Ultrasonographic Findings of the Normal Nerves in Common Entrapment Site; Cross-Sectional Area Reference Value and Normal Variant

BACKGROUND: Neuromuscular ultrasound has emerged over the last decade as a useful tool for diagnosing peripheral neuropathy. Because nerve enlargement is the most important diagnostic marker of an abnormal nerve, quantification of nerve size is essential. METHODS: We included 80 healthy volunteers aged 21-60 years. The nerve cross-sectional area (CSA) was measured in all participants at the following common compressive sites: bilateral median nerve at the carpal tunnel and forearm, ulnar nerve at the wrist and medial epicondyle, radial nerve at the spiral groove, peroneal nerve at the fibular head and popliteal fossa, and tibial nerve at the popliteal fossa. Anatomical variants were also evaluated, including a bifid median nerve and persistent median artery. RESULTS: The CSAs were 9.58+/-1.55, 6.87+/-1.61, 4.72+/-0.91, 6.64+/-1.33, 6.48+/-1.68, 12.35+/-3.55, and 26.98+/-6.92 mm2 (mean+/-SD) for the median nerve at the carpal tunnel and forearm, ulnar nerve at the wrist and medial epicondyle, radial nerve at the spiral groove, peroneal nerve at the fibular head, and tibial nerve at the popliteal fossa, respectively. The nerve CSA was significantly larger in men than in women and was correlated with body mass index, weight, and height. A bifid median nerve and persistent median artery were seen in 12 (7.5%) and 4 (2.5%) of 160 hands, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The information produced in this study can serve as reference data when evaluating these nerve sites using ultrasound.

Curvas de crecimiento de la circunferencia de la cintura en niños y adolescentes habaneros / Growth curves of waist circumference in Havana children and adolescents

INTRODUCCIÓN. En los últimos decenios, el sobrepeso y la obesidad han aumentado en los niños y adolescentes cubanos, por lo que son necesarios instrumentos sencillos que permitan analizar en la práctica asistencial las características y evolución de la obesidad. Por esta razón, se decidió desarrollar curvas de crecimiento de la circunferencia de la cintura en niños y adolescentes habaneros, dimensión que muestra una alta correlación con la masa grasa intraabdominal y, por ende, con un perfil lipídico aterogénico. MÉTODOS. Se estimaron valores de percentiles de esta circunferencia según grupos de edad y sexo, utilizando el método de transformación de potencia de tipo Box-Cox (BCPE), en 4 360 niños y adolescentes entre 7,5 y 19,0 años, que integraron las muestras de los estudios transversales de crecimiento y desarrollo efectuados en La Habana durante los años 1998 y 2005. RESULTADOS. La circunferencia de la cintura aumentó de forma significativa con la edad en uno y otro sexo. Los niños mostraron cifras superiores a las de las niñas y los valores que se obtuvieron tienden a ser inferiores a los reportados en otros estudios. CONCLUSIONES. Estas curvas podrían usarse provisionalmente con propósitos clínicos y epidemiológicos hasta que se disponga de referencias de carácter nacional para la identificación de niños escolares y adolescentes con riesgo de desarrollar trastornos relacionados con la adiposidad visceral

INTRODUCTION. In past decades, the excess weight and obesity have increased in Cuban children and adolescents, thus, are necessaries simple tools allowing analyzing in health practice the characteristics and evolution of obesity. By this reason, we decide to develop growth curves of waist circumference in Havanan children and adolescents, a dimension showing a high correlation with the intra-abdominal fatty mass and consequently, with an atherogenic lipid profile. METHODS. Authors estimated the percentile values according to the age groups and the sex, using the potency transformation method type Box-Cox (BCPE) in 4 360 children and adolescents aged between 7,5 and 19,0 included in the sample of cross-sectional studies of growth and development conducted in La Habana in 1998 and 2005. RESULTS. The waist circumference increased in a significant way with age in both sexes. Boys showed figures higher than that of girls and the values obtained trend to be lower than those reported in other studies. CONCLUSIONS. These curves could be used provisionally with clinical and epidemiologic objectives until be available national references to identify the schoolboys and adolescents with a risk to develop disorders related to visceral adiposity

Establishment of Diatom Profile for Improving Reliability of Diagnosis of Drowning - Centered on the Main Drowning Sites of Han River / 대한법의학회지

Diatomology has provided important evidences for diagnosis of drowning in forensic practice. However, conflicting opinions about the reliability of diatom test still exist. As a part of efforts to end this controversy, it is very important to secure the diatom profile in the water sample of drowning site. Our results obtained in this study show the characteristics of temporal and spatial distribution of diatom collected from the main drowning sites of Han river in Korea. During spring, 111 taxa (98 species and 13 varieties) were identified from 31 genera, and 87 taxa (77 species and 10 varieties) were identified from 22 genera during summer. At the level of genus Achnanthes, Cyclotella, Cymbella, Fragilaria, Navicula, Nitzschia, and Stephanodiscus represented the highest numbers, and were the most widely occurred during two seasons. The centric diatoms, Stephanodiscus hantzschii f. tenuis and Cyclotella atomus were typical of spring and summer, respectively, and identified as dominant indicator species. The commonly occurred species, including dominant species in the seasonal cluster analysis influenced the formation of site - specific groups. As a result, our results will be able to be used not only as the comparison data of diatom found in the drowning victim's tissue but also a reference data to rule out the possibility of contamination.

Reference Data of the Main Physiological Parameters in Control Sprague-Dawley Rats from Pre-clinical Toxicity Studies / 한국실험동물학회지

The purpose of this paper is to provide reference data related to the body weight, food & water consumptions, urinalysis, hematology and serum biochemistry parameters and absolute & relative organ weights obtained from control Sprague-Dawley rats, used in the 4-week and 13-week repeated-dose toxicity studies conducted in our laboratory between 2005 and 2008. The mean, standard deviation, minimum and maximum range values for hematology and serum biochemistry parameters, data of absolute & relative organ weights, and the difference between sexes and study duration of week 4 versus 13 week are presented. The studies were conducted according to "the standards of Toxicity Study for Medicinal Products" (2005) and The KFDA Notification No. 2000-63 'Good Laboratory Practice (GLP)' (2000) issued by KFDA. These data could be used as reference material of Sprague-Dawley rats by conducting the studies to evaluate the toxicological profile of pre-clinical toxicity studies.

Quantitative Ultrasound of the Calcaneus in a Korean Population: Reference Data and Relationship to Bone Mineral Density Determined by Peripheral Dual X-ray Absorptiometry

The aim of this study was to establish reference data for the quantitative ultrasound (QUS) of the calcaneus and for the bone mineral densities (BMD) of the calcaneus and distal forearm, and to evaluate the correlation between QUS parameters and BMD in a Korean population. We performed a cross-sectional study involving 3,053 subjects (1,225 men and 1,828 women). QUS was conducted on the calcaneus and was quantified as speed of sound (SOS, m/sec), broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA, dB/MHz), and stiffness index. The BMD of the calcaneus and distal forearm were measured using dual X-ray absorptiometry. The peak mean values for the QUS parameters occurred in the 20 to 29-yr-old subjects of both sexes, with the exception of the BUA, which reached the highest values in women of 30-39 yr. For both sexes, the mean BMD of the calcaneus was highest in those 20-29 yr old and that of the distal forearm was highest in those 40-49 yr old. The correlations between the QUS and BMD results were found to be 0.41 to 0.73 in men and 0.51 to 0.76 in women. Theses data can serve as a reference values for both sexes in Korea.