In vitro evaluation of laser fluorescence devices for caries detection through stereomicroscopic imaging.

The aims of this study were to determine the diagnostic accuracy and reproducibility of the laser fluorescence device (LF), and the relationship between laser fluorescence readings taken at the entrance of the fissure, ICDAS visual examination caries detection system and the histological depth of the lesion. Two hundred and forty teeth (122 human third molars and 118 bicuspids) were selected from 62 patients enrolled in the study. Visual and LF examinations (Diagnodent, Kavo, Biberach, Germany) of the occlusal surfaces were performed in vivo.

Imagistic and histopathologic concordances in degenerative lesions of intervertebral disks.

Lumbar disk lesions in 47 cases were initially diagnosed using MRI investigation, then, after surgery, biological and histopathological aspects of intervertebral disks were revealed. Pieces from intervertebral disks were used for electron microscopy studies in order to determine collagen in the components of the intervertebral disk. The aim of the present study was to highlight the correspondence between the MRI aspect in cases with clinically manifest lumbar hernia, staged according to MRI Modic classification, and the histopathological aspect in patients with surgical interventions on the intervertebral disks.

[Some aspects of pulmonary vascular remodelling in smokers and patients with mild COPD].

An important feature of the pathophysiology of COPD patients is represented by the remodelling of pulmonary vasculature. Within this process, a pathogenic element might be the endothelial dysfunction induced by the combined effect of several factors such as: cigarette smoke, inflammatory mediators, hypoxia, mechanical stress, whose contribution differs according to the stage of the disease. The aims of our study were to characterize the structural pulmonary vascular abnormalities present in smokers and patients with mild COPD and to assess their pathophysiological importance.