The Correlation of Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound and MRI Perfusion Quantitative Analysis in Rabbit VX2 Liver Cancer

Technological Advances in Diagnostic Imaging in Exotic Pet Medicine

Diagnostic imaging relies on interpretation of interactions between the body tissue and various energies, such as x-rays, ultrasound, and magnetic or nuclear energies, to differentiate normal from abnormal tissues. Major technological improvements regarding emission and detection of the energetic waves, as well as reconstruction and interpretation of the images, have occurred. These advances made possible visualization of smaller structures, quantitative evaluation of functional processes, and development of unique imaging-guided procedures. This article reviews the technological advances that allowed development of cone beam computed tomography, dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, and contrast-enhanced ultrasonography, which all could have applications in exotic pet medicine.

Quantitative MRI for Assessment of Treatment Outcomes in a Rabbit VX2 Hepatic Tumor Model

Globally, primary and secondary liver cancer is one of the most common cancer types, accounting 8.2% of deaths worldwide in 2018. One of the key strategies to improve the patient's prognosis is the early diagnosis, when liver function is still preserved. In hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the typical wash-in/wash-out pattern in conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) reaches a sensitivity of 60% and specificity of 96-100%. However, in recent years functional MRI sequences such as hepatocellular-specific gadolinium-based dynamic-contrast enhanced MRI, diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) have been demonstrated to improve the evaluation of treatment success and thus the therapeutic decision-making and the patient's outcome. In the preclinical research setting, the VX2 liver rabbit tumor, which once originated from a virus-induced anaplastic squamous cell carcinoma, has played a longstanding role in experimental interventional oncology. Especially the high tumor vascularity allows assessing the treatment response of locoregional interventions such as radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and transcatheter arterial embolization (TACE). Functional MRI has been used to monitor the tumor growth and viability following interventional treatment. Besides promising results, a comprehensive overview of functional MRI sequences used so far in different treatment setting is lacking, thus lowering the comparability of study results. This review offers a comprehensive overview of study protocols, results, and limitations of quantitative MRI sequences applied to evaluate the treatment outcome of VX2 hepatic tumor models, thus generating a unique basis for future MRI studies and potential translation into the clinical setting. Level of Evidence: 2 Technical Efficacy: Stage 1 J. MAGN. RESON. IMAGING 2019. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2020;52:668-685.

Impact of contrast ultrasound diagnosis for patients with liver cancer

BACKGROUND

Numerous studies have reported that contrast ultrasound (CU) can be utilized for diagnosis in patients with liver cancer (LC) accurately. However, no systematic review has addressed to assess its diagnostic impact on patients with LC. Thus, this systematic review will investigate the accurate of CU diagnosis on LC.

METHODS

A comprehensive literature search for relevant studies will be performed in the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, MEDILINE, Web of Science, PSYCINFO, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Allied and Complementary Medicine Database, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure from inceptions to the March 10, 2019. All case-controlled studies investigating the impacts of CU diagnosis on LC will be included in this study. Two researchers will independently carry out study selection, quality assessment, and data extraction. The quality will be assessed by using Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies tool. Statistical analysis will be conducted by RevMan V.5.3 (Cochrane Community, London, UK) and Stata V.12.0 software (Stata Corp, College Station).

RESULTS

This study will present the accuracy of CU diagnosis for patients with LC through the assessment of sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, and diagnostic odds ratio of CU.

CONCLUSION

The findings of this study will summarize the current evidence for accuracy of CU diagnosis in patients with LC.

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION

PROSPERO CRD42019127108.