Follow-Up of Blebs and Bullae in Pilots 40 Years and Older Using CT.

Preventive treatment for incidentally detected blebs or bullae is required for fast jet pilots, but their aeromedical risk is not clearly proven. This is a retrospective study and includes 46 pilots 40 yr and older with incidentally detected emphysema-like changes (ELCs) comprising blebs or bullae in low-dose chest CT (LDCT) during health screening. Two radiologists retrospectively reviewed imaging features.

The accuracy of the swallowing kinematic analysis at various movement velocities of the hyoid and epiglottis.

Objective: To evaluate the accuracy of the swallowing kinematic analysis.

Methods: To evaluate the accuracy at various velocities of movement, we developed an instrumental model of linear and rotational movement, representing the physiologic movement of the hyoid and epiglottis, respectively. A still image of 8 objects was also used for measuring the length of the objects as a basic screening, and 18 movie files of the instrumental model, taken from videofluoroscopy with different velocities.