Acute Case of Trichobezoar Diagnosed From Computed Tomography and 3D Images: Rapunzel Syndrome Re-examined.

A trichobezoar is a rare cause of abdominal pain due to an indigestible mass in the gastrointestinal tract that is composed of a patient's hair. If a trichobezoar grows and extends from the gastric body to the pylorus and into the small bowel, it is considered Rapunzel syndrome. We present a case of an 11-year-old female patient with Rapunzel syndrome who presented with four weeks of colicky abdominal pain, vomiting, constipation, and severe malnutrition. Computed tomography of the abdomen and pelvis with 3D rendering demonstrated a large bezoar, and the patient was successfully treated with exploratory laparotomy, gastrostomy, and removal of the trichobezoar intact.

Sinus laser closure (SiLaC) versus Limberg flap in management of pilonidal disease: A short-term non-randomized comparative prospective study.

INTRODUCTION: Fistula Laser Closure (FiLAC) is a method that was originally applied in the treatment of perianal fistulas. Because of promising results, diode lasers were later on used to treat pilonidal sinus disease in a method called sinus Laser Closure (SiLaC). The aim of this study is to compare between SiLaC and Limberg flap in management of pilonidal disease. METHODS: A prospective, nonrandomized comparative study. A short-term follow-up of 71 patients with pilonidal disease was analyzed (24 operated on using the SiLaC technique and 47 using the Limberg technique). With a primary outcome is healing rate and recurrence and a secondary outcome is other measures i.e. complications, hospital stay and postoperative pain. RESULTS: The median operative time in the SiLaC group was 26.45 ± 5.41 min (20-35 min) and in the Limberg group 58.63 ± 7.42 min (50-75 min). In the SiLaC group, the primary healing was achieved in 23 out of 24 patients (95.8%) with a total complication rate of 20.83%. There were two cases of recurrence after initial healing in each group. CONCLUSION: Sinus laser Closure (SiLaC) is comparable to Limberg flap technique in the terms of healing rate and recurrence with better outcome regarding operative time, hospital stay and post-operative pain.

piRNA-823 Is a Unique Potential Diagnostic Non-Invasive Biomarker in Colorectal Cancer Patients.

Early detection of colorectal cancer (CRC) is the most important factor in deciding its prognosis, so the need to develop an accurate screening test is a must. P-element induced wimpy testis (PIWI) RNA-823 (piR-823) is one of the first piRNAs recognized to be linked to malignancy. We aimed to investigate the expression levels of piR-823 in both serum and tissues of colorectal cancer patients and the ability to use its serum level as a non-invasive diagnostic biomarker to detect colorectal cancer. We determined piR-823 expression levels in 84 serum samples of CRC patients, 75 serum samples of healthy controls, and biological specimens obtained from the 84 patients with colorectal cancer from both the tumor tissues and the normal neighboring tissues using quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase-PCR. We showed that piR-823 had significantly higher serum and tissue expression levels in CRC patients compared to the controls. We observed a significant positive correlation between piR-823 serum levels and the staging of CRC, with significantly higher levels exhibiting advanced stages of CRC (III and IV). This translates into poorer differentiation and lymph node metastasis. The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC curve) test showed 83.3% sensitivity and 89.3% specificity at a cut-off value of >5.98-fold change, with an area under the curve of 0.933 (p < 0.0001) concerning the ability of piR-823 in diagnosing patients with colorectal carcinoma. piR-823 expression is upregulated in colorectal cancer patients' serum and tissues, and it can be used as a diagnostic noninvasive biomarker for CRC.

The high pressure distal colostogram in anorectal malformations: technique and pitfalls.

The importance of technically adequate high pressure distal colostogram in planning management for patients with anorectal malformations and how technically inadequate examination could delay management and affect the outcome cannot be over emphasized as shown in this article.

Intracranial vasa vasorum: insights and implications for imaging.

This review offers insight into the possible role of vasa vasorum in the development of intracranial vascular disease. Unique structural features of intracranial vessels and nourishment from the surrounding cerebrospinal fluid environment may account for the relative lack of intracranial vasa vasorum early in life. However, with advancing age and with the development of vascular disease, vasa vasorum are known to develop. Advanced contrast material-enhanced imaging techniques are capable of helping detect and even grade intracranial vasa vasorum, and this may provide new insights into our ability to diagnose and assess the risk of intracranial vascular lesions such as atherosclerosis, aneurysms, dissections, and vasculitis.

Diffusion tensor imaging in children and adolescents: reproducibility, hemispheric, and age-related differences.

UNLABELLED: We evaluated intra-rater, inter-rater, and between-scan reproducibility, hemispheric differences, and the effect of age on apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and fractional anisotropy (FA) in healthy children (age range 5.5-19.1 years) examined with a clinical diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) protocol at 1.5 T, using a region of interest (ROI) methodology. Measures of reliability and precision were assessed in six ROIs using two different ROI shapes (polygonal and ellipsoidal). RESULTS: Highly reproducible values of ADC and FA were obtained with the polygonal method on intra-rater (coefficients of variation