Surgical gowns as a safety barrier under non-standard environmental conditions.

In this prospective study, we aimed to investigate whether surgical gowns become contaminated during surgery. Samples from the gowns of five surgeons during 19 surgeries were collected using sterile swabs in circular standard delimited areas on both wrists and the mid-chest at three time-points: immediately before surgical incision (t=0), 30 min (t=30), and 60 min (t=60) later. Additionally, at t=0 and t=60, three settle plates of plate count agar were positioned at 1.

Transtendon arthroscopic repair of partial-thickness, articular surface tears of the supraspinatus: results at 2 years.

Partial-thickness articular tears of the supraspinatus represent a not uncommon event in shoulder pathology, but their treatment remains controversial. We believe that these lesions must be treated with surgical repair: we hereby describe our technique of transtendon arthroscopic repair. We have treated 33 patients with an average age of 53.

A case of hypertensive encephalopathy with prominent brainstem presentation.

A 39-year-old woman developed severe arterial hypertension associated with brainstem hyperintensity in T2-weighted images and hyperintense lesion in the left basal ganglia. Clinical findings were a sudden loss of consciousness, confusion, nausea, vomiting and headache. Rapid treatment of hypertension resulted in clinical and radiological improvement.

Analysis of the X-ray work flow in two diagnostic imaging departments with and without a RIS/PACS system.

A traditional radiological workflow is compared with one based on radiology information system/picture archiving and communication system (RIS/PACS). X-ray workflow process was considered in both radiology departments. First, the study identified the main phases of the research work as follows: Process Analysis, Data Collection and Elaboration, Interpretation.

Finger tendon involvement in rheumatoid arthritis. Evaluation with high-frequency sonography.

Objective: To characterize finger tendon involvement in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: The finger tendons of 20 RA patients were studied by ultrasonography using a high-frequency (13-MHz) transducer.

Results: Eighteen patients (90%) showed finger tendon abnormalities: widening of the flexor tendon sheath (80%), loss of the normal fibrillar echotexture (60%), irregularity of the extensor (30%) and flexor (50%) tendon margins, tendon tear (10%), synovial cyst (20%).

Ultrasound examination of metacarpophalangeal joints in rheumatoid arthritis.

To evaluate the ability of ultrasonography with high frequency transducer (13-MHz) in detecting metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint abnormalities, 20 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and a symptomatic involvement of MCP joints were studied. Twenty healthy subjects served as controls. In all RA patients, ultrasonography clearly demonstrated one or more soft tissue and/or bone abnormalities.

[Functioning and non-functioning tumors of the adrenal gland. Presentation of 4 cases].

The Authors describe their own experience of functioning and nonfunctioning tumors of the adrenal gland. In two cases the neoplasm was an adrenal adenoma, one causing a Cushing syndrome, the other clinically asymptomatic and associated with renal tuberculosis. In two patients the neoplasm was a clinically unsuspected pheochromocytoma and in one case it proved to be a malignant tumor.

[Chronic perirenal hematoma following an overlooked kidney injury. Problems in diagnosis].

Five cases of chronic perirenal hematoma are reported. Preoperative tests were performed to assess the malignant or benign nature of the lesions which were observed some time after the dramatic episode which marked their onset. The varying characteristics of the disease showed by different imaging techniques (urography, arteriography, US, CAT) are such that only surgery can remove all doubts in the majority of cases.