Faculty Bibliography

Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging have been widely used for visualizing the inside of the human body. However, in many cases, pathological diagnosis is conducted through a biopsy or resection of an organ to evaluate the condition of tissues as definitive diagnosis. To provide more advanced information onto CT or MR image, it is necessary to reveal the relationship between tissue information and image signals. We propose a registration scheme for a set of PT images of divided specimens and a 3D-MR image by reference to an optical macro image (OM image) captured by an optical camera. We conducted a fundamental study using a resected human brain after the death of a brain cancer patient. We constructed two kinds of registration processes using the OM image as the base for both registrations to make conversion parameters between the PT and MR images. The aligned PT images had shapes similar to the OM image. On the other hand, the extracted cross-sectional MR image was similar to the OM image. From these resultant conversion parameters, the corresponding region on the PT image could be searched and displayed when an arbitrary pixel on the MR image was selected. The relationship between the PT and MR images of the whole brain can be analyzed using the proposed method. We confirmed that same regions between the PT and MR images could be searched and displayed using resultant information obtained by the proposed method. In terms of the accuracy of proposed method, the TREs were 0.56+/-0.39mm and 0.87+/-0.42mm. We can analyze the relationship between tissue information and MR signals using the proposed method.

OBJECTIVE: Pediatric optic pathway gliomas (OPGs) are often considered benign, but can have detrimental effects on the quality of life, impair vision and are a potentially lethal disease. The aim of this study is to report the characteristics and outcomes of surgically treated OPGs and to identify candidates for different treatment strategies. MATERIAL-METHODS: Retrospective chart review of consecutive pediatric patients with surgically treated OPGs by a single surgeon at our institution from 1985-2015. Three treatment pathways were defined: surgery without planned adjuvant therapy (1), surgery with planned adjuvant therapy (2) and patients with prior treatment (3). RESULTS:88 patients - 49 male and 39 female - were included in analysis. 8 patients had NF1. Pathology revealed pilocytic astrocytoma (85.2%), pilomyxoid astrocytoma (8%), and pilocytic/pilomyxoid astrocytoma (5.7%). Radiologic location of the tumor was: hypothalamic (87%), and involvement of only chiasmand/or tract in (13%).Median age at diagnosiswas 4 years, median age at surgery was 6 years, and median time from diagnosis to surgery was 1 year. At the time of the study: Pathway 1: 37 patients; median PFS 84 +/- 33.4; median OS of 118 months (range: 24 - 337 months); OS rate 68%. Pathway 2: 9 patients; median PFS 45 +/- 10.9 months; median OS of 127 months (range: 23 - 368 months); OS rate 67%. Pathway 3: 42 patients; median PFS 74 +/- 13.3 months; median OS of 69 months (range: 7 - 356) months; OS rate 76%.. CONCLUSIONS: The role of surgery in the treatment of pediatric OPGs depends on patient characteristics and tumor biology. With the adequate therapeutic strategy, long-term PFS and OS can be achieved