Hemiazygous continuation of a left inferior vena cava: misleading radiographic findings in chest trauma.

A widened mediastinum was found on chest radiography following blunt chest trauma. Aortography alone could not adequately determine the etiology of the radiographic findings; on computed tomography (CT) benign mediastinal widening was confirmed owing to accessory hemiazygous continuation of a left inferior vena cava (IVC), with communication to the left brachiocephalic vein through an enlarged left superior (highest) intercostal vein. This unusual anatomic variant and its radiographic findings are reviewed, as well as the complementary role of CT in the evaluation of the traumatized thoracic aorta and mediastinum.

The distinctly visible right upper lobe bronchus on the lateral chest: a clue to adolescent cystic fibrosis.

Radiographic differentiation between cystic fibrosis and asthma presenting in teenagers and young adults can be difficult. Many patients with a late presentation of cystic fibrosis display minimal changes on a chest radiograph. However, a large majority (90%) of cystic fibrosis patients with an essentially normal PA chest radiograph will have a distinctly outlined orifice of right upper lobe bronchus on a lateral chest film as opposed to a small number of asthmatics (25%) or normal patients (18%). This observation correlates well with the pathologic finding that the initial pulmonary involvement in cystic fibrosis is typically in the right upper lobe in adolescents. Teenage or young adult patients presenting with a history of repeated respiratory infections, asthma-like symptoms and a distinctly visible right upper lobe bronchus on a lateral chest film should be sweat-tested to exclude cystic fibrosis.

Influence of Oily Bird Syndrome on the Shelf-Life of Fresh Ice-Packed Broilers.

Processed ready-to-cook broiler carcasses were obtained from a commercial poultry processing plant on three separate occasions. The birds were identified at the plant as being either normal or as exhibiting the appearance and feel of birds exhibiting the phenomena collectively termed as "oily bird syndrome" (OBS). The carcasses were packed in ice, transported to the Food Science Department, University of Georgia, held on ice for 24 h and individually bagged and stored under retail conditions at 2°C. At 2, 8, 14 and 20 days postmortem, the birds were examined microbiologically for total plate counts and observed for evidence of spoilage. No consistent trends could be ascertained to indicate that birds exhibiting OBS would have higher total bacterial numbers or shorter shelf-life. Thus, it would appear that birds exhibiting OBS would pose no problems regarding initial microbial loads, microbial growth rates or reduced fresh shelf-life as compared to carcasses not exhibiting OBS.

Tissue residues from feeding pentachloronitrobenzene (quintozene) to White Leghorn chickens.

One-day-old White Leghorn chicks were fed graded levels (0, 10, 50, 100 and 1,000 ppm) of pentachloronitrobenzene (PCNB; quintozene) up to 8 weeks. Each treatment group consisted of 90 randomly selected birds (2 replications of 45 birds each). Body weight gains were significantly lower at the 1,000-ppm treatment level. Histopathologic examination of brain, liver, pancreas, small intestine, gizzard, spleen, kidney, lung, and heart failed to reveal lesions in either control or treated groups. Bioaccumulation of PCNB or its metabolites (pentachloroaniline and pentachlorophenylmethylsulfide) in tissues only occurred in trace or very low concentrations. However, trace contaminating of PCNB, eg, hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and pentachlorobenzene (PCB) accumulated in tissues to a significant degree. Tetrachloronitrobenzene, another contaminant of PCNB, was found in only the adipose and cardiac tissues following the feeding of 1,000 ppm PCNB. Storage of PCNB, HCB, and PCB in adipose and other tissues was linearly related to the amount of PCNB in the ration.

A study of certain environmental factors and mineral chelation on the reproductive performance of young and yearling turkey hens.

The study presented was designed to determine the effects of laying cages and conventional litter floors, pen temperatures of 12.8 degrees, 21.1 degrees and 29.4 degrees C., and chelated (EDTA-Zn) vs. nonchelated trace mineral mixes on the reproductive performance of yearling force-molted and young Large White female turkeys. Reproductive performance, as measured by egg production, settable eggs, fertility and hatchability of fertile eggs, was not significantly different between young and yearling hens. Females fed a chelated trace mineral mix had a higher percentage of settable eggs, greater feed consumption and thicker egg shells. Females in laying cages laid at a higher rate, ate more feed, and weighed more than those on conventional floors. Significant differences were not observed between the two pen environments for hatchability of fertile eggs or egg weight. The percentages of settable eggs and of fertile eggs were lower when females were maintained in cages. A constant temperature of 29.4 degrees C. reduced egg production below that obtained from females maintained at 12.8 degrees and 21.1 degrees C. The high pen temperature also caused lower body and egg weights, more birds out of production and an increased incidence of molting. Feed consumption decreased with increasing pen temperatures. Fertility, hatchability, percentage of settable eggs and egg shell thickness were unaffected by the imposed temperature environments. Temperatures of 12.8 degrees and 21.1 degrees C. yielded comparable results for all reproductive parameters measured. Within the range of temperatures studied, results obtained suggest that optimum reproductive performance can be obtained with breeder turkeys when environmental temperatures are maintained between 12.8 degrees and 21.1 degrees C.