37 research outputs found
MRI study of small bowel in Crohn’s disease: evaluation of disease activity with oral preparation and e.v. gadolinium diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid.
La risonanza magnetica in diffusione nella valutazone della fibrosi epatica: risultati preliminari.
Treatment of radiculopathies: a study of efficacy and tollerability of paravertebral oxygen-ozone injections compared with pharmacological anti-inflammatory treatment.
The study was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of lumbar paravertebral injections of a gas mixture of Oxygen and Ozone in patients with lumbar radiculopathies caused by L4-L5 or L5-S1 disk herniations compared to a pharmacological therapy based on non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Lumbar radiculopathy caused by disc herniation is widely spread. Many therapeutic options are available before steering patients to the surgery. Low back pain and sciatica represent some of the most frequent causes of antinflammatory-analgesic drugs overuse. Recent findings have shown that medical Ozone can be used in the treatment of radicular syndrome caused by herniated intervertebral discs. Although widely spread, there are insufficient published data supporting the effectiveness of this approach in clinical practice. We studied 38 affected patients with acute L5 or S1 radicolopathy. The patients were randomly divided in two groups: A) 20 patients treated with lumbar paravertebral injections of Oxygen and Ozone; B) 18 patients treated pharmacologically with antinflammatory-analgesic drugs. All patients underwent a clinical and neurological examination at baseline (T1) and after 1 (T2), 2 (T3), 4 weeks (T4) and after 3 (T5) and 6 months (T6). An MRI and EMG examination were performed at baseline and after 6 months. The intensity of pain and the outcome of treatments were evaluated in all patients with the Visual Analogue Scale and with the Oswestry Disability Index. We found a reduction of pain and discomfort soon after one week with oxygen-ozone injections compared with pharmacological treatment, but this difference of response became statistically significant after two weeks (50 percent vs 16.6 percent) and is confirmed after 3 and 6 months, when 80 percent of patients treated with injections turned out pain free compared with half of the patients treated pharmacologically. No statistical difference were found in MRI and EMG examinations. No adverse effects were found in any patient of group A. We hypothesize that oxygen-ozone injections in paravertebral regions can induce a direct reduction of root inflammation with a corresponding reduction of pain. The paravertebral injections of oxygen-ozone represent a rapidly effective therapy, easily practicable and secure, in patients with lumbar radicolopathies secondary to disc herniation
Diffusion-Weighted MRI with parallel imaging technique: apparent diffusion coefficient determination in normal kidneys and in nonmalignant renal disease
The purpose of the study was to assess the capability and the reliability of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) measurements in the
evaluation of different benign renal abnormalities. Twenty-five healthy volunteers and 31 patients, divided into seven different groups (A–G)
according to pathology, underwent diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW MRI) of the kidneys using 1.5-T system. DW
images were obtained in the axial plane with a spin-echo echo planar imaging single-shot sequence with three b values (0, 300, and
600 s/mm2). Before acquisition of DW sequences, we performed in each patient a morphological study of the kidneys. ADC was
2.40±0.20×10−3 mm2 s−1 in volunteers. A significant difference was found between Groups A (cysts=3.39±0.51×10−3 mm2 s−1) and B
(acute/chronic renal failure=1.38±0.40×10−3 mm2 s−1) and between Groups A and C (chronic pyelonephritis=1.53±0.21×10−3 mm2 s−1)
(Pb.05). An important difference was also observed among Group D (hydronephrosis=4.82±0.35×10−3 mm2 s−1) and Groups A, B, and C
(Pb.05), whereas no differences were found between Groups B and C (PN.05). A considerable correlation between glomerular filtration rate
and ADC was found (P=.04). In conclusion, significant differences were detected among different patient groups, and this suggests that ADC
measurements can be useful in differentiating normal renal parenchyma from most commonly encountered nonmalignant renal lesion
Evaluation of image quality and identification of lesion with virtual colonoscopy: a dosimetric comparision between low-dose protocol and modulation dose automatic technique.
Efficacia del’ossigeno-ozonoterapia infiltrativa paravertebrale nel controllo dei sintomi radicolari lombari e nella riduzione delle dimensioni delle ernie discali lombari correlate.
Colonscopia virtuale: valutazione della performance del radiologo con e senza CAD in una popolazione di screening a bassa prevalenza.
Mechanism of traumatic knee injuries and MRI findings.
Bone bruises are focal abnormalities in subchondral bone marrow due to trabecular microfractures as a result of traumatic force. These trauma-induced lesions are better detected with magnetic resonance (MR) imaging using water-sensitive sequences. Moreover, the pattern of bone bruise is distinctive and allows us to understand the dynamics of trauma and to predict associated soft injuries. This article discusses the mechanism of traumatic injury and MR findings. \ua9 2013 Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli