Risk factors for substance use: perception of student leaders.

Objective: to analyze the perceptions of student leaders of the undergraduate course in Nursing about the motivations and/or risk factors for substance use in the university environment.

Method: qualitative, transversal, descriptive study developed in a university campus in the state of São Paulo. Thirty members of associations affiliated with the course in Nursing participated.

Effects of Resistance Training on Obese Adolescents.

Purpose: The effects of resistance training (RT) alone upon endothelial function, metabolic and hemodynamic profiles, physical fitness, body composition, and inflammatory biomarkers in nondiabetic obese adolescents were investigated.

Methods: Adolescents were assigned into nonobese control (CG, n = 20; 14.7 ± 1.

Improving the diagnostic accuracy of hiatal hernia in patients undergoing bariatric surgery.

Background: Surgical correction of hiatal hernia (HH) during bariatric surgery has been found to improve patient outcomes and decrease reoperation rate. Although barium esophagram is more sensitive than endoscopy for detection of HH, accurate preoperative diagnosis remains a challenge. The aim of this study is to determine whether diagnostic accuracy improves by utilizing right anterior oblique (RAO) esophagram technique instead of the commonly used upright technique when comparing to the gold standard of intraoperative detection.

Tests of correlation between immediate postoperative gastroduodenal transit times and weight loss after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy.

Background: Previous studies have shown accelerated gastric emptying after sleeve gastrectomy. This study aimed to determine whether a correlation exists between immediate postoperative gastroduodenal transit time and weight loss after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG). Specifically, correlation tests were conducted to determine whether more rapid transit after LSG correlated with increased weight loss.

Differences in dietary pattern between obese and eutrophic children.

Background: Excessive consumption of energy is a decisive factor of obesity, but a simple quantitative assessment of consumption between obese and eutrophic individuals not always explains the problem, raising questions about the importance of the qualitative aspects of food. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the differences in nutrient composition and meal patterns between eutrophic and obese schoolchildren.

Methods: The diet of 83 children (42 obese and 41 eutrophic), aged between 7 and 11 years of age, was assessed by two non-consecutive dietary recalls.

MDCT of acute mild (nonnecrotizing) pancreatitis: abdominal complications and fate of fluid collections.

Objective: The objective of our study was to describe the occurrence of local complications and the fate of fluid collections in milder forms of acute nonnecrotizing pancreatitis.

Materials And Methods: Initial MDCT studies of 169 consecutive patients with mild acute pancreatitis and 203 follow-up CT examinations were reviewed. The fate of peripancreatic fluid collections was investigated, and the incidence and type of local complications were recorded and correlated to the CT grading system (A-E).

A pattern approach to the abnormal small bowel: observations at MDCT and CT enterography.

Objective: Imaging of the vast array of pathologic processes occurring in the small bowel has been facilitated by recent advances, including the use of MDCT scanners that acquire isotropic data and neutral oral contrast agents that improve small-bowel distention.

Conclusion: This review shows how a systematic pattern approach can be used to narrow the differential diagnosis when an abnormal small-bowel loop is detected on MDCT.

Pancreatitis associated with pancreatic carcinoma. Preoperative diagnosis: role of CT imaging in detection and evaluation.

The combined occurrence of pancreatic carcinoma with acute or chronic pancreatitis is seldom seen in medical practice, but when present it is a challenging dilemma, plagued by confusing overlapping clinical findings and pitfalls in diagnostic imaging tests. This article reviews the presumptive pathophysiological aspects of this relationship, the perplexing clinical presentations and the advantages and limitations of the noninvasive imaging examinations. The role of state-of-the-art CT imaging in screening patients with acute and chronic pancreatitis is emphasized and the impute of additional more invasive tests in detecting pancreatic tumors in this cohort of patients is reviewed.

CT of Meckel's diverticulitis in 11 patients.

Objective: This study reviews the CT findings of Meckel's diverticulitis in 11 patients and, to our knowledge, represents the largest series of such cases reported to date.

Conclusion: The inflamed Meckel's diverticulum may be visualized on CT in most patients, appearing as a blind-ending pouch of variable size and mural thickness and containing fluid, air, or particulate material with surrounding mesenteric inflammation. The location of the diverticulum may vary from the right lower quadrant to the mid abdomen, with most cases in this series located near midline.

Ultrasound and CT evaluation of emergent gallbladder pathology.

Ultrasound is the initial imaging modality of choice for the evaluation of suspected acute gallbladder disorders, and is often sufficient for correct diagnosis. CT also plays a vital role, however, in the evaluation of acute gallbladder pathology. CT is particularly useful in situations where ultrasound findings are equivocal.

The acute right lower quadrant: CT evaluation.

Acute right lower quadrant pain is a nonspecific but common clinical complaint. Appendicitis is the most common cause of acute right lower quadrant pain and CT has become the most reliable imaging method in the evaluation of these patients. Although there is controversy regarding the best way to perform CT in this setting, oral and i.

Intestinal ischemia versus intramural hemorrhage: CT evaluation.

Objective: We evaluated the capability of CT to depict findings that allowed differentiation of small-bowel ischemia from intramural hemorrhage.

Materials And Methods: Findings of 35 CT examinations (19 patients with small-bowel ischemia and 16 patients with intramural hemorrhage) were analyzed by two abdominal radiologists for the degree of wall thickening, location and length of involvement (short, 30 cm), presence of hemoperitoneum, and pattern of attenuation. Patency and caliber of the superior mesenteric artery and vein were noted.

Complications of acute pancreatitis: clinical and CT evaluation.

Mortality of acute pancreatitis is dependent on the development of potentially lethal complications that can coexist and occur at any time following an acute attack. The nature and clinical relevance of these complications differ, contingent on the time of occurrence following a severe episode of pancreatitis. They can be divided into (1), early complications that manifest at the onset or within the first 2 to 3 days, (2) intermediate complications that occur predominantly during the second to fifth week, and (3) late complications that usually manifest months or years following the resolution of an acute attack.

Staging of acute pancreatitis.

Management of patients with acute pancreatitis is based on the early assessment of severity of disease. Initial staging is established on clinical and laboratory grounds and on the findings of contrast-enhanced CT imaging. Individual clinical parameters and laboratory indices, although sometimes helpful, are not sufficiently accurate to reliable assess the severity of an acute attack.

Hemorrhagic complications of pancreatitis: radiologic evaluation with emphasis on CT imaging.

Objective: To analyze and describe the incidence, pathophysiology, radiographic diagnosis and the initial management of hemorrhagic complications associated with pancreatitis.

Material And Methods: Among 1,910 patients diagnosed of having pancreatitis in the last 10 years, 26 developed hemorrhagic complications (1.3%).

Acute pancreatitis: assessment of severity with clinical and CT evaluation.

Treatment of patients with acute pancreatitis is based on the initial assessment of disease severity. Severe pancreatitis occurs in 20%-30% of all patients with acute pancreatitis and is characterized by a protracted clinical course, multiorgan failure, and pancreatic necrosis. Early staging is based on the presence and degree of systemic failure (cardiovascular, pulmonary, renal) and on the presence and extent of pancreatic necrosis.

Cystic pancreatic masses: cross-sectional imaging observations and serial follow-up.

Background: We retrospectively reviewed the imaging features of a series of patients with cystic pancreatic masses, the majority of whom underwent imaging surveillance.

Methods: Imaging data from 30 patients with known cystic pancreatic masses were reviewed. Nine patients had surgical and/or cytologic classification.

Mesenteric adenitis: CT diagnosis of primary versus secondary causes, incidence, and clinical significance in pediatric and adult patients.

Objective: Our objective was to determine the clinical significance of mesenteric adentitis when detected on CT.

Materials And Methods: Mesenteric adenitis was considered present if a cluster of three or more lymph nodes measuring 5 mm or greater each was present in the right lower quadrant mesentery. If no other abnormality was detected on CT, then mesenteric adenitis was considered primary.

Toxic megacolon: role of CT in evaluation and detection of complications.

The purpose of this study is to determine the role of CT in the evaluation and in detecting complications in patients with toxic megacolon. A retrospective analysis of CT findings of 18 consecutive patients with toxic megacolon was performed. Underlying etiology included 12 patients with pseudomembranous colitis (PC), four patients with ulcerative colitis and two patients with cytomegalovirus colitis.

Septic thrombophlebitis of the mesenteric and portal veins: CT imaging.

Pylephlebitis or septic thrombophlebitis of the portal vein and its tributaries is an acute ascending infection arising often from a primary gastrointestinal inflammatory lesion. Common primary sources of infection are diverticulitis, appendicitis, and infected pancreatic necrosis. CT imaging can diagnose this complication at an early stage and can significantly improve the previously reported high mortality and morbidity rates associated with this condition.

Significance of minimal or no intraperitoneal fluid visible on CT scan associated with blunt liver and splenic injuries: a multicenter analysis.

Background: The use of ultrasound (U/S) for the evaluation of patients with blunt abdominal trauma is gaining increasing acceptance. Patients who would have undergone computed tomographic (CT) scan may now be evaluated solely with U/S. Solid organ injuries with minimal or no free fluid may be missed by surgeon sonographers.

The accordion sign at CT: a nonspecific finding in patients with colonic edema.

Purpose: To determine whether the "accordion sign" is a specific computed tomographic (CT) sign of Clostridium difficile colitis.

Materials And Methods: Fifty-seven patients with CT evidence of severe colitis, as judged by colonic wall thickening, an abnormal haustral pattern, the target sign, and stranding of the pericolic fat, were identified from a computerized CT database for 25 months. CT images were retrospectively evaluated for the presence of oral contrast material in the colon and for the accordion sign.