Echocardiography as a Screening Test for Myocardial Scarring in Children with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.

. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is burdened with morbidity and mortality including tachyarrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. These complications are attributed in part to the formation of proarrhythmic scars in the myocardium.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension in children: diagnosis using ratio of main pulmonary artery to ascending aorta diameter as determined by multi-detector computed tomography.

Background: The ratio of the transverse diameter of the main pulmonary artery (MPA) to ascending aorta as determined at multi-detector CT is a tool that can be used to assess the pulmonary arterial size in cases of pulmonary arterial hypertension in children.

Objective: To establish a ratio of MPA to ascending aorta diameter using multi-detector CT imaging suggestive of pulmonary arterial hypertension in children. We hypothesize that a defined ratio of MPA to ascending aorta is identifiable on multi-detector CT and that higher ratios can be used to reliably diagnose the presence of pulmonary arterial hypertension in children.

Main Pulmonary Artery-to-Ascending Aorta Diameter Ratio in Healthy Children on MDCT.

Objective: This study was performed to ascertain whether the adult ratio of 1:1 of the diameter of the main pulmonary artery (MPA) to the diameter of the ascending aorta (AA) (referred to hereafter as the MPA-to-AA ratio) on MDCT is applicable to children.

Materials And Methods: Our hypothesis, which is based on experiential observation, is that the MPA-to-AA ratio would be higher than 1 in healthy children. A retrospective analysis of vessel calibers in a population of children without pulmonary hypertension who had undergone MDCT was performed.

Perianal disease in pediatric Crohn disease: a review of MRI findings.

Perianal complications of Crohn disease are a common occurrence in children and can result in significant morbidity when not accurately characterized prior to surgical intervention. MRI is an excellent imaging modality for the evaluation of perianal inflammatory bowel disease - allowing characterization and detailed description of perianal fistulas. MRI has many advantages over other imaging modalities for the pediatric patient.

Bacterial skin and soft tissue infections in older adults.

This article focuses on the clinical manifestations of the more common geriatric skin and soft tissue infections caused by direct invasion of the skin by bacteria. The approach will enable the clinician to create a differential diagnosis to choose the proper empiric therapy. Less common conditions will be mentioned in passing principally as part of a differential.

Systematic review of current guidelines, and their evidence base, on risk of lactic acidosis after administration of contrast medium for patients receiving metformin.

Purpose: To systematically review evidence about the relationship between metformin administration and the use of iodinated contrast medium and risk of lactic acidosis (LA) and to assess the quality of five current guidelines for use of contrast medium in patients who are taking metformin.

Materials And Methods: A search strategy was developed by using search termsrelated to metformin, contrast media, and LA. Searches were conducted in MEDLINE (Ovid), all Evidence-based Medicine Reviews (Ovid), EMBASE, and Cochrane library databases and were augmented with searches for evidence-based guidelines on radiology and evidence-based medicine Web sites by using the Google Internet search engine.

Wisdom from the front lines: clinicians' descriptions of treating agitation in the nursing home, a pilot study.

The management of behavior problems is one of the most difficult challenges a clinician must face when treating patients with dementia. This article presents a qualitative analysis of the responses of 7 nursing home physicians and 1 nurse practitioner to open-ended questions regarding their experiences in treating behavior problems in dementia with an emphasis on nonpharmalogical methods. This study serves to highlight both the issues encountered by those commonly asked to treat behavior problems in the nursing home, and the thoughtfulness and insight developed by some clinicians to address the problems.