ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To assess the value of electron beam CT (EBCT) in the diagnosis of aortic intramural hematoma (AIH).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Twenty-five patients who complained of acute chest and back pain were scanned with an EBCT scanner (Imatron C-150) using contrast-enhanced continuous volume scanning (CVS) for establish the diagnosis of AIH.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Seven patients were diagnosed as having Stanford type A, and the others as type B AIH. The direct features of AIH in EBCT included crescent or circular thickening (>5 mm) of the aortic wall without signs of lumen formation resulting from intimal rupture. The indirect features included calcification ingression (7 cases), penetrating ulcer (12 cases), atherosclerosis (18 cases) and leakages (5 cases). The complicating features included pericardial effusion (5 cases), pleural effusion (14 cases), involvement of the large branches (5 cases), aortic dissection (3 cases) and aneurysms (4 cases).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>EBCT can provide important information for the diagnosis and treatment of AIH, and can be useful for follow-up observation of the patients.</p>
Subject(s)
Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Aortic Diseases , Diagnostic Imaging , Hematoma , Diagnostic Imaging , Tomography, X-Ray ComputedABSTRACT
Objective To discuss the MRI features of sophorae subprostrate intoxication.Methods Four cases with sophorae subprostrate intoxication underwent conventional MRI and diffusion-weighted imaging(DWI)with a 1.5 T MR system.Results In four cases,all cerebellar dentate nuclei showed symmetric patchy hyper-intensity on T_2 weighted images and iso-intensity on diffusion-weighted images as well as hyper-intensity on ADC maps.The bilateral dorsum of the brain stem and thalamus were involved in one ease.Symmetric long T_1 and T_2 signals and high DWI signals with low ADC values in bilateral basal ganglia area were demonstrated in one case with severe symptoms.After treatment,repeated MR images in two cases showed the abnormal signals of dentate nucleus disappeared,and the lesions of basal ganglia area in one case tended to be cystie with longer T_1 and T_2 signals and low DWI signals.Conclusion It is specific for intoxication of sophorae subprostrate to affect the dentate nuclei and lentiform nuclei.MRI and DWI is helpful for the early diagnosis,differential diagnosis and prognosis evaluation of this disease.