[Normal value of the tracheal bifurcation angle and correlation with left atrial volume]. / Valore normale dell'angolo della biforcazione tracheale e correlazione con il volume dell'atrio sinistro.

PURPOSE: We evaluated the mean value and the variability range of the tracheal bifurcation angle by patient gender, age, height, weight, build, body area and max transverse diameter of the chest under normal conditions. We also evaluated tracheal bifurcation angle changes in orthostatism and recumbency, as well as in the different respiratory phases. Finally, we investigated the statistical correlation between the tracheal bifurcation angle value and the left atrial volume, to eventually derive either value from the other. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We reviewed 700 high-voltage radiographs of the chest performed in 500 patients with normal echocardiographic findings from 1986 to 1990. To analyze the relationships with the left atrium, 100 patients with echocardiographically enlarged atrium were submitted to high-voltage radiography. The tracheal bifurcation angle was measured directly. RESULTS: Mediastinal radiographs nearly always depict the trachea and extraparenchymal bronchi adequately. The tracheal bifurcation angle should be measured continuing and joining the upper and lower parabronchial contours. A 4-degree deviation is accepted between the upper or interbronchial and lower or carinal angles since the angles formed by parallel segments have the same value. Under normal conditions the absolute mean value of the tracheal bifurcation angle was 79.7 degrees and the range 37-105 degrees. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: In normal patients the mean value of the tracheal bifurcation angle: is independent of age and gender; depends on build; is related to the max transverse diameter of the chest and to body area; exhibits no major radiographic changes in orthostatism versus recumbency; exhibits no major radiographic changes in expiration versus inspiration; is correlated with left atrial volume, but the value is not statistically significant.

Small bowel enteroclysis in surgically treated obesity.

PURPOSE: To define the indications, technical limitations and diagnostic yeld of small bowel transbuccal enema in the follow-up of surgical jejunoileal shunting in patients with complicated severe essential obesity. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Three patients were submitted to surgical diversion: two of them underwent an intestinal bypass after Payne-De Wind (isoperistaltic end-to-side jejunoileostomy) and the other after Scott (end-to-end jejunoileostomy). The latter refers to intestinal recanalization and antiperistaltic lower end-to-side gastroenteric restoration. RESULTS: Radiologic studies are the only means to depict the surgical small bowel. Radiographic follow-up needs barium sulfate administration and therefore cannot be performed any sooner than 30 days postoperatively. In the last three years the classic transbuccal enema has been performed with a Rollandi tube (with a terminal opening and a balloon). Both the anastomosis and the blind loop are difficult to demonstrate. CONCLUSIONS: Jejunoileal bypass can be used to treat severe obsity uncontrollable otherwise, to reduce food absorption. Different severe complications may result and small bowel studies may permit to show late local complications. Small bowel enema is also indispensable in bypass reversal. There are no alternatives to this radiologic examination which is however very difficult to perform, because of the changes made by previous operation(s), and to interpret because the anastomosis, the sutured loop and wall changes are often poorly demonstrated.

[Cystic dilatation of the seminal vesicles: which diagnostic approach?]. / Dilatazione cistica delle vescichette seminali: quale l'iter diagnostico?

PURPOSE: We investigated the frequency, clinical features, diagnostic course and therapy of congenital and acquired seminal vesicle cysts. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Seven vesicular cysts were found in adult subjects in 1995-1996. All diagnoses were made with suprapubic and transrectal US, CT and MRI. Vesiculo-deferentography was never used for diagnosis. Patient age and symptoms, cyst site, structure and dysembryogenetic associations were considered for diagnosis. RESULTS: All the patients were adult and all but one fertile. Age ranges were IV (43%), III and V (28.5%) decades. The cyst was congenital in 5 patients, associated with other dysplasias in 60% of them, and acquired in 2 patients. 57% of patients had urogenital symptoms and 2 patients (28.5%) had no clinical signs. US was performed for fertility tests in one patient. The left gland was always and exclusively involved; its size ranged 3.2 to 5.8 cm and its shape was characteristic only in 2 acquired cysts. DISCUSSION: Both abdominal and rectal US examinations were always performed and always reliably showed cyst site, origin, size and components. CT confirmed local findings and was also used to study the abdomen assessing renal presence and function. MRI permitted the best anatomical study with the multiplanar demonstration of the relationships between small pelvis structures. CONCLUSIONS: Congenital cysts and acquired distension of the seminal vesicles are uncommon findings also because they are difficult to diagnose. Diagnostic imaging reliably differentiates vesicular cysts from other cystic collections in that region, providing enough information to distinguish acquired from congenital forms, the former curable with drug treatment and the latter requiring more invasive therapy. Relative to site prevalence (100% in the left gland), we do not know if this was an aleatory finding or it indicated an actual congenital predisposition. US yields the indispensable diagnostic findings, but MRI should be always performed to ensure diagnosis, to study the abdomen and to plan possible surgery.

[Doppler color ultrasonography with contrast media in the study of eye and orbit neoplasms]. / L'eco color Doppler con mdc nello studio delle neoplasie dell'occhio e dell'orbita.

We investigated the diagnostic efficacy of the i.v. administration of a sonography (US) contrast agent to study eye and orbit tumors at different stages. We administered Levovist (Schering), an air microbubble stabilized by fatty acid, which is specific for angiographic indications. Baseline color Doppler US was performed on 24 selected patients and tumor vascularization patterns were classified into three classes. Color Doppler signal enhancement was assessed after contrast agent administration and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) was improved in 70% of cases, which helped identify vascular patterns and improved flowmetric accuracy. The Doppler effect was also improved and vascular signal was always enhanced. The SNR was improved also by the postcontrast detection of small vessels missed on baseline scans. Doppler signal enhancement was proportional to precontrast vascularization and depended on tumor size, with poor results in lesions < 5 mm. In contrast, vascular signal spots with increased postcontrast echogenicity sometimes caused excessive noise affecting the results. No correlation was found between signal enhancement and lesion histotype or between signal and lesion site. Treated lesions exhibited poorer contrast agent enhancement. The examination technique must be accurate and the various parameters set optimally, especially the velocity scale, gain and filtration; the unit must feature adequate recording capabilities (mm/s). To conclude, we believe that the routine use of i.v. US contrast agents will play a major role in improving diagnostic imaging in oculistics also thanks to the lack of untoward reactions and to the ease of contrast agent preparation.

[Clinico-radiologic considerations on "stress fractures" of the leg]. / Considerazioni clinico-radiologiche sulle "fratture da stress" dell'arto inferiore.

Stress fractures are ubiquitary and most often caused by the subject's activities. In the past they occurred mostly in recruits, but today they are frequent in sportsmen. Stress fractures most frequently occur in the lower limbs, especially in the distal leg. We reviewed 32 injuries observed January, 1993, to June, 1995, and found that 25% of them had been misdiagnosed as stress fractures: in the cases where the diagnosis was correct, fatigue fractures (32%) were less frequent than insufficiency fractures (68%) and occurred in young subjects (mean age: 24 years), usually sportsmen (2/3 of cases). Insufficiency fractures may occur in people aged 8 to 81 years (mean: 61 years) and in subjects with metabolic disorders (45.5%). Considering the injury biomechanics and the patient history and symptoms, these lesions appear a rather uncommon event, whose radiologic diagnosis must be confirmed by clinical findings, since radiology mostly (81.6% of cases) showed only the repair process, rather than the fracture itself. The radiologic patterns were classified into three groups: the fracture margin was not shown in 70% of cases (group I), where however intraperiosteal reaction and/or soft tissue effusion were found; bone fracture was shown in 3 cases (group II) and fracture sequels in 4 (group III), where bone thickening (3 cases) or abnormal consolidation (1 case) was found. There are several synonyms of "stress fracture" and confusion is increased because stress lines and other not necessarily abnormal signs such as Park or Harris lines, reinforcement or calcification lines, are often grouped together with stress fractures. Only accurate clinical examination and laboratory findings permit to distinguish fatigue from insufficiency stress fractures and the latter are also very difficult to differentiate from pathologic fractures. The differentiation of fatigue from insufficiency fractures, originally made by English speaking authors, may be confusing because the definition "pathologic fractures" should be reserved only to focal injuries while in the past it included also insufficiency fractures. Thus, only (bone) fatigue injuries in patients exercising intensely and constantly should be considered stress fractures. Conventional radiography is an indispensable tool and MRI is used in selected cases where the former method is negative and in the patients needing early mobility to go back to work. If radiographic findings are questionable for metastases, nuclear medicine is the method of choice and CT and/or MRI may be indicated as second-line diagnostic imaging tools.

[Computed tomography in injuries to the respiratory system in children. The correlation with adults]. / La Tomografia Computerizzata nei traumi dell'apparato respiratorio nei bambini. Correlazione con gli adulti.

INTRODUCTION: Diagnostic imaging in emergency rooms may be inadequate and delayed, which makes chest traumas in children more severe and difficult to treat. We carried out a retrospective study on adults and children who had survived major chest traumas involving the respiratory tract to assess the differences between the two age groups and the role of emergency CT. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Our series consisted of fourteen children admitted to the emergency department for various accidents. Home accidents prevailed (9/14 = 64.3%). On admission, chest radiography was performed in most cases (11/14 = 78.6%); CT was carried out in 21.4% (3/14 patients). RESULTS: Trauma involved more organs in pediatric patients (11/14 = 78.6%) and lung involvement was always associated with other types of injury, namely contusion (14/14 = 100%), pneumothorax (11/14 = 78.6%), hemothorax (10/14 = 71.4%), tear (4/14 = 28.6%). CT corrected or integrated the radiographic findings of contusion focus in 67% (8/14) and that of pneumothorax in 63.6%; both patterns cannot be demonstrated otherwise. DISCUSSION: Mixed and multiple posterior parenchymal injuries with no rib fractures prevail in young subjects because their bones and ligaments are more elastic, which may lead to trauma underestimation. Tracheobronchial ruptures and pneumomediastinum are much more severe in children than in adults. Chest plain film is often the only diagnostic tool used, despite its major technical and interpretative limitations, also because skull and abdomen are the most investigated regions. Executive limitations are stronger in childhood, increasing the margin of error and the risk of delayed treatment. CT is as cost-effective as radiography and shows even the injuries missed or poorly depicted on conventional images; CT also gives accurate information on damage severity and nature. CONCLUSIONS: Traumatic injuries are more severe in pediatric patients due to their build and to biomechanical, clinical and management factors. Spiral CT should be considered the examination of choice to be performed in the emergency department equipped also for pediatric re-animation.

[Pancreatic fractures: the role of CT and the indications for endoscopic retrograde pancreatography]. / Fratture del pancreas: ruolo della TC e indicazioni alla pancreatografia retrograda endoscopica.

PURPOSE: To assess the role and the diagnostic yield of CT and of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in the study of emergency pancreatic injuries from blunt abdominal trauma. MATERIAL AND METHODS: January, 1992, to December, 1996, eleven subjects with pancreatic trauma were operated on. The patients were 8 men and 3 women (mean age: 28.4 years, range: 15-47 years) with pancreatic traumas of different severity but all with gland fracture and severe ductal injuries. Direct radiography was performed in all cases in different projections: CT with 1 cm slice thickness and feed was also performed. A contrast agent was administered orally in 8/11 patients and i.v. in 11/11. ERCP was performed in supine recumbency within 12 hours of trauma; a hypotonic agent was administered i.v. in 5 cases. The examination was successful in 10 patients. Wirsung duct studies were extended to the biliary tract in 6 cases. RESULTS: Pancreatic traumas were never isolated and usually associated with other abdominal injuries in the liver, spleen, small intestine, kidneys (by frequency) and with injuries in other body regions--the chest in 8/9 cases, limbs in 7/9, the spine in 4/9 and the skull-brain in 3/9 cases. Pancreatic fractures were mostly cervical and 3 of them were bifocal. The radiologic findings of pneumoperitoneum (4 cases), sentinel loop (3), paralytic ileum (11), air-fluid levels (9) were always aspecific. CT had 66.7% sensitivity, with over-all accuracy of pancreatic involvement by trauma in 5/11 cases and specific findings of fracture in 1/11 cases. CT showed associated parenchymal injuries in both the abdomen and other sites. ERCP diagnostic accuracy and sensitivity topped 100% in the demonstration of ductal injuries. DISCUSSION: Pancreatic traumas are usually a rather uncommon event. They are classified as major and minor according to the extent and severity of ductal involvement. Injury site corresponds to the direction of impact force, but the neck is the preferential site for fractures because it is compressed within the spine and extended. Clinical findings are usually aspecific and questionable and diagnostic imaging, especially CT, plays therefore a major role in treatment planning. However, CT provides mainly indirect signs and fails to depict ductal rupture. Despite its difficult technical execution in emergency, ERCP shows ductal injuries with extreme accuracy and specificity, which finding is indispensable for treatment planning. CONCLUSIONS: Both CT and ERCP are necessary tools to diagnose pancreatic fractures: the former because it provides indispensable panoramic findings and the latter because it is the only method showing ductal involvement. Therefore, both techniques should be used for accurate surgical planning, which is a crucial step for the prognosis of these injuries. Cost-effectiveness and safe execution are well balanced.