ObjectiveThe present study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance and safety of PET/CT-guided percutaneous core bone biopsy and to compare the PET/CT-guided method to conventional CT-guided percutaneous core biopsies to diagnose Chinese patients with bone tumors and tumor-like lesions.MethodsData for 97 patients with bone tumors and tumor-like lesions diagnosed by percutaneous core bone biopsy from February 2013 to November 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. The study included 42 cases in the PET/CT group and 55 cases in the CT alone group. The diagnostic performance, cost and complications associated with the intervention were compared between the two groups. All patients were eventually confirmed to have bone tumors and tumor-like lesions according to surgical pathology findings.ResultsThere were no significant differences in patient characteristics (P > 0.05). For the patients in the PET/CT group, the overall diagnostic yield of the initial biopsies and the diagnostic accuracy derived from the surgically proven cases were both 97.62%, which was significantly higher than the values in the CT group during the same period (P < 0.05). No major biopsy-related complications (e.g., serious bleeding or tumor dissemination) occurred before, during, or after the intervention. Therefore, no significant difference was observed between the two groups with regard to the complication rate (P > 0.05).ConclusionCompared with CT-guided percutaneous bone biopsy, PET/CT-guided percutaneous bone biopsy is an effective and safe alternative with high diagnostic performance in the evaluation of hypermetabolic bone lesions to diagnose bone tumors and tumor-like lesions.

Background: Lymphoepithelioma-like hepatic carcinoma is a rare malignant tumor. It includes lymphoepithelioma-like hepatocellular carcinoma (LEL-HCC) and lymphoepithelioma-like intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (LEL-ICC). we report the first case of hepatic cyst and LEL-HCC, which is extremely rare among hepatocellular carcinoma.Case presentation: A 47-year-old female was admitted to our hospital with an unexpected health examination finding of liver nodules. Subsequently, the Computerized tomography (CT) revealed a tumor and a cyst. The Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) found a 23×18 mm hepatic cyst in the right lobe of the liver and a 21×17 mm nodule in the left lateral lobe of the liver, and the nodule imaging was likely liver cancer. The patient underwent laparoscopic left lateral hepatectomy, and the histopathological examination revealed undifferentiated heterogeneous glandular epithelial cells with obvious lymphocyte infiltration. The Immunohistochemistry study CD3, CD20, Ki-67, CK, and CK19 results were positive, while CD10, P53, and CEA were negative in tumor tissues. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) was negative in situ hybridization. For this patient, the LEL-HCC diagnostic was made according to the histopathological result. Surgical resection is the first choice for this kind of patients, but immunotherapy may be more promising for them in the future. Conclusion: LEL-HCC is a rare variant of HCC, characterized by dense lymphocyte infiltration and a good prognosis. We report the first patient with hepatic cysts and LEL-HCC, which is distinctly uncommon in the HCC patients. Because the hepatic cyst and tumor are similar in certain imaging studies, our work can provide information for clinical diagnosis.

Objective The goal of this study is to evaluate the performance of spectral CT-based quantitative analysis in differential diagnosis of hypervascular hepatic metastasis (HVHM) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods Spectral CT scans were performed for 47 patients with hepatic malignant tumors, including 20 patients with HVHM and 27 patients with HCC, which generated the following sets of data: single energy images in the arterial phase; iodine and water maps; marginal areas of lesions that manifested apparent signal intensification; and energy spectral parameters of normal liver tissues and abdominal aorta. Subsequently, we calculated the normalized iodine concentrations (NIC), lesion-normal parenchyma iodine concentration ratio (LNR), iodine concentration difference (ICD) between the arterial phase and the venous phase, and the spectral curve slope. An independent samples t test and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were applied to examine these quantitative parameters. Results In the arterial phase, the HVHM and HCC groups displayed no differences in NIC, LNR, or spectral curve slope (P > 0.05). In the venous phase, the two groups displayed significant differences in NIC, LNR, and spectral curve slope; the NIC was 0.59 ± 0.08 for the HVHM group and 0.4 5 ± 0.10 for the HCC group; the LNR was 1.17 ± 0.22 and 0.92 ± 0.16, respectively; the spectral curve slope was 1.85 ± 0.49 and 1.18 ± 0.34, respectively. In addition, there was no significant difference in ICD between the HVHM group (0.54 ± 0.39 g/L) and HCC group (0.45 ± 0.39 g/L) (P > 0.05). Finally, there were no significant differences of water or iodine concentration between the arterial phase and venous phase (P > 0.05). Taken together, the spectral curve slope in the portal venous phase had the best performance in differentiating HVHM from HCC. Conclusions HVHM and HCC have apparent differences in spectral curve and concentrations of radiocontrast agents in the portal venous phase. Hence, spectral CT imaging provides a new multiparameter quantitative approach for differentiating HVHM and HCC.

Background The goal of this study is to evaluate the performance of spectral CT-based quantitative analysis in differential diagnosis of hypervascular hepatic metastasis (HVHM) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods Spectral CT scans were performed for 47 patients with hepatic malignant tumors, including 20 patients with HVHM and 27 patients with HCC, which generated the following sets of data: single energy images in the arterial phase; iodine and water maps; marginal areas of lesions that manifested apparent signal intensification; and energy spectral parameters of normal liver tissues and abdominal aorta. Subsequently, we calculated the normalized iodine concentrations (NIC), lesion-normal parenchyma iodine concentration ratio (LNR), iodine concentration difference (ICD) between the arterial phase and the venous phase, and the spectral curve slope. An independent samples t test and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were applied to examine these quantitative parameters. Results In the arterial phase, the HVHM and HCC groups displayed no differences in NIC, LNR, or spectral curve slope ( P > 0.05). In the venous phase, the two groups displayed significant differences in NIC, LNR, and spectral curve slope; the NIC was 0.59 ± 0.08 for the HVHM group and 0.4 5 ± 0.10 for the HCC group; the LNR was 1.17 ± 0.22 and 0.92 ± 0.16, respectively; the spectral curve slope was 1.85 ± 0.49 and 1.18 ± 0.34, respectively. In addition, there was no significant difference in ICD between the HVHM group (0.54 ± 0.39 g/L) and HCC group (0.45 ± 0.39 g/L) ( P > 0.05). Finally, there were no significant differences of water or iodine concentration between the arterial phase and venous phase ( P > 0.05). Taken together, the spectral curve slope in the portal venous phase had the best performance in differentiating HVHM from HCC. Conclusions HVHM and HCC have apparent differences in spectral curve and concentrations of radiocontrast agents in the portal venous phase. Hence, spectral CT imaging provides a new multiparameter quantitative approach for differentiating HVHM and HCC.