1,720,979 research outputs found
A digital radiology method for assessing vertebral osteoporosis
The radiologic identification of vertebral fractures is usually subjective and reproducibility is poor. This paper describes a new digital radiologic method to perform vertebral morphometry, i.e. osteoradiometry (ORM). Lateral radiographs of the thoracic and lumbar spine were obtained in 50 premenopausal women and digitalized by means of a video camera. A special computer software enables to calculate the anterior (Ha), middle (Hm), and posterior (Hp) heights of vertebral bodies (T4-L5) and the morphometric indices of vertebral fractures. ORM reproducibility was assessed by comparing repeated measurements made by two radiologists: the intra- and interobserver variation coefficients (CV) were respectively 1.5% and 2.3% for Hp; 1.3% and 2% for Hm; 1.4% and 2.1% for Ha. The normal range for vertebral dimensions was therefore established. The anterior and posterior heights increased from T4 to L2, but for L3-L5 the posterior height was lower than the anterior height (Ha/Hp > 1). Vertebral heights positively correlated with the standing heights of the subjects (r = 0.2, p < 0.05). Weight and the body mass index (BMI) were not correlated with vertebral heights. These normal values, compared with those found in osteoporosis patients, will allow to assess ORM diagnostic efficacy in identifying vertebral fractures
COMPUTED-TOMOGRAPHY CAN IDENTIFY DIFFERENT PATTERNS OF BOWEL WALL THICKENING RELATED TO CROHNS-DISEASE ACTIVITY
[Radiological study of the duodenum in celiac disease in adults].
Celiac disease (CD) is the most common form of malabsorption in childhood when it presents with diarrhea and growth failure, a jejunal biopsy is considered the first diagnostic investigation by some authors. In adulthood, clinical symptoms of CD may mimic several different disease, such as peptic ulcer and IBS, and the first diagnostic investigation is an upper GI series. Radiological features of duodenum and small bowel were evaluated in twenty patients with adult onset celiac disease. Sign of duodenitis such as thickened folds, mucosal nodules, dilatation of duodenum and erosions were observed in 19 out of our 20 patients (95%); particularly, thickened folds in 17 (85%), nodularity in 16 (80%), duodenal dilatation in 12 (60%) and erosions in 4 (20%). In celiac disease the lesions are more severe in the upper part of small bowel, and duodenitis may be the unique sign of CD. Duodenitis may be part of a disease involving the entire small bowel; so, a duodenitis observed in the upper gastrointestinal tract requires the study of the entire small bowel--which seems to be very important in the case of celiac disease
Lesioni diffuse del tenue: La TC nella diagnosi differenziale del malassorbimento intestinale dell'adulto.
AGING CHANGES IN VERTEBRAL MORPHOMETRY
We analyzed the vertebral morphometry of healthy premenopausal women and their changes with age and menopause in order to better define the reference population for the clinical and epidemiological evaluation of vertebral fractures. Vertebral morphometry has been performed on lateral thoracic and lumbar spine films from 50 premenopausal and 76 postmenopausal normal women, age range 39-74 years. Vertebral heights and the anterior height/posterior height ratio are significantly lower in postmenopausal compared with premenopausal women. Vertebral anterior height decreases about 1.5 mm/year, whereas middle and posterior height decreases about 1.3 and 1.2/mm year, respectively. A statistically significant reduction of vertebral heights by around 1 mm/vertebra was observed in postmenopausal (n = 16) compared with premenopausal women (n = 20) of the same age (P < 0.05). The results demonstrate that vertebral heights are lower with advancing age and menopause and that the vertebral heights difference in elderly people is not only the consequence of a cohort effect. The results also contribute to better defining the reference population to be chosen for evaluating vertebral deformation
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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