Reflex sympathetic dystrophy in cervical spinal cord injury patients.

Sixty consecutive patients admitted to the spinal cord injury unit at a Downey, California medical center were evaluated for hand and upper extremity pain. Patients averaged nine months postinjury and had an average age of 37 years. Seven patients (11.

Demonstration of hydrothorax by intraperitoneal injection of technetium-99m MAA in the evaluation of peritoneovenous shunt patency.

A case of hydrothorax in a patient with recurrent ascites following Le Veen peritoneovenous shunt placement is presented. Patency of the Le Veen shunt was studied by the intraperitoneal injection of Tc-99m MAA with subsequent activity seen in the right hemithorax only. A standard perfusion lung scan showed only the left lung to be perfused.

Effect of esophageal variceal sclerotherapy (EVS) on lung function. A prospective controlled study.

A prospective, controlled study to determine the short- and long-term effects of esophageal variceal sclerotherapy (EVS) on lung function was carried out on 11 patients with cirrhotic portal hypertension and variceal hemorrhage. Eleven patients with chronic liver disease undergoing diagnostic endoscopy served as controls. There was no difference in lung function tests and gas exchange in both the EVS or control groups after either procedure.

Evaluation of peritoneovenous shunt patency by intraperitoneal Tc-99m macroaggregated albumin: clinical experience.

The clinical utility of peritoneovenous shunt patency studies using intraperitoneal Tc-99m macroaggregated albumin was studied. The patency of a peritoneovenous shunt can be reliably determined using the intraperitoneal injection of Tc-99m macroaggregated albumin with the appearance of lung activity as an indicator of patency. In an evaluation of 66 cases of clinically suspected peritoneovenous shunt obstruction, using the appearance of lung activity as the sole criterion of patency, this technique was shown to have a sensitivity of 100%, specificity of 92.

Scintigraphic demonstration of splenosis.

A case of splenosis, or the autotransplantation of splenic tissue following trauma, was encountered unexpectedly on a routine liver scan performed in the workup of alcoholic liver disease. Confirmatory scintigraphic images using Tc-99m labeled, heat-damaged, autologous erythrocytes are presented with CT scans of the abdomen.