RESUMO
In Kochi prefecture, the mortality rate of males in their 40s and 50s exceeds the mean death rate of Japanese men by more than 10%. The causes of death in general in Kochi are cancer (27.1%), cardiac disease (16.8%), cerebrovascular disease (11.9%) and pneumonia (11.2%) in that order. We analysed the data of a total of 1,826 males in the 40-50 age band who had panticipated in the one-day health screening course provided by our hospital. Our findings showed that many of these middle-aged males, were heavy drinkers and obese people with BMI of 25 or more. The amount of alcohol consumption in Kochi is the second largest in Japan, which may impact on the incidence of alcohol-related diseases and death. As for blood pressure, the ratio of those people in their 50s and 60s with hypertension in Kochi was higher than the mean of this country. To prevent the development of the metabolic syndrome, we must keep on making efforts and encourage them to adopt a healthy life style.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Spinal epidural abscesses are major complications of epidural anesthesia, and their MR features have been reported. In patients receiving continuous infusion via an epidural catheter, MR findings may mimic those of spinal epidural abscess in the absence of infection. The purpose of this study was to assess the spinal MR findings associated with continuous epidural anesthesia. METHODS: Spinal MR findings in five consecutive patients receiving continuous epidural anesthesia were retrospectively evaluated. Axial and sagittal T1- and T2-weighted spin-echo and contrast-enhanced fat-suppressed T1-weighted spin-echo images were obtained. Infection was ruled out on microbiologic analysis three patients and on follow-up in two. Each lesion was evaluated for its MR signal intensity, location, extent, delineation, and enhancement pattern. In three patients, follow-up MR imaging was performed within 5-150 days, and the images were compared. RESULTS: Posterior epidural lesions were identified in all five patients. The lesions were isointense to hypointense relative to the spinal cord on T1-weighted images, isointense relative to CSF on T2-weighted images, and well enhanced on enhanced T1-weighted images. The anomalous enhancement involved two to seven vertebral bodies. In one patient, the enhanced lesion slightly compressed the spinal cord. On follow-up MR imaging, the epidural lesions decreased in two patients and did not change in one. CONCLUSION: Continuous epidural anesthesia can result in MR findings similar to those of epidural abscess, even in the absence of infection.
