Cost Analysis on Imaging Diagnostic Techniques in Cerebral and Abdominal Neonatal Pathology

Background: Improvement of health care quality and cost control are the main aims of the health care reform in Romania. Objective: The aims of the research are to analyse the trend of costs for imaging techniques used as diagnostic tools for cerebral and abdominal neonatal pathology and to study the relationship between cost and diagnostic benefits. Design: This is a retrospective observational study design without a control group, conducted in the Radio-Imaging Department, Cluj District University Hospital, Romania, from October 2000 to February 2006. Patients: The study population was represented by neonates investigated in the Radio-Imaging Department, Cluj District University Hospital. Intervention: Five imaging diagnostic techniques used in the diagnosis of cerebral and abdominal neonatal pathology were investigated. Measurements: The costs of the investigated techniques were calculated. The concordance between clinical and imaging diagnostic was recorded. Results: Magnetic resonance proved to be the most expensive investigation. The rate between the raising of costs on investigation type on year was constant. The average cost of imaging investigations for patients with identified pathological aspects (€ 42.72) was not statistically significant (p > 0.05) compared with the average cost for patients with no pathologic imaging aspects (€ 37.62). The concordance between the clinical suspicion and the radio-imaging diagnosis was of 52.35%. Conclusions: The raise of radio-imaging investigation costs had a decreasing tendency over the years studied, decrease explained by the stabilization of the Romanian monetary market. The results on concordance analysis lead to the necessity of training of both clinicians and radiologists

EFSUMB Statement on Medical Student Education in Ultrasound [long version]

Publisher Copyright: © 2016 Georg Thieme Verlag. All rights reserved.The European Federation of Societies for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology (EFSUMB) recommends that ultrasound should be used systematically as an easy accessible and instructive educational tool in the curriculum of modern medical schools. Medical students should acquire theoretical knowledge of the modality and hands-on training should be implemented and adhere to evidence-based principles. In this paper we report EFSUMB policy statements on medical student education in ultrasound that in a short version is already published in Ultraschall in der Medizin 1.publishersversionPeer reviewe

RNA interference: new mechanistic and biochemical insights with application in oral cancer therapy

Smaranda Buduru,1 Alina-Andreea Zimta,2 Cristina Ciocan,2 Cornelia Braicu,3 Diana Dudea,4 Alexandra Iulia Irimie,4 Ioana Berindan-Neagoe2,3,5 1Department of Prosthetics and Dental Materials, Faculty of Dental Medicine, “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania; 2MEDFUTURE – Research Center for Advanced Medicine, “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania; 3Research Center for Functional Genomics and Translational Medicine, “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania; 4Department of Prosthetic Dentistry and Dental Materials, Division Dental Propaedeutic, Aesthetic, “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania; 5Department of Functional Genomics and Experimental Pathology, The Oncology Institute “Prof Dr Ion Chiricuta”, Cluj-Napoca, Romania Abstract: Over the last few decades, the incidence of oral cancer has gradually increased, due to the negative influence of environmental factors and also abnormalities within the genome. The main issues in oral cancer treatment consist in surpassing resistance and recurrence. However, continuous discovery of altered signaling pathways in these tumors provides valuable information for the identification of novel gene candidates targeted in personalized therapy. RNA interference (RNAi) is a natural mechanism that involves small interfering RNA (siRNA); this can be exploited in biomedical research by using natural or synthetic constructs for activation of the mechanism. Synthetic siRNA transcripts were developed as a versatile class of molecular tools that have a diverse range of programmable roles, being involved in the regulation of several biological processes, thereby providing the perspective of an alternative option to classical treatment. In this review, we summarize the latest information related to the application of siRNA in oral malignancy together with molecular aspects of the technology and also the perspective upon the delivery system. Also, the emergence of newer technologies such as clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/Cas9 or transcription activator-like effector nucleases in comparison with the RNAi approach is discussed in this paper. Keywords: RNA interference, oral cancer, therapeutic strategy, mechanistic and biochemical insight

The value of a new score for sonoelastographic differentiation between benign and malignant cervical lymph nodes

Abstract Objective: The aim of this study is to explore the diagnostic value of sonoelastography for the differentiation between benign and malignant superficial lymph nodes of the neck. In this respect the utility of an original scoring system was explored. Material and method: Over a period of 30 months the patients examined routinely for the assessment of superficial lymph nodes of the neck were recorded in a data base containing grey-scale, Doppler and sonoelastographic information and images. The sonoelastographic images of 30 benign and 39 malignant lymph nodes were assessed. The images were scored according to a new, eight pattern scoring system proposed by our group. Interobserver agreement and area under the ROC curve (AUROC) for the differentiation between benign vs. malignant and benign vs. metastatic nodes were analyzed. Results: The analysis of the interobserver agreement for the investigated score provided a weighted Kappa = 0.687, 95%CI [0.572 to 0.802] and standard error = 0.059. In the differentiation benign -malignant, the AUROC was 0.846, with sensitivity of 66.67% and specificity of 96.67% for score >3. In the differentiation between benign and metastasis, the same criterion provided an AUROC of 0.855, with sensitivity of 71.43 and specificity of 96.67%. Conclusions: Our study suggests that applying the proposed score provides good interobserver agreement. The score also provided very good specificity and reasonable sensitivity in the differentiation between malignant and benign lymph nodes in the neck

Color compatibility between dental structures and three different types of ceramic systems.

To assess color compatibility between dental structures (human enamel and dentine) and three different types of ceramic systems. Samples (1 and 2 mm-thick) of extracted tooth (containing dentine and enamel areas) and three ceramic systems with different shades and opacities (HT-High Translucent, T-Translucent) were prepared for this study: Vita Suprinity-VS (HT, T; A1, A2, A3, A3.5, B2, C2, D2) (Vita Zahnfabrik); Vita Enamic-VE (HT, T; 1M1, 1M2, 2M2, 3M2) (Vita Zahnfabrik) and Noritake Super Porcelain EX-3-NKT (A1, A2, A3, A3.5, B2, C2, D2) (Kuraray Noritake Dental). Reflectance measurements of all samples were performed over black backgrounds using a non-contact spectroradiometer (SpectraScan PR-670, Photo Research) under a CIE 45°/0° geometry. CIE L*a*b* color parameters were measured and CIELAB/CIEDE2000 color differences (ΔE00/ΔE*ab) and corresponding Coverage Error (CE) of ceramic system for dentine or enamel samples were calculated. Color data was analyzed using one-way ANOVA and post-hoc multiple comparisons tests. CE values were interpreted by comparisons with available 50:50% acceptability color threshold (AT) for dentistry. Statistically significant differences in lightness were found among all ceramic systems and human dentine (p  0.05) with VEHT. Thin samples (1 mm) of dentine and enamel showed significant statistical differences (p  Color coordinates of evaluated esthetic ceramic systems were statistically different from those of human dentine in almost all cases. The evaluated ZrO2 lithium silicate glass-ceramic (VS), with its two levels of translucency, provided lower CE values with human enamel samples while conventional feldspathic ceramic (NKT) and hybrid ceramic systems (VE) demonstrated a better color compatibility with dentin samples

EFSUMB statement on medical student education in ultrasound [short version]

The European Federation of Societies for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology (EFSUMB) recommends that ultrasound should be used systematically as an easy accessible and instructive educational tool in the curriculum of modern medical schools. Medical students should acquire theoretical knowledge of the modality and hands-on training should be implemented and adhere to evidence-based principles. In this paper we summarise EFSUMB policy statements on medical student education in ultrasound