Sclerosing injections in midportion Achilles tendinopathy: a retrospective study of 25 patients.

Sclerosing injections under ultrasonographic guidance is a new method of treatment for persistent pain in Achilles tendinosis. Good results, even superior to those of surgery, have been described. We report the outcome of 25 patients with midportion tendinosis receiving sclerosing treatment.

Appendiceal abscesses: primary percutaneous drainage and selective interval appendicectomy.

Objective: To present our results of non-surgical primary management of appendiceal abscesses using ultrasonic percutaneous drainage under local anaesthesia, and selective interval appendicectomy.

Design: Retrospective study.

Setting: University hospital, Sweden.

Transrectal catheter drainage of deep abdominal and pelvic abscesses using combined ultrasonography and fluoroscopy.

Objective: To describe our experience with transrectal drainage of deep abdominal or pelvic abscesses guided by ultrasonography and fluoroscopy.

Design: Open study.

Setting: Teaching hospital, Sweden.

Power Doppler ultrasonography: alternative to computed tomography in abdominal trauma patients.

The aim of this study was to determine if power Doppler ultrasonography, contrast enhanced when necessary, can be used as an alternative to computed tomography in the diagnosis of trauma-related organ rupture or hematoma. Fifteen patients who had sustained abdominal trauma but who had normal results on B-mode scans were included in the study. Twenty organs (13 livers and 7 spleens) were examined with both contrast-enhanced computed tomography and power Doppler ultrasonography in a blinded fashion.

New sonographic imaging observations in focal pancreatitis.

The imaging findings that ultrasonographically differentiate focal acute pancreatitis (FAP) from a malignant lesion of the pancreas are described. Focal acute pancreatitis is ultrasonographically (US) characterized as a hypoechoic, homogeneous, localized, subsegmental, non-expansive and diffusely demarcated lesion located mostly in the head of the pancreas. It could not be visualized using CT.

Colour Doppler imaging of shunts from the left portal branch in portal hypertension. Description of a typical pattern.

Purpose: To describe the typical colour Doppler appearance of a shunt through the parenchyma of the left lobe of the liver in portal hypertension.

Material And Methods: Ultrasound images of 141 patients with biopsy-verified cirrhosis were reviewed. Special note was taken of the appearance of shunts from the left portal branch.

Color Doppler energy: detection of hypoperfused areas in renal transplants.

The aim of this study was to determine if an area of decreased color on color Doppler energy scans in a transplanted kidney could be related to significant pathologic conditions. Three hundred and ninety-eight scans in 150 patients were thus evaluated prospectively, and 12 such areas were found and correlated to B-mode, spectral, and color Doppler sonography as well as clinical and laboratory findings. A cause for the hypoperfused area was found in all cases; causes included two cases of focal infection, four arteriovenous fistulas, one kinking of an artery, and five perioperatively severed accessory arteries.

Color Doppler energy: computer analysis for detection of volume flow variations.

The aims of this study were to (1) determine whether analysis of a color Doppler energy image can show small differences in volume flow and (2) determine the performance characteristics of color Doppler energy to aid future analyses. Flow through a silicone tube in a waterbath was insonated, and the images were analyzed by computer producing arbitrary values for the different flow volumes at different machine settings. A significant difference in the derived values was found at volume low changes of 10 ml/min.

Color Doppler energy: computer analysis of color to assess angle dependency and detection of volume flow differences.

The aims of this study were to assess (1) any angle dependency of color Doppler energy and (2) if computer analysis of the color can distinguish variations in volume flow. Fluid flowing through a silicon tube in a waterbath was insonated and the color in the images analyzed by a computer. The color presentation on the screen decreases rapidly as the angle approaches 90 degrees.

Typical sonographic appearance of duodenal diverticulum.

During routine transabdominal ultrasonography of the hepatobiliary tract an occasional persistent bright linear or concave echo was detected that disrupted the normal images we routinely obtained of the pancreatic head. We began to suspect this echo to be the sonographic representation of a duodenal diverticulum. To confirm our suspicions we performed a prospective study.

Bilateral isolated adrenal coccidioidomycosis.

A case of bilateral isolated adrenal coccidioidomycosis in a previously healthy and immunocompetent 43-year-old Caucasian male is presented. He had never travelled to a coccidioidomycosis endemic area. Subclinical adrenal dysfunction was found with elevated plasma ACTH and mineralocorticosteroid and androgen pathway abnormalities.

Ultrasonography in gallstone ileus: a diagnostic challenge.

Objective: To describe our experience with ultrasound diagnosis of gallstone ileus in six cases, and to assess the impact of our findings in the light of published reports.

Design: Open study.

Setting: Teaching hospital, Sweden.

The proteolytic effect of pancreatic pseudocyst fluid on vessel walls.

The possible in vivo consequences of proteolytic activity found in pancreatic pseudocyst fluid was investigated experimentally using fresh vessels from rabbit and humans. Proteolytic pseudocyst fluid caused a pronounced and time-dependent decrease in breaking strength of fresh vessels. A destruction of the normal histological architecture and fragmentation of the elastic tissue of the vessel wall paralleled the mechanical findings.

Gallstone ileus demonstrated by CT.

Objective: The appearance and evolution of gallstone ileus as seen by CT are reported.

Materials And Methods: CT examination was performed on three patients with unspecific abdominal pain. In one patient sequential investigations were performed over 7 months.

Acute puerperal breast abscesses: US-guided drainage.

Breast abscesses typically develop in lactating women. The recommended treatment is surgical incision and drainage with the patient under general anesthesia. Ultrasonically guided percutaneous drainage with local anesthesia was performed in 19 consecutive patients referred for treatment because of clinical signs of acute puerperal breast abscess.

Prevalence of abdominal aortic aneurysm in the offspring of patients dying from aneurysm rupture.

The prevalence of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is high in the brothers of patients with aneurysm. A genetic component in the development of AAA has, therefore, been postulated. In this study the offspring of patients who had died from AAA rupture were invited to undergo ultrasonography of the abdominal aorta.

Prefrontal cortex: dense dopaminergic input in the newborn rat.

Using a recently introduced modification of the aluminum-formaldehyde histofluorescence method, in combination with exogeneous administration of alpha-methylnoradrenaline and biochemical analyses, a remarkably advanced development of the dopaminergic and noradrenergic afferent to the frontal lobe has been demonstrated in neonatal rat. At birth, the density and general distributional pattern of the catecholamine innervation was similar to that found in the fully developed prefrontal cortex. The previously not recognized, early and extensive maturation of the mesocortical dopamine projection suggests a functional role of dopamine already in the early postnatal period.

Improved catecholamine histofluorescence in the developing brain based on the magnesium and aluminum (ALFA) perfusion techniques: methodology and anatomical observations.

Detailed protocols for the application of two different metal salt perfusion procedures are described for the production of superior catecholamine histofluorescence in the brains of immature rats up to 2 weeks of age. As in the adult, both magnesium and aluminum salts are highly advantageous for catecholamine histofluorescence in developing animals, and yield marked increases in sensitivity. In the magnesium-perfusion technique, animals are perfused in a simple one-step process using a hand-held syringe with cold buffer containing magnesium sulphate, formaldehyde and glyoxylic acid.

Substance P-immunoreactive nerve fibres in the anterior segment of the rabbit eye. Distribution and possible physiological significance.

Substance P-immunoreactive nerve terminals were found in several locations in the anterior segment of the rabbit eye. In the iris they occurred in the sphincter muscle and were randomly distributed in the iris stroma with some fibres running close to the dilator muscle. In the ciliary body these immunoreactive elements were few and occurred within bundles of nerve fibres.

Recent developments in aldehyde-induced monoamine fluorescence: the aluminum-formaldehyde (ALFA) method applied to immature and adult central nervous tissue.

In this review, the new aluminum-formaldehyde (ALFA) histofluorescence method for the highly sensitive visualization of monoamine-containing neurones in adult and immature central nervous tissue is summarized. Animals are first perfused with a buffer containing high concentrations of aluminum ions and the brains are then freeze-dried, reacted with formaldehyde vapour and further processed according to the Falck-Hillarp fluorescence method. The ALFA technique applied to adult brains visualizes all known catecholamine neurone systems with a sensitivity comparable to, and for certain noradrenergic systems higher than, that of the previously published glyoxylic acid-Vibratome method.

Adrenergic innervation of pancreatic islets and modulation of insulin secretion by the sympatho-adrenal system.

Morphological changes in the adrenergic innervation of pancreatic islets after chemical sympathectomy by use of 6-hydroxydopamine and the influence of the sympatho-adrenal system on insulin secretion were investigated in the mouse and rat. Fluorescence histochemistry revealed a clear-cut reduction in the number of adrenergic nerve fibres in the pancreatic islets 2 days after administration of 6-hydroxydopamine; the reduction was more pronounced in the rat than in the mouse. In the rat, a partial regeneration was seen after 6 weeks.