[Decubitus calcifications of the soft tissues. Comparison between radiology and echography]. / Le calcificazioni da decubito nei tessuti molli. Confronto tra radiologia ed ecografia.

In the past, several obstacles hindered the study of decubitus calcifications in soft tissues--i.e., poor prognosis, difficult patients investigation due to their poor health and, finally, unsufficient information yielded by conventional radiology. However, special radiographic techniques and US (with 7.5 MHz probes) allowed satisfactory results to be obtained. US permits the more accurate definition of the site of calcifications, better demonstration of the calcifications with poor calcium content and optimal depiction of structural changes of the muscular bundles following denervation or edema and of skin trophism changes. US limitations, besides those strictly related to the method itself, are: gross calcifications with large posterior shadowing not allowing the deep layers to be investigated, the need of an extremely qualified operator and of a detailed description and, finally, the fact that the exam is long, difficult and stressful to the operator and painful to the patient. In conclusion, US provides both the surgeon and the clinician with useful information and can thus be employed as a routine test, with the additional advantage of not employing ionizing radiations.

CT of ischemic infarctions in the territory of the anterior choroidal artery: a review of 28 cases.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the incidence, causal factors, and anatomic localizations of infarction in the territory of the anterior choroidal artery. We studied 28 patients who had CT evidence of infarction in this territory. The affected structures taken into consideration were the posterior limb of the internal capsule, the retrolenticular portion of the internal capsule, the internal portion of the globus pallidus, and the lateral thalamus. Three conclusions are drawn: that ischemic infarcts in the territory of the anterior choroidal artery are rare, representing 2.9% of all cerebral ischemic lesions in our material; that the incidence of a possible embolic origin is significant; and that the posterior two-thirds of the posterior limb of the internal capsule and the retrolenticular segment are the more frequently affected structures, and conversely, that the medial pallidus and the thalamus are less often involved.

Portosystemic arteriovenous fistulas.

The authors report the angiographic demonstration of arteriovenous fistulas in three patients. The fistula was believed to be spontaneous in one case, related to abdominal surgery and to abdominal trauma in the other two cases. The importance of angiography in the diagnosis and evaluation of this disease has been emphasized in the literature. Early diagnosis is valuable, either to prevent hepatic damage or to give an opportunity for recovery once it has taken place. Follow-up of the three patients has shown that hepatic function notably improved after surgery.