The Cross-Sectional Area Assessment of Pelvic Muscles Using the MRI Manual Segmentation among Patients with Low Back Pain and Healthy Subjects.

The pain pathomechanism of chronic low back pain (LBP) is complex and the available diagnostic methods are insufficient. Patients present morphological changes in volume and cross-sectional area (CSA) of lumbosacral region. The main objective of this study was to assess if CSA measurements of pelvic muscle will indicate muscle atrophy between asymptomatic and symptomatic sides in chronic LBP patients, as well as between right and left sides in healthy volunteers. In addition, inter-rater reliability for CSA measurements was examined. The study involved 71 chronic LBP patients and 29 healthy volunteers. The CSA of gluteus maximus, medius, minimus and piriformis were measured using the MRI manual segmentation method. Muscle atrophy was confirmed in gluteus maximus, gluteus minimus and piriformis muscle for over 50% of chronic LBP patients (p < 0.05). Gluteus medius showed atrophy in patients with left side pain occurrence (p < 0.001). Muscle atrophy occurred on the symptomatic side for all inspected muscles, except gluteus maximus in rater one assessment. The reliability of CSA measurements between raters calculated using CCC and ICC presented great inter-rater reproducibility for each muscle both in patients and healthy volunteers (p < 0.95). Therefore, there is the possibility of using CSA assessment in the diagnosis of patients with symptoms of chronic LBP.

Selected Livestock-Associated Zoonoses as a Growing Challenge for Public Health.

The aim of this paper is to review the most significant livestock-associated zoonoses. Human and animal health are intimately connected. This idea has been known for more than a century but now it has gained special importance because of the increasing threat from zoonoses. Zoonosis is defined as any infection naturally transmissible from vertebrate animals to humans. As the frequency and prevalence of zoonotic diseases increase worldwide, they become a real threat to public health. In addition, many of the newly discovered diseases have a zoonotic origin. Due to globalization and urbanization, some of these diseases have already spread all over the world, caused by the international flow of goods, people, and animals. However, special attention should be paid to farm animals since, apart from the direct contact, humans consume their products, such as meat, eggs, and milk. Therefore, zoonoses such as salmonellosis, campylobacteriosis, tuberculosis, swine and avian influenza, Q fever, brucellosis, STEC infections, and listeriosis are crucial for both veterinary and human medicine. Consequently, in the suspicion of any zoonoses outbreak, the medical and veterinary services should closely cooperate to protect the public health.