Transcerebellar diameter: an effective tool in predicting gestational age in normal and IUGR pregnancy

Background: Gestational age is the common term used during pregnancy to describe how far advanced is the pregnancy. In the second and third trimesters, estimation of gestational age is accomplished by measuring the biparietal diameter, head circumference, abdominal circumference, and femur length. The transverse cerebellar diameter (TCD) may serve as a reliable predictor of gestational age (GA) of the fetus and a standard against which aberrations in other fetal parameters can be compared.Methods: The study was conducted in the tertiary care teaching hospital from July 2016 to March 2017. 200 pregnant women of gestational age 15-40 weeks of pregnancy referred from Dept of Obs and Gynae for antenatal scan comprised our study sample.Results: Age of women ranged from 18 to 43 years with maximum number of patients aged 26-30 years. Maximum cases with clinical suspicion for IUGR were in gestational age >36-40 weeks (50%). Evaluation of difference in actual and estimated gestational age between normal and actual gestational age showed that for normal pregnancy as well as in IUGR pregnancies mean difference between estimated and actual gestational age was minimum in TCD followed by other established parameters.Conclusions: TCD being a stable parameter irrespective of growth status of fetus, provides a basis for its usefulness as a ratio to predict IUGR and other perainatal outcomes as used in several studies. Thus, despite not being a direct marker for IUGR it can serve as a surrogate marker for detection of IUGR and another adverse perinatal outcome

Inter and Intra-Rater Reliability of Measuring Photometric Craniovertebral Angle Using a Cloud-Based Video Communication Platform

Objective: Due to social distancing guidelines during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, most providers and patients have wanted to avoid close contact. This makes physical therapy (PT) assessments difficult because of the lack of empirical evidence about the reliability of various clinical measurements performed in a virtual environment. One such procedure is the photometric measurement of craniovertebral (CV) angle. Craniovertebral angle measurement is usually performed in an outpatient setting and is defined as the acute angle formed between a straight line connecting the spinous process of C7 to the tragus of the ear, and the horizontal line passing through the spinous process of the C7. Although the photometric measurement of CV angles is considered both valid and reliable in the clinics, no empirical evidence exists about the CV angle measurement reliability when performed in a virtual environment. Thus, the purpose of this study was to assess the inter- and intra-rater reliability of photometric CV angle measurement using a cloud-based video communication platform. Number of Subjects: 66 subjects (57 females). Methods: All measurements were performed by two final year PT students who had completed the musculoskeletal part of the curriculum and were blinded to each other’s measurements. Each subject was photographed in two postures over a HIPAA-compliant video-based telehealth platform: (1) normal/ relaxed posture and (2) ideal posture (posture the subject considered good). Student researcher 1 measured the CV angle in both the relaxed posture and ideal posture, while student researcher 2 measured the CV angle only in the relaxed posture. Each subject's CV angle measurement was performed three times on three separate days and the means were used for further analysis. The shape of the CV angle frequency distribution was assessed using kurtosis and skewness values. Rater reliability was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), and interpreted based on the guidelines provided by Portney and Watkins (2009). Results: The CV angles were normally distributed in both relaxed and ideal postures. The mean and standard deviation (SD) of relaxed posture was 50.7o ± 6.3o with kurtosis and skewness of 0.67 and -0.74 respectively. The mean and SD of ideal posture was 55.5o ± 5.4o, with kurtosis and skewness of 0.1 and -0.54 respectively. The ICC for inter-rater reliability in the relaxed posture was 0.88 and the ICC for intra-rater reliability for relaxed posture was 0.91.  Conclusion: Craniovertebral angles were normally distributed in the sample. An acceptable level of inter- and intra-rater reliability can be attained when measuring CV angle using a cloud-based video communication platform. &nbsp

Extramedullary plasmacytoma of maxilla with cervical nodal metastasis associated with sinonasal aspergillosis

Extramedullary plasmacytoma (EMP) is defined as neoplastic proliferation of plasma cells in the soft tissue. It represents approximately 3% of all plasma cell neoplasms. EMP of the head and neck are very uncommon tumors, representing approximately 0.4% of all head and neck malignancies; amongst them, plasmacytoma of the maxilla is extremely rare. We present a rare case of EMP which had metastasized to multiple cervical lymph nodes and was associated with aspergillosis. The possibility of extramedullary plasmacytoma should be considered when an elderly patient presents with symptoms of recurrent rhinosinusitis not responding to conservative management and imaging shows a destructive soft tissue mass

A systematic review of the concept and clinical applications of Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate in Orthopaedics

INTRODUCTION: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC's) are believed to have multipotent plasticity with the capability to differentiate along multiple cell lineages such as cartilage, bone, tendon, muscle, and nerve. Such multipotency has the potential to play an important role in the repair and reconstruction of multiple tissues across a number of orthopaedic specialties. Bone marrow and fat are the most abundant and accessible source of MSC's with bone marrow aspirate the most commonly being reported to stimulate healing. METHODS: This review examines the current reported 20 Q2 clinical applications of bone marrow aspirate concentrate and its effectiveness. RESULTS: The published studies reported techniques of collection and preparation of BMAC in addition to its applications in a number of orthopaedic sub-specialities. Studies could be sub-categorised into: techniques of extraction, processing and microscopic examination of BMAC (31), reconstruction of osseous defects/non-union (20), treatment of avascular necrosis (9), repair of cartilage defects (8), treatment of sports injuries and tendon injury/repair (9), injection in regenerative therapy (4), treatment of spine conditions (4) including enhancing postoperative fusion and degenerative disc pathology and orthopaedic oncology (4). A few published studies combined the use of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) with BMAC (4) or compared them in different applications (5). CONCLUSIONS: BMAC has been used in bone, cartilage and tendon injuries with encouraging results

Posterior shoulder tightness; an intersession reliability study of 3 clinical tests.

Background Although posterior shoulder tightness (PST) has been associated with shoulder pathology and altered glenohumeral joint kinematics, uncertainty remains regarding its cause and definition. To understand the efficacy of treatments for PST, it must be possible to identify people with PST for the purposes of research and clinical decision-making. Clinical tests for PST must demonstrate acceptable levels of measurement reliability in order to identify the condition and to evaluate the response to intervention. There is currently a lack of research describing intersession reliability for measures of PST. The aim of this study was to quantify the inter-session reliability for three clinical tests used to identify PST over a 6–10 week interval. Methods A convenience sample of 26 asymptomatic adult participants (52 shoulders) were recruited from a university setting over a five-month duration. Participants attended the human movement laboratory for measurement of glenohumeral joint internal rotation, horizontal adduction and low flexion on two occasions separated by an interval of 6–10 weeks. Intra-class correlation coefficients were calculated from the mean square values derived from the within-subject, single factor (repeated measures) ANOVA. Test-retest measurement stability was evaluated by calculating the standard error of measurement and the minimum detectable change for each measurement. Results All 3 tests demonstrated good intersession intra-rater reliability (0.86–0.88), and the standard error of measurement (95%) were 7.3° for glenohumeral horizontal adduction, 9.4° for internal rotation, and 6.9° for low flexion. The minimum detectable change for glenohumeral horizontal adduction was 10.2°, internal rotation was 13.3°, and low flexion was 9.7°. Conclusion In this population of people without symptoms, the 3 measures of PST all demonstrated acceptable inter-session reliability. The standard error of measurement and minimum detectable change results can be used to determine if a change in measures of PST are due to measurement error or an actual change over time.Peer reviewe

Role of apparent diffusion coefficient as a biomarker in the evaluation of cervical cancer

Background: Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) has evolved as a major diagnostic and prognostic tool in cervical cancer. The aim of our study was to compare the change in mean apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value before and after concurrent chemoradiation therapy (CCRT) in carcinoma cervix thereby establishing its role as a cancer biomarker. Materials and Methods: A hospital-based prospective study was conducted in 35 patients diagnosed with cervical cancer. All 35 patients underwent pelvic MRI before and after 6 months of CCRT. The study was done over a period of 12 months. Conventional axial and sagittal T2 imaging was followed by DW-MRI. In the axial DW/ADC images at “b-value” of 800 s/mm2, a circular region of interest was drawn covering more than 60% of the tumor volume to calculate the ADC values. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (version 21.0) was used for statistical evaluation. Chi-square test, independent samples t-test, and analysis of variance were used to analyze the data. The results are depicted as frequencies (number), proportion (percentages), and mean ± standard deviation. Results: Pre-CCRT mean ADC value was 0.814 × 10−3 mm2/s. Post-CCRT mean ADC value was 1.294 × 10−3 mm2/s. Mean ADC value of patients having lymph node involvement and parametrial extension was significantly lower when compared with those without lymph node involvement and parametrial extension (P = 0.001). Nonresponders with residual lesion had lower ADC values than responders with no residual lesion. An interesting and unique observation was that pre-CCRT mean ADC value of responders was higher than nonresponders. Conclusion: An increase in mean ADC value of 0.480 × 10−3 mm2/s after CCRT was found to be statistically significant (P < 0.001) thereby proving its role as an imaging biomarker in cancer cervix