Search results for "sonography"
showing 10 items of 978 documents
Afferent contribution to locomotor muscle activity during unconstrained overground human walking:an analysis of triceps surae muscle fascicles
2010
Plantar flexor series elasticity can be used to dissociate muscle–fascicle and muscle–tendon behavior and thus afferent feedback during human walking. We used electromyography (EMG) and high-speed ultrasonography concomitantly to monitor muscle activity and muscle fascicle behavior in 19 healthy volunteers as they walked across a platform. On random trials, the platform was dropped (8 cm, 0.9 g acceleration) or held at a small inclination (up to ±3° in the parasagittal plane) with respect to level ground. Dropping the platform in the mid and late phases of stance produced a depression in the soleus muscle activity with an onset latency of about 50 ms. The reduction in ground reaction force…
Prospective Randomized Trial of Electrolysis for Chronic Plantar Heel Pain
2018
Background: Chronic plantar heel pain (CPHP) is a common condition with high prevalence rates and a projected cost of treatment of US$192 to US$376 million. There are several therapeutic approaches and there is increased interest in treatments aimed at the regeneration of tissues with poor healing potential. Our purpose was to investigate the effectiveness of ultrasound-guided percutaneous needle electrolysis in chronic plantar heel pain. Methods: A total of 73 patients with a clinical and ultrasonographic diagnosis of plantar heel pain unrelated to systemic inflammatory disease who had not received any other treatment in the previous 6 months on the affected foot were randomly allocated to…
Risk factors associated with retinal vein occlusion
2014
Summary Aims Retinal vein occlusion (RVO) is the most frequent retinal vascular disease after diabetic retinopathy in which arterial risk factors are much more relevant than venous factors. The objective was to evaluate the role of risk factors in the development of the first episode of RVO. Subjects and Methods One hundred patients with RVO [mean age 56 years, 42% females and mean body mass index (BMI) 27.5 kg/m2] were recruited consecutively from the outpatient clinic of a tertiary hospital in Valencia (Spain). All subjects underwent clinical assessment including anthropometric and blood pressure measurements and laboratory test including homocysteine, antiphospholipid antibodies (aPLAs) …
Predicted and actual fetal weight throughout the last trimester.
1997
The aim of our study was to obtain, in normal pregnancies, references values of predicted and actual fetal weight for both male and female fetuses and for fetuses born to nulliparous and multiparous women between weeks 28 and 41 of gestation. Predicted fetal weight curves represented calculations of weight in the third trimester based on weight data obtained during the second trimester. These curves were obtained from 134 ultrasonograms obtained between weeks 20 and 27. Actual fetal weight curves represented the values calculated from third trimester measurements and were based on 374 ultrasonograms obtained between weeks 28 and 41. For predicted fetal weight minor differences were found be…
Anorectal function and morphology in patients with sporadic proctalgia fugax
1996
PURPOSE: The pathophysiology of sporadic proctalgia fugax remains unknown. This study investigates whether patients with this syndrome exhibit alterations in anal function and morphology. METHODS: Eighteen patients with sporadic proctalgia fugax and 18 sex-matched and age-matched healthy controls were studied. Manometric studies investigated anal resting and squeeze pressures, the rectoanal inhibitory reflex, rectal compliance, and smooth muscle response to edrophonium chloride administration. External and internal sphincter thickness was measured endosonographically. RESULTS: Patients had slightly higher (P=0.0291) anal resting pressures (65.5±11.4 mmHg) than controls (56±9.9 mmHg). Howeve…
First experiences with a high-resolution ultrasonic scanner in the diagnosis of malignant melanomas
1983
The use of high-resolution ultrasonic instruments with transducer frequencies above 8 MHz makes it possible to visualize malignant melanomas of a thickness of more than 0.7 mm. While the sonolucent structure has not permitted the dignity of a lesion to be judged to date, it is easy to determine the maximal tumor thickness as well as infiltration of the subcutis. Thus "low-risk" and "high-risk" melanomas may be differentiated preoperatively according to these parameters. The results are of great use for the operator to plan the extent of his intervention, as well as to select patients for prophylactic regional lymphonodectomy.
Percutaneous liver biopsy: a safe outpatient procedure?
2001
Following the discovery of hepatitis C virus, more liver biopsies (LB) than before are being performed to assess the severity of liver disease. In this study, following the recommendations for outpatient LB made by the Patient Care Committee of the American Gastroenterological Association, we assessed the feasibility and benefits of LB performed as an outpatient versus inpatient procedure over the last 7 years in our centre. The study included 1,581 patients consecutively examined in our institute; all LBs were performed by a single operator with a 16-gauge needle using the Menghini technique, and in all cases the puncture site was determined using prebiopsy ultrasound. Liver lesions were c…
Association of renal resistive index with aortic pulse wave velocity in hypertensive patients
2014
Background: Recent data suggest that renal haemodynamic parameters obtained by duplex Doppler sonography, especially the intrarenal resistive index (RI), may be associated with systemic vascular changes. However, conflicting data exist about the independent relationship between aortic stiffness and RI. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between RI and arterial stiffness, assessed by aortic pulse wave velocity (aPWV), in hypertensive patients. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: We enrolled 264 hypertensive subjects aged between 30 and 70 years. They were divided into two groups, either with normal renal function (n=140) or with chronic kidney disease (CKD) (n=124). E…
CEUS in the differential diagnosis between biliary sludge, benign lesions and malignant lesions
2017
Abstract PURPOSE: Conventional grayscale ultrasound (US) is accurate in the diagnosis of gallbladder disease (GD), but in some cases, it is not decisive. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) improves the diagnostic accuracy of US. The primary objective of this study is to assess the reliability of CEUS in the diagnosis of sludge; the secondary objective is to assess the ability of CEUS to diagnose cancer. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the US of 4137 patients positive for GD. In 43/4137 (1.04%), the use of could not discriminate between sludge and neoplasms. Then, we evaluated CEUS in only 39 of these patients, and in 4/43 (9%) cases it was not performable. After CEUS, the absence of e…
Left ventricular filling abnormalities and obesity-associated hypertension: relationship with overproduction of circulating transforming growth facto…
2005
This study has been designed to evaluate the relationship among transforming growth factor beta1 (TGFbeta1) and some measurements of diastolic function in a population of hypertensive subjects with normal left ventricular ejection fraction. We studied 67 hypertensive outpatients who according to their BMI levels were subdivided into three groups: lean (L), overweight (OW) and obese (OB) hypertensives (HT). Circulating TGFbeta1 and M- and B-mode echocardiography was determined. All hypertensives were further subgrouped, according to European Society of Cardiology Guidelines, into two subsets of patients with normal diastolic function or with diastolic dysfunction. Prevalence of left ventricu…