Immediate structural changes of porcine renal arteries after angioplasty: a histological and morphometric study.

The aim of this research was to characterize the immediate alterations induced by angioplasty and to compare the results of the application of two types of balloons. Ten porcine renal arteries were dilated with a compliant balloon, and ten with a non-compliant balloon. After angioplastic treatment arterial specimens were wax embedded for light microscopy.

A comparison between radiographic and sonographic assessment of hand and wrist bones for the estimation of skeletal age in the child patient.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to examine, with a sonographic investigation, the hand and wrist bones of a group of young patients and to compare the results with those obtained with a classical radiographic assessment.

Materials And Methods: Some 25 subjects, 9-18 years of age, who presented problems concerning their short stature or precocious puberty, were evaluated. Each subject was examined by a standard radiographic assessment and by a sonographic investigation with real-time imaging.

A comparison of ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging in the evaluation of temporomandibular joint involvement in rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis.

Objective: To define the diagnostic value of ultrasonographic (US) examination in comparison with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the assessment of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) involvement in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA).

Methods: MRI and US examinations were performed in 33 patients (22 with RA and 11 with PsA). Alterations of the disc, alterations of the condyle and joint effusion were evaluated.

[Diagnostic approach to acute laryngeal trauma: role of computerized tomography].

Aim of this study was to assess the role of Computed Tomography (CT) in the management of acute laryngeal injuries by reviewing our 5 years' experience. From January, 1991, to November, 1996, sixteen patients with blunt trauma and 2 patients with penetrating injuries of the larynx underwent physical examination, laryngoscopy and CT; 2 of them underwent angiography too. The patients were divided into 3 groups according to Schaefer classification [13], first on the basis of physical examination, CT and laryngoscopy findings.

Glomerular and tubular effects of contrast media diatrizoate and iopromide.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the nephrotoxicity of two contrast media (CM), with different physicochemical characteristics: diatrizoate (ionic high-osmolar), iopromide (nonionic low-osmolar). Intravenous urography was performed in 34 patients: 17 were examined with diatrizoate and 17 with iopromide, randomly assigned. Different parameters of glomerular and tubular function were measured before and at 6, 24, and 48 h after urography.

[The imaging diagnosis of Sjögren's syndrome: echography, sialography and scintigraphy compared in the study of the salivary glands].

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the ultrasonography, in comparison with other methods of investigation (scintigraphy, sialography, and biopsy), in scanning morphostructural changes in the parotid gland in patient with Sjögren's syndrome. During the period June-October 1994, 34 patients (5 males and 29 females, age ranged between 20 and 88 years) with "sicca syndrome" underwent to echography, scintigraphy, sialography and biopsy. The diagnosis was confirmed or excluded using the European Community Epidemiologic Committee criteria for Sjögren's syndrome.

[Short stature due to a partial idiopathic deficiency of the growth hormone. The role of the TW2 method in assessing treatment with r-hGH].

The Tanner-Whitehouse 2 (TW2) method to assess skeletal maturation (reviewed by Nicoletti for the Italian population) was used to study, from January, 1991, to December, 1994, a series of 26 Italian patients. The patients, 18 men (69.3%) and 8 women (30.

Radiological findings in a case of Menkes' disease.

Menkes' disease, a neurodegenerative progressive X-linked disorder, was diagnosed in a 4-month-old child. The diagnosis was made on the combination of clinical features with laboratory and radiological findings. The pathogenesis of the skeletal findings in Menkes' disease is as yet unclear.

[SPECT in the study of pathology of the temporomandibular joint. The authors' personal experience].

Symptomatic temporomandibular joint dysfunctions may affect about 25% of the adult population, with a smaller though significant percentage of patients experiencing severe impairment. From 1986 through 1991, 107 patients with severe temporomandibular joint symptoms and with various temporomandibular joint disorders were evaluated with conventional radiology and with closed/open-mouth temporomandibular joint tomograms. Single-photon emission-computed tomography (SPECT) and planar imaging were performed on 32 patients using a rotating gamma camera equipped with a general purpose collimator.

[Digital radiology with storage phosphors in cephalometric study in orthodontics].

Conventional radiology is continually modified with the development of digital systems which can be used for several types of radiologic examinations. Our study was aimed at evaluating the advantages of these new technologies in the orthodontic field, where the problems associated with image quality and radiation protection are major especially in young patients; the latter goal is achievable by dramatically reducing radiation dose and by avoiding repeating the exam. In our study, we compared lateral teleradiographs of the skull for cephalometric analysis obtained using conventional and digital diagnostic methods.

[The echo-guided percutaneous injection of ethanol: a therapeutic alternative in the "autonomous thyroid nodule". Our experience].

The authors report their experience on the therapeutic value, in terms of efficacy and tolerance, of percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI) in the treatment of autonomous thyroid nodules (ATN). A group of 15 patients, 13 in clinical pretoxicity and 2 in initial thyrotoxicosis, were submitted to fine-needle ethanol injection (95%) performed under US guidance. The amount of injected alcohol was measured on the basis of the volume and diffusion of alcohol itself within the nodule, in the whole of 79 injections given.

[Comparison of colpocystourethrorectography and transrectal ultrasonography in the assessment of female urinary incontinence].

In order to investigate the diagnostic reliability of transrectal US in the study of female urinary incontinence, the authors compared the static images obtained by means of colpocystourethrorectography with the ones obtained with transrectal US. The study population included 30 patients suffering from urinary incontinence. US images were obtained both at rest and during Valsalva's maneuver, some minutes before cystourethrography and employing part of its preparation (vesical filling with 250 cc of iodine contrast medium and positioning of a metallic bead chain in the urethra).

[Mammographic control after quadrantectomy and radiation therapy].

The efficacy of combined surgery and radiation therapy in the treatment of breast cancer has increased the use of mammography in the follow-up to detect early recurrences. The authors report their experience in the follow-up of 43 breast cancers after treatment with local excision, axillary dissection, and irradiation. Mammography was performed at 6.

Mineral metabolism and calcitriol therapy in idiopathic juvenile osteoporosis.

Idiopathic juvenile osteoporosis is a rare cause of osteoporosis during childhood. We examined four children (three boys and one girl, ranging in age from 2.3 to 12.

[Diagnostic reflections on lung lymphangioleiomyomatosis].

Two cases of histologically proven pulmonary lymphangiomyomatosis were studied by means of an adequate combination of the current imaging modalities. After an anatomical survey of the secondary pulmonary lobule, the authors discuss the pathologic appearance, the pathogenetic factors (mainly hormones), and the diagnostic problems concerning this pathologic condition. Finally, the authors emphasize the decisive role of high-resolution CT (HRCT) in the evaluation of pulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis.

[The echographic diagnosis of acute appendicitis and its complications].

The authors report their experience with emergency US in patients hospitalized for clinical suspicion of acute appendicitis or presenting with pain in the right lower abdominal quadrant. One hundred fifty-two patients were examined with US: 93/152 had pathologies of the right iliac region; 81 of them underwent surgery (50/81 appendectomies). In 27 of these patients the inflamed appendix presented with a typical US pattern.

[Use of echography in pathology of the maxillary sinuses].

Sonography has recently gained attention as a non-invasive technique improving the diagnostic accuracy of conventional radiology as regards the pathologic conditions of the maxillary sinus. Eighty-two patients with various pathologies of the maxillary sinus--i.e.

Effects on renal hemodynamics and tubular function of the contrast medium iohexol in renal patients.

Renal function was assessed in 20 (11 female and 9 male, age 21-76 years, mean 53) renal patients with a creatinine clearance 25-145 ml/min, mean 95, to evaluate the effects of iohexol, a non-ionic low-osmolar contrast medium. Intravenous urography was performed in 16 patients and computed body tomography in 4, using a dose of iohexol ranged between 0.6-3.