Objective. To describe the presentation of a patient with a CT scan suggesting a cervical facet dislocation that ultimately proved to be artifactual.
Summary of Background Data. CT scanning is routinely used in the detection of cervical spine injuries. This technique has a reported sensitivity of 98%, Selleck CYT387 although specificity has proved more difficult to estimate. CT artifacts such as the case reported here is a significant cause of a decrease in specificity for this technique.
Methods. A 30-year-old woman with a history of a cervical fracture developed severe neck pain without
neurologic deficit after trauma to the back of her neck. CT scans were obtained and reviewed at a local secondary level hospital. A cervical fracture dislocation was diagnosed and cervical spinal injury protocols were initiated and the patient transferred to authors’, tertiary level institution for surgical management. A repeat CT scan showed her cervical spine to be in normal alignment.
Results. A movement artifact in the patient’s original CT scans was misinterpreted as a unilateral facet fracture subluxation at C5-C6. There are two clues that in hindsight indicate that this finding KPT-330 ic50 was artifactual; an ill-defined tracheal margin in contrast with the sharply defined margin above and below the level of the artifact
and a double bone margin seen on axial sections at the level of the artifact.
Conclusion. Motion artifacts are an important cause in the reduction in
specificity of CT scans and can be easily missed. It is important to be aware of the indicators of motion artifacts to reduce the risk of unnecessary treatments.”
“Purpose: In the present study we investigated the possible histopathological effects of pulse modulated Radiofrequency (RF) fields on the thyroid gland using light microscopy, electron microscopy and immunohistochemical methods.
Materials and methods: Two months old male Wistar rats were exposed to a 900 MHz pulse-modulated RF radiation at a specific absorption rate (SAR) of 1.35 Watt/kg for 20 min/day for three weeks. The RF signals were pulse Sirtuin inhibitor modulated by rectangular pulses with a repetition frequency of 217 Hz and a duty cycle of 1:8 (pulse width 0.576 ms). To assess thyroid endocrine disruption and estimate the degree of the pathology of the gland, we analysed structural alterations in follicular and colloidal diameters and areas, colloid content of the follicles, and height of the follicular epithelium. Apoptosis was confirmed by Transmission Electron Microscopy and assessing the activites of an initiator (caspase-9) and an effector (caspase-3) caspases that are important markers of cells undergoing apoptosis.
Results: Morphological analyses revealed hypothyrophy of the gland in the 900 MHz RF exposure group. The results indicated that thyroid hormone secretion was inhibited by the RF radiation.