Oral Pirfenidone in patients with chronic fibrosis resulting from radiotherapy: a pilot study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Fibrosis is a common side effect after treatment with ionizing radiation. Several methods to ameliorate debilitating fibrosis have been employed but without consistent results. The goal of this pilot study is to determine if Pirfenidone, a novel regulator of cytokine gene expression, has the potential to ameliorate established radiation-induced fibrosis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Open label, prospective pilot study of 800 mg three times/day, orally administered Pirfenidone was administered to enrolled patients who were had completed radiation therapy and who had established radiation-induced fibrosis. Range of motion (ROM) was assessed using standard measures, and subjective measures of pain, fatigue, disability and global health were measured every three months.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Seven patients were enrolled of whom 3 had ROM assessments of 1 site and 2 had ROM assessments of 2 sites. Of these assessments, 6 revealed increased ROM during drug intervention while 1 revealed a decreased ROM. There was an overall improvement in the mental composite score of the SF36 while physical composite score was decreased and the vitality score was unchanged. Two patients were removed from the study because of syncopal episodes.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Several patients experienced improved function of at least 25% and reported subjective improvement. Pirfenidone may benefit patients with radiation-induced fibrosis and is worthy of a larger well controlled trial.</p

Concomitant use of tamoxifen with radiotherapy enhances subcutaneous breast fibrosis in hypersensitive patients

Concomitant use of adjuvant tamoxifen (TAM) and radiation therapy (RT) is not widely accepted. We aim to assess whether this treatment is associated with an increased risk of developing subcutaneous fibrosis after conservative or radical surgery in breast cancer patients. We analysed 147 women with breast cancer treated with adjuvant RT, and who were included in the KFS 00539-9-1997/SKL 00778-2-1999 prospective study aimed at evaluating the predictive value of CD4 and CD8 T-lymphocyte apoptosis for the development of radiation-induced late effects. TAM (20 mg day(-1)) with concomitant RT was prescribed in 90 hormone receptor-positive patients. There was a statistically significant difference in terms of complication-relapse-free survival (CRFS) rates at 3 years, 48% (95% CI 37.2-57.6%) vs 66% (95% CI 49.9-78.6%) and complication-free survival (CFS) rates at 2 years, 51% (95% CI 40-61%) vs 80% (95% CI 67-89%) in the TAM and no-TAM groups, respectively. In each of these groups, the CRFS rates were significantly lower for patients with low levels of CD8 radiation-induced apoptosis, 20% (95% CI 10-31.9%), 66% (95% CI 51.1-77.6%), and 79% (95% CI 55-90.9%) for CD8 &lt;/=16, 16-24, and &gt;24%, respectively. Similar results were observed for the CFS rates. The concomitant use of TAM with RT is significantly associated with an increased incidence of grade 2 or greater subcutaneous fibrosis; therefore, caution is needed for radiosensitive patients

Application of Spherical Harmonics to the Modeling of Anatomical Shapes

3D shape modeling is a key issue in the resolution of major medical imaging problems. In this paper we address the problem of the modeling of closed free form anatomical shapes with spherical harmonics. We define the basis of an ongoing project by illustrating, through two preliminary applications, the interest of such a modeling. After the presentation of spherical harmonics, both for static modeling and for time-dependent modeling, applications to the modeling and deformation analysis of the vertebra shape from CT data, and to the modeling of the endocardial surface from SPECT data are successively depicted

Motion-based obstacle detection and tracking for car driving assistance

International audienceThis paper is concerned with the detection and tracking of obstacles from a camera mounted on a vehicle with a view to driver assistance. To achieve this goal, we have designed a technique entirely based on image motion analysis. We perform the robust estimation of the dominant image motion assumed to be due to the camera motion. Then by considering the outliers to the estimated dominant motion, we can straightforwardly detect obstacles in order to assist car driving. We have added to the detection step a tracking module that also relies on a motion consistency criterion. Time-to-collision is then computed for each validated obstacle. We have thus developed an application-oriented solution which has proven accurate, reliable and efficient as demonstrated by experiments on numerous real situations

Intérêt et limites des mesures thermographiques microondes pour le diagnostic et le pronostic des irradiations aiguës localisées chez le porc

Des mesures thermographiques microondes ont été réalisées sur 30 porcs irradiés localement sur une cuisse, avec une source collimatée d’iridium 192 et à des doses variant entre 30 et 84 Gy (dose à 2 cm de profondeur). Les méthodes de mesure et de traitement des résultats ont été développées selon un aspect qualitatif (rapports entre les images thermographiques et l’évolution anatomo-clinique des lésions) et un aspect quantitatif qui tente d’utiliser des index calculés à partir des données thermographiques brutes pour évaluer les relations entre l’intensité de la réaction thermique locale et la dose ou le débit de dose appliqués. A côté de la valeur diagnostique de la méthode, qui rend mieux compte des atteintes radiologiques globales que de la dose physique réellement distribuée, son aspect pronostique, beaucoup plus fiable, permet très précocement (entre 10 et 15 jours) d'apprécier la gravité des lésions et leur évolution ultérieure

Integrated Real-Time Vision-Based Preceding Vehicle Detection in Urban Roads

7th International Conference on Intelligent Computing, ICIC 2011, Zhengzhou, 11-14 August 2011This paper presents a real-time algorithm for a vision-based preceding vehicle detection system. The algorithm contains two main components: vehicle detection with various vehicle features, and vehicle detection verification with dynamic tracking. Vehicle detection is achieved using vehicle shadow features to define a region of interest (ROI). After utilizing methods such as histogram equalization, ROI entropy and mean of edge image, the exact vehicle rear box is determined. In the vehicle tracking process, the predicted box is verified and updated. Test results demonstrate that the new system possesses good detection accuracy and can be implemented in real-time operation.Department of Civil and Environmental Engineerin