Ultrasonography for early diagnosis of Toxocara canis infection in puppies

Parasitology Research - Toxocara canis is one of the most common intestinal parasites in dogs and represents a highly infectious zoonotic parasite worldwide. Adult worms live in the bowel of dogs,...     

Ultrasonography methods in the diagnosis of renal osteodystrophy

Bone disease, i.e. renal osteodystrophy, is commonly seen in patients with chronic renal failure. It encompasses all the disorders of mineral and bone metabolism associated with chronic renal insufficiency, i.e. secondary hyperparathyroidism, retention and accumulation of beta 2 microglobulin and aluminum. The most frequent cause of renal osteodystrophy is secondary hyperthyroidism, with a consequence of high turnover bone disease. Secondary hyperparathyroidism, i.e. increased parathyroid hormone (PTH) secretion and parathyroid gland hyperplasia, develops early in the course of chronic renal insufficiency. Hypocalcemia, phosphate retention and deficiency of calcitriol stimulate PTH synthesis and secretion and parathyroid cell proliferation, i.e. hyperplasia. Parathyroid cell proliferation is initially polyclonal (diffuse hyperplasia), and later it is monoclonal or multiclonal (nodular hyperplasia). Calcitriol receptors as well as calcium-sensing receptors are significantly reduced in parathyroid glands in nodular hyperplasia. Patients with such parathyroid gland hyperplasia are often resistant to vitamin D therapy. A specific form of bone disease is beta 2 amyloidosis. Destructive arthropathy, cystic changes and carpal tunnel syndrome are clinical manifestations of dialysis-related amyloidosis, which is one of the major complications in patients on longterm hemodialysis. Aluminum intoxication leads to the low turnover bone disease and consequential osteomalacia or aplastic bone lesions, the cause of which has not yet been fully clarified. Ultrasound can be a useful, economical and noninvasive method in the evaluation of renal osteodystrophy. Ultrasound waves are very important for noninvasive imaging of soft tissue, especially parathyroid glands, pathologic changes of the joints, and for detection of metastatic calcifications. They are also useful in the evaluation of skeletal status in dialysis patients. Ultrasound waves of a frequency above the limit of human hearing are used in the morphological diagnosis of parathyroid gland. Today, because of its simplicity and non-invasiveness, it is a generally accepted method for the detection of enlarged parathyroid gland in patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism, for the monitoring of pathologic changes, and for making decisions on the method of treatment based on the size and number of parathyroid glands. Ultrasound can distinguish nodal from diffuse parathyroid hyperplasia. Under ultrasound guidance it is possible to perform fine needle aspiration biopsy, to confirm ultrasound findings, and percutaneous inactivation of parathyroid gland (PEI) with alcohol. Ultrasound is useful in the diagnosis of pathologic changes of the musculoskeletal system in patients with beta 2 amyloidosis, to assess the process of its spread, especially in the shoulder joint where the changes are most pronounced (rotator cuff thickness, amyloid deposits as hyperechogenic pads, and detection of fluid in the joint), but it can also be used to examine other joints as well as soft tissue in which metastatic calcifications may occur. Standard ultrasound equipment (pulse-echo) and linear probe of 5-13 MHz are used, also serving for ultrasound examination of the neck, joints and soft tissue. Quantitative bone ultrasonometry is based on different physical characteristics of the ultrasound including: transmission, Speed Of Sound (SOS) in meters/sec and Broad Band Attenuation (BUA) in dB/MHz, and different concepts of the apparatus. These parameters depend on the strength and architecture of the bones and describe better the changes in bone structure in dialysis patients by calculation of the Stiffness Index (QUI), better than the standard bone densitometry by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, which only measures bone density. Combined ultrasound measurement of the bone in several locations may be successful in monitoring dialysis patients.     

Histochemistry in the diagnosis of early prostatic carcinoma.

Twenty-seven prostatic adenocarcinomas, most of them well differentiated, were examined for acid mucoproteins by the Kreyberg and alcian blue-periodic acid-Schiff methods. Seventeen (63 per cent) showed varying amounts of positive material in the lumens of the malignant glands. The procedures can be performed on routinely fixed and paraffin blocked tissues, and are useful in confirming the presence of malignant disease in equivocal cases in which crush artifact or small amounts of very well differentiated tumor acini are present.     

子宫动静脉瘘声像学诊断价值

目的 探讨子宫动静脉瘘彩色多普勒超声及盆腔血管造影的特点.方法 对我院自2005年1月至2008年7月收治的5例子宫动静脉瘘患者的彩色多普勒超声及盆腔血管造影资料进行回顾性分析.结果 子宫动静脉瘘在二维超声图像上无特异性,彩色多普勒血流显示特征性血流信号,多普勒频谱表现为高速低阻特点,盆腔血管造影可显示动静脉瘘形成处血管.结论 彩色多普勒超声及盆腔血管造影是诊断子宫动静脉瘘的可靠方法.     

The psoriasis-associated antigen, pso p27, participates in the formation of complement activating immune-complexes in psoriatic scale

The psoriasis-associated antigen, pso p27, and antibodies recognizing this antigen were demonstrated in extracts from psoriatic scales. It was demonstrated that the antigen was present in complexes containing IgG as well as complement factor C1q. The complexes were studied with respect to complement-activating potential. This was measured as the ability of the complexes to induce the generation of the complement factor C5a using rabbit serum as the source of complement. The data obtained showed that the pso p27-containing complexes were able to activate the complement system, indicating that the pso p27 antigen may contribute to the inflammatory process in psoriasis.     

Diffusion of myoglobin in the diagnosis of early myocardial ischemia

Myocardial ischemia was produced in 12 dogs by ligation of the anterior descending branch of the left coronary artery. The animals were sacrificed 0.5, 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 hours later. The ischemic area was compared with control tissue from the posterior aspect of the left ventricle as to the glycogen content, myoglobin content, intracellular diffusion of IgG, diastase resistant-periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) (D-PAS) staining material and basic fuchsin-staining material. In the earliest time period studied, 0.5 hours, glycogen loss marked a large area of ischemic change. Myoglobin loss, intracellular diffusion of IgG, D-PAS-staining material and basic fuchsin-staining material were also found but involved only a small area within the glycogen-depleted zone. As the length of ischemic period increased, the area occupied by these changes approached the size of the area of glycogen loss. In all animals, the area of myoglobin loss, intracellular diffusion of IgG, D-PAS staining and basic fuchsin staining were in the area of glycogen loss. The IgG, D-PAS, and basic fuchsin parameters, in turn, were within the area of myoglobin loss but usually did not completely fill it. That is, some fibers showing myoglobin loss did not show the other changes. Can any of these changes serve as early markers for irreversible ischemic injury? Glycogen loss clearly does not. Additional data are needed to determine whether the extracellular diffusion of myoglobin and the intracellular diffusion of IgG are markers of irreversible injury.     

Morphological diagnosis of early cancer of the lung

The evidence obtained at histologic study of 18 operative specimens from the middle lung involved by early cancer was compared to that obtained at cytological evaluation of the sputum, catheterization and bronchoscopy material. Combined cytologic investigation of the cells resulted in tumor identification in 15 cases, whereas bronchoscopic biopsy was efficient in only 5. The study of the tumor-adjacent bronchi revealed epithelial transformation which can be considered dysplastic. Dysplasia-typical cells recognized in the bronchial contents served the basis for entering relevant patients into the risk group.     

Chromatin interactions in differentiating keratinocytes reveal novel atopic dermatitis– and psoriasis-associated genes

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New biophysical technologies in the early diagnosis of organ pathology

Kinetic electropuncture diagnosis (CASKED) is the advancement of Voll's method and is characterized by a basically new procedure to apply an electrical signal to the acupuncture points (AP). This method records and analyzes not only the amplitude of AP potential, but its temporal kinetics (in the range up to 100 seconds), he characteristic times of kinetic changes are used as diagnostic signs. CASKED makes it possible to make a direct diagnosis by taking into account the localization and characteristic features of a pathological process and to access changes in a patient's condition during treatment.     

Ultrasonography in myofascial neck pain: randomized clinical trial for diagnosis and follow-up

Objective

A definitive diagnosis of chronic neck pain (CNP) is sometimes not possible. The aim of this study was to understand the possible role of the deep fasciae in CNP and the utility of the ultrasonography in the diagnosis of myofascial neck pain.

Methods

The morphometric and clinical data of 25 healthy subjects and 28 patients with CNP were compared. For all subjects, the active and passive cervical range of motion (ROM) was analyzed and the neck pain disability questionnaire (NDPQ) was administered. The fascial thickness of the sternal ending of the sternocleidomastoid and medial scalene muscles was also analyzed by ultrasonography.

Results

There were significant differences between healthy subjects and patients with CNP in the thickness of the upper side of the sternocleidomastoid fascia and the lower and upper sides of the right scalene fascia both at the end of treatment as during follow-up. A significant decrease in pain and thickness of the fasciae were found. Analysis of the thickness of the sub-layers showed a significant decrease in loose connective tissue, both at the end of treatment and during follow-up.

Conclusions

The data support the hypothesis that the loose connective tissue inside the fasciae may plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of CNP. In particular, the value of 0.15 cm of the SCM fascia was considered as a cut-off value which allows the clinician to make a diagnosis of myofascial disease in a subject with CNP. The variation of thickness of the fascia correlated with the increase in quantity of the loose connective tissue but not with dense connective tissue.