Normative reference data for intracranial volume in children: The results of CT volumetry.

BACKGROUND: Intracranial volume (ICV) is an important indicator of the development of the brain and skull in children. At present, there is a lack of ICV growth standards based on large infant and children samples. Our aim was to assess the normal range of the ICV variation in Russian children using a modern automatic system for constructing the endocranial cavity (Endex) and to provide growth standards of the ICV for clinical practice. METHODS: High-resolution head CT scans were obtained from 673 apparently healthy children (380 boys and 293 girls) aged 0-17 years and transformed into the ICV estimates using the Endex software. The open-source software RefCurv utilizing R and the GAMLSS add-on package with the LMS method was then used for the construction of smooth centile growth references for ICV according to age and sex. RESULTS: We demonstrated that the ICVs estimates calculated using the Endex software are perfectly comparable with those obtained by a conventional technique (i.e. seed feeling). Sex-specific pediatric growth charts for ICV were constructed. CONCLUSIONS: This study makes available for use in clinical practice ICV growth charts for the age from 0 to 17 based on a sample of 673 high-resolution CT images.

[Certain mechanisms of the effect of acupuncture on the sympatho-adrenal system of tobacco smokers]. / O nekotorykh mekhanizmakh vliianiia akupunktury na simpato-adrenalovuiu sistemu u kuril'schchikov tabaka.

Daily excretion of adrenaline, noradrenaline, dopamine and dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) was examined in smokers being treated by acupuncture. It was shown that the effect of the acupuncture treatment depended on the initial functional activity of the sympatho-adrenal system. A marked therapeutic effect was observed in patients in whom a 15- to 18-hour-long abstaining from smoking prior to the treatment let to a shift in the ratio between the excreted adrenaline and noradrenaline towards prevalent excretion of the former. It was believed that such a change in the excretion of the catecholamines was due to the emotional disturbances associated with the beginning of the nicotinic abstinence. The positive therapeutic effect of acupuncture consisting in giving up the smoking completely was combined with normalization of the catecholamine excretion.