left IPAs originate with almost equal frequency from the aorta and celiac axis and with lesser frequency from the renal arteries. Various other sites of origin-such as the left gastric, hepatic, superior mesenteric, spermatic, and adrenal arteries-are also seen. Radiologists must be familiar with the normal spectrum of IPA anatomy so that detection and adequate interventional management can be achieved when pathologic conditions related to the IPA are present.

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Leiomyosarcomas of the ovarian vein are very rare. Four cases have been reported in the English language clinical literature. We present a case of leiomyosarcomas where the use of multi-detector CT had a substantial role in the establishment of the preoperative diagnosis. The radiological images as well as intraoperative features are illustrated. We also discuss the radiological findings of the ovarian vein leiomyosarcoma in comparison with those of other venous or retroperitoneal leiomyosarcomas. We expect that the use of multi-detector CT will be the choice for the diagnostic work-up of vascular leiomyosarcomas.

Clinical manifestations and computed tomography (CT) findings of Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome (FHCS) are relatively well stabilized as right upper quadrant abdominal pain and hepatic capsular enhancement because of perihepatitis associated with pelvic inflammatory disease caused by N. gonorrhoeae and C. trachomatis. We encountered three patients with serial FHCS associated with pelvic inflammatory disease, who visited the emergency room with right upper quadrant abdominal pain. Abdominal CT revealed hepatic capsular or pericapsular enhancement along the anterior surface of the liver on the arterial phase. Recently, multi-detector CT has evolved as the first-line imaging modality of acute abdomen at the emergency room; we reemphasized the importance of the CT findings of this syndrome for differential diagnosis of right upper quadrant abdominal pain in sexually active young women. Physicians at the emergency room acknowledge the syndrome and should perform dynamic abdominopelvic CT including the arterial phase.

The availability of new therapeutic interventions, including neuroprotective agents and endovascular thrombolysis, has given new hope to patients suffering an acute stroke. Early intervention remains a key factor in the effectiveness of these new and traditional treatments. More importantly, the capability to assess the viability and reversibility of the ischemic tissue became essential for better delineation and differentiation of infarcted versus ischemic tissue and patient management. Abnormal MR imaging (MRI) findings during acute stroke usually reflect the underlying pathophysiologic changes, which can be classified into three sequential stages: (a) hypoperfusion, (b) cellular dysfunction and (c) breakdown of the blood-brain barrier. The first stage is a kinetic phenomenon (not biologic) and, therefore, can be detected immediately. Contrast agents accentuate the abnormal flow kinetics and facilitate the early diagnosis of ischemia using either conventional MRI or newly developed echo-planar perfusion imaging (EPPI). The demonstration of abnormal arterial or parenchymal enhancement on conventional MRI during acute stroke provides the earliest sign of vascular occlusion/stenosis. EPPI, in contrast, provides information related to microcirculation (< 100 microns) and tissue reserve (cerebral blood volume) that cannot be obtained by conventional angiography and is directly related to the target end-organ. Further information obtained from both contrast MRI and EPPI may have a predictive value in the clinical outcome of acute stroke patients.