Blood Flow Classification Research Articles

Radio Frequency-Enabled Cerebral Blood Flow Monitoring and Classification Using Data Augmentation and Machine Learning Techniques

Radio Frequency-Enabled Cerebral Blood Flow Monitoring and Classification Using Data Augmentation and Machine Learning Techniques

Effectiveness of different tirofiban administration times in patients with no-reflow myocardial infarction during percutaneous coronary intervention.

To compare the effectiveness of different tirofiban administration time windows in patients with no-reflow myocardial infarction (MI) during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). This single centre retrospective observational study included patients with no-reflow MI, undergoing PCI at the Hanyang Hospital affiliated to Wuhan University of Science and Technology from March 2020 to May 2023. All patients were administered tirofiban. Patients who received tirofiban with postinterventional thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) flow ≥ 1 were grouped as Group-I, and patients who were directly given tirofiban through the guiding catheter without forward blood flow were grouped as Group-II. TIMI blood flow classification, levels of cardiac troponin T (cTnT) and creatine kinase isoenzyme MB (CK-MB), incidence of complications and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in the two groups before and after the treatment were statistically analyzed. A total of 156 patients were included in this study, including 79 patients in Group-I and 77 patients in Group-II. There was no significant difference in the baseline data between the two groups (P>0.05). After treatment, TIMI blood flow classification of the two groups improved and was significantly better in Group-I compared to Group-II (P<0.05). After treatment, levels of Serum cTnT and CK-MB in the two groups decreased, and were significantly lower in Group-I than in Group-II (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of complications between Group-I (3.80%) and Group-II (6.49%) (P>0.05). The incidence of MACE in Group-I (3.80%) was lower than that in Group-II (12.99%) (P<0.05). Compared with the direct application of tirofiban, tirofiban given when TIMI Grade≥ 1 for patients with no-reflow MI during PCI can more effectively regulate the blood flow status of target vessels, reduce myocardial injury, and reduce the risk of MACE.

Acupuncture combined with gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists improves endometrial receptivity and pregnancy outcome in patients with recurrent implantation failure of in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer.

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists (GnRHa), combined with other auxiliary treatments, can improve pregnancy outcomes in in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET). This research investigated the effect of acupuncture combined with GnRHa in patients with recurrent implantation failure (RIF) of IVF-ET. A total of 164 patients who intended to undergo frozen-thawed embryo transfer after RIF of IVF-ET were selected for experiments and then divided into the control (received conventional hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for endometrial preparation) and study groups (received a combination of acupuncture, GnRHa, and HRT for endometrial preparation) (n = 82). Endometrial thickness (EMT), endometrial morphological classification, submucosal uterine blood flow classification, clinical pregnancy rate, embryo implantation rate, and early abortion rate for each transfer cycle were compared between the two groups. EMT of the study group was higher than that of the control group 1 day before transfer. There were more patients with linear endometrium (A + B type) in the study group on the day of endometrial transformation than in the control group. The number of patients with type I submucosal uterine blood flow in the study group was decreased and the number of patients with type III was increased compared with the control group on the day of endometrial transformation. The clinical pregnancy rate and embryo implantation rate of the study group were higher than those of the control group. Acupuncture combined with GnRHa improves the endometrial receptivity of patients with RIF of IVF-ET, thereby increasing clinical pregnancy rates and improving pregnancy outcomes.

Dual concentric echo sign of ultrasound in primary hyperparathyroidism: The clinical and histopathologic features and differentiation from lymph nodes

ContextUltrasound (US) is the most economical and widely used method for detecting lesions in parathyroid regions. Identifying typically parathyroid adenomas as hypoechoic nodules with clear margins. However, 10 % of lesions exhibit atypical features, such as the dual concentric sign, and the cognition of them still needs to be improved. ObjectiveTo promote understanding of clinical and histopathological features for parathyroid lesions with the dual concentric echo sign and to investigate its pathogenesis and methods for distinguishing from cervical lymph nodes to improve US diagnostic accuracy. MethodsRetrospectively, patients were categorized into three groups: Group 1, with 36 patients showing parathyroid lesions with dual concentric echo signs; Group 2, with 40 patients displaying classic hypoechoic parathyroid lesions; and Group 3, comprising 36 patients with identified lymph nodes, which were all examined from January 2018 to December 2019. The clinical data on demographics, clinical symptoms, serum levels, histopathologic findings, and US image characteristics were thoroughly reviewed. ResultsAccording to the clinical data, no significant differences in demographics or lesion sizes were observed in Group 1 and Group 2 (p > 0.05). No significant variances were noted in biochemical markers, including PTH, T-25OHD, and ALP. However, a notable difference was identified in adjusted serum calcium levels, which were significantly lower in Group 1 compared to Group 2 (p < 0.05). Additionally, the proportion of asymptomatic patients was significantly higher in Group 1 compared to Group 2 (p < 0.05). Pathological examination revealed that all lesions with dual concentric echo signs were parathyroid adenomas. The isoechoic central region predominantly corresponded to areas of loose edema, while the hypoechoic peripheral layer was primarily associated with chief and/or oncocytic cells. By comparing the ultrasonography of Groups 1 and 3, the parathyroid lesions with dual concentric echo signs exhibited significant distinctions from lymph nodes in size, blood flow classification, vascular distribution, and anatomical location (p < 0.05). ConclusionThe parathyroid lesions with dual concentric echo signs in US corresponded to specific histopathological manifestations and relatively mild clinical features in the patients, this finding may increase the likelihood of incidental detection of parathyroid lesions by US. Attention to the details of size, location, and blood flow, especially, may aid US physicians in differentiating parathyroid adenomas from cervical lymph nodes.

Tensor decomposition and machine learning for the detection of arteriovenous fistula stenosis: An initial evaluation.

Duplex ultrasound (DUS) is the most widely used method for surveillance of arteriovenous fistulae (AVF) created for dialysis. However, DUS is poor at predicting AVF outcomes and there is a need for novel methods that can more accurately evaluate multidirectional AVF flow. In this study we aimed to evaluate the feasibility of detecting AVF stenosis using a novel method combining tensor-decomposition of B-mode ultrasound cine loops (videos) of blood flow and machine learning classification. Classification of stenosis was based on the DUS assessment of blood flow volume, vessel diameter size, flow velocity, and spectral waveform features. Real-time B-mode cine loops of the arterial inflow, anastomosis, and venous outflow of the AVFs were analysed. Tensor decompositions were computed from both the 'full-frame' (whole-image) videos and 'cropped' videos (to include areas of blood flow only). The resulting output were labelled for the presence of stenosis, as per the DUS findings, and used as a set of features for classification using a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) neural network. A total of 61 out of 66 available videos were used for analysis. The whole-image classifier failed to beat random guessing, achieving a mean area under the receiver operating characteristics (AUROC) value of 0.49 (CI 0.48 to 0.50). In contrast, the 'cropped' video classifier performed better with a mean AUROC of 0.82 (CI 0.66 to 0.96), showing promising predictive power despite the small size of the dataset. The combined application of tensor decomposition and machine learning are promising for the detection of AVF stenosis and warrant further investigation.

Predictive value of 3D ultrasound assessment of endometrial receptivity for PGD/PGS for transfer pregnancy outcome

ObjectiveTo investigate the predictive value of three-dimensional ultrasound assessment of endometrial receptivity in PGD/PGS transplantation patients on pregnancy outcome.Methods280 patients undergoing PGD/PGS transplantation were enrolled and divided into group A and group B according to the patients’ pregnancy outcomes. The general conditions, endometrial receptivity indexes of the two groups were compared. Multifactorial logistic regression analysis was used to determine the factors influencing pregnancy outcome in PGD/PGS transplant patients. ROC curves were plotted to analyze the predictive value of 3D ultrasound parameters on pregnancy outcome. The results of the study were validated with patients who underwent FET transplantation, and the patients in the validation group were treated with the same 3D ultrasound examination method and treatment plan as the observation group.ResultsThe differences in basic situations between two groups were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). The percentage of endometrial thickness, endometrial blood flow, and endometrial blood flow classification type II + II were higher in group A than in group B (P < 0.05). Multifactorial logistic regression analysis showed that endometrial thickness, endometrial blood flow and endometrial blood flow classification were influencing factors of pregnancy outcome in PGD/PGS patients. The sensitivity of predicting pregnancy outcome based on the results of transcatheter 3D ultrasound was 91.18%, the specificity was 82.35%, and the accuracy was 90.00%, which has a high predictive value.Conclusion3D ultrasound can predict pregnancy outcome by assessing the endometrial receptivity of PGD/PGS transplantation, in which endometrial thickness and endometrial blood flow have a good predictive value.

The diagnostic value of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography in breast ductal abnormalities

BackgroundDuctal lesions are an important, often overlooked, and poorly understood issue in breast imaging, which have a risk of underlying malignancy ranging from 5 to 23%. Ultrasonography (US), which has largely replaced galactography or ductography, has become an important imaging method to assess patients with ductal lesions. However, it is difficult to distinguish benign from malignant ductal abnormalities only by ultrasonography, most of which are recommended to be at least in subcategory 4A; these require biopsy according to the ACR BI-RADS®atlas 5th Edition-breast ultrasound. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) has been shown to be valuable for differentiating benign from malignant tumors, but its value is unclear in breast ductal lesions. Therefore, the purposes of this study were to explore the characteristics of malignant ductal abnormalities on US and CEUS imaging and the diagnostic value of CEUS in breast ductal abnormalities.MethodsOverall, 82 patients with 82 suspicious ductal lesions were recruited for this prospective study. They were divided into benign and malignant groups according to the pathological results. Morphologic features and quantitative parameters of US and CEUS were analyzed by comparison and multivariate logistic regression to determine the independent risk factors. The diagnostic performance was assessed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.ResultsShape, margin, inner echo, size, microcalcification and blood flow classification on US, wash-in time, enhancement intensity, enhancement mode, enhancement scope, blood perfusion defects, peripheral high enhancement and boundary on CEUS were identified as features correlated with malignant ductal lesions. However, multivariate logistic regression showed that only microcalcification (OR = 8.96, P = 0.047) and enhancement scope (enlarged, OR = 27.42, P = 0.018) were independent risk factors for predicting malignant ductal lesions. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, accuracy and area under the ROC curve of microcalcifications combined with an enlarged enhancement scope were 0.895, 0.886, 0.872, 0.907, 0.890, and 0.92, respectively.ConclusionsMicrocalcification and enlarged enhancement scope are independent factors for predicting malignant ductal lesions. The combined diagnosis can greatly improve the diagnostic performance, indicating that CEUS can be useful in the differentiation of benign and malignant lesions to formulate more appropriate management for ductal lesions.

The Value of Rivaroxaban Combined with Ticagrelor in Antithrombotic Therapy after PCI in Patients with Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation with Acute Coronary Syndrome.

Based on a retrospective cohort study, to investigate the value of rivaroxaban combined with ticagrelor in antithrombotic therapy after PCI in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation with acute coronary syndrome. A total of 60 patients from January 2019 to May 2021 accepted therapy with antithrombotic therapy after PCI. The patients treated with ticagrelor were set as the control group, and those given rivaroxaban combined with ticagrelor were set as the research group. The curative effect, myocardial level, TIMI blood flow grade, platelet aggregation rate, and the incidence of cardiovascular events were taken from the comparisons. The research group's therapeutic impact was superior to the control group's therapeutic impact, and the value was higher. After treatment, the myocardial levels of the two groups decreased, and the levels of troponin I, creatine kinase isoenzyme, and hypersensitive C-reactive protein in the research group were greatly less than those in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). After operation, the TIMI blood flow classification in the experimental group was better than that in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The experimental group's platelet aggregation incidence was considerably lower than the control group's platelet aggregation incidence at 0.5 and 2 hours following surgery, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The incidence of acute myocardial infarction, cardiogenic death, and intractable angina pectoris in the research group was significantly lower than that in the control group. Rivaroxaban combined with ticagrelor in the treatment of nonvalvular atrial fibrillation with acute coronary syndrome after percutaneous coronary intervention; the TIMI blood flow grade is better than ticagrelor, which is of great significance to reduce mortality and has high safety in clinical application.

Ultrasound Classification of Finger Pulp Blood Flow in Patients With Systemic Sclerosis: A Pilot Study.

To define a semiquantitative classification of finger pulp blood flow (FPBF) and to evaluate whether this classification could be used to assess FPBF in healthy controls and in systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients. Thirty controls and 86 SSc patients were consecutively included. A classification of FPBF including 5 grades (from grade 0 [no signal] to 4 [signal detected on the entire finger pulp, including the subepidermal vascular network]) was evaluated. This classification was explored in basal conditions and after hand baths in hot and cold water in controls. Its relevance was also assessed at room temperature in SSc patients. In controls, power Doppler ultrasonography (PDUS) of FPBF was improved after hot challenge (P=0.024), whereas cold challenge decreased FPBF (P=0.001). FPBF correlated with the vasodilation status assessed by the resistivity index of radial arteries (Spearman's correlation coefficient=-0.50, P=0.0049). Grade 0 was more frequent in SSc patients than in controls (22.1% versus 3.3%; P < 0.05). In SSc patients, grade 0 was associated with severity markers of the digital vasculopathy such as digital ulcers (DUs) (current or past) (P < 0.05) or ulnar artery occlusion (P < 0.05). On the other hand, DUs were less frequent in patients with grade 4 (P < 0.05). A pathologic threshold of <2 (grade 0 or 1) was significantly associated with DUs (odds ratio 6.67 [95% confidence interval 2.31-19.21], P < 0.0001). PDUS allowed a semiquantitative evaluation of FBPF in SSc patients and controls. Further studies are warranted to validate these results in independent SSc populations and to compare PDUS to existing tools assessing digital blood flow.

Value of Artificial Neural Network Ultrasound in Improving Breast Cancer Diagnosis.

Ultrasound-guided needle biopsy based on artificial neural network, as a safe, effective, and simple preoperative pathological diagnosis technique, has been widely used in clinical practice. Ultrasound-guided needle biopsy based on artificial neural networks for suspicious breast lesions found in conventional ultrasound examinations is an effective method for preoperative diagnosis. The purpose of this article is to study the value of artificial neural network ultrasound in improving breast cancer diagnosis. This article summarizes the neuron model of PCNN by observing and studying its impulse synchronization phenomenon. Aiming at gray-scale images disturbed by mixed noise (impulse noise and the Gaussian noise), a comprehensive filtering algorithm based on the simplified PCNN model is proposed. In this paper, the benign and malignant breast masses were evaluated based on the two-dimensional and three-dimensional ultrasound imaging signs of the mass, and compared with the postoperative pathological results, a logistic regression model was established to analyze the shape, boundary, microcalcification, and posterior echo attenuation of the mass, values for keratinization or burrs, convergent signs, and blood flow classification in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant. In this paper, a color ultrasound diagnostic device is used, Sonobi is used as a contrast medium, and the injection volume is 2.4 ml/dose. During the imaging process, the sound image performance of the lesion is dynamically observed, the original dynamic data are stored throughout the whole process, and the playback analysis is performed after the imaging is completed. Studies have shown that CDUS elastography (UE) combined with MRI can increase the sensitivity of breast cancer diagnosis, with a diagnostic accuracy rate of 92.4%.

Enhanced-Dose Statins for ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction Patients after Emergency Percutaneous Coronary Intervention.

Background Acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is a serious multiple acute cardiovascular disease. This study investigated the effect of statins on the efficacy and prognosis of STEMI patients after emergency PCI. Methods From October 2019 to January 2021, 98 patients with STEMI in our hospital were selected and divided into study group and control group. The study group took atorvastatin 40 mg 2 hours before surgery, 40 mg/day after surgery, and 20 mg/day 1 week later. The control group received 20 mg of atorvastatin every night after admission. The cardiac output, left ventricular ejection fraction, blood flow classification, vagus nerve function, heart rate deceleration force and chemoreflex sensitivity were compared between the two groups, and recorded the incidence of adverse reactions before and after treatment and 3 months after treatment. The number of major adverse cardiac events (MACEs) was also recorded. Results Before treatment, there were no differences in CO, CI, and LVEF between the study and control groups. After treatment, CO, CI, and LVEF in the study group were significantly higher than those in the control group. Before treatment, there was no significant difference in TIMI blood flow classification among the groups, and after treatment, the study group was better than the control group. DC and ChRS were significantly higher in the study group than in the control group. There was no difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the study group and the control group. However, the incidence of MACE in the study group was lower than that in the control group. Conclusion Enhanced-dose atorvastatin for STEMI patients improved PCI treatment effect, cardiac function, and vagus nerve function and reduced the incidence of adverse cardiac events. Thus, statins are safe and worth considering.

Dosimetric analysis of ultrasound-guided high intensity focused ultrasound ablation for breast fibroadenomas: a retrospective study

Objective To investigate the factors influencing the sonication dosage and efficiency of ultrasound-guided high intensity focused ultrasound (USgHIFU) for breast fibroadenomas. Materials and Methods Forty-nine patients with 78 breast fibroadenomas who underwent USgHIFU were retrospectively analyzed. The energy efficiency factor (EEF) was set as dependent variable, and the factors possibly influencing the sonication dosage, including age, body mass index (BMI), fibroadenoma size, distance from the shallow margin of the fibroadenoma to skin, distance from the deep margin of the fibroadenoma to pectoralis major, types of near field acoustic pathway, and Adler blood flow classification of ultrasound, were set as independent variables. The correlation between EEF and these independent variables were analyzed, and an optimal scaling regression model was established. Results Fibroadenoma size, distance from the shallow margin of the fibroadenoma to skin and type of near field acoustic pathway had significant correlation with EEF (p < 0.05). An EEF (ŷ) dosimetry model of ŷ= −0.496X1 + 0.287X2 + 0.203X3 was established, in which X1 stands for size of fibroadenoma, X2 stands for the distance from shallow margin of the fibroadenoma to skin, and X3 stands for type of near field acoustic pathway. The predicted EEF value was significantly related to actual EEF (R = 0.698, p = 0.000). Conclusions Fibroadenoma size, distance from the shallow margin of the fibroadenoma to skin and type of near field acoustic pathway could be used as predictors to evaluate the dosage delivery of USgHIFU treatment for breast fibroadenomas.

Classification of Myocardial Blood Flow based on Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging using Hierarchical Bayesian Models

AbstractDynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) is a promising approach to assess microvascular blood flow (perfusion) within the myocardium, and the Fermi microvascular perfusion model is widely applied to extract estimates of the myocardial blood flow (MBF) from DCE-MRI data sets. The classification of myocardial tissues into normal (healthy) and hypoperfused (lesion) regions provides new opportunities for the diagnosis of coronary heart disease and for advancing our understanding of the aetiology of this highly prevalent disease. In the present paper, the Fermi model is combined with a hierarchical Bayesian model (HBM) and a Markov random fields prior to automate this classification. The proposed model exploits spatial context information to smooth the MBF estimates while sharpening the edges between lesions and healthy tissues. The model parameters are approximately sampled from the posterior distribution with Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC), and we demonstrate that this enables robust classification of myocardial tissue elements based on estimated MBF, along with sound uncertainty quantification. A well-established traditional method, based on a Gaussian mixture model (GMM) trained with the expectation–maximisation algorithm, is used as a benchmark for comparison.

The Clinical Efficacy of Tirofiban Combined with Ticagrelor and Aspirin in Treating Acute Myocardial Infarction by Percutaneous Coronary Intervention and Its Effect on Patients' Cardiac Function.

Objective To explore the clinical efficacy of tirofiban combined with ticagrelor and aspirin in acute myocardial infarction treatment by percutaneous coronary intervention and its effect on patients' cardiac function. Methods We selected 102 patients with acute myocardial infarction who came to The First Hospital of LanZhou University for treatment from July 2018 to May 2021. On the basis of conventional treatment, patients were separated into a joint group (tirofiban combined with ticagrelor and aspirin) comprising 55 cases and a control group (conventional ticagrelor and aspirin dual treatment) involving 47 cases. Blood flow classification of the two groups of patients was immediately recorded and compared after the myocardial infarction thrombolysis test (TIMI). Left ventricular function-related indicators, platelet-related parameters, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), red blood cell distribution width (RDW), and platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR) before treatment and 7 days after PCI were evaluated and compared between the groups before treatment and 3 months after treatment. ELISA was utilized to detect the serum levels of inflammatory factors, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and hypersensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) before and after treatment. Incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) and adverse reaction incidence was put into comparison between the two groups in the course of the 3-month follow-up period. Compared with the control group, the joint group accounted for more patients with TIMI blood flow classification level 3 (P < 0.05) and showed more drastic improvement on the left ventricular function, platelet-related parameters, and serum inflammatory factors (P < 0.05). Moreover, patients of the joint group suffered less fluctuation from RDW, NLR, and PLR (P < 0.05), and their incidence of MACE was drastically lower in contrast with the control group (P < 0.05). No notable changes were presented in terms of incidence of adverse reaction (P > 0.05). For patients who suffered from acute myocardial infarction and treated with percutaneous coronary intervention, the application of tirofiban combined with ticagrelor and aspirin could effectively reduce the incidence of no reflow or slow blood flow, improve myocardial perfusion function, and have marked curative effects. It is worthy of clinical promotion and application.

Correlation of N-Ras Gene Expression in Hepatocellular Carcinoma with Color Doppler Ultrasound Findings

Objective: This study aims to study the N-ras gene expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and its correlation with color Doppler imaging manifestations. Methods: The tumors of 145 HCC patients were evaluated via color Doppler ultrasonography before operation and N-ras level in tissue specimens obtained after operation were detected via RT-PCR, Western blotting and immunohistochemistry along with correlation analysis. Results: N-ras mRNA in para-carcinoma tissues was significantly reduced compared with carcinoma tissues (P &lt; 0.05). Western blotting and immunohistochemistry showed a significant difference of N-ras protein level between para-carcinoma tissues and carcinoma tissues (P &lt; 0.05). Moreover, N-ras gene expression was siginificantly correlated with the number of tumor nodules, the integrity of tumor capsule, vascular invasion, blood flow classification, RI (P &lt; 0.05). Conclusion: Our data demonstrate the elevation of N-ras in the carcinoma tissues of HCC patients and its correlation with color Doppler imaging manifestations, which lays foundation for the development of the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Trophoblastic volumetric bloodflow evaluation in women with trombophylia on 7–10th week of pregnancy

Spontaneous abortion occur in 15–20% of all detected pregnancies, and 45–70% of all spontaneous miscarriages take place up to 10 weeks. Thrombophilia is one of the main causes of miscarriage and its effect on the course of pregnancy remains poorly understood. In this regard, there is great interest in the problem of diagnosing thrombophilia and further prevention of thrombosis in obstetric practice.Purpose. Compare the parameters of volumetric blood flow in the chorion with different types of trophoblastic blood flow disturbance in pregnant women with thrombophilia in the first trimester for their quantitative verification.Materials and methods. The study included 129 pregnant women at the 7th to 10th week of gestation with a diagnosis of thrombophilia and a control group - pregnant women with a normal course of this pregnancy and a successful outcome of past pregnancies.The patients were divided into III clinical groups:I. Pregnant women with a normal course of this pregnancy and a successful outcome of past pregnancies (n = 33) – comparison group;II. Pregnant women with thrombophilia, in whom current pregnancy occurred on anticoagulant therapy (n = 28);III. Pregnant women with thrombophilia without taking anticoagulant drugs before registration of pregnancy (n = 68).Ultrasound was performed on Voluson E8 and S8 machines. All pregnant women underwent transabdominal and transvaginal ultrasound in B-mode, in color-doppler (CD) mode, and volumetric reconstruction of chorion was performed using the VOCAL program. In B-mode, the state of the embryo and extraembryonic structures were examined. The identification of trophoblastic vessels was carried out using the CD – region of interest was placed in the trophoblast area detected in B-mode, size and shape was adapted for a particular section.Using three-dimensional echography, the chorion volume was performed. The degree of blood supply in chorionic volume were calculated; vascularization index (VI), flow index (FI) and perfusion index (VFI) were displayed on a histogram with quantitative indicators.ResultsIn the CD mode, the types of trophoblastic blood flow were identified in the chorionic vessels:1) continuous type – blood flow loci are continuously identified over the entire area of the basal surface of the trophoblast;2) intermittent type – blood flow loci are unevenly identified along the basal surface of the trophoblast;3) single loci – single blood flow loci are identified along the basal surface of the trophoblast;4) lack of blood flow – blood flow loci are not determined along the basal surface of the trophoblast.Assessment of the quantitative parameters of the volumetric blood flow was used in the corresponding type of blood flow to verify the classification of types of trophoblastic blood flow in the CD mode.Statistical analysis of the volumetric blood flow indices using three-dimensional chorionic reconstruction showed a high degree of reliability (p &lt; 0.0001) in the VI and VFI values between all corresponding types of blood flow.Discussion. High incidence of spontaneous abortion and the significant role of thrombophilia in this pathology leads to necessity of expanding the research in this area. There has been a lot of research done over the past decade. The quantitative threshold values of the resistance indices in the chorionic vessels were calculated using pulse-wave Doppler, the chorionic blood supply indices were determined using volumetric reconstruction for various pathologies.However, we have not previously met the classification of chorionic blood supply in the CD mode. This technique is very simple to perform and is a highly informative for predicting miscarriage in the first trimester. For the first time, we proposed the above classification of trophoblastic blood flow; for the first time, we proved the reliability of the classification developed by us using the method of volumetric reconstruction of the chorion with an assessment of trophoblastic blood flow, which allows us to recommend its use when writing a protocol for ultrasound of the fetus in the first trimester in pregnant women with thrombophilia.Conclusion. The classification of trophoblastic blood flow was verified by three-dimensional echography with quantitative indicators of the volumetric blood flow of the trophoblast vessels, with a high degree of reliability (p &lt; 0.001) which to indicates the reliability of this classification. It can be recommended to conduct a multicenter study for investigating fetal ultrasound with the additional use of the CD in the first trimester in pregnant women with a diagnosis of thrombophilia.

Analysis of the guidance value of 3D ultrasound in evaluating endometrial receptivity for frozen-thawed embryo transfer in patients with repeated implantation failure.

BackgroundRepeated implantation failure (RIF) is currently believed by some scholars to be mainly related to the poor endometrial receptivity. Three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound, as a noninvasive examination, has attracted the most attention. This paper further discusses whether 3D ultrasound of the endometrial receptivity index has guidance value in the evaluation of pregnancy outcomes in patients with RIF following frozen-thawed embryo transfer.MethodsA total of 79 patients with RIF were retrospectively analyzed. These 79 patients which were confirmed by the transvaginal ultrasonography detection comprised 36 cases of intrauterine pregnancy, which were included in the pregnancy group, and 43 cases with biochemical pregnancy (the HCG in blood or urine is only transient and can be detected by clinical biochemical methods. The pregnancy sac cannot be seen under ultrasound) or negative results of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) examination, which were included in the non-pregnancy group. The endometrial thickness, uterine volume, sub-endometrial blood flow type, pulsatility index (PI) and resistance index (RI) of the spiral artery; the RI and PI of the uterine artery; and the peak systolic velocity/end diastolic velocity (S/D) of the two groups were measured and analyzed.Results(I) There were no significant differences in the age, infertility years, body mass index (BMI), anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), endometrial thickness on the hCG injection day, estradiol (E2), and progesterone (P) between the pregnant and non-pregnant groups (P>0.05). (II) There were no significant differences in the endometrial thickness, uterine volume, and RI and PI of the uterine artery on the day before the implantation between the two groups (P>0.05). (III) There was statistical difference in the sum of the S/D of the two uterine arteries between the two groups (P<0.05) with a cutoff value of 14.47 (P<0.05). (IV) The RI and PI of the spiral artery in the non-pregnancy group were lower than those in the pregnancy group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). (V) The differences in the endometrial classification and subendometrial blood flow classification between the two groups were statistically significant (P<0.05).ConclusionsUltrasonographic endometrial blood flow classification, spiral artery blood flow parameters, and uterine artery blood flow parameters can be effective indexes for evaluating endometrial receptivity, and they have a certain clinical significance in evaluating the pregnancy outcome of RIF patients after retransplantation.

Correlation between the contrast-enhanced ultrasound image features and axillary lymph node metastasis of primary breast cancer and its diagnostic value.

To analyze the correlation between contrast-enhanced ultrasound image features and axillary lymph node metastasis of primary breast cancer and its diagnostic value. In this study, 64 patients with axillary lymph node metastasis of primary breast cancer diagnosed and treated in our hospital from February 2011 to March 2013 were collected as an observation group, and 54 patients without axillary lymph node metastasis were collected as a control group. All patients underwent a contrast-enhanced ultrasound examination, and the correlation between the contrast-enhanced ultrasound image features and axillary lymph node metastasis and its diagnostic value were analyzed. They were divided into two groups according to their survival conditions: the group with good efficacy and group with poor efficacy, and the prognostic factors of breast cancer in the two groups were analyzed. There were statistical differences in the peripheral acoustic halo, blood flow classification, ratio of length to diameter (L/D), maximum cortical thickness, and enhancement mode of lymph nodes between the two groups (p < 0.05). The area under ROC curve for diagnosis of axillary lymph node metastasis by contrast-enhanced ultrasound was 0.854, sensitivity was 83.33%, and specificity was 87.5%; L/D and enhancement mode were independent prognostic factors for breast cancer. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound image features have diagnostic and prognostic value for axillary lymph node metastasis of breast cancer.

Application of Ultrasonography in the Pathological Study of Breast Cancer in Female Patients with Breast Lesions

The retrospective analysis of the ultrasonographic features of 108 cases of breast cancer confirmed by surgery and pathology, namely the relationship between mass boundary, posterior echo, calcification and blood flow signal and pathological type, was to explore the features of ultrasound sonography of breast cancer. The link between pathological typing. The results of the study showed that the ultrasound showed that the border of the nvasive ductal carcinoma was mostly burr-like. The ultrasound showed that the border of the invasive lobular carcinoma was mostly strong echo halo. The medullary carcinoma had a clear boundary, while the intraductal carcinoma showed more unclear borders. There was no significant difference in the relationship between the boundary of the mass and the pathological types. Ultrasound of invasive ductal carcinoma and invasive lobular carcinoma showed a posterior echo attenuation, and medullary carcinoma showed more posterior echo enhancement. The relationship between the echo of the posterior mass of the tumor and the pathological types was statistically different. The detection rate of ultrasound calcification in invasive ductal carcinoma and invasive lobular carcinoma was higher. The calcification in medullary carcinoma was less common. The calcification in the pathology of intraductal carcinoma was better. High, but ultrasound can only detect half of it. There was no significant difference in the relationship between calcification and pathological types in the tumor; ultrasound showed that most of the blood flow signals were abundant, suggesting that there was no statistical difference between the blood flow classification and the pathological classification of the tumor. The results of the thesis indicate that the ultrasound characteristics of breast cancer have a high diagnostic value for its pathological classification.

Superb microvascular imaging is a rational choice for accurate Bosniak classification of renal cystic masses.

Bosniak classification system provides a fine imaging evaluation for the malignant cystic renal masses. Superb microvascular imaging (SMI) is a new ultrasonic technique which apply advanced clutter suppression to reflect microflow information. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of ultrasound Bosniak classification aided by SMI in diagnosis of cystic renal masses. By comparing with contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and pathology, we evaluated the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of conventional ultrasound and SMI combination in the diagnosis of renal cystic masses. Color Doppler Flow image (CDFI) and SMI had significant difference in evaluation the blood flow and Bosniak classification for cystic renal mass of IIf, III and IV (p = 0.020). SMI was consistent with CEUS for cystic renal mass Bosniak classification of IIf, III and IV. Although, CEUS had highest sensitivity of 97.4%, SMI had the highest area under curve in differential diagnosis malignance from benign masses [area under curve = 0.869 (0.743 - 0.995), p < 0.001]. SMI can display better in observing blood flow in septa and solid structures of renal cystic lesions compared with CDFI, thus, it can perform more accurate Bosniak classification for renal cystic mass. SMI and CEUS are consistent in Bosniak classification. Bosniak classification aided by SMI maybe an accurate non-invasive ultrasonic examination in distinguishing benign and malignant renal cystic lesions. Conventional ultrasound had limited ability to distinguish malignance in Bosniak classifications IIf and III. SMI can display better in observing blood flow in septa and solid structures of renal cystic lesions compared with CDFI.