Effectiveness of Sodium Picosulfate/Magnesium Citrate (PICO) for Colonoscopy Preparation.

PURPOSE: Bowel preparation with sodium phosphate was recently prohibited by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is safe and effective; however, it is difficult to drink. To identify an easy bowel preparation method for colonoscopy, we evaluated three different bowel preparation regimens regarding their efficacy and patient satisfaction. METHODS: In this randomized, comparative study, 892 patients who visited a secondary referral hospital for a colonoscopy between November 2012 and February 2013 were enrolled. Three regimens were evaluated: three packets of sodium picosulfate/magnesium citrate (PICO, group A), two packets of PICO with 1 L of PEG (PICO + PEG 1 L, group B), and two packets of PICO with 2 L of PEG (PICO + PEG 2 L, group C). A questionnaire survey regarding the patients' preference for the bowel preparation regimen and satisfaction was conducted before the colonoscopies. The quality of bowel cleansing was scored by the colonoscopists who used the Aronchick scoring scale and the Ottawa scale. RESULTS: The patients' satisfaction rate regarding the regimens were 72% in group A, 64% in group B, and 45.9% in group C. Nausea and abdominal bloating caused by the regimens were more frequent in group C than in group A or group B (P < 0.01). Group C showed the lowest preference rate compared to the other groups (P < 0.01). Group C showed better right colon cleansing efficacy than group A or group B. CONCLUSION: Group A exhibited a better result than group B or group C in patient satisfaction and preference. In the cleansing quality, no difference was noted between groups A and C.

Content-based ultrasound image retrieval using a coarse to fine approach.

One of the current issues for picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) is extending retrieval technologies to deal with multimedia information. This is particularly important for medical applications that assist in diagnostic processes and pathology studies. Accordingly, this paper presents a new approach to content-based image retrieval (CBIR) for a clinical ultrasound image database (DB). The proposed algorithm consists of two stages so as to maximize the retrieval efficiency. In the first stage, a coarse retrieval is performed using the statistical characteristics of the wavelet coefficients that narrow the search by eliminating up to 70% of the total DB images. In the second stage, a fine retrieval is carried out using the Legendre moment of the global histogram pdf on the reduced image set preretrieved by the coarse retrieval. When tested on an abdominal ultrasound image DB and compared with various other methods, the proposed algorithm gave promising results for applying CBIR to clinical ultrasound images.