Hepatic portal venous gas after blunt abdominal trauma in a child

Hepatic portal venous gas is defined as tubular areas with decreased enfeeblement around the periphery of the liver. It is a rare finding and associated with various underlying abdominal pathologies, from benign causes to potentially life threatening conditions. Rate of diagnosis of hepatic portal venous gas have been increased due to widespread use of advanced imaging techniques. Existence of gas in the portal veins after blunt abdominal trauma is a temporary incidental finding that could be resolved spontaneously. Here we report an extremely rare condition that describes a child who was suffering from air emboly of the portal veins due to blunt abdominal trauma. The condition was clinically under control and resolved spontaneously

Tissue doppler echocardiography for evaluating left ventricular functions in obese

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate theimpact of childhood obesity on ventricular functions usingtissue Doppler echocardiography.Materials and methods: The mitral tissue Doppler signalswere recorded in the apical four-chamber view, with thesample volume placed at the lateral walls of mitral annulus.The mitral flow was examined with the sample Pulse Dopplerpositioned parallely to flow just at the orifice of the mitralleaflets. Twenty obese (mean age, 161.5±25.8 months)and 20 healthy children (mean age, 151.2±33.5 months)were included to this study.Results: Body mass index (BMI) was significantly higherin obese group (30.92±6.87). Isovolumic relaxation time(IVRT) which is one of the left ventricular (LV) diastolicfunction parameters was 66.10±7.30 ms in obese group,and 58.70±9.06 ms in the control group. IVRT was significantlyhigher in the obese group (p=0.007). In obesegroup, the mitral annulus tissue Doppler E velocity wasdecreased, flow velocity was increased and decrement inEm/Am ratio was significant. We found significant negativecorrelation between BMI and LV Em/Am ratio. Myocardialperformance index (MPI) in obese group and control groupwas 0.50±0.07 and 0.41±0.04, respectively (p<0.001).Between MPI and LV Em/Am ratio there was a significantnegative correlation while MPI showed positive correlationwith BMI. In obese group septal and LV posterior wall thicknesswas shown to be significantly increased compared tothe control group (p<0.001).Conclusion: Our findings, may be important for determinationof the relationship between obesity and cardiovascularrisk factors in children. Tissue Doppler echocardiographicimaging may be useful in revealing this relationship.Key words: obesity, doppler echocardiography, ventricular dysfunctio