Ultrasound Scan for Liver Tumors Cuts Kids' Exposure to Radiation: Study

Ultrasound Scan for Liver Tumors Cuts Kids' Exposure to Radiation: Study

Using an new ultrasound technique to look for dangerous tumors in children's livers could reduce their exposure to radiation, according to U.K. researchers.

A CT scan can tell the difference between benign growths and malignant tumors in a child's liver, but the test results in radiation exposure.

"We are trying to stop children having unnecessary radiation as the long-term effects show a substantial increase in cancer," Professor Paul Sidhu, a consultant radiologist at King's College Hospital in London, told BBC News.

He and his colleagues are testing a new method of ultrasound that has been used for a decade in adults but not in children. A harmless chemical that's injected into the body forms temporary microscopic bubbles in the bloodstream and acts as a contrast agent for the ultrasound.

"It makes the arteries light up and then the veins and the whole liver. It looks like a field of gold," Sidhu said. If the liver tumor is benign, it lights up like the rest of the liver, but a cancerous tumor will rapidly get rid of the contrast agent, BBC Newsreported.

The researchers tested the new method on 44 children with chronic liver problems and found that it provided accurate diagnoses. However, further studies involving thousands of patients are needed to confirm the study findings, which were published in the European Journal of Ultrasound.

嬰幼兒肝腫瘤引擔憂 倫敦發明掃描新技術
2013-11-25 20:46:16 分享到：      

由於兒童占人口比例小,每年肝臟惡性腫瘤的發病人數也少,但其迅速增高的發病率另家長擔憂。今年9月，華夏腫瘤康復會表示，小兒肝臟腫瘤的發病率呈現不斷上升的趨勢。相關數據表明，無論是剛滿1歲的女嬰還是3歲的小孩，總之12歲以下的患兒就已經有48個，這種多發的趨勢令人很擔憂。至於該上升趨勢是否與大陸環境污染和食品安全問題有直接關聯性，該組織沒有相關報道。

此外，將診斷肝臟腫瘤的傳統CT掃描使用在嬰幼兒身上令父母擔憂其輻射作用，尤其是日後引發的長期性隱患。

本周，來自倫敦國王學院醫學院的研究小組發現的一種新的超聲波掃描技術---「黃金區域」掃描。該技術在對兒童肝部腫瘤掃描時，可以避免不必要的輻射。

據BBC報道，直接參与研究的保羅西杜教授（Paul Sidhu）說：「我們正在努力使兒童免受不必要的，有長期影響可能致癌的輻射。」

他還提及，普通的CT掃描雖然也可以診斷出腫瘤，但是卻使患者受到X射線的輻射。而兒童更容易輻射影響，進而增加在日後患癌幾率。

他們將一種無害的化學物質注射到手臂中，並在血液中形成短暫的微小氣泡作為造影劑。這樣機器在掃描時，血管已及整個肝臟就會以金色顯示出來。良性腫瘤會顯示出相近的顏色，而惡行腫瘤因為會迅速生長，所以會擺脫造影劑，並在機器中顯示出黑色。西杜（Sidhu）說：「它（惡性腫瘤）就像是一個黑洞，明顯的猶如白天和黑夜。」

這項超聲波技術已經在成年人身上使用了數十年，但從未用在兒童身上。該小組在對其改進後，正在兒童身上試驗。在對44名患有慢性肝病兒童的測試中，發現這種方法可以準確的診斷出患者。西杜（Sidhu）總結說：「這是一項令人激動的突破性技術，但它還需要大概幾千個病例進行多中心的對比研究來證實它的效果。」

目前，這項技術已經發表在了歐洲超聲波雜誌（European Journals of Ultrasound）上。

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