Fatal air embolism during renal dialysis.

Air embolism during renal dialysis is extremely rare because of the safeguards built into the apparatus and procedures currently used. This case is attributable to improper techniques used with venous access outside the monitored system.On completion of dialysis and disconnect from the machine and its safeguards, this patient had leg cramps.

Role of radiology in a national initiative to interdict drug smuggling: the Dutch experience.

Objective: The purpose of this pictorial essay is to describe the role of radiology in a national initiative to intercept illegal narcotics concealed within the bodies of human transporters.

Conclusion: Radiologic examination is increasingly important in identifying intracorporeal drug smuggling as improved wrapping techniques undermine the usefulness of blood and urine testing and clinical observation. Detection rates of high accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity are achieved by experienced radiologists.

Perivascular fibrosis in the bone marrow in sickle cell disease.

Context: Magnetic resonance imaging of bone marrow in homozygous sickle cell disease (hemoglobin [Hb] SS) shows nonhomogeneous, mottled signals that increase with age and number of crises. The pattern of these signals is reminiscent of the underlying vascular architecture, but histopathology of this tissue has not been adequately studied.

Objective: To elucidate the histopathology of blood vessels in the bone marrow in sickle cell disease.