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Biomedical subjects

S Ashour

Publications and source records attributed to S Ashour.

3 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2004

Ultrasonography versus nerve conduction study in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome: substantive or complementary tests?

OBJECTIVE: Our aim is to assess the optimal discriminatory sonographic criteria and relevant threshold values in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) and to evaluate quantitative ultrasonography (US) as a tool for diagnosis and treatment of patients suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome in comparison with electrophysiological study. METHODS: Seventy-eight patients with CTS and 78 asymptomatic controls were assessed and underwent ultrasonography of the wrists. All patients and controls completed a self-administered questionnaire. Electrophysiological testing was done for all patients and control subjects. Data from the patient and the control groups were compared to determine the diagnostic relations in patients with CTS and the grade of severity. RESULTS: There was a high degree of correlation between the conduction abnormalities of the median nerve as detected by electrodiagnostic tests, self-administered assessment and the measurement of the cross-sectional area of the nerve by US (P<0.05). Various levels of disease severity could also be illustrated by US, giving confident results for diagnosis, treatment planning and following the patients with CTS. In 16 patients (17%) tenosynovitis/localized swelling in the tendons in the carpal tunnel was the primary cause of CTS. A cut-off point of 10 mm(2) for the mean cross-sectional area of the median nerve was found to be the upper limit for normal values. Based on the results of this study, an algorithm for evaluation and management of CTS has been suggested. CONCLUSION: High-frequency US examination of the median nerve and measurement of its cross-sectional area should be strongly considered as a new alternative diagnostic modality for the evaluation of CTS. In addition to being of high diagnostic accuracy it is able to define the cause of nerve compression and aids treatment planning; US also provides a reliable method for following the response to therapy.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Endomyocardial fibrosis in Egypt: an illustrated review.

The detailed features of right sided endomyocardial fibrosis are described in 15 out of 10,000 consecutive patients who all had infection with Schistosoma mansoni and came from rural Egypt. Laboratory investigations, 12 lead electrocardiography, chest radiography, and Doppler echocardiography were performed in all patients. Cardiac catheterisation and angiography were performed in eight. Endomyocardial biopsy specimens were obtained from the right ventricles of two patients and pericardial biopsy specimens from two. Pericardiocentesis was performed in all patients. All patients were infected with S mansoni and had schistosomal hepatic fibrosis and ascites. Eleven had splenomegaly. All patients had raised cervical venous pressure with prominent Y descent and atrial fibrillation. Eosinophilia was notably absent. Echocardiography showed apical fibrosis in the right ventricle, obliteration of the ventricle, and moderate to massive exudative pericardial effusion in all patients. Calcification and fibrosis extended into the right ventricular outflow tracts in two patients. Huge right atrial thrombi occurred in five patients. Tricuspid regurgitation (grades I-II) was detected in 11 patients by Doppler ultrasonography. Haemodynamic and angiographic data confirmed the pure right sided restrictive pathophysiology. Pericardial biopsy specimens showed perivascular inflammatory infiltrates in two patients and a schistosomal granuloma in one. Endocardial biopsy specimens showed dense fibrosis with many fibroblasts. Endomyocardial fibrosis in Egypt is unique in several aspects. It always affected only the right side of the heart. Calcification and fibrosis extended to the right ventricular outflow tract. Pericardial inflammatory reaction was present. The relation to schistosomiasis and the link to periportal hepatic fibrosis in these patients is intriguing.

Adolescent↗