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Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare detection rates with MDCT cystography and conventional cystography in the evaluation of vesicourethral leakage after radical prostatectomy., Subjects and Methods: From September 2004 to May 2005, 51 sets of MDCT and conventional cystographic images of 46 patients who underwent retropubic radical prostatectomy were included in the study. The mean age of the patients was 65.3 +/- 2.1 years. The rates of detection of vesicourethral leakage at the anastomotic site were compared on conventional and MDCT cystographic images. In cases in which leakage was detected at MDCT cystography, the amount of contrast medium leaked was calculated with 3D volumetry. Correlation between leakage volume and hospital stay or indwelling time of a Foley catheter also was evaluated., Results: The rate of detection of vesicourethral leakage determined with MDCT cystography was 80.4% (37 of 46 cases), and that determined with conventional cystography was 54.3% (25 of 46 cases). The mean volume of leakage detected only with MDCT cystography was 2.2 +/- 2.1 mL, and that with both conventional and MDCT cystography was 19.3 +/- 14.1 mL. There was a moderate positive correlation between Foley catheter indwelling time and leakage volume., Conclusion: MDCT cystography can be used for evaluation of leaks at the anastomotic site after prostatectomy and may have a better leak detection rate than conventional cystography.

In this paper, we propose a new prostate detection method using multiresolution autocorrelation texture features and clinical features such as location and shape of tumor. With the proposed method, we can detect cancerous tissues efficiently with high specificity (about 90-95%)and high sensitivity (about 92-96%) by the measurement of the number of correctly classified pixels. Multiresolution autocorrelation can detect cancerous tissues efficiently, and clinical knowledge helps to discriminate the cancer region by location and shape of the region and increases specificity. The support vector machine is used to classify tissues based on those features. The proposed method will be helpful in formulating a more reliable diagnosis, increasing diagnosis efficiency.

Objective: To identify the most reliable predictor of the pathological stage among multiple parameters obtained by performing systematic biopsies and to assess the predictive value of any identified parameters in combination with the prostate specific antigen and the Gleason scores., Methods: We examined 5 biopsy parameters from 12 systematic needle biopsy results in 104 consecutive prostate cancer patients who underwent prostatectomy: the number of cores positive for cancer, percentage of positive biopsy cores, total linear cancer length (absolute sum of tumor length at each core), percentage cancer length (total cancer length divided by total length of cores obtained x100), and maximum cancer core length. The predictive values of these parameters were assessed using multivariate logistic analysis and receiver operating characteristic analysis. We evaluated whether the most reliable biopsy parameter in combination with traditional variables show better predictability of the pathological stage than traditional variables alone by receiver operating characteristic analysis., Results: Of 104 patients, 85 (82.9%) had organ confined cancer and 19 (17.1%) showed extraprostatic extension. Of the five parameters examined, maximum cancer length was found to best predict pathological staging. Although insignificant, adding results of maximum cancer length to prostate specific antigen and Gleason scores improved predictability. Of 41 patients with a maximum cancer length of <0.9 cm, PSA of <16 ng/mL, and Gleason score of <7, none showed extraprostatic extension., Conclusions: The maximum cancer length was found to be the most reliable predictor of disease staging. The findings of a maximum cancer length of <0.9 cm, PSA of <16 ng/mL, and a Gleason score of <7 can suggest an organ-confined disease.

Objective: The purpose of our study was to determine the nature of the association between the attenuation difference of the hepatic parenchyma surrounding an abscess and obstruction of the regional portal vein or of the hepatic vein., Materials and Methods: Helical CT scans of 60 patients with hepatic abscess were analyzed for the presence of complete or partial obstruction of the portal or hepatic veins and for attenuation differences in the surrounding parenchyma. Clinical (age, sex, underlying disease, and microorganism) and CT (obstruction of the portal or hepatic vein and number, location, and size of abscesses) findings were analyzed statistically for possible associations with each of regional parenchymal hyper- and hypoattenuation by using the chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression analysis., Results: Regional parenchymal hyperattenuation was identified in 40 patients (67%). More patients with portal vein obstruction showed regional parenchymal hyperattenuation than patients without portal vein obstruction (22/27 patients vs 18/33, p = 0.028), and more patients with hepatic vein obstruction showed regional parenchymal hypoattenuation than those without hepatic vein obstruction (11/21 vs 3/39, p = 0.0003). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that portal venous obstruction was the only statistically significant predictor of regional parenchymal hyperattenuation (p = 0.032; odds ratio, 3.7) and that parenchymal hypoattenuation was associated with hepatic venous obstruction (p = 0.001; odds ratio, 44.9)., Conclusion: Parenchymal hypo- and hyperattenuation are frequently observed in the hepatic region surrounding an abscess on dynamic CT. Moreover, these parenchymal attenuation differences are associated with regional portal or hepatic vein obstruction.

Two image datasets (one thick section dataset and another volumetric dataset) were typically reconstructed from each single CT projection data. The volumetric dataset was stored in a mini-PACS with 271-Gb online and 680-Gb nearline storage and routed to radiologists' workstations, whereas the thick section dataset was stored in the main PACS. Over a 5-month sample period, 278 Gb of CT data (8976 examinations) was stored in the main PACS, and 738 Gb of volumetric datasets (6193 examinations) was stored in the mini-PACS. The volumetric datasets formed 32.8% of total data for all modalities (2.20 Tb) in the main PACS and mini-PACS combined. At the end of this period, the volumetric datasets of 1892 and 5162 examinations were kept online and nearline, respectively. Mini-PACS offers an effective method of archiving every volumetric dataset and delivering it to radiologists.

Fifty renal cysts in 14 patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) were treated with percutaneous needle aspiration and intracystic injection of a mixture of n-butyl cyanoacrylate and iodized oil in a ratio of 1:2. At follow-up of 1-12 months, symptoms improved in 12 (86%) of 14 patients, and 25 (81%) of 31 cysts decreased more than 50% in diameter. This procedure appears to be feasible and may be an effective modality in ablation of renal cysts in patients with ADPKD.