Hypertriglyceridemic waist phenotype (HTWP) and its quantitative indicator, waist circumference-triglyceride index (WTI), are common quantitative indices of visceral obesity and are closely related to metabolic diseases. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between fatty pancreas (FP) and HTWP in China. FP was diagnosed using trans-abdominal ultrasonography in all participants. According to the waist circumference and serum triglyceride levels, the participants were divided into four phenotype groups: normal waist circumference-normal triglyceride, normal waist circumference-elevated triglyceride, elevated waist circumference-normal triglyceride, and elevated waist circumference-elevated triglyceride (indicating HTWP). Clinical characteristics and biochemical indices were compared among the groups. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to evaluate the utility of WTI as a reference factor for FP screening. The HTWP group had a higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome (84.2%), FP (10.4%), fatty liver (64.5%), and hypertension (15.8%) than the other three phenotype groups. The occurrence rate of HTWP and the median WTI were significantly higher in participants with FP than in those without FP (54.7% vs 21.0%, 222 ± 135 vs 142 ± 141, p < 0.001). In the ROC curve analysis, when the maximum area under the curve was 0.746, the WTI was 107.09 and the corresponding sensitivity and specificity were 90.6% and 51.9%, respectively. HTWP is closely associated with FP and can be used as a reference factor for FP screening.

The double-angle method (DAM) is commonly used as a reference standard in radiofrequency field (B ) mapping studies. This study explored two aspects of DAM: (i) use of small flip angle pairs to reduce the repetition time (TR) needed for adequate longitudinal relaxation (T); and (ii) the effect of using different flip angle ratios for B mapping. Results of phantom studies show that B correction using small flip angle pairs ≤ 60° with TR  =  5000 ms can allow for accurate estimation of T up to about 1500 ms; and that increasing the ratio of the two flip angles used for B correction resulted in more accurate estimation of T . These modifications allow 3-dimensional (3D) B mapping to be consistently performed with the same 3D spoiled gradient echo sequence used for T mapping in dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most deadly tumors and its incidence has been rising worldwide. In its various stages, several modalities of treatment and therapies have been developed. Appropriate HCC treatment needs to consider the tumor stage, underlying liver disease and patient's performance levels. Liver transplantation is an effective treatment but unreliable due to scarcity of donors, whereas surgical resection possesses the potential to achieve long-term survival. However, most tumors are not resectable due to their size, location, number and the function of the liver being compromised. Thus, resection is the first choice treatment for resectable tumors only. This prompts the rise of transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) for unresectable HCC. Progressively, radiofrequency ablation (RFA) arose though it exhibits high postoperative recurrence and cancer mortality. Notably, identifying the best-suited treatment is critical in enabling maximum long-term survival. Though HCC is an identified chemoresistant tumor, chemotherapies have been developed for advanced HCC. Among them, sorafenib, blocks tumor cell proliferation thus improving patient survival, even though costly. In comparison to RFA, TACE has been identified to have more complications and symptoms. However, it demonstrates improved survival benefits and quality of patient care more than symptomatic supportive care. Furthermore, for unresectable HCC, TACE can replace the costly and modestly effective sorafenib treatment; whereas RFA is potentially curative in treating HCC and an alternative to liver transplantation or surgical resection in the early HCC stages. It treats primary and secondary liver tumor in the very early N. Chhaniwal et al. 51 stage HCC. Its reliance on image guidance is minimally invasive and enhances its efficacy and safety, especially where surgery will not have been possible. However, skin burns, hemorrhage, hepatic abscess and pleural effusion are complications that accompany RFA prompting the need for additional treatment.

Purpose: To clarify the diagnostic performance of reduced field-of-view (rFOV) diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and compare prostate cancer (PCa) detection rates of rFOV DWI-targeted biopsy (rFOV DWI-TB) with systemic biopsy (SB). Materials and Methods: Ninety-eight consecutive patients with suspected PCa (mean prostate-specific antigen [PSA]: 17.85 ng/mL, range, 4-28 ng/mL) were prospectively enrolled in this study. All rFOV DWI data were carried out using PI-RADS V 2.0 assessment category. All patients underwent a 10-core SB and a further 2-4 cores of rFOV DWI-TB. The performance of rFOV DWI was analyzed, and the cancer detection rates between two methods were compared. Results: The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value for detecting PCa with rFOV DWI were 85.11%, 92.16%, 90.91%, and 87.04%, respectively. Area under curve for rFOV DWI was 0.886. In the digital rectal examination (DRE) normal and PSA ≥ 10 ng/mL subgroups, the PCa detection rates were statistically greater for rFOV DWI-TB than for SB (both P < 0.05). The mean Gleason score of cancers detected by rFOV DWI-TB was significantly higher than that detected by SB (P < 0.05). In addition, the detection rate for rFOV DWI-TB cores was significantly better than for SB cores (P < 0.001). Conclusion: RFOV DWI allowed for good diagnostic performance in patients suspected of PCa. It may be useful for clinically significant PCa detecting.

Background Transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS)/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) fusion‐guided biopsy has a high clinical application value. However, this technique has some limitations, which limit its use in routine clinical practice. Therefore, the selection of suitable proatate lesions for this technique is worthy of our attention. Synthetic MRI (SyMRI) is capable of quantifying multiple relaxation parameters, which might have potential value in preprocedural evaluation for TRUS/MRI fusion‐guided biopsy of the prostate. The aim of our study is to examine the value of SyMRI quantitative parameters in preprocedural evaluation for TRUS/MRI fusion‐guided biopsy of the prostate. Methods We prospectively selected 148 lesions in 137 patients who underwent prostate biopsy in our hospital. Next, 2–4 needles of TRUS/MRI fusion‐guided biopsy combined with 10 needles of system biopsy (SB) were used as the protocol for prostate biopsy. Before biopsy, the MAGiC sequences of the MRI images of the enrolled patients underwent post‐processing, and the longitudinal relaxation time (T1), transverse relaxation time (T2), and proton density (PD) were extracted. The biopsy pathology results were used as a gold standard to compare the differences in SyMRI quantitative parameters between benign and malignant prostate lesions in the peripheral and transitional zones. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted to confirm the optimal SyMRI quantitative parameter for prostate lesion benignancy/malignancy performance, and the cutoff values of these parameters were used for grouping the lesions. The single‐needle biopsy prostate cancer (PCa)‐positivity rates (number of positive biopsy needles/total biopsy needles) and PCa overall detection rates by TRUS/MRI fusion‐guided biopsy and SB were compared in different subgroups. Results The T1 and T2 values can determine the benignancy/malignancy of prostate transition lesions(p < 0.01), and the T2 value has a greater diagnostic performance (p = 0.0376). The T2 value can determine the benignancy/malignancy of prostate peripheral lesions. The optimal diagnostic cutoff values for T2 were 77 and 81 ms, respectively. The single‐needle PCa positivity rate of TRUS/MRI fusion‐guided biopsy was higher than SB for any prostate lesions in different subgroups (p < 0.01). However, only in the subgroup of transition zone lesions with T2 ≤ 77 ms, the PCa overall detection rate of TRUS/MRI fusion‐guided biopsy was significantly higher than that of SB (p = 0.031). Conclusion SyMRI‐T2 value can provide a theoretical basis for the selection of suitable lesions for TRUS/MRI fusion‐guided biopsy.