Etiology and functional status of liver cirrhosis by ^(31)P MR spectroscopy

AIM: To assess the functional status and etiology of liver cirrhosis by quantitative 31p magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS).METHODS: A total of 80 patients with liver cirrhosis of different etiology and functional status described by Child-Pugh score were examined and compared to 11 healthy volunteers. MR examination was performed on a 1.5 T imager using a 1H/31P surface coil by the 2D chemical shift imaging technique.Absolute concentrations of phosphomonoesters (PME),phosphodiesters (PDE), inorganic phosphate (Pi) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) were measured.RESULTS: MRS changes reflected the degree of liver dysfunction in all the patients as well as in individual etiological groups. The most important change was a decrease of PDE. It was possible to distinguish alcoholic,viral and cholestatic etiologies based on MR spectra.Alcoholic and viral etiology differed in PDE (alcoholic,viral, controls: 6.5±2.3, 6.5±3.1, 10.8±2.7 mmol/L,P＜0.001) and ATP (alcoholic, viral, controls: 2.9±0.8, 2.8±0.9, 3.7±1.0 mmol/L, P＜0.01) from the control group.Unlike viral etiology, patients with alcoholic etiology also differed in Pi (alcoholic, controls: 1.2±0.4, 1.6±0.6mmol/L, P＜0.05) from controls. No significant changes were found in patients with cholestatic disease and controls; nevertheless, this group differed from both alcoholic and viral groups (cholestatic, alcoholic, viral: 9.4±2.7, 6.5±2.3, 6.5±3.1 mmol/L, P＜0.005) in PDE.CONCLUSION: 31p MRS can significantly help in noninvasive separation of different etiological groups leading to liver cirrhosis. In addition, MRS changes reflect functional liver injury.

Evaluation of mannitol effect in patients with acute hepatic failure and acute-on-chronic liver failure using conventional MRI,diffusion tensor imaging and in-vivo proton MR spectroscopy

AIM： To evaluate the effect of an intravenous bolus of mannitol in altering brain metabolites, brain water content, brain parenchyma volume, cerebrospinal fluid （CSF） volume and clinical signs in controls and in patients with acute liver failure （ALF） and acute- on-chronic liver failure （ACLF）, by comparing changes in conventional magnetic resonance imaging （MRI）, in vivo proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy （PMRS） and diffusion tensor imaging （DTI） before and after its infusion.METHODS： Five patients each with ALF and ACLF in grade 3 or 4 hepatic encephalopathy and with clinical signs of raised intracranial pressure were studied along with five healthy volunteers. After baseline MRI, an intravenous bolus of 20% mannitol solution was given over 10 min in controls as well as in patients with ALF and ACLE Repeat MRI for the same position was acquired 30 rnin after completing the rnannitol injection. RESULTS： No statistically significant difference was observed between controls and patients with ALF and ACLF in metabolite ratios, DTI metrics and brain volume or CSF volume following 45 rain of mannitol infusion. There was no change in clinical status at the end of post-mannitol imaging. CONCLUSION： The osmotic effect of mannitol did not result in significant reduction of brain water content, alteration in metabolite ratios or any change in the clinical status of these patients during or within 45 min of mannitol infusion.

Application of proton MR spectroscopy on evaluation of radiotherapy treated intracranial tumors

Objective： To evaluate the clinical application of proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy （1HMRS） in patients with radiotherapy treated intracranial tumors. Methods： Forty patients with intracranial tumors underwent multivoxel 1HMRS examination before and after radiotherapy. The concentrations of N-acetyl aspartate （NAA）, choline （Cho） and creatine （Cr） were obtained both in the tumors and the contralateral normal brain regions, The ratios of NANCr, Cho/Cr and Cho/NAA were calculated at the same time and follow-up one year. Results： （1） After radiotherapy, tumors inhibited by radiation had decreased Cho, NAA and Cr on proton MRS. Some cases showed necrotic wave. （2） During the one year follow-up, local tumor recurred in 8 cases and their Cho and Cho/NAA increased high again. Other cases without recurrence, HMRS showed no change. Conclusion： Multivoxel proton MR spectroscopy is available for study of tumor metabolites after radiotherapy and it is a valuable method in the evaluation of radiotherapy treated tumors,

Human umbilical mesenchymal stem cell and its adipogenic differentiation:Profiling by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

AIM: To study the metabolic profile of human umbilical mesenchymal stem cells (HUMSC) and adipogenic differentiation by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy.

Clinical utility of proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy in the diagnosis of breast tumors

Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) can provide specific biochemical information within breast lesions and the elevated composite choline concentration as a useful diagnostic tool has been used to distinguish malignant from benign breast lesions, early evaluate response to therapy and predict prognosis. However, several obstacles including poor spatial resolution, low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), long acquisition time and the difficulty of "extra" lipid suppression may have a negative impact on the routine application of in vivo 1H MRS for human breast cancer. At present, optimization H MRS methodology for breast studies has been performed.

Trichoblastic Fibroma of the Skin Mimicking Primary or Secondary Breast Cancer

We report a case of a 71 -year- old female with trichoblastic fibroma, a rare benign tumor of the skin, found in the left breast, associated with an invasive contralateral breast cancer. On clinical examination, a solitary, firm nodule was found in the subcutaneous tissue of the left breast with no changes in the overlying skin. Radiological examination showed disconcordant results. Conventional mammography and ultrasound suggested benign nature, while magnetic resonance mammography and spectroscopy raised the presumption of the malignant nature of the lesion. After performing excisional biopsy, the diagnosis of trichoblastic fibroma was established. Microscopically, it was composed of fibrous stroma, basaloid germs and strands and lace-like epithelial components, with no obvious connection with overlying epithelium or adjacent adnexal structures.