January 2006 News Headlines

These are radiology news updates from other sites

Date this page was last updated: 01/07/2007 03:02:52 PM

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January 27, 2006   MRI Signal Changes of the Pedicle as an Indicator for Early Diagnosis of Spondylolysis in Children and Adolescents: A Clinical and Biomechanical Study - Spine   Conclusions: The correlation between the high stresses in the pedicle and the corresponding HSC suggest that signal changes in MRI could be used as an indicator for early diagnosis of spondylolysis. The HSC of the pedicle provided useful information to diagnose early stage spondylolysis...   Bone Involvement in Erdheim-Chester Disease: Imaging Findings including Periostitis and Partial Epiphyseal Involvement - Radiology To prospectively determine whether contrast material�enhanced ultrasonography (US) can depict inflammation-induced changes in muscle perfusion for patients suspected of having dermatomyositis or polymyositis and to compare these findings with those of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and muscle biopsy...Conclusion: Initial results show that contrast-enhanced US is a feasible method for noninvasively demonstrating increased perfusion in the involved muscle groups in patients with myositis...   Pathologic Skeletal Muscle Perfusion in Patients with Myositis: Detection with Quantitative Contrast-enhanced US-Initial Results - Radiology Conclusion: Muscle fiber atrophy associated with steroid myopathy is detectable as prolongation of T2 relaxation time in the gastrocnemius muscle; the authors believe prolongation of T2 relaxation time is mainly due to increased ECSR reflecting type 2 muscle fiber atrophy...   Evaluation of the Acetabular Labrum at 3.0-T MR Imaging Compared with 1.5-T MR Arthrography: Preliminary Experience - Radiology Institutional review board approval and informed consent were obtained for this HIPAA-compliant study. The purpose of this study was to prospectively compare imaging of the acetabular labrum with 3.0-T magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and 1.5-T MR arthrography...   Steroid Myopathy: Evaluation of Fiber Atrophy with T2 Relaxation Time-Rabbit and Human Study - Radiology To determine whether muscle fiber atrophy associated with steroid myopathy can be detected with T2 relaxation time...Conclusion: Dynamic susceptibility-weighted contrast-enhanced perfusion MR imaging can help to identify low-grade gliomas that will progress rapidly and a subset of low-grade gliomas that have a propensity for malignant transformation...

January 26, 2006   Neuropathic Arthropathy of the Foot with and without Superimposed Osteomyelitis: MR Imaging Characteristics - Radiology   Conclusion: Sinus tract, replacement of soft-tissue fat, fluid collection, and extensive marrow abnormality are MR imaging features indicating superimposed infection. Thin rim enhancement of effusion, presence of subchondral cysts, or intraarticular bodies indicate absence of infection... January 25, 2006   Multidetector-CT Evaluation of Bone Substitutes Remodeling after Revision Hip Surgery - Clinical Orthopedics and Related Research We evaluated remodeling of grafted bone substitutes after revision hip arthroplasty using serial examinations of multidetector-row computed tomography imaging...Multidetector-row computed tomography is a promising tool for evaluating bone stock restoration of patients and influential factors of bone remodeling, and for clarifying remodeling patterns of various bone substitutes...   Abnormalities on MRI of the Subscapularis Tendon in the Presence of a Full-Thickness Supraspinatus Tendon Tear - American Journal of Roentgenology Subscapularis tendon abnormality is related to chronicity of supraspinatus tendon tears. Bone marrow edema in the lesser tuberosity with a subscapularis tendon abnormality suggests increased stress at the subscapularis tendon insertion with chronicity of full-thickness supraspinatus tendon tears. Lack of correlation with the subcoracoid interval indicates that anterior instability may be a more important contributing factor to subscapularis tendon abnormalities than static subcoracoid impingement in the setting of a full-thickness supraspinatus tendon tear... January 24, 2006   Age-Related Normal Variants of Sternal Uptake on Bone Scintigraphy - Clinical Nuclear Medicine Conclusion: This study showed age-related normal variants of sternal uptake on bone scanning in asymptomatic patients. Understanding these variants may be helpful in differentiating normal and abnormal patterns of uptake in the sternum on radionuclide bone imaging...   Functional and Morphologic Imaging of Bilateral Chronic Avascular Necrosis of the Talus - Clinical Nuclear Medicine A 60-year-old woman suffered from bilateral ankle pain for 6 months. The pain only occurred with walking. In her medical history, she was known to have old Legg-Calve-Perthes disease. There was no trauma or surgery to the ankles in the past or a history of gout, steroid use, or alcohol abuse. Physical examination revealed no swelling of the ankles with preserved mobility...   Imaging in Acute Pyogenic Spondylitis - Clinical Nuclear Medicine A 51-year-old woman who was receiving 7.5 mg prednisone daily for sarcoidosis presented with low backache on the right side, fever, and chills 2 weeks after dental surgery. Examination revealed lower lumbar tenderness and restricted movement. Blood cultures grew Streptococcus viridans but echocardiography failed repeatedly to demonstrate any evidence of infective endocarditis...   Thoracic Cage Uptake in Bone Scintigraphy Secondary to Lung Abscess With Extrapleural Invasion - Clinical Nuclear Medicine Bone scintigraphy has been shown to be a sensitive diagnostic tool for the early detection of skeleton pathology. The uptake of a bone-seeking agent depends on blood flow to the area and bone remodeling activity. Although this modality mainly aids in diagnosing bone disease, pathology in other tissues can also be demonstrated either as independent findings or as a result of their influence on adjacent bones...   Reversible Rib Photopenia Demonstrated by Bone Scan in Vaso-occlusive Complication of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus - Clinical Nuclear Medicine We report the case of a 39-year-old woman with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), who was seen for excruciating rib pain, thrombocytopenia, anemia, renal failure, and an inflammatory syndrome. She was treated with high-dose steroids. A bone scan performed initially revealed upper thoracic cage photopenia and was suggestive of a vaso-occlusive crisis...

January 23, 2006   Three-year clinical outcome after chondrocyte transplantation using a hyaluronan matrix for cartilage repair - European Journal of Radiology   Repair of articular cartilage represents a significant clinical problem and although various new techniques – including the use of autologous chondrocytes – have been developed within the last century the clinical efficacy of these procedures is still discussed controversially. Although autologous chondrocyte transplantation (ACT) has been widely used with success, it has several inherent limitations, including its invasive nature and problems related to the use of the periosteal flap...   Cartilage repair: Generations of autologous chondrocyte transplantation - European Journal of Radiology Articular cartilage in adults has a limited capacity for self-repair after a substantial injury. Surgical therapeutic efforts to treat cartilage defects have focused on delivering new cells capable of chondrogenesis into the lesions. Autologous chondrocyte transplantation (ACT) is an advanced cell-based orthobiologic technology used for the treatment of chondral defects of the knee that has been in clinical use since 1987 and has been performed on 12,000 patients internationally....   Lineage plasticity and cell biology of fibrocartilage and hyaline cartilage: Its significance in cartilage repair and replacement - European Journal of Radiology Cartilage repair is a major goal of modern tissue engineering. To produce novel engineered implants requires a knowledge of the basic biology of the tissues that are to be replaced or reproduced. Hyaline articular cartilage and meniscal fibrocartilage are two tissues that have excited attention because of the frequency with which they are damaged...   Imaging of extraspinal musculoskeletal tuberculosis - European Journal of Radiology Tuberculosis (TB) is still a major cause of significant morbidity and mortality despite universal availability of effective chemotherapy. The emergence of multidrug-resistant mycobacteria along with a worldwide increase in HIV infection has led to a recent surge in the number of patients with TB. TB involves both pulmonary and extrapulmonary sites...   US of the Shoulder: Rotator Cuff and Non–Rotator Cuff Disorders - Radiographics Ultrasonography (US) has been shown to be an effective imaging modality in the evaluation of both rotator cuff and non–rotator cuff disorders, usually serving in a complementary role to magnetic resonance imaging of the shoulder. US technique for shoulder examination depends on patient positioning, scanning protocol for every tendon and anatomic part, and dynamic imaging...   Radiological assessment of bone segments for transplantation: Experience at Rizzoli Orthopedic Institute - European Journal of Radiology To analyse results obtained from radiological assessment of skeletal segments stored in the musculoskeletal tissue bank (MTB) at Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute...We think donor screening should include radiological assessment of bone segments, performed according to standard parameters by a radiologist to identify bone lesions that may jeopardise the successful outcome of surgery ... January 20, 2006   Evaluation of diffusional anisotropy and microscopic structure in skeletal muscles using magnetic resonance - Magnetic Resonance Imaging The pulsed-gradient spin-echo (PGSE) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) method is used for detecting the diffusion of water molecules in biological tissues. Because tissues generally have diffusional anisotropy, their diffusion properties are denoted by a tensor. In this study, we evaluated the diffusional anisotropy and microscopic structure in atrophied skeletal muscles using the PGSE NMR method...   Pectoralis Major Tears: Correlation of Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Treatment Strategies - American Journal of Sports Medicine Conclusion: The clinical impression appeared to overestimate the severity, the location, and the grade of the injury. Magnetic resonance imaging provided a more accurate assessment and, in conjunction with the clinical examination, helped to identify those patients who would benefit most from surgical repair...   Degenerative spondylolysis: a concise report of scintigraphic observations - Rheumatology Spondylolysis is traditionally thought to be a diagnosis of adolescence and childhood, and is ascribed to mechanical stress through the immature pars interarticularis...Conclusion: The finding of hypertrophic zygapophyseal joint disease in association with spondylolysis is easily recognized by scintigraphic tomographic imaging... January 19, 2006

January 19, 2006   Imaging bone microdamage in vivo with positron emission tomography - Bone   Microdamage accumulation in bone is now considered a contributing cause for bone fragility in older women. However, there is still no method to detect and quantify microdamage in vivo. We have found that positron emission tomography (PET) may be useful to detect and quantify bone microdamage in vivo using a high-resolution PET scanner with [18F]NaF as the tracer...   Assessment of Unspecific Near-Infrared Dyes in Laser-Induced Fluorescence Imaging of Experimental Arthritis - Academic Radiology NIR fluorescence imaging based on the pharmacokinetic behavior of ICG or SIDAG is a promising approach to detect inflammatory joint changes of experimental arthritis. Moreover, SIDAG is suited to differentiate inflammatory and noninflammatory joints 24 hours after dye application...   Quantitative ultrasound tissue characterization in shoulder and thigh muscles - a new approach - BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders Conclusions: The higher intensity and the higher number of blobs in the vastus lateralis muscle indicates that the thigh muscle contained more non-contractile components than the supraspinatus muscle, and that the muscle was coarser. The image analyses supplemented each other and gave a more complete description of the tissue composition in the muscle than the mean grey-scale value alone... January 18, 2006   Visualization of Spinal Cord Motion Associated With the Cardiac Pulse by Tagged Magnetic Resonance Imaging With Particle Image Velocimetry Software - Journal of Computer Assisted Tomography The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether or not tagged magnetic resonance (MR) imaging with particle image velocimetry (PIV) software could reveal spinal cord motion clearly...Conclusion: Tagged MR imaging combined with PIV software, referred to as tagged MR image velocimetry, revealed spinal cord motion associated with the cardiac pulse, especially in the cervical spine...   Sinonasal Computed Tomography in Patients With Wegener's Granulomatosis - Journal of Computer Assisted Tomography The goal of this study was to describe pathologies of sinonasal CT in patients with Wegener's granulomatosis. Between 1993 and 2004, sinonasal CT was performed in 28 patients (15 male, 13 female) with Wegener's granulomatosis. The following imaging findings were assessed on the CT scans: mucosal thickening, subtotal opacification, air-fluid level, bony destruction, sclerosing osteitis, bony thickening, orbital mass, and saddle nose deformity...   The investigation of sacroiliitis with different imaging techniques in spondyloarthropathies - Rheumatology International The aim of this study was to compare the value of different imaging techniques in spondyloarthropathy (SpA) patients with inflammatory low back pain...Conclusion: Magnetic resonance imaging is the most sensitive method for detecting acute or chronic changes in SpA patients with histories of inflammatory low back pain and normal or indeterminate findings on plain radiographs...

January 16, 2006   Diffusion-weighted imaging of bone marrow pathologies - Clinical Imaging   Diffusion-weighted imaging of non-CNS tissue has attracted much attention during the last years. Its capability of probing the microstructure of a biological tissue at a submillimeter range is used to evaluate its diffusion capacity, which is tissue specific and can be used for tissue characterization...   Interobserver reliability in musculoskeletal ultrasonography: results from a "Teach the Teachers" rheumatologist course - Annals of Rheumatic Diseases Conclusions: Musculoskeletal ultrasound has a moderate to good interobserver reliability. Further consensus on standardisation of scanning technique and diagnostic criteria is necessary to improve musculoskeletal ultrasonography reproducibility... January 13, 2006   Ruptures of the medial head of the gastrocnemius ("tennis leg"): Clinical outcome and compression effect - Clinical Imaging The purpose of this study is to describe the clinical outcome of conservative treatment in patients with rupture of the medial head of the gastrocnemius ("tennis leg") occurring during exercise and training and the effect of the compression treatment... January 12, 2006   Melioidosis as a Cause of Multifocal Osteomyelitis - Clinical Nuclear Medicine Melioidosis is a tropical disease caused by the saprophyte Burkholderia pseudomallei. Infection can be acquired by ingestion, inhalation, or wound contamination. Typically, the healthy host is symptom-free and acute disease develops in patients with coexistent diabetes, renal impairment, chronic pulmonary disease, and immunosuppression. We report a culture-proven case of multifocal osteomyelitis caused by B. pseudomallei in a patient of Southeast Asian origin...   Dysplasia of the Cruciate Ligaments: Radiographic Assessment and Classification - Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery Conclusions: We delineated three types of congenital deficiency of the cruciate ligaments and found corresponding morphologic changes of the femoral notch and the tibial eminence, which can be observed on tunnel view radiographs. Thus, the diagnosis and differentiation between aplasia of one or both cruciate ligaments and between congenital and trauma-induced absence of the cruciate ligaments may be made by interpreting plain radiographs...   Ultrasound Measurements of Torsions in the Tibia and Femur - Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery Conclusions: Ultrasound is a viable tool for measuring torsion of the tibia and femur. In order to minimize measurement errors, the ultrasound measurement should be used to calculate the predicted value of torsion with use of the regression equation...

January 11, 2006   Reliability and Reproducibility of Dens Fracture Classification with Use of Plain Radiography and Reformatted Computer-Aided Tomography - Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery   Conclusions: Substantial variation with regard to the classification of dens fractures was found within our group of raters. Greater agreement occurred when reformatted computed tomography scans rather than plain radiographs were used as the basis for classification...   Applications of Doppler Imaging in the Musculoskeletal System - Current Problems in Diagnostic Radiology Pathological conditions affecting the musculoskeletal system often result in alterations of regional blood flow. The assessment of a Doppler signal in inflammatory or infective processes complements the grayscale findings, helping to evaluate the severity of disease... January 10, 2006   Prediction of Thoracic Dimensions and Spine Length Based on Individual Pelvic Dimensions in Children and Adolescents: An Age-Independent, Individualized Standard for Evaluation of Outcome in Early Onset Spinal Deformity - Spine Conclusion: Pelvic inlet width is an age-independent predictor of pediatric chest width and thoracic dimensions that may be used to assess thoracic and spine growth in early onset spine deformity patients...   The Early Work-Up for Isolated Ligamentous Injury of the Cervical Spine: Does Computed Tomography Scan Have a Role? - Journal of Trauma Conclusion: HCT is the most sensitive, specific, and cost-effective modality for screening the cervical spine bony injuries, but it is not an effective modality for screening for cervical LI. MRI is clearly superior to HCT for LI. The indications for MRI include abnormalities on HCT, neurologic deficits, cervical pain or tenderness on examination, or the inability to clear the cervical spine in the obtunded patient...

January 06, 2006   Ten-year Echo-Doppler evaluation of forearm circulation following radial artery removal for coronary artery bypass grafting - European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery   Conclusions: Radial artery removal for coronary artery bypass surgery leads to a chronic increase in ulnar flow accompanied by increased intima-media thickness and accelerated atherosclerotic disease. These findings may have potentially important implications for surgical indications and patients management...   An objective spinal motion imaging assessment (OSMIA): reliability, accuracy and exposure data - BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders Conclusions: OSMIA can measure inter-vertebral angular motion patterns in routine clinical settings if modern image intensifier systems are used. It requires skilful radiography to achieve optimal positioning and dose limitation...   The radiological appearances of thalassaemia - Clinical Radiology The skeletal changes of untreated thalassaemia result from ineffective erythropoiesis and expansion of the bone marrow and affect every part of the skeleton. These changes include osteoporosis, growth retardation, platyspondyly and kyphosis... January 05, 2006   Long term evaluation of disease progression through the quantitative magnetic resonance imaging of symptomatic knee osteoarthritis patients: correlation with clinical symptoms and radiographic changes - Arthritis Research & Therapy The objective of this study was to further explore the cartilage volume changes in knee osteoarthritis (OA) over time using quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (qMRI). These were correlated with demographic, clinical, and radiological data to better identify the disease risk features...

January 04, 2006   Computerized Quantification of Joint Space Narrowing and Periarticular Demineralization in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis Based on Digital X-Ray Radiogrammetry - Investigative Radiology   Conclusion: Computerized analysis of hand radiographs by DXR and JSDA is a promising approach to assess the severity and to monitor the progression of RA because DXR and JSDA are timely able to measure periarticular demineralization and also narrowing of JSD-MCP dependent on the severity, the medical treatment and the course of RA...   Predicting Fracture Through Benign Skeletal Lesions with Quantitative Computed Tomography - Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery Conclusions: The combination of bending and torsional rigidity measured noninvasively with quantitative computed tomography was more accurate (97%) for predicting pathologic fracture through benign bone lesions in children than were standard radiographic criteria (42% to 61% accuracy)... January 03, 2006   Ultrasmall Supraparamagnetic Iron Oxide-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Antigen-Induced Arthritis: A Comparative Study Between SHU 555 C, Ferumoxtran-10, and Ferumoxytol - Investigative Radiology We sought to compare the ability of 3 ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxides (USPIOs) to detect and characterize antigen-induced arthritis with MR imaging...Conclusions: Based on the relatively small number of animals in our study group, inflammation in antigen-induced arthritis can be equally detected and characterized with any of the three USPIOs evaluated ...

January 02, 2006   Increased F-18 FDG Skeletal Muscle Uptake Secondary to Altered Weight Bearing and the Use of Crutches - Clinical Nuclear Medicine A 35-year-old man with amputation of the left great toe for melanoma 3 weeks earlier underwent whole-body F-18 FDG-PET imaging for the assessment of left groin nodes and small lung nodules identified on CT. The F-18 FDG-PET scan demonstrated intense physiological uptake in the rectus abdominis and right calf muscles and bilateral shoulder girdles, resulting from altered weight bearing and recent use of crutches...   Mazabraud's Syndrome with Sarcomatous Transformation: Scintigraphic and Radiologic Imaging - Clinical Nuclear Medicine Mazabraud's syndrome is an uncommon nonhereditary skeletal disease characterized by the association of fibrous dysplasia and soft tissue myxomas. Less than 50 cases have been reported in the medical literature and only a handful of them exhibited sarcomatous degeneration. The authors present an additional case of this rare osseous entity with malignant transformation diagnosed during imaging evaluation of a pathologic fracture of the right upper extremity...   Percutaneous Vertebroplasty for Spinal Metastases: Complications - Radiology Conclusion: Despite numerous technical incidents (leaks), PV-induced complications were rare, leading to the hypothesis that systemic complications are a consequence of intravascular leakage while local complications are a consequence of cement-related irritation, compression and/or ischemia, and/or needle-induced trauma...   Reactive Sclerosis: Hyperintense Appearance on T2-Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging - Acta Radiologica Osteosclerosis is defined as increased density of bone on X?ray imaging studies. It is known that osteosclerosis appears hypointense on both T1- and T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging sequences. In this review, we present our experience in various sclerotic skeletal pathologies that appear hyperintense on T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. We emphasize the possible pathophysiological mechanisms that may cause this appearance, such as bone marrow edema and/or composition of newly formed bone...   Imaging Techniques Used in the Diagnosis, Staging, and Follow?up of Patients with Myeloma - Acta Radiologica Radiologists play a central role in the diagnosis, initial staging, follow-up, and restaging of patients with myeloma. This review article attempts to familiarize the reader with all the various types of myeloma, their imaging appearances and useful imaging strategies. The staging system for myeloma patients has been updated and now includes findings from advanced imaging modalities...   Whole-body MR imaging of bone marrow - Clinical Imaging In clinical routine, multimodality algorithms, including X-ray, computed tomography, scintigraphy, and MRI, are used in case of suspected bone marrow malignancy. Skeletal scintigraphy is widely used to asses metastatic disease to the bone; CT is the technique of choice to assess criteria of osseous destruction and bone stability. MRI is the only imaging technique that allows direct visualization of bone marrow and its components with high spatial resolution...