Sicca Symptoms and their Association with Chronic Rhinosinusitis in a Community Sample.

OBJECTIVE: To determine associations between sicca symptoms, chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) symptoms and asthma in a community survey. METHODS: Data was obtained from the Spring 2009 South Australian Health Omnibus Survey which sampled, via interviewer administered questionnaire, 3007 individuals aged 15 years and over whose socio-demographic distribution corresponded to South Australian population estimates. Respondents were asked a range of questions relating to the presence of persistent dry eyes or dry mouth, CRS and medically diagnosed nasal polyps and asthma. Relationships between symptoms were explored using maximum likelihood dependency tree analysis. RESULTS: THE RESPECTIVE POPULATION PREVALENCES WERE: dry mouth (5.9%), dry eyes (8.6%), nasal polyps (3.8%), CRS (13.2%) and asthma (12.0%). The overall prevalence of sicca symptoms (dry eyes or dry mouth) was 12.4%. Dependency tree analysis revealed the expected symptom clustering between (1) sicca symptoms and their association with female gender and increasing age and (2) CRS, nasal polyps and asthma (one airway hypothesis). However there was also an association between dry eyes and CRS (OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.9, 3.4), which was in fact stronger than the association between CRS and asthma (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.4, 2.5). CONCLUSIONS: Sicca symptoms are common in the community. Our novel finding of a strong association between dry eyes and CRS suggests that further research into the relationship between airway inflammation and sicca symptoms is required. These findings may have particular relevance to Sjögren's syndrome (SS) in both its primary and secondary forms.

Thin sectional anatomy, three-dimensional reconstruction and visualization of the heart from the Chinese Visible Human.

The research aimed to provide sectional anatomic and three-dimensional (3D) virtual anatomic bases for imaging diagnosis and surgical operation by the use of data from the heart of the first Chinese digitized Visible Human. Data from the series of thin sections of the heart were analyzed and input into an SGI workstation, and 3D reconstruction and virtualization of the heart were performed. Each image of sectional anatomy was clear and the 3D structures of the heart were reconstructed in their entirety. All reconstructed structures can be displayed by multiple structural and color modes, individually or jointly, and can be rotated continuously in any plane. The model of the virtual heart clearly showed fine structures of the heart in random orientation. The dataset of the sectional anatomy provides a fine and integrated morphologic base for imaging diagnosis. The 3D reconstructed images clearly show the internal and entire structures of the heart.

Visualization of the temporal bone of the Chinese Visible Human.

Temporal bone anatomy is very difficult to understand. After dataset acquisition of the first Chinese Visible Human, we processed the two-dimensional images to build a digitized visible model of the temporal bone and explore the role of virtual endoscopy in the inner ear. On a SGI workstation three-dimensional computer reconstructions of the ear were generated from the Chinese visible human dataset, viewing the middle and inner ear imitating the traditional otoscopy. The three-dimensional data of the temporal bone were then converted to STL format, and the temporal bone replica were fabricated with rapid prototyping by laminated object manufacturing. The virtual model of the ear was successfully completed, and the virtual endoscopy improved three-dimensional visualization of the middle and inner ear. Physical replica of the temporal bone were built with paper; the accuracy was +/-0.2 mm. The reconstructed model and the replica of the temporal bone can be used to make preoperative plans in the complicated otoneurosurgical operations, allowing various surgical exercises to be carried out on the three-dimensional stereophysical model. The virtual endoscopy stands as a promising new visualization technique for elucidation of the middle and inner ear and reveals a tremendous potential in both clinical and educational settings, providing morphological data for the image diagnosis and otoneurosurgery.