CT imaging of ascaris lumbricoides

A 37-year-old man was referred to the department of internal medicine for chronic fever, asthenia and loss of weight. He had no relevant medical history but reported frequent travels to Africa. Abdominal-CT study with contrast agent injection and oral digestive opacification was performed and revealed pleuroperitoneal and pericardial effusions with multiple mediastinal and mesenteric lymphadenopathies. Bronchoalveolar lavage and sputum expectoration analyses demonstrated systemic tuberculosis

Gaze fixation improves the stability of expert juggling

Novice and expert jugglers employ different visuomotor strategies: whereas novices look at the balls around their zeniths, experts tend to fixate their gaze at a central location within the pattern (so-called gaze-through). A gaze-through strategy may reflect visuomotor parsimony, i.e., the use of simpler visuomotor (oculomotor and/or attentional) strategies as afforded by superior tossing accuracy and error corrections. In addition, the more stable gaze during a gaze-through strategy may result in more accurate movement planning by providing a stable base for gaze-centered neural coding of ball motion and movement plans or for shifts in attention. To determine whether a stable gaze might indeed have such beneficial effects on juggling, we examined juggling variability during 3-ball cascade juggling with and without constrained gaze fixation (at various depths) in expert performers (n = 5). Novice jugglers were included (n = 5) for comparison, even though our predictions pertained specifically to expert juggling. We indeed observed that experts, but not novices, juggled significantly less variable when fixating, compared to unconstrained viewing. Thus, while visuomotor parsimony might still contribute to the emergence of a gaze-through strategy, this study highlights an additional role for improved movement planning. This role may be engendered by gaze-centered coding and/or attentional control mechanisms in the brain

CT imaging of ascaris lumbricoides.

A 37-year-old man was referred to the department of internalmedicine for chronic fever, asthenia and loss of weight. He had norelevant medical history but reported frequent travels to Africa.Abdominal-CT study with contrast agent injection and oral diges-tive opacification was performed and revealed pleuroperitonealand pericardial effusions with multiple mediastinal and mesentericlymphadenopathies. Bronchoalveolar lavage and sputum expecto-ration analyses demonstrated systemic tuberculosis. Moreover, CT series fortuitously revealed a tubular defect in thecontrast filled lumen of the ileum. The abnormal structure measured around 25 cm in length and 0.4 cm in width (Fig. A -frontal view, thick minIP reconstruction), with a central thin whiteline (Fig. B,C - axial views - arrows). These features were very suggestive of an intestinal worm, most likely Ascaris lumbricoides(AL), without any link with his symptoms and his tuberculosisinfection. The central thin white line corresponding to ingested barium in worm gut

Pseudo-occlusion of the external iliac artery after stenting.

A patient with an unknown thoracic aortic coarctation underwent angiography for calf claudication. Percutaneous angioplasty and stenting of an external iliac artery (EIA) stenosis produced flow reversal in the EIA, mimicking occlusion on the angiogram. This aberrant situation resulted from a haemodynamic disbalance between the iliac flow and a dominant compensatory collateral flow through the inferior mammary-epigastric channel produced by the coarctation

Soft tissue chondroma of Hoffa's fat pad.

We report mutimodal imaging findings of an extraskeletal chondroma of the Hoffa's fat pad. Plain radiographic or CT scan studies demonstrate a large soft tissue mass with calcifications and central ossification, characteristic features of these tumors. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging shows heterogeneous signal due to polymorphic histopathological appearance. Correlation between MR imaging and plain film or CT findings is essential to restrict differential diagnosis. The knowledge of this particular pathology is the key to the diagnosis

Colour Doppler sonography of the temporal arteries in giant cell arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatica.

OBJECTIVE: To test the diagnostic value of color Doppler sonography (CDS) of the superficial temporal arteries in patients suffering from giant cell arteritis (GCA). METHODS: The superficial temporal arteries and their frontal and parietal rami were examined by CDS in 11 patients with GCA, 21 patients with polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR), and 32 controls. The peak systolic velocity (Vmax) was measured at the tragus (proximal superficial temporal artery) and at the temporal bone (distal superficial temporal artery) level. Hypoechoic thickening of the vessel wall was systematically searched for. RESULTS: Mean Vmax in the proximal and distal superficial temporal artery was considerably lower in the GCA group [mean (+/- SEM) 30.9 (+/- 5.6) mm/s proximally and 5.8 (+/- 3.7) mm/s distally] compared to the PMR group [mean (+/- SEM) 64.6 (+/- 3.8) mm/s proximally and 49.3 (+/- 4.2) mm/s distally] and the control group [mean (+/- SEM) 56.9 (+/- 2.2) mm/s proximally and 42.6 (+/- 2.2) distally]. Thickening of the vessel wall was found in only 2 patients: one with GCA and one with PMR. Followup of CDS in 6 GCA patients under treatment produced evidence of a significant increase in the mean Vmax at the distal site. CONCLUSION: Decreased blood flow velocity in the superficial temporal artery is very common in GCA patients and rare in PMR patients. Therefore, CDS examination may contribute to the diagnosis of GCA

[Follow-up of TIPS: Assessment of signs of dysfunction at Doppler sonography]

Purpose : to assess the signs of TIPS dysfunction at Doppler sonography. Materials and methods : retrospective study of signs observed in 106 TIPS including 31 TIPS with dysfunction (portoauricular pressure gradient >12 mmHg). Results : the signs of TIPS dysfunction were a decrease in the mean velocity in the TIPS (for a velocity or = 1 m/sec). Conclusion : the most sensitive Doppler signs of tips dysfunction are the indirect signs of stenosis

Bilateral Pretibial Varices with Intraosseous Venous Drainage Anomaly: A Case Report

We report the case of a 35-year-old male patient who complained of right anteromedial leg pain, after an intensive sport exercise. At physical examination, internal pretibial soft tissue swelling containing prominent painful varices was found. Color Doppler ultrasound, radiographic examinations, followed by CT and MR complementary investigation, were performed