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Background Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are highly susceptible to cardiovascular disease, and coronary artery disease (CAD) is their leading cause of death. We aimed to assess whether computed tomography (CT) based imaging parameters and radiomic features of pericoronary adipose tissue (PCAT) can improve the diagnostic efficacy of whether patients with T2DM have developed CAD. Methods We retrospectively recruited 229 patients with T2DM but no CAD history (146 were diagnosed with CAD at this visit and 83 were not). We collected clinical information and extracted imaging manifestations from CT images and 93 radiomic features of PCAT from all patients. All patients were randomly divided into training and test groups at a ratio of 7:3. Four models were constructed, encapsulating clinical factors (Model 1), clinical factors and imaging indices (Model 2), clinical factors and Radscore (Model 3), and all together (Model 4), to identify patients with CAD. Receiver operating characteristic curves and decision curve analysis were plotted to evaluate the model performance and pairwise model comparisons were performed via the DeLong test to demonstrate the additive value of different factors. Results In the test set, the areas under the curve (AUCs) of Model 2 and Model 4 were 0.930 and 0.929, respectively, with higher recognition effectiveness compared to the other two models (each p < 0.001). Of these models, Model 2 had higher diagnostic efficacy for CAD than Model 1 (p < 0.001, 95% CI [0.129–0.350]). However, Model 4 did not improve the effectiveness of the identification of CAD compared to Model 2 (p = 0.776); similarly, the AUC did not significantly differ between Model 3 (AUC = 0.693) and Model 1 (AUC = 0.691, p = 0.382). Overall, Model 2 was rated better for the diagnosis of CAD in patients with T2DM. Conclusions A comprehensive diagnostic model combining patient clinical risk factors with CT-based imaging parameters has superior efficacy in diagnosing the occurrence of CAD in patients with T2DM.

Background: Fractional flow reserve derived from computed tomography (CT-FFR) can be used to noninvasively evaluate the functions of coronary arteries and has been widely welcomed in the field of cardiovascular research. However, whether different image reconstruction schemes have an effect on CT-FFR analysis through single-and multiple-cardiac periodic images in the same patient has not been investigated.Methods: This study retrospectively enrolled 122 patients who underwent 320-row computed tomography (CT) examination with both single-and multiple-cardiac periodic reconstruction schemes; a total of 366 coronary arteries were analyzed. The lowest CT-FFR values of each vessel and the poststenosis CT-FFR values of the lesion-specific coronary artery were measured using the two reconstruction techniques.The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare differences in CT-FFR values between the two reconstruction techniques. Spearman correlation analysis was performed to determine the relationship between CT-FFR values derived using the two methods. Bland-Altman and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) analyses were performed to evaluate the consistency of CT-FFR values.Results: In all blood vessels, the lowest CT-FFR values showed no significant differences between the two reconstruction techniques in the left anterior descending artery (LAD; P=0.65), left circumflex artery (LCx; P=0.46), or right coronary artery (RCA; P=0.22). In blood vessels with atherosclerotic plaques, the poststenosis CT-FFR values (2 cm distal to the maximum stenosis) exhibited no significant differences between the two reconstruction techniques in the LAD (P=0.78), LCx (P=1.00), or RCA (P=1.00). The mean CT-FFR values of single-and multiple-cardiac periodic images showed excellent correlation and minimal bias in all groups.Conclusions: CT-FFR analysis based on an artificial intelligence deep learning neural network is stable and not affected by the type of 320-row CT reconstruction technology.

Purpose. To retrospectively evaluate the efficacy and safety of TACE combined with microwave ablation (MWA) and TACE combined with cryoablation (CRA) in the treatment of large hepatocellular carcinoma. Methods. A retrospective analysis was performed on 81 patients with large hepatocellular carcinoma (tumor diameter 5～8 cm cm) who received TACE combined with ablation in our hospital from February 2015 to February 2019. The study patients were divided into TACE combined with MWA group (T-MWA, n = 41) and TACE combined with CRA group (T-CRA, n = 40) according to the treatment plan. Overall survival (OS) and progress free survival (PFS) were compared between the two groups, and complications were observed. Survival curves for OS and PFS were constructed by the Kaplan–Meier method. Differences in overall survival were compared using the log-rank test. Results. There was no statistical difference in general conditions between the two groups of patients. The results showed that 30 (73.2%) patients in T-MWA group achieved objective response (OR) and 39 (95.1%) patients achieved disease control (DC), compared with 24 (60.0%) patients in T-CRA group who achieved objective response (OR) and 37 (92.5%) patients who achieved disease control (DC). The median OS was 19.2 months in the T-MWA group and 18.6 months in the T-CRA group ( P = 0.64 ). The median PFS was 9.3 months in the T-MWA group and 12.3 months in the T-CRA group ( P = 0.6 ). Univariate and multivariate analysis showed that portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT), intrahepatic tumor diameter, and the number of tumor lesions were common prognostic factors for OS and PFS. In terms of surgery-related complications and adverse reactions, abdominal pain and gastrointestinal reactions were observed in 13 (31.7%) and 11(26.8%) cases in the T-MWA group, while we observed 4 (10.0%) and 2 (5.0%) cases in the T-CRA group, respectively. The difference between the two was statistically significant ( P < 0.05 ). Conclusion. TACE combined with MWA and TACE combined with CRA were equally effective in the treatment of large hepatocellular carcinoma. TACE-CRA can effectively reduce the incidence of abdominal pain and gastrointestinal reactions in patients. However, compared with TACE-MWA, TACE-CRA is more likely to cause thrombocytopenia.