How to inject sacroiliac joints with ultrasound guidance: a pictorial essay.

Active sacroiliitis and sacroiliac joint dysfunction represent a common cause of low back pain in the population and are cause of patients' quality of life reduction and disability worldwide. The use of musculoskeletal ultrasound allows to easily identify the sacroiliac joints and to study every pathological condition affecting its most dorsal part; moreover, musculoskeletal ultrasound allows to guide highly effective injective procedures aimed at improving patients' symptoms and enhance their well-being. This paper aims to briefly explain for the musculoskeletal sonographer the anatomy and biomechanics of the sacroiliac joints, the correct ultrasound scanning method for their visualization and the most appropriate ultrasound guided injection technique to help dealing with the diagnostic and management of sacroiliac joint pain in the everyday scenario.

Thoracic ultrasound combined with low-dose computed tomography may represent useful screening strategy in highly exposed population in the industrial city of Taranto (Italy).

Objectives: We validated a screening protocol in which thoracic ultrasound (TUS) acts as a first-line complementary imaging technique in selecting patients which may deserve a second-line low-dose high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) scan among a population of asymptomatic high-risk subjects for interstitial lung abnormalities (ILA) and lung cancer. Due to heavy environmental pollution burden, the district Tamburi of Taranto has been chosen as "case study" for this purpose.

Methods: From July 2018 to October 2020, 677 patients aged between 45 and 65 year and who had been living in the Tamburi district of Taranto for at least 10 years were included in the study.

A Review on Biological Effects of Ultrasounds: Key Messages for Clinicians.

Ultrasound (US) is acoustic energy that interacts with human tissues, thus, producing bioeffects that may be hazardous, especially in sensitive organs (i.e., brain, eye, heart, lung, and digestive tract) and embryos/fetuses.

Ultrasound guided corticosteroids sacroiliac joint injections (SIJIs) in the management of active sacroiliitis: a real-life prospective experience.

Introduction: Active sacroiliitis represents the hallmark of axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) and manifests as inflammatory low back pain associated with morning stiffness (MS). Sometimes, the combination of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and biological disease modifying drugs (bDMARDs) proves unsatisfactory in achieving a remission.

Materials And Methods: We enrolled patients affected with active sacroiliitis confirmed via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and treated with a corticosteroid sacroiliac joint injection (SIJI) via ultrasound guidance.

Colonic involvement in celiac disease and possible implications of the sigmoid mucosa organ culture in its diagnosis.

Purpose: Celiac disease (CD), a systemic autoimmune disorder that typically involves duodenal mucosa, can also affect other intestinal areas. Duodenal and oral mucosa organ culture has already been demonstrated as a reliable procedure to identify CD. The present study investigated gluten-dependent immunological activation of colonic mucosa in CD patients.

Celiac disease: evaluation with dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging.

Purpose: To prospectively determine mural perfusion dynamics in patients with untreated celiac disease by using dynamic contrast material-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and to compare these dynamics with those in a control population and in patients with celiac disease treated with a gluten-free diet.

Materials And Methods: Institutional review board approval and informed consent from all participants were obtained. Sixty consecutive patients with untreated celiac disease, 45 patients with celiac disease treated with a gluten-free diet for at least 1 year, and 30 control subjects were enrolled in this study.

Organ culture system as a means to detect celiac disease.

Anti-endomysial and anti-transglutaminase antibodies can be produced in vitro by the intestinal mucosa of celiac disease (CD) patients in clinical remission, when the culture is performed in the presence of gliadin peptides. Our aim was to use this organ culture system as a means to detect the pathognomonic antibodies of celiac disease (CD) in the culture supernatants. Organ culture was performed in the presence of three different activators to evaluate which one induced the strongest antibody response in intestinal mucosa from patients in clinical remission of CD.