ABSTRACT
This study reports tympanic cavity (TC) volume in newborns, which was missing in the literature. Ex vivo histology and computerized tomography (CT) scans were performed on temporal bone and data were analyzed in part using software developed in house. CT images with a slice thickness of 0.5 mm were obtained from 5 newborn cadavers and analyzed independently by two expert researchers. The border of the TC was delineated manually and measurement of area of interest was calculated on masked images. Then, the area measurements from all sections were added to estimate the total volume. The agreements between the histological and CT findings were then compared for accuracy, repeatability and reliability. The Dice and Jaccard similarity coefficient measures were used as a statistical validation metric to evaluate the assessor's performance in manual volume segmentation. Good assessor agreement was observed with average Dice values above 0.8 indicating that consistent and reliable volume measurements were feasible. The proposed protocol was shown to be accurate in calculating the TC volume, and thus can be used for computer-assisted presurgical planning or for diagnosing structural alterations in TC.
El objetivo fue determinar el volumen de la cavidad timpánica (CT) en recién nacidos, información no encontrada en la literatura. Se realizaron escaners a través de tomografia computadorizada (TC) y estudios histológicos en el hueso temporal; los datos se analizaron utilizando un software desarrollado en nuestra institución. Se obtuvieron imágenes de secciones de TC, de 0,5 mm de grosor, a partir de 5 cadáveres de recién nacidos, los que fueron analizados de forma independiente por dos investigadores expertos. El margen de los cortes de TC fue delineado manualmente y la medición del área de interés se estimó sobre imágenes ocultas. Después, se añadieron las mediciones de área de todas las secciones para estimar el volumen total. Las concordancias entre el estudio histológico y los hallazgos de la TC se compararon en cuanto a precisión, repetibilidad y confiabilidad. Se utilizaron las medidas de coeficiente de similitud de Jaccard y Dice como métrica de validación estadística para evaluar el desempeño del asesor en la medición manual del volumen. Se observó una buena correlación del evaluador con los valores medios de Dice, por encima de 0,8 indicando que es factible obtener mediciones coherentes y confiables de volumen. El protocolo propuesto ha demostrado ser preciso para calcular el volumen de la CT, y por lo tanto se puede utilizar para la planificación prequirúrgica asistida o para el diagnóstico de alteraciones estructurales en la CT.
Subject(s)
Humans , Infant, Newborn , Ear, Middle/anatomy & histology , Ear, Middle/diagnostic imaging , Tomography, X-Ray Computed , CadaverABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of excess all-trans retinoic acid, a vitamin A metabolite, on pancreatic organogenesis and TGF-beta2 expression during prenatal development in rats. First group of animals used as control while a single dose of 60 mg/kg all-trans retinoic acid was ingested by the mothers, at day 8 of gestation (before the neurulation period) in group II and at day 12 of gestation (after the neurulation period) in group III, and all embryos were sacrificed at day 18 of gestation. TGF-beta2 expression was detected in the capsule, acini and Langerhans islets in the control group. In the pancreas of group II, dilatation and congestion of interlobular vessels were observed. Langerhans islet structures were completely absent. Moreover acinar TGF-beta2 immune reactivity was not determined. In group III, acinar expression of TGF-beta2 in acid was similar to that in the controls but their Langerhans islets TGF-beta2 immune reactivity was significantly less than the controls. In view of the present findings we suggest that TGF-beta2 plays important role in pancreatic morphogenesis and administration of excess all-trans retinoic acid before neurulation inhibit TGF-beta2 expression disrupted pancreatic morphogenesis particularly Langerhans islets. However, its administration after neurulation had less adverse affect on pancreatic organogenesis and TGF-beta2 immune reactivity.
