Fetal shoulder measurements by fast and ultrafast MRI techniques.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of fetal shoulder measurements of fetuses with suspected macrosomia. The actual fetal shoulder measurements made immediately after birth were compared with measurements obtained by fast and ultrafast MRI techniques antepartum. Eight singleton diabetic pregnant mothers underwent MRI examination with fast imaging in steady-state precession (TrueFISP) and spin-echo (SE) and gradient-echo (GE) echo-planar (EPI) sequences to show the fetal shoulder width.

MR imaging in pelvic inflammatory disease: comparison with laparoscopy and US.

Purpose: To assess the value of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in the diagnosis of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and to compare MR imaging with transvaginal ultrasonography (US) and laparoscopy.

Materials And Methods: Thirty consecutive patients hospitalized because they were clinically suspected of having PID underwent transvaginal US and T1-weighted spin-echo, T2-weighted turbo spin-echo, and inversion-recovery MR imaging at 1.5 T.

Low-field MRI pelvimetry.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of low-field MRI pelvimetry and to correlate the results with X-ray pelvimetry. A total of 19 women underwent low-field MRI pelvimetry. Mediosagittal and transverse planes were used to measure the diameters of the minor pelvic cavity.

Cocaine: effect on spinal projection neurons in the rat.

In the anesthetized rat, systemic cocaine at an analgesic dose (25 mg/kg, IP) had no general influence on spontaneous activity in nociceptive spinoreticular tract neurons or in rostrally projecting low-threshold mechanoreceptive neurons of the spinal dorsal horn. Peripherally evoked activity was moderately (mean: 30%) reduced in 43% (6/14) of the spinoreticular tract neurons, whereas in 50% of them there was no marked change in evoked activity by cocaine. Evoked activity was slightly reduced in 25% (2/8) of the low-threshold mechanoreceptive neurons and not changed in 75% of them.

The effect of medetomidine, an alpha 2-adrenoceptor agonist, in various pain tests.

Medetomidine, a new alpha 2-adrenoceptor agonist produced dose-dependent (30-100 micrograms/kg i.p.) analgesia in the formalin test in rats, and this effect was reversed by atipamezole (1 mg/kg), a new alpha 2-adrenoceptor antagonist.

Effect of subcutaneous formalin treatment on responses to bulboreticular nociceptive neurons in the rat.

The effect of subcutaneous formalin (5%, 0.05 ml) on responses to nociceptive neurons in the medial bulboreticular formation was studied in barbiturate-anesthetized rats. In general, the activity in the studied neurons was not increased following the application of formalin, except for the first few minutes.

Mechanical sensibility of the sole of the foot determined with vibratory stimuli of varying frequency.

The mechanoreceptive properties of the sole of the foot were determined by measuring the detection thresholds to vibratory stimuli of 20, 80, and 240 Hz frequency and 300 ms duration. The thresholds were measured at six different sites on the left sole and at toes 1 and 3 with probes of 2 and 8 mm diameter connected to the moving coil of an electromechanical vibrator. The subject sat in an armchair during the experiments, with the left leg supported horizontally by a vacuum cast positioned on a table.

Response variability to repeated mechanical stimulation of the skin in the dorsal column system.

The response variability in the primary afferent fibers and in the post-synaptic neurons of- the cuneatus was determined using repetitive mechanical stimulation of the skin in cat. The response variability was larger in the post-synaptic neurons. Of the two studied mechanoreceptor types, the RA (rapidly adapting) units had significantly more variability at the cuneate level than the PC (Pacinian) units, but at the peripheral level no such difference was found.

Liminal and supraliminal response characteristics of mechanoreceptive neurons in the cuneate nucleus of cat.

The response characteristics of mechanoreceptive neurons (RA, SA, and PC) innervating the foot pad of cat were determined in the cuneate nucleus. The mechanical stimuli were single sinusoidal pulses of varying frequency (20, 60, 150, and 240 Hz), and vibratory trains of varying frequency (80 and 240 Hz) and duration (50, 100, and 400 ms). Thresholds and stimulus-response functions were determined with single pulses.