Easily Missed Fractures of the Upper Extremity.

Radiographs remain the mainstay for initial imaging of suspected fracture in the emergency setting. Missed fractures potentially have significant negative consequences for patients, referring physicians, and radiologists. Most missed fractures are owing to perceptual errors.

Proctectomy for rectal cancer in patients with prior spinal cord injury.

Introduction: Limited published information is available concerning the clinical course of spinal cord injured (SCI) patients who later develop rectal cancer and undergo proctectomy. We hypothesized that such patients would have poorer outcomes than comparable neurally-intact patients.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of all SCI veterans receiving care at all Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) Medical Centers who subsequently underwent proctectomy for rectal cancer during fiscal years 1993-2002.

Initial experience with routine selective carotid arteriography by vascular surgeons.

We report the results of our first 2 years of experience with routine carotid angiography with an emphasis on technique and complications. We reviewed the hospital records, office charts, and prospective quality-assurance database records of 336 patients undergoing cerebrovascular arteriograms and collected data on the indications, complications, and technical aspects of the procedures. Indications for angiography included carotid stenosis in 331 (95%) patients, subclavian steal syndrome in 9 patients, vertebrobasilar insufficiency in 6 patients, and carotid body tumor in 2 patients.