Ultrasonographic Evaluation of the Hypospadiac Penis in Children

INTRODUCTION: Identifying key anatomical features of the hypospadiac penis is crucial to better understanding this pathology and guiding surgical reconstruction plans, thereby achieving superior functional and cosmetic outcomes. OBJECTIVE: To Assess the feasibility and precision of penile ultrasonography (PUG) in determining key structural features for hypospadias cases (including distal extent of the spongiosal component of the urethral plate, to elucidate the healing process following tubularised incised-plate urethroplasty). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty-five children with hypospadias were assessed using PUG prior to surgical repair and then again under general anesthesia. Preoperative images were acquired using ultrasonography in sagittal and transverse planes, then later compared with anatomical findings obtained during surgical repair of urethral hypoplasia. RESULTS: Median patient age was 1.2 years (range 0.5–12) and hypospadias types included coronal 17/25 (68%), mid-penile 5/25 (20%), and proximal penile 3/25 (12%). Distinct layers of the corpus spongiosa and mucosal layer, Buck fascia, tunica albuginea, glans, corpora cavernosa, and penile skin were delineated so that their spatial inter-relationship could be assessed. Distal extent of the spongiosal component of the urethral plate was determined by the mid-glans B-B line. The extent of urethral hypoplasia identified by PUG was relatively similar to measurements obtained intraoperatively. CONCLUSION: PUG is a feasible and accurate approach to evaluating penile configuration in children with hypospadias. Distal extent of the spongiosal component of the urethral plate was accurately determined, hence PUG could potentially be used to improve surgical planning and appraisal of current repair procedures

Cosmic rays

The design and implementation of an automatic data collectionsystem, using an eight channel microcomputer data acquisition unit,is described in the early part of this thesis. The calibration ofthe system and the methods of data collection and analysis arediscussed. The system is used to measure the response of geigercounters and scintillation counters on the passage of cosmic ray muons and electrons. An experiment is described to measure the flux of cosmic ray muons at different zenith angles and to note whether there is any difference between the flux of particles from the east and the fluxfrom the west. This work used a Geiger-Muller cosmic ray telescopeconsist of two layers of Geiger-Muller counters each containingsix identical counters. The rate of coincidence events using acoincidence unit has been measured by using a microcomputer dataacquisition system to record both the occurrence time of an eventand the geiger counter pulse height in each layer of counters. Thedistribution in time separation of the occurrence times of theevents has also been studied. A second experiment is described which used two scintillation counters to measure the density spectrum of electrons at sea level over the range 1 - 335 electrons m(^-2). Discriminators and a two fold coincidence are used and a microcomputer data acquisition system is employed to record the scintillator pulse heights. The experiment used two scintillation counters each of 0.4 m(^2) area and 5 cm thick

Bilateral Neonatal Testicular Torsion; Hidden Surgical Nightmare

Perinatal testicular torsion is a relatively rare event that remains unidentified in many situations and managed only after an avoidable delay of time. Its current management approaches include watchful observation, delayed contralateral orchiopexy, and emergent contralateral orchiopexy. On the other hand, bilateral torsion is now being more frequently reported. However, the assessment of the contralateral testis through physical examination and imaging can be inaccurate in cases of perinatal torsion. We report a case of prenatal testicular torsion with incidentally discovered metachronous contralateral extravaginal testicular torsion. Therefore, immediate surgical intervention is recommended both when uni- or bilateral testicular torsion is suspected. Whenever possible, affected testes should be preserved as some endocrine function may be retained

Oman Medical Specialty Board An Unusual Cause of Gastrointestinal Obstruction: Bezoar

Abstract Bezoars are concretions of swallowed hair, fruit vegetable fibers, and similar substances found in the alimentary canal. The first description of a postmortem human bezoar was by Swain in 1854. Although the prevalence of bezoars in humans is low, an absence of treatment has been associated with mortality rates as high as 30%, primarily because of gastrointestinal bleeding, destruction, or perforation

Fitting Probability Distributions of Annual Rainfall in Sudan

Annual rainfall data for fourteen rainfall stations in Sudan during the period 1971 to 2010 were analyzed to select the best probability distribution for every station. The rainfall data was obtained from the Sudan Meteorological Authority (SMA). Five distributions were tested, namely Normal, Log normal, Gamma, Weibull and exponential distribution. Three statistical goodness of fit test were used on the basis of the minimum value of test statistic. The best fit probability distribution was selected based on the minimum deviation between observed and estimated values. The normal and gamma distribution were selected as the best fit probability distribution for the annual rainfall in Sudan during the period of the study, respectively

Does Number of Ports Affect Outcomes in Patients Undergoing Laparoscopic Pyloromyotomy? Retrospective Chart-Review Study

Background. Although open Ramstedt's pyloromyotomy is the gold standard for the surgical management of infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis, laparoscopic pyloromyotomy has been found highly successful. Various factors, however, can affect the outcomes of surgical interventions in these patients. We observed a relationship between the number of ports used and outcome in patients undergoing laparoscopic pyloromyotomies. Methods. We retrospectively assessed the medical records of selected group of patients who underwent laparoscopic pyloromyotomy in our institution. Factors analyzed included operation time, length of hospital stay, postoperative complications, and time to postoperative full feeding. Results. We observed failure of myotomy in both two patients who underwent laparoscopic pyloromyotomy using only two working ports compared to successful myotomies in the remaining patients. Conclusion. Laparoscopy provides good results in terms of intraoperative exposure and cosmesis. However, standardized surgical technique with two working ports is advisable, and this can trigger further research to be ascertained