Radiation dose reduction during hysterosalpingography: an application of scanning-beam digital radiography

Hysterosalpingography was performed in 31 patients by means of a low-dose scanning-beam digital radiographic system. The technique permits adequate evaluation of gynecologic abnormalities while allowing significant reduction in radiation: 2.4-mR (6.1 X 10(-7) C/kg) exposure to the skin and 0.7-mrad (7 X 10(-6) Gy) mean dose to the ovaries per image obtained. Sixteen patients demonstrated readily recognizable and documented abnormalities, corroborated by laparoscopy, laparotomy, or other supportive evidence.     

Flow cytometric analysis of induced human graafian follicles. I. Demonstration and sorting of two luteinized cell populations.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that induced human graafian follicles consist of different steroidogenic cell types on the basis of their light scatter characteristics as determined by flow cytometry. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, observational study. SETTING: Flow cytometry laboratory. PATIENTS: Thirty-six follicular aspirates from nine consecutive patients undergoing in vitro fertilization for tubal factor infertility were evaluated. RESULTS: Two distinct luteal cell populations were recovered. Both populations were positive by Oil Red O staining, suggesting the presence of intracellular lipid. Neither population stained positively for the presence of HLe-1/CD45, an antigen present on all human leukocytes. CONCLUSIONS: Cellular heterogeneity exists within the granulosa cell compartment.     

Solitary bronchioloalveolar carcinoma: CT criteria

The computed tomographic (CT) scans of 30 patients with solitary bronchioloalveolar carcinoma were reviewed. Common features at CT included the peripheral or subpleural location of a pulmonary mass (25 cases), pseudocavitation (18 cases), heterogeneous attenuation (17 cases), irregular margins forming a star pattern (22 cases), and pleural tags (21 cases). Using these CT criteria, four independent observers attempted to identify cases of bronchioloalveolar carcinoma from a larger sample of lung cancers and benign lesions by categorizing a series of test cases into four probability categories. Although the bronchioloalveolar carcinomas were correctly ranked in the two highest probability categories 75% of the time (in 45 of 60 cases), there was considerable overlap with other lung lesions, particularly with adenocarcinoma and large cell undifferentiated carcinoma. However, even though the typical features of bronchioloalveolar carcinoma are not invariable or highly specific, they are characteristic enough to suggest the diagnosis.     

Acute Achilles tendon rupture: minimally invasive surgery versus non operative treatment,with immediate full weight bearing. Design of a randomized controlled trial

Background  

We present the design of an open randomized multi-centre study on surgical versus conservative treatment of acute Achilles tendon ruptures. The study is designed to evaluate the effectiveness of conservative treatment in reducing complications when treating acute Achilles tendon rupture.