August 03 News Headlines

These are radiology news updates from other sites

Date this page was last updated: 01/07/2007 03:02:42 PM

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August 29, 2003   Avascular necrosis of the hallucal sesamoids update with reference to two case-reports - Joint, Bone, Spine We report two cases of nontraumatic metatarsal pain with sclerosis and fragmentation of the lateral sesamoid bone on roentgenographs and computed tomography images. One patient underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which showed low signal from the sesamoid bone. These imaging findings suggested osteonecrosis. Histology of the sesamoidectomy specimen confirmed this diagnosis in one patient. Avascular necrosis of the metatarsal sesamoid is an uncommon disorder. The suggestive roentgenographic and MRI findings rule out the other painful conditions of the sesamoid bone. The features are reviewed and the treatment options discussed... August 27, 2003   Osteochondritis Dissecans of the Talus in Children - Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics Conclusion: Magnetic resonance imaging was very useful in preoperative assessment in six cases. Surgical intervention was required in 15 (58%) ankles. The results at the most recent follow-up revealed resolution or decreased symptoms in 25 (96%) and no change in 1 (4%)...   Ultralow-Dose Micronized 17-Beta-Estradiol and Bone Density and Bone Metabolism in Older Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial - JAMA Conclusion: In older women, a dosage of 0.25 mg/d of 17-beta-estradiol increased bone density of the hip, spine, and total body, and reduced bone turnover, with minimal adverse effects. Future studies evaluating the effect of low-dose estrogen on fractures are indicated... August 25, 2003   Magnetic resonance arthrography of the shoulder and postoperative knee - Applied Radiology Magnetic resonance (MR) arthrography is a valuable diagnostic technique in the evaluation of common joint disorders. At the 26th Annual Course of the Society of Computed Body Tomography and Magnetic Resonance (SCBT/MR) held in March 2003, Lynne S. Steinbach, MD, and Thomas R. McCauley, MD, presented reviews of the techniques and clinical applications of MR arthrography of the shoulder and postoperative knee. This article summarizes the highlights from these presentations.1-3...

August 22, 2003   MRI Features of the Acromioclavicular Joint That Predict Pain Relief from Intraarticular Injection - American Journal of Roentgenology Pain relief after intraarticular injection is significantly related to capsular hypertrophy diagnosed on MRI. MRI findings have a reasonable sensitivity and a high specificity in predicting relevant short-term pain relief after intraarticular injection...   Tuned-aperture computed tomography versus parallax analog and digital radiographic images in detecting second mesiobuccal canals in maxillary first molars - Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology, Oral Radiology, and Endodontics Conclusions: (1) There was a less than 40% chance of locating MB2 canals in the MB root of maxillary first molar teeth by using parallax with pairs of digital or analog radiographs. (2) TACT did not significantly affect the rate of detection of MB2 canals...   Incidence of dental radiographic procedures during a 48-month population-based study of dentate adults - Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology, Oral Radiology, and Endodontics Conclusions: Annual incidence of radiographic procedures was substantially higher than the incidence reported in previous studies based on responses by dentists to hypothetical situations, but was stable during the 4 years of follow-up. On the basis only of intervals between exposures, and not of clinical status on the day of service, there was no substantial evidence of inappropriately frequent radiographic examinations... August 21, 2003   Case Report: Sonographic detection of elastofibroma dorsi - Journal of Clinical Ultrasound Conclusion: The diagnosis of elastofibroma was suggested by the typical sonographic appearance of a hypoechoic mass with interspersed linear echogenicity, resembling muscle. The mass was excised, and the diagnosis was confirmed on histopathologic examination...   Case Report: Leg length measurement: clinical versus mathematical modelling - The Foot It has been suggested that leg length measurement is important in gait pathologies and in the surgical dimension, when certain types of procedure are being undertaken, namely total hip arthroplasties. We report on two different methods of measuring leg length difference in a 31-year-old male...Both methods shared similar results, however, the functional method gave the additional benefit by indicating, not just the total length of the leg, but the length of the two long bones involved...

August 19, 2003   Radiographic Definition of Pelvic Osteolysis Following Total Hip Arthroplasty - Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery Conclusions: The use of radiographs to assess and monitor osteolysis has both limitations and merits. Using multiple views, an experienced orthopaedist identified only 73.6% of pelvic lesions. However, once a pelvic osteolytic lesion is evident radiographically, the likelihood that it truly exists is high... August 18, 2003   Case Report: Thigh pain due to intraspinal neurilemmoma - The Lancet A 51-year-old man presented with pain in the right groin and thigh. On examination he had weak right-sided patellar and Achilles reflexes. His right thigh was numb and weak...   Behavioral Graded Activity Following First-Time Lumbar Disc Surgery: 1-Year Results of a Randomized Clinical Trial - Spine Conclusion: Both fear of movement and pain catastrophizing seem to be unaffected by either treatment in these patients. It is concluded that treatment principles derived from theories within the field of chronic low back pain might not apply to these patients. After 1 year of follow-up, there were no statistically significant or clinically relevant differences between the behavioral graded activity program and usual care as provided by physiotherapists for patients following first-time lumbar disc surgery...   Changes in Bone Architecture During Spinal Fusion: Three Years Follow-up and the Role of Cage Stiffness - Spine Conclusion: More "mature" spinal fusions showed a coarser and more homogeneous bone structure. High cage stiffness had a deteriorating effect on the fusion rate. The structure model index appears to be an interesting parameter for quantifying the quality of bone in the fusion zone...   Prolonged Spinal Loading Induces Matrix Metalloproteinase-2 Activation in Intervertebral Discs - Spine Conclusion: In this model, regulation of matrix metalloproteinase-2 activity occurs primarily through enhanced molecular activation of the proenzyme rather than through elevated gene expression or translation. Our results suggest that matrix metalloproteinase-2 may have a role in load-induced changes in disc architecture...   Radiofrequency Denervation for Neck and Back Pain: A Systematic Review Within the Framework of the Cochrane Collaboration Back Review Group - Spine Conclusion: There is limited evidence that radiofrequency denervation offers short-term relief for chronic neck pain of zygapophysial joint origin and for chronic cervicobrachial pain, and conflicting evidence for its effectiveness for lumbar zygapophysial joint pain. There is limited evidence suggesting that intradiscal radiofrequency may not be effective in relieving discogenic low back pain. Further high-quality randomized controlled trials are needed, with larger patient samples and data on long-term effects, for which current evidence is inconclusive...   Looking Back on Back Pain: Trial and Error of Diagnoses in the 20th Century - Spine Conclusion: In the beginning of the last century, many heterogeneous etiologies coexisted. In the second half of the century, the theory of disc degeneration took over almost the entire literature about low back pain. Pre-existing theories disappeared, but re-entered the discussion in the last decade. Two factors seemed to influence this development: 1) a tendency to prefer organic, visible abnormalities as etiologies; and 2) an inclination to trust technical diagnostic results more than clinical judgment...   Reliability of the Visual Assessment of Cervical and Lumbar Lordosis: How Good Are We? - Spine Conclusion: Intrarater reliability of the visual assessment of cervical and lumbar lordosis was statistically fair, whereas interrater reliability was poor...

August 15, 2003   The angled buckle fracture in pediatrics: a frequently missed fracture - Emergency Radiology The purpose of this communication is to bring attention to this fracture, describe the mechanism by which it occurs, and indicate its most common sites...   Stress reaction in the carpal bones caused by breakdancing - Emergency Radiology Stress reactions in the bones of the lower extremities are a common finding on magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. The primary finding in the bone marrow is nonspecific edema without any visible fracture line that may even mimic tumor or infection. Continuing stress may eventually lead to a stress fracture. We present the case of a stress reaction related to breakdancing in a less typical localization, in the triquetral bone in the wrist...   Case Report: The jet ski open-book pelvic fracture: diagnosis with multidetector CT - Emergency Radiology A 10-year-old girl sustained a traumatic open-book pelvic fracture from a straddle injury in a jet ski accident. Plain films and computed tomography both demonstrated diastasis of the symphysis pubis and bilateral widening of the sacroiliac joints... August 14, 2003   Case Report: Clinical Images: Systemic Mastocytosis - New England Journal of Medicine A 44-year-old woman presented with a one-year history of neck and lower back pain. The neck and back pain had worsened over the previous two months and was associated with new symptoms of drenching night sweats, watery diarrhea, and episodes of flushing...   Polyarteritis nodosa limited to calf muscles: a case report and review of the literature - Clinical Rheumatology We describe an unusual case of a 38-year-old woman with a localised form of polyarteritis nodosa (PAN) manifested by acute onset of severe calf pain. Magnetic resonance imaging of the lower legs showed abnormal signal intensity of the outer calves muscle. Biopsies of the gastrocnemius revealed an acute necrotising arteritis with marked non-specific fasciitis. The diseased muscle improved with corticosteroid administration alone. The fascial involvement likely contributed to the severity of the clinical features of PAN, which may be related to a previous hepatitis B virus infection...

August 12, 2003   Image-guided spinal injection for diagnosis and therapy - Australasian Radiology Over the past decade, major advances have been made in our ability to identify a putative cause of patients' spinal pain using image-guided injection techniques. These techniques might also provide a means of temporarily relieving patients' pain and facilitating increased mobility. This article aims to review the rationale for and the techniques of the more commonly used spinal injection techniques...   Precision of bone densitometry measurements: When is change true change and does it vary across bone density values? - Australasian Radiology There were no significant differences in the variances or SD for all eight compartments, that is, over the range of BMD normally encountered in clinical practice. However, the calculated CV show a progressive fall in values as the BMD rises. Therefore, the SD should be used to calculate significant BMD change. In a practise with quality control procedures in place to detect calibration drift and with appropriately trained personnel, a change of approximately 0.05 g/cm2 is generally regarded as being a significant change at a 95% confidence level... August 11, 2003   New radiographic bone erosions in the wrists of patients with rheumatoid arthritis are detectable with magnetic resonance imaging a median of two years earlier - Arthritis & Rheumatism Conclusion: Most new radiographic bone erosions (78%) were visualized at least 1 year earlier by MRI than by CR. This illustrates that the information on joint destruction provided by CR is considerably delayed compared with that provided by MRI. A significantly increased risk of progression of radiographic erosion in bones with baseline MRI erosions was observed, demonstrating a prognostic value of MRI with respect to long-term radiographic outcome ...   Impact of type of meniscal tear on radiographic and symptomatic knee osteoarthritis: A sixteen-year followup of meniscectomy with matched controls - Arthritis & Rheumatism Conclusion: An isolated meniscal tear treated by limited meniscectomy is associated with a high risk of radiographic and symptomatic tibiofemoral OA at 16-year followup. Factors associated with worse outcome were degenerative meniscal lesions and extensive resections. We suggest that degenerative meniscal tears may be associated with incipient OA, and that the meniscal tear signals the first symptom of the disease ...

August 07, 2003   Condylar erosion and disc displacement: Detection with high-resolution ultrasonography - Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Conclusion: Sonography is an insufficient imaging technique for the detection of condylar erosion. Assessment of disc displacement without reduction may be reliably made with sonography...   Evaluation of 67Ga citrate and 99mTc bone scintigraphy at initial examination for primary oral squamous cell carcinoma - Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Conclusions: These results suggested that Ga and bone scintigraphy at the initial examination of patients with primary oral SCC are ineffective for detecting distant metastasis and other malignancies because of the low incidence of these lesions and the diagnostic inaccuracy of scintigraphy...

August 06, 2003   Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Cervical Ligaments in the Absence of Trauma - Spine Conclusion: Discontinuity of the "black stripe" on a T1-weighted sequence cannot be used as a reliable isolated sign of ligament rupture in the setting of acute spinal trauma, because the spinal ligaments are commonly not visualized ...   Color Doppler Ultrasonography for Evaluation of Internal Mammary Artery Application in Adolescent Female Patients with Right-Convex Thoracic Idiopathic Scoliosis - Spine Conclusions: Color Doppler Ultrasonography applied to assess anatomic or hemodynamic blood flow parameters at the origin of internal mammary artery was proven a highly reliable method. Color Doppler Ultrasonography disclosed no side-differences, while there were no differences between scoliotics and controls. Thus, it seems that this study cannot justify previous theories for development of right thoracic scoliosis in female adolescents ...   Severity of Bone Marrow Involvement in Patients with Gaucher’s Disease Evaluated by Scintigraphy with 99mTc-Sestamibi - The Journal of Nuclear Medicine Conclusion: 99mTc-Sestamibi uptake reliably identifies bone marrow infiltration by Gaucher’s cells. The scintigraphic score is helpful for defining the severity of bone marrow involvement and for comparing patients. 99mTc-Sestamibi scintigraphy, which provides topographic information about the sites involved by the disease, is highly correlated with other parameters of disease severity and appears to correlate with response to ERT... August 05, 2003   Color Doppler Ultrasonography for Evaluation of Internal Mammary Artery Application in Adolescent Female Patients with Right-Convex Thoracic Idiopathic Scoliosis - Spine Color Doppler Ultrasonography applied to assess anatomic or hemodynamic blood flow parameters at the origin of internal mammary artery was proven a highly reliable method. Color Doppler Ultrasonography disclosed no side-differences, while there were no differences between scoliotics and controls. Thus, it seems that this study cannot justify previous theories for development of right thoracic scoliosis in female adolescents... August 04, 2003   Case Report: Positive Leukocyte and Negative Bone Scintigraphy in Extensive Arthroplasty Infection - Clinical Nuclear Medicine An 85-year-old male resident of a nursing home presented after a fall with a painful left hip, confusion, and fever. He had multiple medical problems including severe vascular disease and poor vision as a result of macular degeneration... August 01, 2003   MR Imaging of Normal and Matrix-depleted Cartilage: Correlation with Biomechanical Function and Biochemical Composition - Radiology Conclusion: An association between biochemical and biomechanical functional status and MR imaging parameters of articular cartilage was demonstrated. Linear correlations existed between modulus and proteoglycan content in terms of T2. Additionally, proteoglycan loss and collagen loss had differing effects on gadolinium-enhanced T1 when it was expressed as the ratio of T1 after gadolinium enhancement/T1 before gadolinium enhancement...   C Sign for Diagnosis of Talocalcaneal Coalition - Radiology Conclusion: C sign sensitivity obtained in our study was low, which indicated that an absence of the C sign does not negate a diagnosis of coalition...   Evaluation of magnetic resonance myelography in the investigation of cervical spondylotic radiculopathy - British Journal of Radiology Conclusion: MR myelography alone had a sensitivity of 84.4%, a specificity of 90.1%, and diagnostic accuracy of 88% (p<0.001). However, the addition of MR myelography increased the diagnostic yield of the MR examination for the detection of foraminal stenotic disease. MR myelography is a useful adjunct to conventional MRI in the investigation of cervical spondylotic radiculopathy...