Congenital absence of the posterior right hemiarch.

A New Score Unveils a High Prevalence of Mild Cognitive Impairment in Patients with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) may show mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The neurological functions affected remain unclear. The aims were to: (1) Characterize the neuropsychological alterations in NAFLD patients; (2) assess the prevalence of impairment of neurological functions evaluated; (3) develop a new score for sensitive and rapid MCI detection in NAFLD; (4) assess differences in MCI features between patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH); and (5) compare neuropsychological alterations in NAFLD patients with cirrhotic patients with MCI. Fifty-nine NAFLD patients and 53 controls performed psychometric tests assessin…

Association between ribs shape and pulmonary function in patients with Osteogenesis Imperfecta

Graphical abstract

Possible Clinical Implications of Geographic Differences in Prevalence of Double Transverse Foramen

The double transverse foramen (DBLTF) is a cervical spine anatomic variant. Current literature has presented prevalence values of DBLTF in Caucasian Mediterranean subjects that seem to be higher than those observed in other samples of subjects. Therefore we aimed to test if Caucasian Mediterranean subjects present a higher prevalence of the DBLTF than sub-Saharan African subjects.We analyzed the presence of DBLTF in cervical spines of 100 skeletons from Caucasian Mediterranean subjects and 91 skeletons from sub-Saharan African subjects, resulting in a total of 1337 cervical vertebrae having been studied.No DBLTF was found in vertebrae C1, C2, and C3. The pattern of prevalence observed in al…

Difficulties in distinguishing between an atlas fracture and a congenital posterior atlas arch defect in postmortem analysis.

We found one atlas from a sample of 148 skeletons (0.67%) that presented different anatomical variations which made it difficult to determine whether the vertebra had an atlas fracture, an unusual Type B posterior atlas arch defect, or a combination of both. We carried out a stereomicroscopy, radiographic, and computerized tomography scan study that revealed that the dry atlas we found presented a very uncommon congenital Type B posterior atlas arch defect, simulating a fracture. In short, the present paper has revealed that differentiating Type B posterior atlas arch defects from fractures in post-mortem dry vertebrae is more difficult than expected. Thus we believe that it can be easier t…

Congenital cervical vertebrae clefts in Klippel-Feil syndrome

Patients with Minimal Hepatic Encephalopathy Show Altered Thermal Sensitivity and Autonomic Function

Cirrhotic patients may experience alterations in the peripheral nervous system and in somatosensory perception. Impairment of the somatosensory system could contribute to cognitive and motor alterations characteristic of minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE), which affects up to 40% of cirrhotic patients. We assessed the relationship between MHE and alterations in thermal, vibration, and/or heat pain sensitivity in 58 cirrhotic patients (38 without and 20 with MHE according to Psychometric Hepatic Encephalopathy Score) and 39 controls. All participants underwent attention and coordination tests, a nerve conduction study, autonomic function testing, and evaluation of sensory thresholds (vibra…

Proceedings of the 24th Paediatric Rheumatology European Society Congress: Part three