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@#The surgical difficulty of congenital heart disease varies greatly. To ensure the safety of surgery and maximize the benefits of patients, various congenital heart surgery scoring systems have been used to evaluate the risk of different complex congenital cardiac operations. However, the complete correction of cardiac anatomical malformations is a common surgical challenge. Recent studies have shown that the correction is closely related to perioperative mortality and postoperative complications, and a new scoring system for the degree of cardiac anatomical malformations has been proposed. Therefore, this review summarizes the literature and discusses different evaluative methods of congenital heart surgery, aiming to optimize the surgical evaluation system for congenital heart surgery, enhance the quality of surgery and improve the prognosis of patients.

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PURPOSE: To evaluate the accuracy of contrast-enhanced mammography (CEM) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the assessing radiological response to primary systemic therapy (PST). METHOD: Prospective study between February 2021 and October 2022. Women with breast cancer and indication of PST were enrolled. CEM and MRI were performed before and after PST, and the findings, including size and radiological response pattern, were compared with the size of the residual lesion measured in surgical specimens and its Miller-Payne classification (considered the gold standard). Two of four independent radiologists, with 2 years of CEM experience and 10 years of MRI experience, reviewed the images while being blinded to the results of the other technique. The agreement between measurements was evaluated using the Pearson correlation coefficient (r) and Lin's coefficient. RESULTS: Forty-eight women with breast cancer who required PST were enrolled in the study, with a mean age of 57.21 ± 10.14 years. A total of thirty-three participants (68.75 %) completed the study. The correlation between CEM and MRI measurements was high before PST (r: 0.97), and local staging was identical for 45 out of 48 patients. MRI demonstrated better accuracy in predicting residual tumor size than CEM, with Lin's coefficient 0.91 and 0.73, respectively. However, no significant differences were observed in predicting response to therapy. Both methods tended to overestimate the size and degree of response in our study, with mean overestimations of 2.87 mm in CEM and 0.51 mm in MRI. CONCLUSION: CEM was found to be as accurate as MRI in predicting response to PST, indicating its potential as an alternative imaging technique, but further research is necessary.

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Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) in colorectal lesions is demanding, and a significant rate of non-curative procedures is expected. We aimed to assess the rate of residual lesion after a piecemeal ESD resection, or after an en bloc resection but with positive horizontal margins (local-risk resection-LocRR), for colorectal benign neoplasia. A retrospective multicenter analysis of consecutive colorectal ESDs was performed. Patients with LocRR ESDs for the treatment of benign colorectal lesions with at least one follow-up endoscopy were included. A cohort of en bloc resected lesions, with negative margins, was used as the control. A total of 2255 colorectal ESDs were reviewed; 352 of the ESDs were "non-curative". Among them, 209 were LocRR: 133 high-grade dysplasia and 76 low-grade dysplasia. Ten cases were excluded due to missing data. A total of 146 consecutive curative resections were retrieved for comparison. Compared to the "curative group", LocRRs were observed in lengthier procedures, with larger lesions, and in non-granular LSTs. Recurrence was higher in the LocRR group (16/199, 8% vs. 1/146, 0.7%; p = 0.002). However, statistical significance was lost when considering only en bloc resections with positive horizontal margins (p = 0.068). In conclusion, a higher rate of residual lesion was found after a piecemeal ESD resection, but not after an en bloc resection with positive horizontal margins.

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We studied 95 patients with infantile hemangioma (IH) treated with propranolol at the Department of Dermatology, Kumamoto University Hospital, from November 2016 to January 2022, based on sex, site, clinical classification, duration of treatment, and residual lesions after treatment. Four of the 95 patients discontinued propranolol due to side effects, and 55 completed follow-ups at our hospital. We observed that 30.1% showed complete resolution of the skin rash, while the remaining 69.8% had erythema or atrophic scarring. Complete resolution occurred in 70% of the cases with the subcutaneous type but only in 15% with the tumor type. Seventeen of the 55 patients who completed follow-ups were treated with propranolol combined with laser therapy. Combined use of propranolol and laser therapy significantly reduced severe erythema compared to the propranolol monotherapy. These results suggest that propranolol therapy in IH often leaves erythema except in the subcutaneous type and that an improvement in erythema can be expected when propranolol is combined with laser therapy.

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OBJECTIVE: To assess the utility of intraoperative indocyanine green video angiography (ICG-VA) during microsurgical resection of arteriovenous malformations (AVMs). METHODS: Data of the 24 patients, who were surgically treated for AVM using intraoperative ICG-VA, were reviewed retrospectively. Postoperative digital subtraction angiography (DSA) was performed in all patients before they regained consciousness and became fully awake, and the results were compared with those obtained with intraoperative ICG-VA. A scheduled DSA was performed in all patients in the third, sixth, and 12th postoperative months as well. RESULTS: Authors retrospectively analyzed the records of intraoperative ICG-VA application of all 24 patients. Though the exposures were limited and the image qualities were poor at higher magnification on the surgical microscope within deep surgical fields, the AVM niduses, feeding arteries, draining veins, and their relations to normal vasculature were observed precisely with ICG-VA in all the procedures. Furthermore, the visualization was not qualified enough to identify these pathological vascular structures accurately before evacuating and irrigating the layer of blood clots that obscure the view in patients who presented with hemorrhage. In a patient in our series, a residual nidus in the tail of the caudate nucleus was detected with immediate postoperative DSA which was not revealed by terminal assessment with final intraoperative ICG-VA. CONCLUSIONS: Intraoperative ICG-VA is particularly effective in the identification of the feeder, nidus, and drainer and in the assessment of the flow dynamics of the nidus in cerebral AVM surgery. It may be a quick and safe technique for intraoperative imaging of the angioarchitecture of superficial AVMs, but it may be less helpful for deep-seated lesions. Furthermore, this method alone may not be useful in the identification of residual disease or improvement of the clinical outcomes. DSA has remained the gold standard for confirming AVM obliteration. Despite the technical limitations associated with ICG-VA, a combination of intraoperative ICG-VA and immediate postoperative DSA may advance the safety and efficacy of AVM surgery.

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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The Residual Lesion Score is a novel tool for assessing the achievement of surgical objectives in congenital heart surgery based on widely available clinical and echocardiographic characteristics. This article describes the methodology used to develop the Residual Lesion Score from the previously developed Technical Performance Score for five common congenital cardiac procedures using the RAND Delphi methodology. METHODS: A panel of 11 experts from the field of paediatric and congenital cardiology and cardiac surgery, 2 co-chairs, and a consultant were assembled to review and comment on validity and feasibility of measuring the sub-components of intraoperative and discharge Residual Lesion Score for five congenital cardiac procedures. In the first email round, the panel reviewed and commented on the Residual Lesion Score and provided validity and feasibility scores for sub-components of each of the five procedures. In the second in-person round, email comments and scores were reviewed and the Residual Lesion Score revised. The modified Residual Lesion Score was scored independently by each panellist for validity and feasibility and used to develop the "final" Residual Lesion Score. RESULTS: The Residual Lesion Score sub-components with a median validity score of ≥7 and median feasibility score of ≥4 that were scored without disagreement and with low absolute deviation from the median were included in the "final" Residual Lesion Score. CONCLUSION: Using the RAND Delphi methodology, we were able to develop Residual Lesion Score modules for five important congenital cardiac procedures for the Pediatric Heart Network's Residual Lesion Score study.

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BACKGROUND: To assess the effectiveness and toxicity of radiation dose escalation for locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (LA-NPC) in patients with local and/or regional residual lesion(s) after standard treatment. METHODS: From November 2011 to November 2020, 259 LA-NPC patients who had local and/or regional residual lesion(s) after induction chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy (IC + CCRT) from our hospital were included. The total dose of primary radiotherapy (RT) was 68.1-74.25 Gy (median, 70.4 Gy). The boost doses were 4.0-18.0 Gy (median, 9 Gy), 1.8-2.0 Gy/fraction. RESULTS: For all patients, the 5-year local relapse-free survival was 90.2%, regional relapse-free survival was 89.1%, locoregional relapse-free survival (LRRFS) was 79.5%, distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) was 87.9%, failure-free survival (FFS) was 69.0%, and overall survival (OS) was 86.3%. LRRFS, DMFS, FFS, and OS in patients with age ≤ 65 versus > 65, plasma Epstein-Barr virus-deoxyribonucleic acid ≤ 500 versus > 500, T1-2 versus T3-4, N0-1 versus N2-3, and stage III versus stage IV showed no statistically significant differences. The interval between primary RT and boost was not a prognostic factor for LRRFS, DMFS, FFS, and OS. Males had a lower 3-year FFS rate than females (72.9% vs. 83.7%, P = 0.024). LA-NPCs with locally and regionally residual lesion(s) had the worst 3-year DMFS and OS rates compared with locally or regionally residual lesion(s) (77.7% vs. 98.8% vs. 87.4%, P = 0.014; 75.9% vs. 94.5% vs. 82.4%, P = 0.002). CONCLUSION: Boost radiation was an option for LA-NPCs with locally and/or regionally residual lesions after receiving IC + CCRT. It warrants further prospective study. TRIAL REGISTRATION:  Retrospectively registered.

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OBJECTIVE: To determine risk factors predicting residual lesion in a subsequent hysterectomy follow a cold knife conization (CKC) for high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL). METHOD: Between January 2010 and December 2021, a total of 740 patients who underwent a hysterectomy within 3 months after CKC for HSIL were included in this study. We analyzed their demographic features and pathological parameters. A logistic regression model was used to analyze the relationship between parameters and residual lesion in subsequent hysterectomy specimens. RESULTS: 104 (14.1%) had residual lesion in the hysterectomy specimen, 3 patients with microinvasive carcinoma. The rate of residual lesion in patients with positive endocervical margin was 31.3%, with positive ectocervical margin was 15.3%, with positive combine margin was 38.6%. In multivariate analysis, positive margin (OR 4.015; 95% CI 2.526-6.381; P < 0.001), glandular involvement (OR 3.484; 95% CI 1.457-8.330; P = 0.005), HPV16/18 infection (OR 2.804; 95% CI 1.705-4.611; P < 0.001) and multiple HR-HPV infection (OR 1.813; 95% CI 1.130-2.909; P < 0.014) were independent risk factors for residual lesion. The AUC calculated by logistic regression model was 0.78. CONCLUSION: Positive margin, positive glandular involvement, HPV16/18 and multiple HR-HPV infection were independent high risk factors of residual lesion in a subsequent hysterectomy following CKC for HSIL.

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Yamamoto et al. report a case of intraductal residual lesions after endoscopic papillectomy successfully treated with endoscopic radiofrequency ablation therapy. This report provides readers with images and videos of precise intraductal radiofrequency ablation therapy methods for safe and effective eradication of intraductal residual lesions.

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BACKGROUND: In this study, our focus was on pulmonary sequelae of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We aimed to develop and validate CT-based radiomic models for predicting the presence of residual lung lesions in COVID-19 survivors at three months after discharge. METHODS: We retrospectively enrolled 162 COVID-19 confirmed patients in our hospital (84 patients with residual lung lesions and 78 patients without residual lung lesions, at three months after discharge). The patients were all randomly allocated to a training set (n = 114) or a test set (n = 48). Radiomic features were extracted from chest CT images in different regions (entire lung or lesion) and at different time points (at hospital admission or at discharge) to build different models, sequentially, or in combination, as follows: (1) Lesion_A model (based on the lesion region at admission CT); (2) Lesion_D model (based on the lesion region at discharge CT); (3) Δlesion model (based on the lesion region at admission CT and discharge CT); (4) Lung_A model (based on the lung region at admission CT); (5) Lung_D model (based on the lung region at discharge CT); (6) Δlung model (based on the lung region at admission CT and discharge CT). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), sensitivity, and specificity were used to evaluate the predictive performances of the radiomic models. RESULTS: Among the six models, the Lesion_D and the Δlesion models achieved better predictive efficacy, with AUCs of 0.907 and 0.927, sensitivity of 0.898 and 0.763, and specificity of 0.855 and 0.964 in the training set, and AUCs of 0.875 and 0.837, sensitivity of 0.920 and 0.680, and specificity of 0.826 and 0.913 in the test set, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The CT-based radiomic models showed good predictive effects on the presence of residual lung lesions in COVID-19 survivors at three months after discharge, which may help doctors to plan follow-up work and to reduce the psychological burden of COVID-19 survivors.

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BACKGROUND: Many factors affect outcomes after congenital cardiac surgery. OBJECTIVES: The RLS (Residual Lesion Score) study explored the impact of severity of residual lesions on post-operative outcomes across operations of varying complexity. METHODS: In a prospective, multicenter, observational study, 17 sites enrolled 1,149 infants undergoing 5 common operations: tetralogy of Fallot repair (n = 250), complete atrioventricular septal defect repair (n = 249), arterial switch operation (n = 251), coarctation or interrupted arch with ventricular septal defect (VSD) repair (n = 150), and Norwood operation (n = 249). The RLS was assigned based on post-operative echocardiography and clinical events: RLS 1 (trivial or no residual lesions), RLS 2 (minor residual lesions), or RLS 3 (reintervention for or major residual lesions before discharge). The primary outcome was days alive and out of hospital within 30 post-operative days (60 for Norwood). Secondary outcomes assessed post-operative course, including major medical events and days in hospital. RESULTS: RLS 3 (vs. RLS 1) was an independent risk factor for fewer days alive and out of hospital (p ≤ 0.008) and longer post-operative hospital stay (p ≤ 0.02) for all 5 operations, and for all secondary outcomes after coarctation or interrupted arch with VSD repair and Norwood (p ≤ 0.03). Outcomes for RLS 1 versus 2 did not differ consistently. RLS alone explained 5% (tetralogy of Fallot repair) to 20% (Norwood) of variation in the primary outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Adjusting for pre-operative factors, residual lesions after congenital cardiac surgery impacted in-hospital outcomes across operative complexity with greatest impact following complex operations. Minor residual lesions had minimal impact. These findings may provide guidance for surgeons when considering short-term risks and benefits of returning to bypass to repair residual lesions.

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BACKGROUND: Metastasis to the ovary from nongynecologic organs accounts for 9% of all ovarian malignancies. Although the most common nongynecologic primary site of ovarian metastasis is the gastrointestinal tract, metastasis from other sites to the ovary is not uncommon. Differential diagnosis of primary and metastatic ovarian tumors is important; otherwise, appropriate treatment cannot be determined. Furthermore, an optimal treatment strategy for ovarian metastasis from nongynecologic primary sites still needs to be explored. METHODS: One hundred seventy-seven patients with ovarian metastasis from nongynecologic primary sites admitted to Peking Union Medical College Hospital between May 2005 and May 2018 were retrospectively evaluated. RESULTS: The mean age was 48 years (range, 18-83). Approximately 60% of patients were premenopausal women. The two most common nongynecologic primary sites of ovarian metastasis were the colorectum (68 cases) and stomach (61 cases). In addition to the most common symptoms of abdominal distension (39.0%), abdominal pain (37.9%), and ascites (27.7%), 18.1% of patients presented with abnormal uterine bleeding. Half of the patients who tested serum CA-125 preoperatively had elevated CA-125 levels within the range of 35 U/ml to 200 U/ml. More than 70% of synchronous ovarian metastases were preoperatively misdiagnosed as primary ovarian cancer. Of all included cases, 56.5% achieved optimal cytoreductive surgery (the diameter of the largest residual lesion < 2 cm). The overall 5-year survival rate and median survival time were 10% and 20 months, respectively. The primary site, optimal cytoreductive surgery, tumor differentiation, and postoperative adjuvant treatment were identified as prognostic indicators. CONCLUSIONS: The colorectum and stomach are the most common nongynecologic primary sites of ovarian metastasis. Synchronous ovarian metastasis is easily misdiagnosed as primary ovarian cancer. Optimal cytoreductive surgery and postoperative adjuvant treatment can be performed to confer survival benefit in selected patients.

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Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the preferred imaging method for evaluating treatment response in spine infection. However, there are still no definite correlation between follow-up MRI findings and clinical status. Recently, Fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18F-FDG PET) shows great potential as diagnostic and monitoring options. Simultaneous 18F-FDG PET/MRI makes us to expect a huge synergic effect on diagnosis and evaluation of treatment response with metabolic and anatomical advantages in spine infection. We introduce an application of 18F-FDG PET/MRI for evaluating residual lesion in the patient with pyogenic spine infection.

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OBJECTIVES: The Residual Lesion Score (RLS) was developed as a novel tool for assessing residual lesions after congenital heart operations based on widely available clinical and echocardiographic characteristics. The RLS ranks postoperative findings as follows: Class 1 (no/trivial residua), Class 2 (minor residua), or Class 3 (major residua or reintervention before discharge for residua). The multicenter prospective RLS study aims to analyze the influence of residual lesions on outcomes in common congenital cardiac operations. We hypothesize that RLS will predict postoperative adverse events, resource utilization, mortality, and reinterventions by 1 year postoperatively. METHODS: The study cohort consisted of infants aged ≤12 months undergoing definitive surgery for complete atrioventricular septal defect, tetralogy of Fallot, dextro-transposition of the great arteries with or without intact ventricular septum, single ventricle (Norwood procedure), and coarctation or interrupted/hypoplastic arch with ventricular septal defect. Children with major congenital or acquired extracardiac anomalies that could independently affect the primary end point, which was number of days alive and out of the hospital within 30 days of surgery (60 days for Norwood procedure), were excluded. Secondary outcomes included ≥1 early major postoperative adverse event; days of intensive care unit and hospital stay, and initial and total ventilator time; mortality/transplant after discharge; unplanned reinterventions after discharge; and cost. All analyses will be performed separately by surgical operation. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first multicenter prospective validation of a tool for surgical outcome assessment and quality improvement specific to congenital heart surgery.

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While surgery is commonly the management of symptomatic endometriosis when patients do not respond to medical or supportive therapy, recurrence after surgery poses a serious challenge, and repeat surgery increases the risk of premature ovarian failure, adhesion and organ injury. Conceivably, the recurrent endometriotic lesions could arise from minimal residual lesions (MRLs) or from de novo lesions. However, several lines of evidence suggest that the former is more likely. So far, most, if not all, efforts to combat recurrence have been focused on postoperative medication of hormonal drugs to reduce recurrence risk through lesional dormancy and possibly atrophy. However, the perioperative period may exert a disproportionally high impact on the risk of recurrence; it is likely to be amendable for possible intervention but has been generally neglected. Indeed, many perioperative factors are known to or conceivably could facilitate the recurrence of endometriosis through the suppression of cell-mediated immunity due to the activation of adrenergic signaling and the release of prostaglandins. Perioperative use of ß-blockers and/or nuclear factor κB/jCycloxygenase 2 (NF-κB/COX-2) inhibitors may boost the cell-mediated immunity suppressed by surgery, resulting in the partial or even complete removal of MRLs and reduced recurrence risk. This is both biologically plausible and supported by a recent experimental study. We call for more research on possible perioperative interventions to reduce the recurrence risk of endometriosis. The potential payoff might be a substantial reduction in the risk of recurrence and cost when compared with the traditional approach of postoperative intervention.

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BACKGROUND: In order to optimize postoperative therapy in patients with Crohn's disease (CD), it is important to detect endoscopic recurrence preceding clinical recurrence. However, we have little knowledge about how high the rate of residual lesions is and whether these lesions have an influence on postoperative course or not. AIMS: To assess residual lesions in small bowel immediately after surgery. METHODS: Capsule endoscopy (CE) was performed immediately after surgery (< 3 months), and endoscopic activity was assessed using the Lewis score (LS) composed of the highest tertile score (in first, second, and third tertile) and the stenosis score (in whole small intestine). The relationship between these residual lesions and postoperative clinical recurrence was prospectively evaluated. RESULTS: After assessing patency using a patency capsule, CE was performed in 25 patients. The mean LS was 751.3, and 84.0% (21/25) had endoscopic activity. These lesions were detected by preoperative examinations in 0% and by a serosal side view during surgery in 16.0%. Regarding the cumulative clinical recurrence rate according to endoscopic severity (normal, mild, and moderate-to-severe) immediately after surgery, no significant difference was found. However, comparing groups divided according to the highest tertile score, the cumulative clinical recurrence rate was significantly higher in the group with the highest third tertile score. Furthermore, patients with ulcers in the third tertile had a significantly higher recurrence rate. CONCLUSIONS: Many cases with CD had endoscopic activity immediately after "curative" surgery. These residual lesions, especially in the distal small intestine, were associated with postoperative clinical recurrence.

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Preventive percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for non-culprit lesions after primary PCI remains controversial in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). We analyzed whether PCI for non-culprit lesions would be associated with a better long-term prognosis in very elderly (≥85 years) patients. This study included 91 consecutive patients with ACS (mean age, 88.2 ± 3.0, 52 % male). We investigated the association of residual lesions with 1-year mortality. Culprit lesions affected the left anterior descending artery (LAD) in 50 patients, the left circumflex artery (LCx) in 29, and the right coronary artery (RCA) in 31. Residual lesions affected LAD in 20 cases, LCx in 22, and RCA in 21 patients. Residual lesions in LAD were associated with a higher 1-year mortality (p = 0.013), whereas residual lesions in LCx or RCA were not (p = 0.547 and 0.473, respectively). A Cox regression model demonstrated that patients with residual lesions in LAD had an increased risk of 1-year mortality compared with those without residual lesions (hazard ratio, 2.39; 95 % confidence interval, 1.16-4.96; p = 0.019). Therefore, the option to not treat residual lesions in LAD of patients with PCI may be associated with a higher 1-year mortality. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings.

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OBJECTIVE: To determine the accuracy of epicardial echocardiography in detecting residual lesions after surgical repair of congenital heart defects. To determine the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive valve, negative predictive valve, and false negative and false positive percentage of the same. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One year hospital-based prospective study of epicardial echocardiography in patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass for surgical correction of congenital heart defects in children and adults. RESULTS: Epicardial echocardiography was done in 158 patients. Residual lesions were detected in 38 patients by epicardial echocardiography. In 28 of these cases the residual lesions were significant. In 24 of them immediate reoperation was done with good outcome. Epicardial echo has high sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive valve, in detecting residual lesion with congenital heart defects. CONCLUSION: Routine use of intraoperative epicardial echocardiography allows detection of majority of residual defects. It has high accuracy. There were no complications associated with use of epicardial echocardiography. The use of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) can be avoided in small children and neonates undergoing cardiac surgery.

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AIM: To evaluate the ability of (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission and computed tomography ((18)F-FDG PET/CT) in restaging of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after treatment. METHODS: We reviewed a database of the diagnostic performance of (18)F-FDG PET/CT scan for patients with HCC following local or regional treatment. The database consisted of (18)F-FDG PET/CT information of 21 male and 4 female (age range, 27-81 years; mean age, 51.6 years) patients who had received surgical resection and/or interventional treatments and then underwent (18)F-FDG PET/CT scan. All patients had received enhanced CT scan of the liver two weeks before or after the (18)F-FDG PET/CT scan. Intrahepatic recurrence and/or extrahepatic metastases were confirmed by histological analysis or clinical and imaging follow-up. The accuracy of (18)F-FDG PET/CT study was determined by histopathological results or by clinical and imaging follow-up. RESULTS: (18)F-FDG PET/CT was abnormal in 19 of the 25 (76.0%) patients. In detecting HCC recurrence, (18)F-FDG PET/CT scored 17 true positives, 5 true negatives, 2 false positives and 1 false negative. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of (18)F-FDG PET/CT in detecting HCC recurrence was 89.5%, 83.3% and 88%, respectively. (18)F-FDG PET/CT had an impact on management of these patients by settling the problem of an unexplained increase in alpha-fetoprotein after treatment (14 patients), by monitoring response to the treatment and guiding additional regional therapy (12 patients), by identifying extrahepatic metastases (10 patients), by identifying tumor growth or thrombosis in the portal vein (6 patients), or by guiding surgical resection of extrahepatic metastases (2 patients). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that whole body (18)F-FDG PET/CT may be useful in the early evaluation of residual, intrahepatic recurrent or extrahepatic metastatic lesions and able to provide valuable information for the management of HCC recurrence.