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At least 937 records · Page 52Linked to original sources
PubMed2003

[Conservative treatment of idiopathic scoliosis with physical therapy and orthoses].

Opinions differ in the international literature about the efficacy of conservative approaches to scoliosis treatment. Because this divergence of opinion corresponds to a great discrepancy in the standards applied to conservative treatment methods, it is not astonishing that the results of conservative treatment as described in the literature also differ. Scoliosis normally does not have such dramatic effects that immediate surgery would be indicated.Moreover, it is clear from the published literature that it is the functional and physiological impairments of scoliosis patients--including pain, torso deformity, psychological disturbance, and pulmonary dysfunction--which require therapeutic intervention. In Germany the triad of outpatient physiotherapy, intensive inpatient rehabilitation, and bracing has proven effective in conservative scoliosis treatment.Indication, content, and results of the individual treatment procedures are described and discussed. The positive outcomes of this practice validate a policy of offering conservative scoliosis treatment as an alternative to patients, including those for whom surgery is indicated.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

[Pelvic injuries in the polytraumatized patient].

Pelvic injuries represent a thorny and stubborn therapeutic challenge. Because major forces are required to fracture the pelvis, pelvic ring disruption, more than any other fracture, can lead to life-threatening associated injuries such as massive bleeding, organ injuries, and open fractures including hemipelvectomy. The rapid diagnosis and effective treatment ("damage control") of those injuries play the key role in the patient's survival, inasmuch as the mortality of multiply injured patients with pelvic ring disruption remains high with 20-35%. Exsanguinating hemorrhage represents the most dreaded acute complication of pelvic injuries. Therefore, diagnostic and therapeutic procedures have to be primarily adapted to the hemodynamics of the patient, secondarily to injuries of the brain and the torso. The time point and the techniques of definitive pelvic ring stabilization may be different in the patient with multiple injuries compared to isolated pelvic ring injuries.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Development and evaluation of a phantom for morphometric X-ray absorptiometry.

Morphometric X-ray absorptiometry (MXA) provides the potential to assess vertebral deformity using a technique with much lower radiation dose to the patient than standard radiographic procedures. MXA overcomes many other limitations such as cone beam distortion observed in conventional plane radiographs. A phantom has been designed to assess the accuracy of the MXA technique, to monitor long-term precision and to assess inter- and intra-operator variability. The phantom consists of two columns of 12 cylinders representing the vertebral bodies, one of regular components and one representing vertebral deformities. Each column may be inserted, as required, into a Perspex torso-mimicking block. Initial assessment on the Lunar Expert-XL demonstrates that the phantom provides image parameters reflecting those found clinically. Measurement of vertebral height was found to be consistently underestimated by 4.9%. Operator precision ranged from 0.6% for posterior height measurement to 1.0% for middle height measurement of the regular component column. The corresponding precision range for the column representing vertebral deformation was 0.6% (posterior) and 1.1% (middle). Analysis of 10 scans of each column by two independent operators demonstrated a few significant differences in height assessment confined to the 'thoracic' region of the regular column. However, inter-operator variability was found to increase with increasing complexity of vertebral shape producing several differences, particularly in posterior height assessment of the deformed column.

Absorptiometry, Photon↗
PubMed2002

Neck proprioception compensates for age-related deterioration of vestibular self-motion perception.

Vestibular functions are known to show some deterioration with age. Vestibular deterioration is often thought to be compensated for by an increase in neck proprioceptive gain. We studied this presumed compensatory mechanism by measuring psychophysical responses to vestibular (horizontal canal), neck and combined stimuli in 50 healthy human subjects as a function of age (range 15-76 years). After passive horizontal rotations of head and/or trunk (torso) in complete darkness (dominant frequencies 0.05, 0.1, and 0.4 Hz), subjects readjusted a visual target to its remembered prerotational location in space. (1) Vestibular-only stimulus(whole-body rotation); subjects' responses were shifted towards postrotatory body position, this only slightly at 0.4 Hz and pronounced at 0.1 and 0.05 Hz. These errors reflect the known physiological drop of vestibular gain at low rotational frequency. They exhibited a slight but significant increase with age. (2) Neck-only stimulus(trunk rotated, head stationary); the responses showed errors similar to those upon vestibular stimulation (with offset towards postrotatory trunk position) and this again slightly more with increasing age. (3) Vestibular-neck stimulus combinationduring head rotation on stationary trunk; the errors were close to zero, independent of stimulus frequency and the subjects' age. (4) Opposite stimulus combination(trunk rotated in the same direction as the head, but with double amplitude); the errors were clearly enhanced, essentially reflecting the sum of those with vestibular-only and neck-only stimulation. Taken together, we find a parallel increase in neck- and vestibular-related errors with age, in seeming contrast to previous studies. We explain our and the previous findings by a vestibular-neck interaction model in which two different neck signals are involved. One neck signal is used, in combination with the vestibular signal, for estimating trunk-in-space rotation. It is internally shaped to always match the vestibular signal, so that these two signals cancel each other out when summed during head rotation on stationary trunk. Because of this matching, perceived trunk stationariness during head rotation on the stationary trunk is independent of vestibular deterioration (related to stimulus frequency, age, ototoxic medication, etc.). The other neck proprioceptive signal, coding head-on-trunk rotation, is superimposed on the estimate of trunk-in-space rotation, thereby yielding a notion of head-in-space. This neck signal remains essentially unchanged with vestibular deterioration. Generally, we hold that the transformation of the vestibular signal from the head down to the trunk proceeds further to include the hip and the legs as well as the haptically perceived body support surface; by this, subjects yield a notion of support kinematics in space. As a consequence, spatial orientation is impaired by chronic vestibular deterioration only to the extent that the body support is moving in space, while it is unimpaired (determined by proprioception alone) during body motion with respect to a stationary support.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Analysis of human postural responses to recoverable falls.

We studied the kinematics and kinetics of human postural responses to "recoverable falls." To induce brief falling we used a Hold and Release (H&R) paradigm. Standing subjects actively resisted a force applied to their sternum. When this force was quickly released they were suddenly off balance. For a brief period, approximately 125 ms, until restoring forces were generated to shift the center of foot pressure in front of the center of mass, the body was in a forward fall acted on by gravity and ground support forces. We were able to describe the whole-body postural behavior following release using a multilink inverted pendulum model in a regime of "small oscillations." A three-segment model incorporating upper body, upper leg, and lower leg, with active stiffness and damping at the joints was fully adequate to fit the kinematic data from all conditions. The significance of our findings is that in situations involving recoverable falls or loss of balance the earliest responses are likely dependent on actively-tuned, reflexive mechanisms yielding stiffness and damping modulation of the joints. We demonstrate that haptic cues from index fingertip contact with a stationary surface lead to a significantly smaller angular displacement of the torso and a more rapid recovery of balance. Our H&R paradigm and associated model provide a quantifiable approach to studying recovery from potential falling in normal and clinical subjects.

Accidental Falls↗
PubMed2003

Early activation of arm and leg muscles following pulls to the waist during walking.

Many studies have investigated the compensatory reactions in humans elicited during walking when the support surface is perturbed. This has led to the description of characteristic responses generated in the muscles of the legs and torso, and recently the arms. The present study aimed to investigate the compensatory reactions elicited when balance was challenged by a perturbation applied to the waist, to determine to what extent balance corrective responses are generalized across perturbation modalities. A second aim was to characterize the arm responses elicited by the perturbations applied to the waist. We measured muscle activity of the left arm and leg following application of backward pulls of the waist while the subjects walked on a motorized treadmill. This resulted in robust activation of tibialis anterior and vastus lateralis, with co-activation of soleus and biceps femoris also evident when perturbations were applied at heel strike. These early responses occurred with a distal to proximal temporal organization. The responses in the leg muscles displayed a phase-dependent modulation in amplitude, decreasing in amplitude later in the stance phase. Leg muscle responses were not evident during the swing phase, except for the end of swing, just prior to heel strike. Arm muscle responses were observed in all subjects; however, the pattern of the arm responses varied considerably between subjects. Generally, shoulder muscles were more likely to respond than elbow muscles, at latencies consistent with the leg responses. Two important conclusions are drawn from the present study. First, the responses evoked in the legs with a pull to the waist are very similar to what has been reported for perturbations of the support surface, despite the very different locus of the perturbation. This suggests that balance control during walking may be achieved by preprogrammed reactions or synergies, which are triggered by multiple sensory cues. Second, rapid arm actions are integrated with these leg responses. However, the arm responses are more flexible, likely reflecting the fewer constraints imposed upon the actions of the arms, compared to the legs, during normal locomotion.

Abdominal Muscles↗
PubMed2004

Electrical stimulation of rhesus monkey nucleus reticularis gigantocellularis. I. Characteristics of evoked head movements.

The nucleus reticularis gigantocellularis (NRG) receives monosynaptic input from the superior colliculus (SC) and projects directly to neck motor neuron pools. Neurons in NRG are well situated to play a critical role in transforming SC signals into head movement commands. A previous study of movements evoked by NRG stimulation in the primate reported a variety of ipsilateral and contralateral head movements with horizontal, vertical and torsional components. In addition to head movements, it was reported that NRG stimulation could evoke movements of the pinnae, face, upper torso, and co-contraction of neck muscles. In this report, the role of the rhesus monkey NRG in head movement control was investigated using electrical stimulation of the rostral portion of the NRG. The goal was to characterize head movements evoked by NRG stimulation, describe the effects of altering stimulation parameters, and assess the relative movements of the eyes and head. Results indicate that electrical stimulation in the rostral portion of the NRG of the primate can consistently evoke ipsilateral head rotations in the horizontal plane. Head movement amplitude and peak velocity depend upon stimulation parameters (primarily frequency and duration of stimulation trains). During stimulation-induced head movements the eyes counter-rotate (presumably a result of the vestibulo-ocular reflex: VOR). At 46 stimulation sites from two subjects the average gain of this counter-rotation was -0.38 (+/-0.18). After the end of the stimulation train the head generally continued to move. During this epoch, after electrical stimulation ceased, VOR gain remained at this reduced level. In addition, VOR gain was similarly low when electrical stimulation was carried out during active fixation of a visual target. These data extend existing descriptions of head movements evoked by electrical stimulation of the NRG, and add to the understanding of the role of this structure in producing head movements.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Knowing your nose better than your thumb: measures of over-grasp reveal that face-parts are special for grasping.

Typically, when a grasping response is made, the hand opens wider than the target object. We show that this "over-grasp" response is reduced when we reach to parts of our own face, relative to when we reach to other body parts or to neutral objects. This is not due to reaching to different parts of body space, as over-grasp responses are indifferent to whether or not other body parts or neutral objects are placed close to the face. It is also not due to differences in perceptual knowledge of the size of the target object. We conclude instead that the familiarity of face parts influences the grasping response directly. Subsequent experiments demonstrate that the movement representation determining any effect is not based on a torso-centred frame, and not abstracted from the specific hand used for grasping. We discuss the implications of the results for understanding and measuring motor representations for familiar actions.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Restricting arm use enhances compensatory reactions of leg muscles during walking.

A number of recent studies have indicated that whole-body coordinated reactions are employed to regain balance following disturbances during walking. However, it is not always the case that all body segments are available to contribute to balance corrective strategies. We hypothesize that balance corrective strategies will adapt to task and environment constraints such that greater responses are generated in the available body segments when other body segments are unable to participate. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that voluntarily restricting the arms during walking would result in an increase in the amplitude of the electromyographic responses evoked in leg muscles when subjects are perturbed at the torso during walking. To do so, subjects were asked to walk on a motorized treadmill while either crossing their arms across their front or back, or with their arms swinging normally. Periodic perturbations, forwards and backwards, were applied at the pelvis randomly throughout the step cycle. This resulted in short latency responses in leg muscles. The amplitude of these responses was increased when subjects walked with their arms crossed, as compared with normal, unrestricted walking. Facilitation of these evoked responses was restricted to the early part of the stance phase, particularly at heel-strike. The pattern of muscle activation and the latency of the responses were not affected by restricting the arms. We suggest that this finding indicates that whole-body balance corrective strategies employed during walking are selected based upon the demands of the general features of the task, but that components of the strategy are scaled according to the specific context-dependent needs of the task.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Cardiovascular responses elicited by linear acceleration in humans.

Although activation of otolith receptors is known to elicit cardiovascular responses in animals, it is unclear whether vestibular stimulation can evoke changes in blood pressure and heart rate (which are independent of motion sickness) in humans. In the present study, ten normal subjects and three patients with profound bilateral reduction in vestibular function, who were seated upright with the torso aligned with the gravitation vector, were subjected to fore, aft, or lateral linear acceleration (approximately 0.2 g, attaining approximately 2 m/s in 900 ms, and decelerating for 3 s at 0.07 g). The head was fixed in the upright position, pitched maximally downward (chin on chest) or maximally backward (approximately 40-50 degrees) during the accelerations. In normal subjects, all directions of linear acceleration produced an average increase in systolic blood pressure of approximately 7-9 mm Hg and a rapid decrease in the interval between R-waves of the electrocardiogram of 14-27 ms; these responses persisted for only a few seconds. In contrast, the cardiovascular responses in patients with vestibular dysfunction were much smaller (e.g., the maximal pressor response to forward linear acceleration was <4 mm Hg). Head position during accelerations had little effect on the cardiovascular responses that were elicited in the population of normal subjects. However, although the population response was similar across directions of acceleration and head positions, many individuals exhibited larger cardiovascular changes during some stimulus conditions than during others. These data suggest that vestibular stimulation during linear accelerations can produce cardiovascular responses in humans and support the hypothesis that the vestibular system contributes to maintaining stable blood pressure during movement and changes in posture.

Acceleration↗
PubMed1999

Proximodistal structure of early reaching in human infants.

Nine infants were tested, at the age of onset of reaching, seated on their parent's lap and reaching for a small plastic toy. Kinematic analysis revealed that infants largely used shoulder and torso rotation to move their hands to the toy. Many changes in hand direction were observed during reaching, with later direction changes correcting for earlier directional errors. Approximately half of the infants started many reaches by bringing their hands backward or upward to a starting location that was similar across reaches. Individual infants often achieved highly similar peak speeds across their reaches. These results support the hypothesis that infants reduce the complexity of movement by using a limited number of degrees-of-freedom, which could simplify and accelerate the learning process. The proximodistal direction of maturation of the neural and muscular systems appears to restrict arm and hand movement in a way that simplifies learning to reach.

Biomechanical Phenomena↗
PubMed2001

Stabilization of posture by precision touch of the index finger with rigid and flexible filaments.

Light touch of the index finger with a stationary surface at non-mechanically supportive force levels (<100 g) greatly attenuates the body sway of standing subjects. In three experiments, we evaluated the properties of finger contact and of the contacted object necessary to produce postural stabilization in subjects standing heel-to-toe with eyes closed, as well as how accurately hand position can be controlled. Experiment 1 involved finger contact with flexible filaments of different bending strengths, a flat surface, and an imagined spatial position. Contact with the flat surface was most effective in attenuating sway; the flexible filaments were much less effective but still significantly better than imagined contact. Experiment 2 compared the effectiveness of finger contact with a flexible filament, a rigid filament of the same diameter, a flat surface, and an imagined spatial position. The rigid filament and flat surface conditions were equally effective in attenuating body sway and were greatly superior to contact with the flexible filament, which was superior to imagined contact. Experiment 3 included five conditions: arms by sides; finger "contact" with an imagined spatial position; finger contact with a flat surface; finger contact with a flexible filament attempting to maintain it bent; and contact with the flexible filament attempting not to bend it. The arms by sides and finger "contact" with an imagined position conditions did not differ significantly; all three conditions involving actual finger contact showed significantly less center of pressure and hand sway, but contact with the flat surface was most effective in attenuating both postural and hand displacement. In all three experiments, the level of force applied in fingertip contact conditions was far below that necessary to provide mechanical stabilization. Our findings indicate that: (1) stimulation of a small number of receptors in the fingertip is adequate to allow stabilization of sway, (2) fingertip force levels as low as 5-10 g provide some stabilization, (3) contact with a stationary spatial referent is most effective, and (4) independent control of arm and torso occurs when finger contact is allowed.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

All-terrain vehicle injuries in children: injury patterns and prognostic implications.

BACKGROUND: All-terrain vehicle (ATV) accidents are common in children. Our purpose was to identify imaging patterns associated with ATV injuries in children. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study group comprised 141 consecutive children admitted to a tertiary pediatric hospital following ATV accidents. Medical records were evaluated for demographics and patient outcome. All imaging studies were reviewed and abnormalities cataloged. RESULTS: Extremity fractures were the most common injuries in our study, occurring in 38% of patients. Lower extremity fractures were more common than upper extremity fractures. Partial foot amputation, an unusual injury, was present in three children. Torso injuries were present in 22% of the children. Pulmonary contusions, but not abdominal injuries, were significantly associated with long-term disability or death (p=0.01). Brain injuries occurred in 19% of the children and were significantly associated with death or long-term disability (p=<0.001). No association of brain injury and skull fracture was present. CONCLUSIONS: A wide variety of injuries were identified in children with ATV accidents. Partial foot amputation, an unusual injury, was identified in three children. Brain injuries and lung contusions detected by computed tomography were associated with long-term disability and death. Radiologists need to be aware of injuries associated with ATV accidents.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

MR findings of necrotic lesions and the extralesional area of osteonecrosis of the femoral head.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the MR findings of necrotic lesions and the extralesional area of osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) for each of the radiological stages. DESIGN AND PATIENTS: Forty-nine hips in 29 patients (15 female, 14 male; mean age 38 years, range 17-59 years) were imaged using a 1.0-T superconducting magnet. T2-weighted spin echo pulse sequences (T2WI), spoiled gradient recalled echo pulse sequences (SPGR) and fat suppression SPGR (FS-SPGR), followed by Gd-DTPA enhanced fat suppression SPGR (Gd-FS-SPGR), were all obtained with the aid of a TORSO surface coil. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: While a normal fat intensity area with a low-intensity band on SPGR (band pattern) was seen in 16 of 16 stage 1 (100%), nine of 11 stage 2 (82%), four of 17 stage 3 (24%), and none of five stage 4 hips, all hips showed peripheral rim enhancement on Gd-FS-SPGR (100%). This enhancement band on Gd-FS-SPGR corresponded to histological findings of necrotic trabecular bone, repaired marrow, and fibrous reparative tissue. Bone marrow edema was also clearly demonstrated as a diffuse, high-intensity area outside this enhancement band on Gd-FS-SPGR in two stage 2 (18%), 12 stage 3 (71%), and one stage 4 hip (20%). In cases at stage 2 or more advanced stages with homogeneous or inhomogeneous low intensity on nonenhanced MRI, the reparative process both inside and outside the necrotic lesion, including bone marrow edema, was detected clearly on contrast-enhanced MRI.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Simultaneous (99m)Tc/(201)Tl dual-isotope SPET with Monte Carlo-based down-scatter correction.

In simultaneous technetium-99m/thallium-201 dual-isotope (DI) single-photon emission tomography (SPET), down-scatter of (99m)Tc photons contaminates the (201)Tl image, which leads to a decrease in lesion contrast and loss of quantitative accuracy. Correction for down-scatter can be achieved by first reconstructing the (99m)Tc activity distribution. Subsequently, the (99m)Tc down-scatter in the (201)Tl photopeak window is simulated and used for correction during iterative reconstruction of the (201)Tl image. In this work, the down-scatter projections are calculated using a dedicated Monte Carlo simulator which is able to efficiently model the detection of lead X-rays from the collimator. An anthropomorphic torso phantom with a cardiac insert with and without cold lesions was used for evaluation of the proposed method. Excellent agreement in lesion contrast and quantitative accuracy was found between the down-scatter corrected DI-SPET (201)Tl image and the virgin (i.e. separately acquired) (201)Tl image, in particular when the effects of lead X-rays were included. Compensation for the noise added by down-scatter to the (201)Tl image can be achieved by using a 15% lower dose of (99m)Tc, a 15% increase in scan time and a 12% increase in (201)Tl dose. In conclusion, the Monte Carlo-based down-scatter correction recovers lesion contrast and quantitative accuracy in DI-SPET (201)Tl images almost perfectly. In addition, degradations due to the added noise of down-scatter in simultaneous DI-SPET can be prevented by slight adaptations to the data acquisition protocol.

Humans↗
PubMed2004

A realistic 3-D gated cardiac phantom for quality control of gated myocardial perfusion SPET: the Amsterdam gated (AGATE) cardiac phantom.

A realistic 3-D gated cardiac phantom with known left ventricular (LV) volumes and ejection fractions (EFs) was produced to evaluate quantitative measurements obtained from gated myocardial single-photon emission tomography (SPET). The 3-D gated cardiac phantom was designed and constructed to fit into the Data Spectrum anthropomorphic torso phantom. Flexible silicone membranes form the inner and outer walls of the simulated left ventricle. Simulated LV volumes can be varied within the range 45-200 ml. The LV volume curve has a smooth and realistic clinical shape that is produced by a specially shaped cam connected to a piston. A fixed 70-ml stroke volume is applied for EF measurements. An ECG signal is produced at maximum LV filling by a controller unit connected to the pump. This gated cardiac phantom will be referred to as the Amsterdam 3-D gated cardiac phantom, or, in short, the AGATE cardiac phantom. SPET data were acquired with a triple-head SPET system. Data were reconstructed using filtered back-projection following pre-filtering and further processed with the Quantitative Gated SPECT (QGS) software to determine LV volume and EF values. Ungated studies were performed to measure LV volumes ranging from 45 ml to 200 ml. The QGS-determined LV volumes were systematically underestimated. For different LV combinations, the stroke volumes measured were consistent at 60-61 ml for 8-frame studies and 63-65 ml for 16-frame studies. QGS-determined EF values were slightly overestimated between 1.25% EF units for 8-frame studies and 3.25% EF units for 16-frame studies. In conclusion, the AGATE cardiac phantom offers possibilities for quality control, testing and validation of the whole gated cardiac SPET sequence, and testing of different acquisition and processing parameters and software.

Equipment Design↗
PubMed1998

Dosimetry of transmission measurements in nuclear medicine: a study using anthropomorphic phantoms and thermoluminescent dosimeters.

Quantification in positron emission tomography (PET) and single photon emission tomographic (SPET) relies on attenuation correction which is generally obtained with an additional transmission measurement. Therefore, the evaluation of the radiation doses received by patients needs to include the contribution of transmission procedures in SPET (SPET-TM) and PET (PET-TM). In this work we have measured these doses for both PET-TM and SPET-TM. PET-TM was performed on an ECAT EXACT HR+ (CTI/Siemens) equipped with three rod sources of germanium-68 (380 MBq total) and extended septa. SPET-TM was performed on a DST (SMV) equipped with two collimated line sources of gadolinium-153 (4 GBq total). Two anthropomorphic phantoms representing a human head and a human torso, were used to estimate the doses absorbed in typical cardiac and brain transmission studies. Measurements were made with thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs, consisting of lithium fluoride) having characteristics suitable for dosimetry investigations in nuclear medicine. Sets of TLDs were placed inside small plastic bags and then attached to different organs of the phantoms (at least two TLDs were assigned to a given organ). Before and after irradiation the TLDs were placed in a 2.5-cm-thick lead container to prevent exposure from occasional sources. Ambient radiation was monitored and taken into account in calculations. Transmission scans were performed for more than 12 h in each case to decrease statistical noise fluctuations. The doses absorbed by each organ were calculated by averaging the values obtained for each corresponding TLD. These values were used to evaluate the effective dose (ED) following guidelines described in ICRP report number 60. The estimated ED values for cardiac acquisitions were 7.7 x 10(-4) +/- 0.4 x 10(-4) mSv/MBq.h and 1.9 x 10(-6) +/- 0.4 x 10(-6) mSv/MBq.h for PET-TM and SPET-TM, respectively. For brain scans, the values of ED were calculated as 2.7 x 10(-4) +/- 0.2 x 10(-4) mSv/MBq.h for PET-TM and 5.2 x 10(-7) +/- 2.3 x 10(-7) mSv/MBq.h for SPET-TM. In our institution, PET-TM is usually performed for 15 min prior to emission. SPET-TM is performed simultaneously with emission and usually lasts 30 and 15 min for brain and cardiac acquisitions respectively. Under these conditions ED values, estimated for typical source activities at delivery time (22,000 MBq in SPET and 555 MBq for PET), were 1.1 x 10(-1) +/- 0.1 x 10(-1) mSv and 1.1 x 10(-2) +/- 0.2 x 10(-2) mSv for cardiac PET-TM and SPET-TM respectively. For brain acquisitions, the ED values obtained under the same conditions were 3.7 x 10(-2) +/- 0.3 x 10(-2) mSv and 5.8 x 10(-3) +/- 2.6 x 10(-3) mSv for PET-TM and SPET-TM respectively. These measurements show that the dose received by a patient during a transmission scan adds little to the typical dose received in a routine nuclear medicine procedure. Radiation dose, therefore, does not represent a limit to the generalised use of transmission measurements in clinical SPET or PET.

Algorithms↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Torsoplasty after important weight loss.

Weight loss exceeding 40 kg frequently causes excess skin on the lateral and posterior chest wall. Other authors have suggested surgical dissection of the excess skin using horizontal incision or, alternatively, using a vertical incision positioned in the axillary region. This procedure is incomplete and does not correct the skin ptosis in the subaxillary lateral chest wall. The current authors propose a surgical technique that permits resection of excess skin and lifts the torso on the back, positioning the scars on the anterior axillary pillar and around the breast. This treatment is performed for the patient after significant weight loss. The scar normally is hidden behind the anterior axillary pillar on the axillary fold.

Body Image↗