Off-label-use of sulfur-hexafluoride in voiding urosonography for diagnosis of vesicoureteral reflux in children: A survey on adverse events.

Aim: To evaluate the risk profile of sulfur hexafluoride in voiding urosonography (VUS) based on a large cohort of children.

Methods: Since 2011 sulfur hexafluoride (SH, SonoVue, Bracco, Italy) is the only ultrasound contrast available in the European Union and its use in children has not been approved. Within a 4-year-period, 531 children with suspected or proven vesicoureteral reflux (f/m = 478/53; mean age 4.

Diffusion-weighted MRI of abscess formations in children and young adults.

Background: Diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI) is helpful for detection of brain abscess and pelvic abscess in adults. In the present study, we evaluated the diagnostic performance of DWI in children and young adults with abdominal and soft tissue abscess formations.

Methods: Seventeen patients (11 females, aged 13 ± 6 years) with suspected abdominal or soft-tissue abscess underwent routine MRI including free-breathing DWI and contrast-enhanced T1w imaging.

CD40L induces inflammation and adipogenesis in adipose cells--a potential link between metabolic and cardiovascular disease.

CD40L figures prominently in atherogenesis. Recent data demonstrate elevated levels of sCD40L in the serum of patients with the metabolic syndrome (MS). This study investigated the role of CD40L in pro-inflammatory gene expression and cellular differentiation in adipose tissue to obtain insight into mechanisms linking the MS with atherosclerosis.