Bone mineralization in hemiplegic patients

This study aimed at comparing bone mineral density [BMD] and bone mineral content [BMC] of the distal radius in the paralyzed upper limb to that of non-paralyzed one in hemiplegic patients. There is a significant decrease in BMD [BMC/ cm[2]] of the distal radius in paralyzed upper limb compared to the non paralyzed. In addition to comparing hand function in the hemiplegic side, there is asignificant positive correlation between BMD [BMC/ cm[2]] of the distal radius and hand grip strength, but not the Barthel index scores, in the hemiplegic side

Quality control for different gamma cameras

Single photon emission computed tomography [SPECT] has become a routine part of virtually every nuclear medicine department up to six fold increase in image, contrast can be obtained with SPECT by removing out of plane information[1]. SPECT quality control has always been a prominent and essential feature, because the diagnostic utility depends on the fidelity of imaging [2,3,4]. Quality control tests were performed on two SPECT systems where uniformity, resolution linearity and center of rotation tests were done. A densitometric study for the intrinsic uniformity flood films was performed. The study revealed that one system [camera A] had a better uniformity resolution linearity and a similar center of rotation results

Bone density changes in postmenopausal women with breast cancer treated with long term adjuvant tamoxifen

T amoxifen, a synthetic antiestrogen increases disease-free and overall survival when used as adjuvant therapy for primary breast cancer. In postmenopausal women who are at great risk for developing osteoporosis, it is important to evaluate its effect on bony skeleton. The study included 40 postmenopausal patients with negative node breast cancer, were treated with 20 mg tamoxifen per day for two years compared with 40 postmenopausal healthy women taken as a control. Using the optical bone densitometry, the bone mineral density was measured for all patients at base line, one and two years. there was a significant increase in lumbar vertebrae bone density by 4.2% and 0.5% at one and two years compared with normal controls which decreased by 0.4% at each year. The radial bone density was noticed to decrease in both tamoxifen and control groups nearly with the same extent. Serum osteocalcin and alkaline phosphatase were also decreased significantly in tamoxifen group compared with the normal control. In postmenopausal women the treatment with tamoxifen is associated with preservation of the bone density of the lumbar spine