Ultrasound evaluation of gynecologic causes of pelvic pain.

Ultrasound should be considered the first-line imaging modality of choice in women presenting with acute or chronic pelvic pain of suspected gynecologic or obstetric origin because many, if not most, gynecologic/obstetric causes of pelvic pain are easily diagnosed on ultrasound examination. Since the clinical presentation of gynecologic causes of pelvic pain overlaps with gastrointestinal and genitourinary pathology, referral to CT or MRI, especially in pregnant patients, should be considered if the US examination is nondiagnostic.

Patient size and radiation exposure in thoracic, pelvic, and abdominal CT examinations performed with automatic exposure control.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of patient size on the amount of radiation used to perform CT examinations of the chest, abdomen, and pelvis with automatic exposure control and on the corresponding patient doses.

Materials And Methods: Ninety-one patients underwent CT of the chest, abdomen, and pelvis with a 64-MDCT scanner with automatic exposure control in the x, y, and z planes (noise index, 11.5; tube rotation speed, 1 second; maximal x-ray tube capacity, 800 mA; slice thickness, 5 mm; slice interval, 5 mm; table speed, 40 mm/rotation; pitch, 1; tube voltage, 120 kVp).

Superior mesenteric vein thrombosis after colectomy for inflammatory bowel disease: a not uncommon cause of postoperative acute abdominal pain.

Purpose: Thromboembolism is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in inflammatory bowel disease. Several prothrombotic conditions have been investigated in inflammatory bowel disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of symptomatic postoperative superior mesenteric vein thrombosis in inflammatory bowel disease patients undergoing colonic resections and to identify and characterize their clinical presentation.

Cyclic mechanical stretch inhibits cell proliferation and induces apoptosis in fetal rat lung fibroblasts.

Development of the pulmonary air sacs is crucial for extrauterine survival. Late fetal lung development is characterized by a thinning of the mesenchyme, which brings pneumocytes and endothelial cells into apposition. We hypothesized that mechanical stretch, simulating fetal breathing movements, plays an important role in this remodeling process.

Mechanical stretch promotes alveolar epithelial type II cell differentiation.

Functional maturation of pulmonary alveolar epithelial cells is crucial for extrauterine survival. Mechanical distension and mesenchymal-epithelial interactions play important roles in this process. We hypothesized that mechanical stretch simulating fetal breathing movements is an important regulator of pulmonary epithelial cell differentiation.

Mutations in ribosomal protein S19 gene and diamond blackfan anemia: wide variations in phenotypic expression.

Mutations of the ribosomal protein S19 (RPS19) gene were recently identified in 10 patients with Diamond Blackfan anemia (DBA). To determine the prevalence of mutations in this gene in DBA and to begin to define the molecular basis for the observed variable clinical phenotype of this disorder, the genomic sequence of the 6 exons and the 5' untranslated region of the RPS19 gene was directly assessed in DBA index cases from 172 new families. Mutations affecting the coding sequence of RPS19 or splice sites were found in 34 cases (19.

A proposal method for the assessment of cerebrospinal fluid pressure in the cerebral ventricles.

This work presents a possible method of overcoming difficulties arising during the recording of intracranial pressure (ICP) from the cerebral ventricles of patients suffering from head injuries or intracranial space occupying lesions. The main difficulties in obtaining these measurements are the risk of infection and measurement errors caused by artefacts from head movements. These two problems arise when a cannula inserted into the cerebral ventricle is connected outside the skull to an external transducer measuring pressure.

Long-term monitoring of intracranial pressure in hydrocephalic children not affected by cerebral tumor.

Long-term epidural intracranial pressure (ICP) recordings were performed in 10 hydrocephalic children, not affected by cerebral tumor. The work concerns the identification of A and B Lundberg's waves during normal sleep in the ICP pattern. Plateau-waves of high amplitude and long duration were measured in one patient.