Biomechanical behavior of brain injury caused by sticks using finite element model and Hybrid-III testing

Objective: To study the biomechanical mechanism of head injuries beaten with sticks, which is common in the battery or assaultive cases. Methods: In this study, the Hybrid-III anthropomorphic test device and finite element model (FEM) of the total human model for safety (THUMS) head were used to determine the biomechanical response of head while being beaten with different sticks. Total eight Hybrid-III tests and four finite element simulations were conducted. The contact force, resultant acceleration of head center of gravity, intracranial pressure and von Mises stress were calculated to determine the different biomechanical behavior of head with beaten by different sticks. Results: In Hybrid-III tests, the stick in each group demonstrated the similar kinematic behavior under the same loading condition. The peak values of the resultant acceleration for thick iron stick group, thin iron stick group, thick wooden stick group and thin wooden stick group were 203.4 g, 221.1 g, 170.5 g and 122.2 g respectively. In finite element simulations, positive intracranial pressure was initially observed in the frontal comparing with negative intracranial pressure in the contra-coup site. Subsequently the intracranial pressure in the coup site was decreasing toward negative value while the contra-coup intracranial pressure increasing toward positive values. Conclusions: The results illustrated that the stiffer and larger the stick was, the higher the von Mises stress, contact force and intracranial pressure were. We believed that the results in the Hybrid-III tests and THUMS head simulations for brain injury beaten with sticks could be reliable and useful for better understanding the injury mechanism.     

Lingual lymph nodes: Anatomy,clinical considerations,and oncological significance

Lingual lymph nodes are an inconstant group of in-transit nodes, which are located on the route of lymph drainage from the tongue mucosa to the regional nodes in neck levels I and II. There is growing academic data on the metastatic spread of oral cancer, particularly regarding the spreading of oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma to lingual nodes. These nodes are not currently included in diagnostic and treatment protocols for oral tongue cancer. Combined information on surgical anatomy, clinical observations, means of detection, and prognostic value is presented. Anatomically obtained incidence of lingual nodes ranges from 8.6% to 30.2%. Incidence of lingual lymph node metastasis ranges from 1.3% to 17.1%. It is clear that lymph nodes that bear intervening tissues from the floor of the mouth should be removed to improve loco-regional control. Extended resection volume, which is required for the surgical treatment of lingual node metastasis, cannot be implied to every tongue cancer patient. As these lesions significantly influence prognosis, special efforts of their detection must be made. Reasonably, every tongue cancer patient must be investigated for the existence of lingual lymph node metastasis. Lymphographic tracing methods, which are currently implied for sentinel lymph node biopsies, may improve the detection of lingual lymph nodes.     

A comparison of head injuries in male and female lacrosse participants seen in US emergency departments from 2005 to 2016

Introduction

In the United States there has been a large increase in participation in lacrosse for both males and females. The purpose of this study was to analyze the number of head injuries, injury rates (calculated using the reported number of participants) and types of head injuries that are seen in emergency departments in the United States.

Real-time motion monitoring improves functional MRI data quality in infants

Imaging the infant brain with MRI has improved our understanding of early neurodevelopment. However, head motion during MRI acquisition is detrimental to both functional and structural MRI scan quality. Though infants are typically scanned while asleep, they commonly exhibit motion during scanning causing data loss. Our group has shown that providing MRI technicians with real-time motion estimates via Framewise Integrated Real-Time MRI Monitoring (FIRMM) software helps obtain high-quality, low motion fMRI data. By estimating head motion in real time and displaying motion metrics to the MR technician during an fMRI scan, FIRMM can improve scanning efficiency. Here, we compared average framewise displacement (FD), a proxy for head motion, and the amount of usable fMRI data (FD ≤ 0.2 mm) in infants scanned with (n = 407) and without FIRMM (n = 295). Using a mixed-effects model, we found that the addition of FIRMM to current state-of-the-art infant scanning protocols significantly increased the amount of usable fMRI data acquired per infant, demonstrating its value for research and clinical infant neuroimaging.     

The nature of the head and neck cancer

Summary Squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck is a disease predominantly of males and is due to a variety of known environmental irritants, notably cigarette smoke. Dietary, viral and immunological factors may also be relevant. Head and neck squamous cancers express epidermal growth factor receptors and some show weak levels of oestrogen receptor activity, but a reliable serum marker of tumour burden remains to be identified. The prognosis is found to be less favourable in females, in those with advanced T stage, in association with multiple node involvement, especially where extracapsular spread is present and where the T4/T8 ratio is elevated. Administration of heterologous blood during therapy may also have an adverse effect on prognosis. Interested clinicians must remember that most cases are preventable. Correspondence to: A.G.D. Maran     

头颈部良性神经源性肿瘤1H MRS的表现特点

目的：探讨头颈部良性神经源性肿瘤在单体素^1H MRS上的表现特点。材料和方法：共收集经单体素。HMRS检查，并经手术病理证实的头颈部神经源性肿瘤14例（神经鞘瘤11例，神经纤维瘤2例，颈动脉体瘤1例）。采用点分析波谱法（PRESS：TE=144ms，14例）和激励回波法（STEAM：TE=30ms，11例）进行。HMRS空间定位，以胆碱和脂质代谢物为标准评价所有肿瘤。波谱图上，胆碱和脂质分别在3．2ppm和0．9—1．4ppm区域识别。结果：采用PRESS后，14例神经源性肿瘤中检测出胆碱代谢物者11例，检出脂质代谢物者6例。胆碱和脂质代谢物同时检出者5例，仅检出胆碱者6例，仅检出脂质者1例，胆碱和脂质均未检出者2例。采用STEAM后，11例肿瘤中检出胆碱代谢物和脂质者分别为3例和8例。结论：头颈部良性神经源性肿瘤的单体素。HMRS表现具有多样性，多数肿瘤以长TEPRESS上胆碱峰的显示为特点，长TEPRESS能较STEAM更好地检出良性神经源性肿瘤内的胆碱代谢物。     

头颈部肿瘤CT灌注成像表现与微血管生成因子表达水平的相关性研究

目的研究头颈部肿瘤CT灌注与肿瘤血管生成因子（VEGF）的相关性。方法对85例共88个（恶性77个，良性11个）头颈部肿瘤术前行CT灌注检查。采用螺旋CT机自带软件绘制感兴趣区（ROI）的时间-密度曲线（TDC）并计算ROI强化峰值（PH）、达峰时间（PT）、平均通过时间（MTT），病灶相对强化峰值（RPH）和灌注量（PF）。其中35例切取与CT灌注靶层面相同的组织切片，行CD34、VEGF抗体免疫组织化学染色，分析肿瘤CT灌注成像表现与微血管密度（MVD）和VEGF表达的相关性。结果（1）头颈部肿瘤CT灌注成像TDC主要有3种类型，77个恶性肿瘤中53个（68．9％）表现为速升速降型；9个淋巴瘤中6个TDC表现为低平型曲线，与68个其他肿瘤中仅有9个为低平型曲线相比差异有统计学意义（P〈0．05）。（2）甲状腺癌呈高灌注，其PF（中位数为82．2ml·min^-1·100g^-1）与淋巴瘤PF（中位数为24．5ml·min^-1·100g^-1）、头颈鳞癌PF（中位数为23．8ml·min^-1·100g^-1）相比差异有统计学意义（P〈0．05）。（3）11个良性肿瘤的MVD均数为（44．7±3．4）条／高倍视野，24个恶性肿瘤的MVD为（49．6±14．8）条／高倍视野，良恶性肿瘤间差异无统计学意义（P〉0．05）；VEGF在恶性肿瘤呈强阳性者15个，弱阳性9个；在良性肿瘤呈强阳性1个，弱阳性10个，VEGF的表达强阳性率在良、恶性肿瘤差异有统计学意义（P〈0．01）。（4）MVD（中位数40．0）与PH（中位数26．9）、RPH（中位数14．5）和PF（中位数46．8）有明显相关性（r值分别为0．35、45．49和0．41），VEGF（中位数4．0）表达与MTT（中位数16．7）呈负相关（r=-0．41）。结论CT灌注成像TDC形态对头颈部肿瘤诊断及鉴别诊断有一定的帮助。MVD、VEGF与CT灌注相关，CT灌注成像可以反映肿瘤微循环情况。