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Rectal adenocarcinomas surgery morbidity and mortality might be impaired by neoadjuvant therapy. We performed this retropsective study to be compared with the PROCARE study running afterwards.We performed a retrospective study of 95 patients operated on for rectal adenocarcinoma in a single institution during the period of 2007-2009. We used logistic regression to estimate the relationship between possible predictive parameters of anastomotic leakage (AL).The laparoscopic approach is favored in 63.1% of the cases with a conversion rate of 11.6%, mainly in man (6 out of 7). For low rectal cancer though, laparotomy was the first choice (92.3%). From a carcinological point of view, laparoscopy allowed a complete tumor resection according to the PME (n = 27) and TME (n = 26) standards. Multivariate analysis revealed that women, lower BMI, lower rectum tumor, laparoscopic surgery, neoadjuvant treatment and anal suture were associated with higher risk of AL. The mean hospital stay was 15.4 days (3-46 days) with an in-hospital mortality rate of 3.1%. Adjuvant chemotherapy was completed in 42.1% of the patients. Despite these treatments, we registered a recurrence rate of 26.6%. Of these, 72% were distally localized and 12% exclusively locally. Among the patients operated on by laparoscopy, there was one local recurrence and one local with distant metastases (3.7%). The one- and three-year survival rates were 91.5% and 80.4%, respectively.Our study showed a higher rate of AL than expected (18%). In our series recorded in PROCARE-Home, our leak rate has dropped to 10%. It may be indicating a positive effect of PROCARE.

The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility and accuracy of accelerated free-breathing and breath-hold gadolinium-enhanced MR angiography of the main renal arteries compared with digital subtraction angiography.Renal MR angiograms and catheter angiograms of 47 patients (19 men, 28 women; mean age, 68.1 +/- 15.1 years; range, 28-86 years) were reviewed. Thirty-one of the patients underwent free-breathing and 16 underwent breath-hold MR angiography with the same accelerated multiphase imaging protocol. Images were analyzed for examination quality, percentage narrowing of the main renal artery, and visibility of the branches. Diagnostic values of MR angiography were calculated with catheter angiography as the standard of reference.Sixty-five arteries, 24 of which (37%) had49% narrowing, were evaluated in the free-breathing group, and 37 arteries, six of which (16%) had49% narrowing, were evaluated in the breath-hold group. Comparison with digital subtraction angiography showed 100% (24/24) sensitivity and 95% (39/41) specificity for49% renal artery stenosis and 88% sensitivity (15/17) and 100% (48/48) specificity for74% renal artery stenosis in the free-breathing group. In the breath-hold group, sensitivity was 100% (6/6) and specificity 97% (30/31) for49% renal artery stenosis, and sensitivity was 100% (5/5) and specificity 100% (32/32) for74% renal artery stenosis. None of the examinations was nondiagnostic for the main renal arteries, but a smaller number of visible arterial tree subdivisions were found in the free-breathing group (average, 3.64 per patient) than in the breath-hold group (average, 5.87 per patient) (p = 0.035).Like breath-hold examinations, accelerated free-breathing MR angiographic examinations are feasible and accurate in evaluation of the main renal arteries.

To describe the polymorphism of intestinal ultrasound findings in children with gastrointestinal symptoms of Henoch Schönlein purpura (HSP) and to investigate the clinical relevance of these findings in terms of symptoms and length of hospitalization.Clinical and ultrasound data from 43 consecutive children with HSP (36 with and 7 without abdominal symptoms) were reviewed. Patients with abdominal symptoms of HSP were divided into 4 groups (0-III) representing at ultrasound normal appearance and differentiated, pseudodifferentiated, and dedifferentiated bowel wall thickening, respectively. The diagnostic value of ultrasound in diagnosing gastrointestinal involvement of HSP (grades I-III) was calculated using as the standard of reference the absence or presence of clinical symptoms. Average duration of symptoms and hospitalization in the 4 groups was compared.The respective sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of ultrasound for the diagnosis of gastrointestinal involvement of HSP was 83.3%, 100%, 100%, and 53.8%. Groups 0 to III contained, respectively, 5/36 (13.9%), 6/36 (16.7%), 22/36 (61.1%), and 3/36 (8.3%) patients. The groups' average duration of symptoms, respectively, was 2.20 +/- 2.06, 5.67 +/- 1.88, 6.29 +/- .94, and 17.67 +/- 2.66 days, whereas the length of hospitalization, respectively, was 4.80 +/- 2.96, 9.17 +/- 2.70, 11.46 +/- 1.35, and 24.67 +/- 3.82 days. The duration of both symptoms and hospitalization was significantly higher in group III than in the other groups (P0.05).In children with gastrointestinal involvement of HSP, dedifferentiated wall thickening as shown by ultrasound is associated with a poor clinical prognosis.

To prospectively determine if superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO)-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging could help visualize leukocyte phagocytic activities in human abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs).This study was approved by the institutional ethics committee; all patients gave informed consent. Preoperative MR imaging data, including unenhanced and SPIO-enhanced T1-, T2*-, and T2-weighted transverse images of the entire AAA, obtained 1 hour after contrast enhancement from 15 patients (mean age, 72.7 years +/- 8.2; range, 60-83 years), 10 men (mean age, 73.5 years +/- 7.9; range, 60-83 years) and five women (mean age, 71.2 years +/- 9.4; range 60-82), were retrospectively evaluated. Morphologic appearance and semiquantitative and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) analyses of the thrombi were performed. Thrombi were analyzed semiquantitatively at microscopy after staining with hematoxylin-eosin, CD68, and CD66b. Levels of promatrix metalloproteinase (pro-MMP)-2 and pro-MMP-9, MMP-2 and MMP-9, and their mRNA located in the thrombus were assessed by using zymography and quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction analysis. Nonparametric statistics of the Spearman rank correlation were calculated to evaluate correlations between the aneurysm thrombus signal level decrease after SPIO and the levels of CD68(+), CD66b(+) cells, pro-MMP-2 and pro-MMP-9, MMP-2 and MMP-9, and MMP-9 mRNA.The pre-SPIO CNRs in the luminal sublayer of the thrombus and the deeper thrombus were -10.20 +/- 12.69 and -5.68 +/-10.38, respectively. After SPIO, the CNRs decreased to -21.34 +/-13.07 (P.001) and -12.44 +/- 14.56, respectively (P.012). There was a significant linear correlation between the thrombus signal level decrease and the levels of CD68(+) and CD66b(+) cells, pro-MMP-9, and MMP-9 mRNA (P.05).MR imaging allows in vivo demonstration of SPIO uptake at the luminal interface of the thrombus. This uptake is correlated to the abundance of leukocytes.http://radiology.rsna.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1148/radiol.09090657/-/DC1.

To prospectively evaluate the learning curves and reading times of inexperienced readers who used the virtual dissection reading method for retrospective computed tomographic (CT) colonography data sets, with and without concurrent computer-aided detection (CAD).An Institutional Review Board approved this study; informed consent was waived. Four radiologists without experience in CT colonography evaluated 100 optical colonoscopy-proved data sets of 100 patients (49 men, 51 women; mean age, 59 years +/- 13 [standard deviation]; range, 21-85 years) by using the virtual dissection reading method. Two readers used concurrent CAD. Data sets were read during five consecutive 1-day sessions (20 data sets per session). Polyp detection and false-positive rates, receiver operating characteristics (ROCs), and reading times were calculated for individual, CAD group, and non-CAD group readings. Diagnostic values were compared by calculating the 95% confidence intervals (CIs) around the relative risk. Areas under ROC curves (AUCs) (Hanley and McNeil for paired analysis and z statistics for unpaired analysis) and reading times (Wilcoxon signed rank test) were compared across the sessions, within each session and for the whole study.The range of detection rates was 79 of 111 (.71 [95% CI: .61, .79]) to 91 of 111 (.82 [95% CI: .73, .88]). The range of false-positive rates was 17 of 111 (.15 [95% CI: .09, .23]) to 22 of 111 (.20 [95% CI: .12, .28]). All readers' AUCs rose from session 1 to session 4; this rise was significant (P.05) for the non-CAD group. Only during session 1 was the CAD group AUC (.83) higher than the non-CAD group AUC (.54) (P.05). Comparison of CAD and non-CAD reading times showed no significant difference for the whole study or during each session (P.05).The virtual dissection reading technique allows short learning curves, which may be improved by the concurrent use of CAD, without significant effect on average reading time.

Our objective was to assess how far the progress in ultrasound devices has increased feasibility and accuracy of Duplex ultrasound (DUS) for the diagnosis of renal artery stenosis (RAS), in a population with high prevalence of atherosclerotic renovascular lesions. Ninety-one hypertensive patients with atherosclerotic disease were prospectively evaluated by both DUS and digital subtraction angiography (DSA) of the renal arteries. Only proximal criteria (peak systolic velocity >180 mm/s or renal-to-aortic ratio >3.5) were used for the diagnosis of significant RAS (>60% narrowing). For both techniques, two readers were involved for interobserver variability study. Two hundred one arteries were demonstrated by DSA on 182 available kidneys. The prevalence of RAS among the study group was 37%. Sixteen of the 19 accessory arteries were not seen at DUS; in 8 patients, one renal artery was not seen at DUS (feasibility 91%). On the 177 arteries assessed, in comparison with DSA, DUS yielded 96, 91, and 97% mean values of accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity, respectively. Kappa for interobserver agreement was 0.95 for DUS and 0.92 for DSA. Although still unreliable for the detection of accessory arteries, DUS is in our experience an accurate and reproducible diagnostic test for RAS.

Thromboendarterectomy is sometimes performed in association with coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG). Right coronary arteries and severely narrowed coronary arteries mainly undergo thromboendarterectomy, but perioperative acute myocardial infarctions (AMI) are possible complications. One hundred seventy-six consecutive patients with rest and stress thallium-201 scintigraphy and angiography were studied before and after surgery. To compare patients with and without thromboendarterectomy, 48 patients who had undergone thromboendarterectomy and whose characteristics matched closely those of patients who had not were selected. Twenty patients had previous AMI before CABG in each group. Analysis accounted for the severity of vessel lesion (complete or incomplete) and for the patency of the graft and of the native coronary artery. In these 96 patients, graft patency was lower than in the overall group and similar among patients with and without thromboendarterectomy among the 56 patients without previous AMI. In patients with previous AMI and thromboendarterectomy, however, reperfusion was achieved more often through the native vessel than through the graft. New AMI or residual ischemia occurred in 32% of the areas undergoing thromboendarterectomy and in only 5% of the standard grafts (p less than 0.001). Best results were obtained in patients with incomplete occlusion after AMI. Patients without previous AMI had worse results. Thus, thromboendarterectomy can yield 64 to 75% good results in selected subgroups when CABG is otherwise impossible, but should be avoided in mildly or moderately stenotic arteries perfusing noninfarcted myocardium.

The efficacy of coronary bypass grafting obviously being linked to graft patency, it is compulsory to look for any innovation that could improve the patency rate. Ticlopidine, an antiplatelet drug, was tested against placebo in a double-blind trial: 173 patients (475 grafts) subjected to venous coronary artery bypass grafting were randomly treated with ticlopidine (250 mg twice daily) or placebo from the second postoperative day for 12 months. Graft patency was assessed by digital angiography on days 10 (99.4% of the patients), 180 (98.2%), and 360 (91.7%). The effect of treatment on platelet aggregation and bleeding time were measured concomitantly; a clear-cut effect was demonstrated at each interval. Intention-to-treat graft-by-graft analysis shows that ticlopidine significantly reduced the graft occlusion rate on day 10 (7.1% versus 13.4%, p less than 0.05), day 180 (15.0% versus 24.0%, p less than 0.02), and day 360 (15.9% versus 26.1%, p less than 0.01). Sequential grafts to the left anterior descending coronary artery, with side-to-side anastomosis to diagonal branch(es), are less frequently occluded than individual grafts. On the contrary, grafts to endarterectomized vessels occlude more frequently. Individual patient-by-patient analysis shows that patency of all grafts at each study time, is more frequent in the ticlopidine group. The difference is significant when one considers patients without sequential or endarterectomized grafts. The difference is also present at each study time: day 10 (84.4% versus 66.7%, p less than 0.05), day 180 (74.4% versus 52.3%, p less than 0.05) and day 360 (75.0% versus 52.5%, p less than 0.05). Results are even more impressive if one excludes from analysis the four patients in the ticlopidine group in whom administration of the drug was delayed. This supports previous suggestions that early therapy is necessary. These results show that graft occlusion occurs mainly in the first 6 postoperative months. The incidence of occlusion is significantly reduced by ticlopidine therapy.