ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this original report is to describe medial transposition of the common carotid arteries. This transposition may produce wide retropharyngeal soft tissues on lateral cervical radiographs. CONCLUSION: When common carotid arteries are transposed from their normal lateral positions into the retropharyngeal soft tissues, if vascular calcifications are present, this carotid abnormality is easily recognized on plain radiographs. Radiologists and clinical physicians should be aware that vascular transposition may be a benign cause of widening of the retropharyngeal soft tissues.
Subject(s)
Carotid Artery, Common/abnormalities , Neck/diagnostic imaging , Pharynx/diagnostic imaging , Aged , Arteriosclerosis/diagnostic imaging , Calcinosis/diagnostic imaging , Carotid Artery Diseases/diagnostic imaging , Carotid Artery, Common/diagnostic imaging , Contrast Media , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Tomography, X-Ray ComputedABSTRACT
An aortocoronary saphenous vein graft aneurysm was diagnosed with computed tomography and selective arteriography in a 79-year-old woman with a history of multiple coronary bypass graft surgeries. Aneurysms of saphenous vein grafts are rare complications of bypass surgery but need to be considered when evaluating bypass patients who present with a mediastinal or paracardiac mass.
Subject(s)
Aneurysm/diagnostic imaging , Coronary Artery Bypass/methods , Saphenous Vein/transplantation , Aged , Aneurysm/etiology , Angiography , Female , Humans , Saphenous Vein/diagnostic imaging , Tomography, X-Ray ComputedABSTRACT
This study explores the effects of a calcium-deficient diet on patterns of bone remodeling, and examines regional differences in the amount of bone lost. Skeletally mature female rabbits (n = 6) were fed a calcium-deficient diet (0.10% Ca2+ and 0.50% P) for 14 weeks. A separate group of rabbits (n = 4) were fed a maintenance diet (1.2% Ca2+ and 0.45% P). Bone mineral content, serum calcium, and serum phosphorus were measured each week during the experimental period. Following sacrifice, the L3 vertebra, femoral head, proximal tibial metaphysis, and tibial midshaft were analyzed histomorphometrically. Rabbits had 20% less vertebral bone after only 14 weeks of a calcium-deficient diet. As in human postmenopausal osteoporosis, bone loss in calcium-deficient rabbits occurs in the trabecular bone of the lumbar spine before that in the trabecular bone of the lower extremity. Calcium-deficient diets alone do not lead to increased osteoid volume or thickness. Because bone loss is relatively rapid and because the pattern of loss is similar in some respects to that found in humans, adult rabbits may provide an attractive model of calcium deficiency osteoporosis in a skeletally mature mammal in which remodeling is predominant over modeling.
