Purpose The aim of this case series is to illustrate the ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT findings of patients with acute respiratory disease caused by COVID-19 in Wuhan, Hubei province of China. Methods We describe the ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT results from four patients who were admitted to the hospital with respiratory symptoms and fever between January 13 and January 20, 2020, when the COVID-19 outbreak was still unrecognized and the virus infectivity was unknown. A retrospective review of the patients’ medical history, clinical and laboratory data, as well as imaging findings strongly suggested a diagnosis of COVID-19. Results All patients had peripheral ground-glass opacities and/or lung consolidations in more than two pulmonary lobes. Lung lesions were characterized by a high ¹⁸F-FDG uptake and there was evidence of lymph node involvement. Conversely, disseminated disease was absent, a finding suggesting that COVID-19 has pulmonary tropism. Conclusions Although ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT cannot be routinely used in an emergency setting and is generally not recommended for infectious diseases, our pilot data shed light on the potential clinical utility of this imaging technique in the differential diagnosis of complex cases.

Purpose: To evaluate diffusion‐weighted imaging (DWI) for detection of pelvic lymph node metastasis in patients with cervical and uterine cancers.Materials and Methods: Fifty patients scheduled for pelvic lymph node dissection were enrolled for 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using a single‐shot echo‐planar DWI technique, body‐phased array coil, b = 0, 1000 s/mm². We measured short/long‐axis diameters, mean apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of all identifiable nodes, relative ADC values between tumors and nodes, and utilized their cutoff values to validate the diagnostic accuracy internally. Histopathologic results served as the reference standard.Results: The relative ADC values between tumor and nodes were significantly lower in metastatic than in benign nodes (0.06 vs. 0.21 × 10⁻³ mm²/s, P < 0.001; cutoff value 0.10 × 10⁻³ mm²/s). Compared to conventional MRI, the method combining size and relative ADC values resulted in better sensitivity (25% vs. 83%) and similar specificity (98% vs. 99%). The smallest metastatic lymph node detected by this method measured 5 mm on its short axis.Conclusion: The combination of size and relative ADC values was useful in detecting pelvic lymph node metastasis in patients with cervical and uterine cancers. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2008.

Molecular methods for predicting prognosis in patients with oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) are urgently needed, considering its high recurrence rate and tendency for metastasis. The present study investigated the genetic basis of variations in gene expression associated with poor prognosis in OSCC using Affymetrix SNP 6.0 and Affymetrix GeneChip Human Gene 1.0 ST arrays. We identified recurrent DNA amplifications scattered from 8q22.2 to 8q24.3 in 112 OSCC specimens. These amplicons demonstrated significant associations with increased incidence of extracapsular spread, development of second primary malignancies, and poor survival. Fluorescence in situ hybridization, in a validation panel consisting of 295 cases, confirmed these associations. Assessment of the effects of copy number variations (CNVs) on genome-wide variations in gene expression identified a total of 85 CNV-associated transcripts enriched in the MYC-centered regulatory network. Twenty-four transcripts associated with increased risk of second primary malignancies, tumor relapse, and poor survival. Besides MYC itself, a novel dysregulated MYC module plays a key role in OSCC carcinogenesis. This study identified a candidate molecular signature associated with poor prognosis in OSCC patients, which may ultimately facilitate patient-tailored selection of therapeutic strategies.