Erroneous intra-articular injection of gadolinium solution at 0.5 mol/l concentration: a case report

Magnetic Resonance arthrography is considered the gold standard imaging technique for the study of shoulder instability and tendon tears

Smoking status and common carotid artery intima-medial thickness among middle-aged men and women based on ultrasound measurement: a cohort study

BACKGROUND: Cigarette smoking is an established causal factor for atherosclerosis. However, the smoking effect on different echogenic components of carotid arterial wall measured by ultrasound is not well elucidated. METHODS: Middle-aged men and women who had IMT measurement ≥ 0.7 mm at baseline and follow-up were included (N = 413, age 40–60 years at baseline in 1995). Intima-media thickness of common carotid artery (CCA-IMT) and its components (echogenic and echolucent layers) were measured at baseline and in the follow-up examination 3 years later. IMT and its components were compared across current, former and never smokers. Individual growth models were used to examine how smoking status was related to the baseline and progression of overall IMT and IMT components. RESULTS: For both men and women, current smoking was associated with thicker echogenic layer than never smokers; former smokers exhibited thinner echogenic layer than current smokers after adjustment for cigarette pack-years. Among women, current smoking was also associated with a thinned echolucent layer that resulted in a non-significant overall association of current smoking with IMT for women. CONCLUSION: Cigarette smoking is associated with carotid artery morphological changes and the association is sex-dependent. The atherogenic effect of smoking appears to be partly reversible among former smokers. IMT measurement alone may not be adequate to detect carotid atherosclerosis associated with cigarette smoking among middle-age women

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Preoperative B-mode ultrasound plaque appearance compared with carotid endarterectomy specimen histology Schulte-Altedorneburg G, Droste DW, Haas N, Keme Âny V, Nabavi DG, Fu È zesi L, Ringelstein EB. Preoperative B-mode ultrasound plaque appearance compared with carotid endarterectomy specimen histology. Acta Neurol Scand 2000: 101: 188±194. # Munksgaard 2000. In carotid artery stenosis both the degree of the lesion and its plaque morphology are thought to be associated with the carrier's thromboembolic risk. In this study we evaluated the diagnostic preciseness of non-invasively B-mode ultrasound in predicting the histopathological plaque structure. We examined 44 patients with >50% ICA stenosis by B-mode within 6 weeks prior to carotid endarterectomy. At the affected bifurcations, up to 10 different regions of interest (ROI) per artery were investigated. Plaque appearance was classi®ed according to 6 subtypes considering different ultrasonic plaque features. Postoperatively, plaque specimens were examined histopathologically for their relative content of calci®cation, ®brous tissue and different soft tissue. B-mode ultrasound was compared with histopathological features in ROI. A total of 265 regions of interest were evaluated. In mainly echolucent types of plaques, atheromatous debris was most frequently seen, whereas ®brosis was rare. Homogeneous echolucent plaques showed a high proportion of cholesterol and/or recent haemorrhage. Thrombosis at the plaque surface was often seen in``completely echolucent'' plaque type (each P<0.001). Carotid B-mode ultrasonography is able to predict the histopathological components and the texture of carotid plaques

[Cavernous malformations]

Cavernomas of the CNS may involve brain parenchyma as well as the spinal cord and belong to those cerebrovascular malformations that have no arteriovenous shunt and thus are generally angiographically occult. Contrary to computed tomography (CT), which is generally suited to reveal calcifications or acute bleeding, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) enables detection of even small cavernomas. A frequently associated venous anomaly is helpful for correct diagnosis