Efficacy of serum procalcitonin in evaluating severity of community-acquired pneumonia in childhood.

Microbe-specific diagnosis of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in childhood is difficult in clinical practice. Chest radiographs and non-specific inflammatory markers have been used to separate presumably bacterial from viral infection but the results have been inconsistent. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the usefulness of procalcitonin (PCT) in assessing the severity as well as the bacterial or viral aetiology of CAP.

Color-Doppler sonography vs CT-angiography in discriminating carotid atherosclerotic plaques for surgical treatment. A prospective study.

Purpose: To compare the diagnostic accuracy of colour-Doppler sonography and CT-angiography in the selection of extracranial stenosis of the internal carotid artery to be treated with either endarterectomy or percutaneous transluminal angioplasty.

Materials And Methods: A total of 35 atherosclerotic plaques in 20 patients were studied with colour-Doppler sonography and CT-angiography (technical parameters: 2 mm raw thickness; 3.5 helical pitch; 2 mm image thickness; 1 mm reconstruction interval; non ionic contrast medium; Iodine concentration: 400 mg/ml, injection rate 5 ml/sec; Sure Start).

Doppler evaluation of arterial complications of adult orthotopic liver transplantation.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to analyze the role of the resistance index (RI), systolic acceleration time (SAT), and spectral waveform's morphologic characteristics in the sonographic evaluation of the hepatic artery for early detection of stenosis or thrombosis after orthotopic liver transplantation.

Methods: Arterial Doppler sonograms of 174 transplanted livers in 150 patients were analyzed for presence or absence of blood flow, RI, SAT, and peak systolic velocity. A qualitative evaluation of the spectral waveform morphologic characteristics was also made.

Real-time compound sonography of the rotator-cuff: evaluation of artefact reduction and image definition.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare real time compound sonography with conventional sonography in the evaluation of rotator cuff tears.

Materials And Methods: A prospective study was performed on 50 supraspinatus tendons in 101 patients treated by surgical acromioplasty. The surgeon described 33 (66%) full-thickness tears and 17 (34%) partial-thickness tears.

Efficacy of selective B cell blockade in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis: evidence for a pathogenetic role of B cells.

Objective: The pathogenetic role of B cells in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is under debate, but it is currently believed to be marginal. The availability of selective anti-B cell treatment provides a unique opportunity to clarify this issue. This study was undertaken to investigate the effects of B cell blockade in the treatment of refractory RA, and to evaluate the implications with regard to the role of B cells in the disease.

Sonographic findings in glomus tympanicum tumor.

A glomus tympanicum tumor that is associated with a visible retrotympanic mass is the most frequent cause of pulsatile tinnitus. The preoperative diagnostic approach to this lesion includes a meticulous physical examination as well as high-resolution CT, magnetic resonance angiography, and digital angiography, which can also be used for preoperative embolization. We report the use of color transcranial Doppler sonography in the evaluation of glomus tympanicum tumor in a 67-year-old woman with a 3-year history of left tinnitus.

Color Doppler sonography of hepatic artery reconstruction in liver transplantation.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the Doppler spectral waveforms in the hepatic artery after liver transplantation and hepatic artery reconstruction by end-to-end anastomosis or aortohepatic bypass. The peak systolic velocities (PSVs), end-diastolic velocities (EDVs), and resistance indices (RIs) between the 2 reconstruction groups were compared to establish normal post-transplantation values.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the Doppler sonograms and the sonographic reports from 48 patients who had undergone liver transplantation, 30 with end-to-end arterial anastomoses and 18 with aortohepatic bypasses.