European journal of ultrasound : official journal of the European Federation of Societies for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology最新文献

We present a case of unilateral Küttner tumour in the right submandibular gland. Its clinical course and ultrasound features inclined us to include a malignant lesion in the differential diagnosis. US-histopathologic correlation explained the ultrasound appearance of the lesion.

Objective: In endurance athletes, flow limitations in the iliac arteries are commonly ascribed to mechanically induced intravascular lesions (endofibrosis). We hypothesize that kinking of the vessels, occurring during exercise, can also cause such flow limitations. Conventional diagnostic tests fail to demonstrate such kinking.

Methods: In the current study, the iliac arteries were examined in 50 endurance athletes suffering from flow limitations in the iliac arteries with color Doppler using provocative maneuvers of hip flexion, isometric psoas contraction and exercise. Five had both-sided complaints resulting in 55 symptomatic legs and 45 asymptomatic legs. Sixteen national level competitive cyclists served as control subjects resulting in 32 healthy reference legs.

Results: The iliac arteries could be visualized accurately in 127/132 (96%) of the legs. The legs with insufficient image quality were not scored in the further analysis. In the external iliac artery, kinks were detected in 21/54 symptomatic legs (39%) compared to none in 28 reference legs. Intravascular lesions could be detected in 33/54 symptomatic legs (61%) compared to only 1/28 reference legs (4%). In the symptomatic legs Doppler measurements showed significantly higher peak systolic velocities in all test conditions compared to the reference legs (P<0.05). These differences increased significantly with provocative maneuvers (P<0.05).

In the common iliac artery, kinks were demonstrated in 3/54 symptomatic legs (6%) and an intravascular lesion in 2/54 symptomatic legs (4%) only. Neither kink nor intravascular lesions were demonstrated in the reference legs. Peak systolic velocity measurements in the common iliac artery were in line with these observations and did not show differences between symptomatic and reference legs. The incidence of intravascular lesions in the external and common iliac artery is as expected, however, the incidence of kinks in the common iliac artery is much lower than reported from magnetic resonance angiography. This discrepancy is most probably caused by the fact that kinks in the common iliac artery are predominantly situated in the coronal plane, which cannot be visualized by color Doppler.

Conclusion: Both kinks and intravascular lesions are associated with flow limitations in the iliac arteries in endurance athletes. Color Doppler appears to be an effective technique to visualize and scale kinks and intravascular lesions in the external iliac artery and to visualize and scale intravascular lesions in the common iliac artery.

Objective: In the present study the feasibility was assessed of a new strain rate imaging method with a very high frame rate of around 300 frames per second. Methods: Digital radio-frequency (RF) data were obtained in nine healthy subjects using a sector of 20–30° in an apical four chamber view. The RF data were analysed using a dedicated software package that displays strain rate images and profiles and calculates strain rate values. With the new method, it is possible to study events and spatial-temporal differences in the heart cycle with duration down to 3.5–3 ms, including the pre-ejection period and the isovolumic relaxation period. Since the interventricular septum (IVS) is of crucial importance for the left and right ventricular function, we assessed changes through the heart cycle of the strain rate in the IVS. Results: Mean peak systolic strain rate in the healthy subjects was −1.65±0.13 s⁻¹. Mean peak diastolic strain rate during early filling was 3.14±0.50 s⁻¹ and during atrial systole 0.99±0.09 s⁻¹. We found individual differences in the strain rate patterns, but in all subjects, the ventricular contraction started simultaneously in all parts of the septum. After the ejection period, the elongation started before aortic valve closure, in the midinferior septum and propagated towards the apex. Conclusion: High frame rate strain rate imaging makes it possible to study rapid deformation patterns in the heart walls.

We report on a preterm infant born at 30+5/7 gestational weeks who developed severe cystic cerebral lesions after exposure to a car accident one day before delivery. The literature on car accidents during pregnancy is reviewed with specific focus on neonatal neurological outcome.