Ultrasonography-guided Percutaneous Interventional Procedures of the Spleen

Since the introduction of real-time ultrasonography (US) to the medicine in late 1970s, the unique benefit of the real-time cross-sectional imaging has made US one of the most widely used imaging modalities to guide interventional procedures. Among the intra-abdominal solid organs, the spleen is the least common solid organ considered for interventional procedures. Although splenic puncture for splenoportography was performed as early as the 1950s and has had a low complication rate, traditionally a direct splenic puncture is still avoided due to the risk of hemorrhage or laceration. US-guided percutaneous drainage of splenic abscesses has been used as a safe alternative procedure for more than 20 years, however, only a few series reporting such an interventional procedure have been published. This review describes briefly the usefulness, technique, safety, and the outcome of US-guided interventional procedures of the spleen

Intraosseous Lipoma of the Proximal Radius with Extraosseous Extension: A Case Report

Examination of lipomatous tumors with ultrasound (US) is generally limited to the soft tissue component of the mass and cortical contours of the involved bone. We report a patient with an intraosseous lipoma of the proximal radius with extra-osseous extension. US showed a heterogeneous hyperechoic mass lesion (3.5 × 3.0 cm in size) at the radial aspect of the left elbow, with bony cortex interruption. The lesion was associated with increased marginal color flow signals on color Doppler US study. Atypical lipoma or low-grade liposarcoma was diagnosed. The pathologic examination of the lesion demonstrated an abnormal collection of mature adipose tissue consistent with lipoma

Computer-Aided Diagnosis with Deep Learning Architecture: Applications to Breast Lesions in US Images and Pulmonary Nodules in CT Scans

This paper performs a comprehensive study on the deep-learning-based computer-aided diagnosis (CADx) for the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant nodules/lesions by avoiding the potential errors caused by inaccurate image processing results (e.g., boundary segmentation), as well as the classification bias resulting from a less robust feature set, as involved in most conventional CADx algorithms. Specifically, the stacked denoising auto-encoder (SDAE) is exploited on the two CADx applications for the differentiation of breast ultrasound lesions and lung CT nodules. The SDAE architecture is well equipped with the automatic feature exploration mechanism and noise tolerance advantage, and hence may be suitable to deal with the intrinsically noisy property of medical image data from various imaging modalities. To show the outperformance of SDAE-based CADx over the conventional scheme, two latest conventional CADx algorithms are implemented for comparison. 10 times of 10-fold cross-validations are conducted to illustrate the efficacy of the SDAE-based CADx algorithm. The experimental results show the significant performance boost by the SDAE-based CADx algorithm over the two conventional methods, suggesting that deep learning techniques can potentially change the design paradigm of the CADx systems without the need of explicit design and selection of problem-oriented features

Left Ulnar Artery Pseudoaneurysm and Left Hand Swelling Simulated by Elephantiasis in a Patient with Neurofibromatosis Type 1

Elephantiasis is a condition featured by gross enlargement of body parts to massive proportions. Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a multisystem genetic disorder. Vascular anomaly is one among the complications of NF1. We report a case of NF1 who had a left hand vascular pseudoaneurysm with left hand swelling mimicking elephantiasis. The characteristics of sonography make it an excellent imaging modality to investigate this sort of superficial vascular lesion

Ultrasonography of Uterine Leiomyomas

Leiomyomas or myomas of the uterus, also known as a fibroid uterus, are the most common tumors of the uterus. They are benign neoplasms of smooth muscle origin with various degrees of fibrous connective tissue. These tumors can develop in any part of the female genital tract where there is smooth muscle or fibrous tissue, even in the ovary, broad ligament, and vagina. They need to be differentiated from adenomyosis and intracavitary polyps. They mostly remain asymptomatic but sometimes they cause significant morbidity. In such situations, hysterectomy or other surgical intervention is indicated. On ultrasonography, most uterine leiomyomas typically appear as well-defined, solid masses. Their echogenicity is usually similar to that of the myometrium, but sometimes they are hypoechoic. They often show some posterior acoustic shadowing. Variants of leiomyomas occur when they undergo cystic degeneration, hyalinization, or calcification. In such situations, determining a diagnosis is sometimes difficult. Magnetic resonance imaging can be used in this situation for an accurate diagnosis

Acute Urinary Retention as the Presentation of Imperforate Hymen

Acute urinary retention is unusual in children and is usually a candidate for visiting the emergency department upon initial discovery. We report a 12-year-old girl who complained of acute urinary retention. Ultrasonography demonstrated a large echogenic mass over the vagina and mild dilation of the uterus. Imperforate hymen associated with hematocolpos and hematometrium was diagnosed. Cruciate hymenotomy was performed. The symptoms resolved after treatment. Adolescent girls who complain of urinary symptoms with no previous menstruation should have their external genitalia examined in order to rule out the possibility of imperforate hymen as the cause of acute urinary retention

Valsalva Sinus Aneurysm of the Non-Coronary Cuspid Presenting as Cyclops Sign on Multi-Detector Computed Tomography

An 8-year-old girl with Williams syndrome was found to have a heart murmur. Cardiac CT demonstrated a Valsalva sinus aneurysm (VSA) of the non-coronary cuspid, with left atrium (LA) indentation, resembling the face of Cyclops on a coronal reformatted image. Williams syndrome is related to some congenital disorders with interruption of the tunica media from the aortic root to the annular fibrous ring or aortic valve. However, it rarely presents at birth. The sinus of Valsalva dilates as time goes by, due to the persistent striking force from the left ventricle (LV). However, it is silent until rupture when cardiac tamponade occurs. The typical imaging appearance of VSA is of a saccular shape and originates above the aortic root, but sometimes involves the entire sinus. Although lethal complications of VSA occur without warning, prophylactic surgical intervention remains controversial. Regular imaging follow-up is advised before complications occur