Cerebral cavernoamas: radiological prevalence and clinical features in a 10 year retrospective study in a teaching hospital

Cerebral cavernous angiomas remain one of the most negotiable and controversial topics in neurological and neurosurgical practice. It can present with symptoms or can be found incidentally. The aim of this study is to evaluate the prevalence, clinical presentation, treatment options and outcome of patients with cerebral cavernoma.: Brain MRI for [14372] patients done in our university teaching hospital during 10 -year period from 2001 to 2011 were reviewed, 33 cases of cerebral cavernoma were found. The medical charts of these patients were reviewed and analyzed for their clinical presentation, treatment options and outcome. We identified 33 cases of cavernoma with a mean age of 33 +/- 16.8% years. There were 18 females and 15 males. Four cases were excluded from analysis [but included in prevalence calculation] due to unavailability of clinical data. In the 29 other cases there were 35 cavernomas. The radiologic prevalence of cavernomas in this population was 0.23%. Most cavernomas were found in the supratentorial regions mostly found in the frontal lobes. The most common presenting symptoms were seizures in males and headache in females. The radiologic prevalence of cerebral cavernomas was less than previous series, while clinical presentation was the same. Performing MRI at higher resolution and field strength with more sensitive sequences may lead to the detection of subtle or small brain abnormalities that would not have been detected previously

Hip magnetic resonance imaging: descriptive epidemiology and outcome in Jordan University Hospital

To evaluate the experience in Jordan University Hospital regarding hip magnetic resonance imaging and to compare our findings with those published in medical literature. one hundred eighty two hip magnetic resonance images performed over the period of 7 years were reviewed, 88 patients [48.3%] had normal hip magnetic resonance image and were excluded from the study while the remaining 94 images [51.6%] with variable abnormalities were included in our study. Variable hip pathologies were seen, the most common was bone marrow edema syndrome found in 22 patients representing [23.4%] of the pathologies detected, followed by transient osteoporosis in 16 [17%] patients and avascular necrosis of the hip joint in 13 [13.8%] patients. Slipped femoral capital epiphysis and Paget_s disease were the least common seen in [1.1%] for each. In Jordan University Hospital referred patients for hip MRI scanning showed diverse findings with the most common abnormality detected being bone marrow edema syndrome of the femoral head followed by transient osteoporosis and avascular necrosis. The great benefit from magnetic resonance imaging was in diagnosing transient osteoporosis, staging avascular necrosis of the hip joint and characterization of deep pelvic soft tissue masses. The prevalence of hip pathology among Jordan University hospital patients as revealed by magnetic resonance imaging was in concordance with what was published in the literature

Comparison of gastric emptying parameters between asymptomatic volunteers and patients with functional dyspepsia in Middle Eastern population

To derive the normal reference values for Middle East population using a standard method, and to validate its performance in functional dyspepsia. A prospective study was designed to derive gastric emptying parameters in 36 healthy control. We measured the lag phase, half time, and gastric retention at the first, second, and third hours. Values were compared to 49 patients with functional dyspepsia. This study was carried out between July 2005 and August 2009 at Jordan University Hospital, Amman, Jordan. There were no statistically significant differences between the 2 groups at lag phase. Dyspeptic patients had significantly higher gastric retention at the first, second, and third hours [p=0.045> p=0.003, p=0.002]. Gastric retention at the third hour was the most sensitive parameter detecting 16 patients [32.6%]. Only 3 patients [6.1%] had increased gastric retention at the first hour and normal retention at the third hour. Twelve patients [24.5%] had delayed half time; these patients had increased gastric retention either at the first or third hour. Measurement of gastric retention at the first, second, and third hour is enough to identify delayed-early and late phases of gastric emptying in functional dyspepsia patients

Ultrasound measurement of liver span in Jordanian adults: a preliminary experience

One of the most frequent ultrasound requests by clinicians is evaluation of hepatic size. Clinical evaluation by percussion and palpation can be inaccurate, unreliable with significant inter-observer variation. Ultrasound remains a very important imaging modality when the liver is concerned because it is simple, practical and easy-to-use. Yet, ultrasound measurement of liver span didn't receive much attention, particularly in this region. The aims of this study were to establish a normal figure of liver span for adults in Jordan, to investigate relationships between liver span and several anthropometric factors including age, gender, weight, height, body mass index and body surface area and to standardize ultrasound measurement of liver span. A prospective study was carried out at Jordan University Hospital between March 2007 and April 2008, on non-selected population sample of 242 male and 275 female adults with age range of 18-76 years. Statistical analyses including correlation, regression and 95% confidence intervals were performed on the data to test the statistical significance of the various relationships between liver span as represented by midclavicular line longitudinal diameter on one side, and several anthropometric factors including age, gender, weight, height, body mass index and body surface area. Our results showed that all anthropometric variables contributed highly and significantly to the variation in female liver span. The same factors however, with the exception of body mass index, significantly contributed to the variation in male liver span, however to a much lesser extent than females. The best predictor of liver span was height in case of males, body surface area in case of females. And both height and body surface area when both genders are considered. The 95% liver span confidence intervals were 12.3-12.8, 11.9-12.3 and 12.2-12.5 for males, females, and both genders combined, respectively. Height and body surface area were the best determinants of liver span in males and females, respectively

Review of imaging of the parathyroid gland in health and disease

Primary hyperparathyroidism is usually caused by a single parathyroid adenoma and it is progressively diagnosed worldwide. The recent advancement of imaging techniques changed the surgical approach of primary hyperparathyroidism patients, from wide traditional bilateral neck exploration to limited neck exploration. Pre-operative imaging is vital in localizing ectopic adenoma to lucid the map before surgical resection The manuscript at hand is a comprehensive review of the primary hyperparathyroidism covering anatomical, physiological and pathophysiological basics, to the most recent imaging modalities and their respective tasks in patient management

Clinico-radiological correlates of achalasia

To study the clinical and radiographic characteristics of achalasia in a cohort Jordanian patients and to investigate the presence of any clinico-radiological relationships. Thirty-five cases of recently diagnosed untreated achalasia patients were studied at Jordan University Hospital, Amman, Jordan during the period of January 1999 to December 2002. Measurements of maximum esophageal and gastroesophageal [GE] junction diameters, as radiographic features, were obtained from films. The clinical features included age; gender; nature; frequency and duration of typical and atypical symptoms; total number of symptoms; calculated typical symptoms score; and diagnostic delay. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated between radiographic and clinical features, and among the radiographic features themselves. Using Spearman's correlation coefficients, the later analysis was repeated for patients with diagnostic delay of 2 years or less and patients with more than 2 years. All results were evaluated based on the 0.05 level of significance. There were 35 consecutive achalasia patients enrolled in this study [20 females and 15 males] with a mean age of 42.3 +/- 15.6 years and diagnostic delay of 29 +/- 26 months. On average, each patient has presented 2 typical symptoms and 2 atypical symptoms. The mean typical symptoms score was almost 3 out of the full score of 6. The mean GE junction diameter was 2.4 mms and maximum esophageal diameter was 29 mms. Maximum esophageal diameter was significantly correlated with the number of typical, atypical and total symptoms as well as with the typical symptom score and diagnostic delay. Negative correlation was found between GE junction diameter and maximum esophageal diameter; but only statistically significant for patients with diagnostic delay of more than 2 years. Statistically significant relationship exists between maximum esophageal diameter and all clinical variables. Negative correlation exists between maximum esophageal diameter and GE junction diameter; however, only significant for patients with a diagnostic delay more than 2 years. The possibility of achalasia is high in patients with longer diagnostic delay who demonstrate negative relationship between maximum esophageal diameter and GE junction diameter