TACE-sorafenib side effects were acceptable, and this treatment may improve overall survival in patients with HCC with first-order or lower-branch PVTT when compared with patients who underwent TACE alone.

BackgroundThe underlying brain basis of nonclinical depressive symptoms (nCDSs) is largely unknown. Recently, the seed-based functional connectivity (FC) approach for analyzing resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) data has been increasingly used to explore the neural basis of depressive disorders. Other than common seed-based FC method using an a priori seed region, we conducted FC analysis based on regions with altered spontaneous activity revealed by the fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF) approach. The aim of the present study was to provide novel insight in the underlying mechanism of nCDSs in college students.Methodology/Principal FindingsA total number of 1105 college students were recruited to participant in a survey for assessing depressive symptoms. Subsequently, 17 individuals with nCDSs and 20 healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled to perform MR studies. Alternations of fALFF were identified in the right superior parietal lobule (SPL) and left lingual gyrus, both of which were used as ROIs for further FC analysis. With right SPL, compare with HCs, subjects with nCDSs showed reduced FCs in the bilateral dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), left inferior frontal gurus (IFG), left premotor cortex (PMC), DMN network [i.e., bilateral precuneus, posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), right supramarginal gyrus (SMG), right parahippocampal gyrus (PHG), bilateral inferior temporal gurus (ITG)] and left cerebellum posterior lobe (CPL). In addition, increased FCs were observed between the left lingual gyrus and right fusiform gyrus as well as in the left precuneus.Conclusion/SignificanceOur results indicate the abnormalities of spontaneous activity in the right SPL and left lingual gyrus and their corresponding dysfunction of the brain circuits might be related to the pathophysiology of nCDSs.

ObjectiveProspectively assess the performance of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) for differentiation of central lung cancer from atelectasis.Materials and Methods38 consecutive lung cancer patients (26 males, 12 females; age range: 28–71 years; mean age: 49 years) who were referred for thoracic MR imaging examinations were enrolled. MR examinations were performed using a 1.5-T clinical scanner and scanning sequences of T1WI, T2WI, and DWI. Cancers and atelectasis were measured by mapping of the apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) obtained with a b-value of 500 s/mm2.ResultsPET/CT and DW-MR allowed differentiation of tumor and atelectasis in all 38 cases, but T2WI did not allow differentiation in 9 cases. Comparison of conventional T2WI and DW-MRI indicated a higher contrast noise ratio of the central lung carcinoma than the atelectasis by DW-MRI. ADC maps indicated significantly lower mean ADC in the central lung carcinoma than in the atelectasis (1.83±0.58 vs. 2.90±0.26 mm2/s, p<0.0001). ADC values of small cell lung carcinoma were significantly greater than those from squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma (p<0.0001 for both).ConclusionsDW-MR imaging provides valuable information not obtained by conventional MR and may be useful for differentiation of central lung carcinoma from atelectasis. Future developments may allow DW-MR imaging to be used as an alternative to PET-CT in imaging of patients with lung cancer.

Purpose To determine the safety and efficacy of sorafenib combined with transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) (hereafter, S-TACE-RFA) in patients with medium or large (range, 3.1-7.0 cm in diameter) hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Materials and Methods This retrospective study evaluated the medical records of consecutive patients with medium or large HCC who underwent S-TACE-RFA or combined TACE and RFA (hereafter, TACE-RFA) from January 2010 to December 2014. Sorafenib was started 3-5 days after TACE, and RFA was performed 1-2 weeks after TACE. Treatment complications, recurrence-free survival (RFS), and overall survival (OS) in patients who underwent S-TACE-RFA were compared with those in patients who underwent TACE-RFA. Results Of the 174 patients who underwent S-TACE-RFA or TACE-RFA, 106 who met the eligibility criteria were included in this study. Among them, 40 underwent S-TACE-RFA and 66 underwent TACE-RFA. The patients who underwent S-TACE-RFA had longer RFS (median, 24.0 vs 10.0 months; P = .04) and better OS (median, 63.0 vs 36.0 months, P = .048) than those who underwent TACE-RFA. S-TACE-RFA and α-fetoprotein level were independent prognostic factors for survival in uni- and multivariable analyses. The rate of complications in patients who underwent S-TACE-RFA was similar to that in patients who underwent TACE-RFA (22.5% vs 18.2%, P = .59). Conclusion S-TACE-RFA resulted in longer RFS and better OS than did TACE-RFA in patients with medium or large HCC. RSNA, 2018 Online supplemental material is available for this article.