Unusual dissection of the proximal vertebral artery: description of three cases.

We report three cases that reveal an array of etiologic and radiologic findings associated with dissection of the proximal segment of the vertebral arteries. Regardless of etiology, the proximal segment may be the principal site of dissection in these vessels.     

Computed tomography in obstetrics and gynecology.

Computed tomography (CT) has become essential in the diagnostic evaluation of the female pelvic. CT allows accurate delineation of neoplastic and inflammatory processes and provides an effective means of guiding percutaneous needle biopsy of masses and aspiration/drainage of fluid collections. In the pregnant woman, pelvimetry and excretory urography can be performed using the CT scout view with a radiation dose significantly lower than with conventional x-ray techniques. This paper covers the clinically relevant technical considerations involved in performing CT on women and follows with an overview of normal female pelvic anatomy and frequently encountered pathologic conditions.     

Craniofacial screening profile: quick screening for congenital malformations.

The correct identification of syndromes and other congenital malformations at an early age is critical for the child, family and care providers. Most specialists who conduct large screenings of young children are not adequately trained to recognize signs and symptoms that should lead to appropriate referral to the clinical geneticist and/or diagnostic team. A systematic approach for recognizing important signs is presented here; a Craniofacial Screening Profile. Following a brief training program, the Profile was validated by 39 speech-language pathologists in screening 3,539 kindergarten and first grade children. The results were excellent (specificity was 99.6%), demonstrating that with limited training, specialists can effectively screen for important signs and symptoms of a major group of syndromes and other congenital malformations.     

Long-term results of dietary fenbendazole to eradicate Syphacia muris from rat colonies.

The pinworm Syphacia muris was eradicated from rats after treatment with fenbendazole-medicated chow (150 ppm) and without environmental decontamination for > 54 months. However, this regimen was successful only when the treatment was delivered and efficacy monitoring was done by personnel of the institutional animal resources program. The same pinworm elimination program failed 7 to 24 months after the cessation of treatment in a satellite colony in which animal care, including provision of medicated diet and sample collection for efficacy monitoring, was provided by research personnel. A failure to uniformly deliver adequate therapeutic doses or reinoculation of rats with pinworm eggs from the contaminated environment could not be excluded as causes of the failure. However, there were risk factors, and animal care practices unique to the satellite colony that may have facilitated the re-emergence of pinworms. These risk factors included hand-washing of cages, storage of contact bedding in areas that were not vermin-proof, and animal care provided by personnel having contact with rodents of pet-store origin.     

Early Teenage Substance Use as a Predictor of Educational-Vocational Failure

The authors report on the relationship of early adolescent substance use (up to the time of the 16th birthday) to educational-vocational performance in the early adulthood of 612 African-American urban subjects. Voluminous prospective data were available on the behavior, test performance, and families of 612 urban African-American subjects, from birth up to 7 years of age. Scarcer prospective data were available for school performance during later years of school. Control variables were derived from these data to determine the amount of variance in each dependent educational-vocational outcome variable that was accounted for, independently of the amount of variance accounted for by early substance use. (American Journal on Addictions 1994; 3:325–336)