Randomized Study Comparing Radiofrequency Ablation with the PVAC Gold System vs. Antiarrhythmic Drugs in Elderly Patients with Symptomatic Atrial Fibrillation.

Background: There are no randomized studies comparing the maintenance of sinus rhythm after catheter ablation (CA) concerning treatment with antiarrhythmic drugs (AA) in elderly patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF).

Objectives: To compare the clinical results of pulmonary vein (PV) isolation with the second-generation PVAC Gold catheter against AA treatment in elderly people with recurrent symptomatic paroxysmal AF, refractory to at least one AA, and without structural heart disease.

Methods: Sixty patients with paroxysmal AF ≥ 65 years old were randomized to two forms of treatment: group 1: CA and group 2: AA drugs.

Inflammatory Modifications in Paranasal Sinuses and Ostiomeatal Complex Anatomical Variations in Jet Aircraft Pilots: A Computed Tomography Study.

 Jet aircraft pilots are exposed to huge pressure variation during flight, which affect physiological functions as systems, such as the respiratory system.  The objective of the present investigation was to evaluate inflammatory changes of paranasal sinuses of jet aircraft pilots before and after a jet aircraft training program, using multislice computed tomography (CT), in comparison with a group of nonairborne individuals with the same age, sex, and physical health conditions. A second objective of the present study was to assess the association between the ostiomeatal complex obstruction and its anatomical variations.

Maxillary sinus volumetric changes in jet aircraft pilots: A multislice computed tomography pilot study.

Purpose: This study evaluated maxillary sinus volume changes in military jet aircraft pilot candidates before and after the training program, in comparison with a control group, considering the effects of pressurization, altitude, and total flight hours, through multislice computed tomography.

Materials And Methods: Fifteen fighter pilots were evaluated before initiating the training program and after the final approval. The control group consisted of 41 young adults who had not flown during their military career.

Classificação das doenças neurometabólicas hereditárias baseada em aspectos radiológicos: ensaio iconográfico.

As doenças neurometabólicas hereditárias representam um desafio diagnóstico e precisam de classificações eficientes para sua compreensão. São um grupo de doenças raras, mas atingem pelo menos um a cada mil nascimentos. Algumas têm possibilidade terapêutica.

Classification and clinical significance of intracranial calcifications: a pictorial essay.

Intracranial calcifications, which are common in the daily routine of radiologists, can have a physiological or pathological origin. Determining the cause of intracranial calcifications can represent a challenge. The anatomical location, distribution, dimensions and morphology of such calcifications are important findings, which, in conjunction with the clinical history and age group, can facilitate the differential diagnosis.

Gastropod shell size and architecture influence the applicability of methods used to estimate internal volume.

Obtaining accurate and reproducible estimates of internal shell volume is a vital requirement for studies into the ecology of a range of shell-occupying organisms, including hermit crabs. Shell internal volume is usually estimated by filling the shell cavity with water or sand, however, there has been no systematic assessment of the reliability of these methods and moreover no comparison with modern alternatives, e.g.

Cortical brain volume abnormalities associated with few or multiple neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer's disease.

New research on assessing neuropsychiatric manifestations of Alzheimer´s Disease (AD) involves grouping neuropsychiatric symptoms into syndromes. Yet this approach is limited by high inter-subject variability in neuropsychiatric symptoms and a relatively low degree of concordance across studies attempting to cluster neuropsychiatric symptoms into syndromes. An alternative strategy that involves dichotomizing AD subjects into those with few versus multiple neuropsychiatric symptoms is both consonant with real-world clinical practice and can contribute to understanding neurobiological underpinnings of neuropsychiatric symptoms in AD patients.

Sphenoid sinus neuroendocrine carcinoma.

Neuroendocrine tumours are epithelial neoplasms with predominant neuroendocrine differentiation. The nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses are rare locations for neuroendocrine carcinomas, and only a few related papers have been published in the literature to date. Here we present the case of a 64-year-old male with neuroendocrine carcinoma of the sphenoid sinus, along with the main MRI findings.

Nosocomial rapidly growing mycobacterial infections following laparoscopic surgery: CT imaging findings.

Objective: To identify the distribution and frequency of computed tomography (CT) findings in patients with nosocomial rapidly growing mycobacterial (RGM) infection after laparoscopic surgery.

Method: A descriptive retrospective study in patients with RGM infection after laparoscopic surgery who underwent CT imaging prior to initiation of therapy. The images were analyzed by two radiologists in consensus, who evaluated the skin/subcutaneous tissues, the abdominal wall, and intraperitoneal region separately.

Subcutaneous tissue thickness is an independent predictor of image noise in cardiac CT.

Background: Few data on the definition of simple robust parameters to predict image noise in cardiac computed tomography (CT) exist.

Objectives: To evaluate the value of a simple measure of subcutaneous tissue as a predictor of image noise in cardiac CT.

Methods: 86 patients underwent prospective ECG-gated coronary computed tomographic angiography (CTA) and coronary calcium scoring (CAC) with 120 kV and 150 mA.

Contribution of audiovestibular tests to the topographic diagnosis of sudden deafness.

 Sudden hearing loss (SHL) is an ENT emergency defined as sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) ≥ 30 dB HL affecting at least 3 consecutive tonal frequencies, showing a sudden onset, and occurring within 3 days. In cases of SHL, a detailed investigation should be performed in order to determine the etiology and provide the best treatment. Otoacoustic emission (OAE) analysis, electronystagmography (ENG), bithermal caloric test (BCT), and vestibular evoked myogenic potential (VEMP) assessments may be used in addition to a number of auxiliary methods to determine the topographic diagnosis.

DTI voxelwise analysis did not differentiate older depressed patients from older subjects without depression.

Introduction: Neuroimaging has been widely used in studies to investigate depression in the elderly because it is a noninvasive technique, and it allows the detection of structural and functional brain alterations. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) are neuroimaging indexes of the microstructural integrity of white matter, which are measured using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). The aim of this study was to investigate differences in FA or MD in the entire brain without a previously determined region of interest (ROI) between depressed and non-depressed elderly patients.

Idiopathic sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis: an uncommon cause of intestinal obstruction.

Sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis (SEP), also called encapsulating peritonitis, is a rare and benign cause of intestinal obstruction of unknown etiology. Its onset may be acute or subacute although there are some reports with a two-month history. More commonly, this entity is secondary to chronic peritoneal dialysis, ventriculoperitoneal and peritoneovenous shunting, the use of βblockers and systemic lupus erythematous.

Segmental omental infarction: an unusual cause of acute abdomen.

Omental infarction is a rare cause of acute abdominal pain, and the cause of omental infarction itself remains unknown. The diagnosis of omental infarction is occasionally made intra-operatively, because it is poorly known and presents no specific clinical features. Therefore omental infarction should always be considered in the differential diagnosis of abdominal inflammatory processes, mainly those affecting the right lower quadrant.

Calcification of the ligamentum flavum in the thoracolumbar spine: an unusual cause of compressive myelopathy.

The focal calcification or ossification of the ligamentum flavum is a rare cause of thoracic myelopathy and most often occurs among individuals of Japanese descent. It is rare in other ethnic groups and in individuals below the age of 50. It is most often described at the lower thoracic level, being uncommon in the lumbar region and rare in the cervical region.

Using the Graf method of ultrasound examination to classify hip dysplasia in neonates.

Developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) is one of the most common congenital orthopedic anomalies. Ultrasound examination employing the Graf method is used to diagnose DDH. We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study of 222 neonatal patients (140 females and 82 males) submitted to ultrasound examination of the right and left hips between January of 2009 and May of 2011.

Aortic dissection-induced acute flaccid paraplegia treated with cerebrospinal fluid drainage.

Acute aortic dissection is a life-threatening event in which prompt and correct diagnosis is associated with better outcomes. In most cases, there is chest or back pain. However, in rare cases, patients have little or no pain and other symptoms are more conspicuous at presentation.

Carbohydrate supplementation increases intramyocellular lipid stores in elite runners.

The objective was to determine the effects of carbohydrate (CHO) supplementation on exercise-induced hormone responses and post-training intramyocellular lipid stores (IMCL). Twenty-four elite male athletes (28.0±1.

Treatment of resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder with ventral capsular/ventral striatal gamma capsulotomy: a pilot prospective study.

A subgroup of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients remains refractory to conventional treatments. For them, a new stereotactic radiosurgery has been recently developed: the ventral capsular/ventral striatal (VC/VS) gamma capsulotomy. The authors aim to report efficacy and adverse events of VC/VS gamma capsulotomy.

Late enhancement and myocardial perfusion in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (comparison between groups).

Background: The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an effective method to study hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).

Objective: To evaluate, using MRI, the parameters of systolic function, perfusion and myocardial viability in patients with HCM, comparing the groups with and without obstruction of the left ventricular outflow tract.

Methods: Twenty-one patients with a diagnosis of HCM underwent the assessment of myocardial function, viability and perfusion under stress and at rest through MRI.

Increased rates of white matter hyperintensities in late-onset bipolar disorder.

Objectives: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have reported an increased frequency of white matter hyperintensities (WMH) in association with late-onset (LO) depression, and this has supported the notion that vascular-related mechanisms may be implicated in the pathophysiology of LO mood disorders. Recent clinical studies have also suggested a link between LO bipolar disorder (LO-BD) and cerebrovascular risk factors, but this has been little investigated with neuroimaging techniques. In order to ascertain whether there could be a specific association between WMH and LO-BD, we directly compared WMH rates between LO-BD subjects (illness onset >or= 60 years), early-onset BD subjects (EO-BD, illness onset <60 years), and elderly healthy volunteers.

Gamma ventral capsulotomy for treatment of resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder: a structural MRI pilot prospective study.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate regional structural abnormalities in the brains of five patients with refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) submitted to gamma ventral capsulotomy.

Methods: We acquired morphometric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data before and after 1 year of radiosurgery using a 1.5-T MRI scanner.

Multisite fMRI reproducibility of a motor task using identical MR systems.

Purpose: To estimate between-scanner functional MRI (fMRI) reproducibility in a multisite study.

Materials And Methods: A total of five identical 1.5T MR systems were used to repeatedly scan five subjects while performing a finger tapping task.

Insight and regional brain volumes in schizophrenia.

We have investigated the relationship between insight impairment and regional brain volumes (gray and white matter) in schizophrenia using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Fifty patients with schizophrenia were evaluated using the Scale for Unawareness of Mental Disorders. Magnetic resonance images were acquired, segmented and spatially normalized using optimized VBM routines.