Sonographic diagnosis of appendicitis: A pictorial essay and a new diagnostic maneuver.

While many cases of appendicitis are easy to diagnose clinically, a significant number need further workup in the form of imaging. Ultrasound and CT are both used extensively to diagnose or exclude appendicitis, or arrive at an alternate diagnosis. Ultrasound has many advantages but can be a difficult modality to use due to, among other reasons, the anatomical variations in appendicial location. The true retrocolic appendix is particularly difficult to diagnose with ultrasound. This pictorial essay examines the ultrasound features of normal and diseased appendix and proposes a new examining station, the prone view, for visualizing true retrocolic appendicitis.

Thyroid function in pulmonary tuberculosis.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the thyroid hormone economy in pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB). DESIGN: Cohort comparative study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Multan Institute of Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine (MINAR) from January 2003 to June 2005. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study included 266 confirmed cases of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB), aged between 11 and 65 years, who had completed short course of chemotherapy. Two samples were collected from each patient, first after final diagnosis and second after completion of the treatment. Initial analysis of samples showed that 31 samples had both T3 (triiodothyronine) and T4 (thyroxine) in lower than normal range. One more sample in the middle of treatment was collected for these patients. Radioimmunoassays and immunoradiometeric assays were applied to estimate mean TT3, TT4 and TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) levels. Students t-test was used to compare patient and normal values derived from 713 volunteers. RESULTS: The age had no effect on levels of T3, T4 and TSH in normal persons. Mean T3 and T4 values (0.74 nmol/l and 91.9 nmol/l) in PTB patients were significantly decreased (p < 0.001) with 50% and 11.6 % cases in lower than normal range respectively. Follow-up data on subgroup of 31 patients showed that both T3 and T4 levels improved after chemotherapy. TSH levels remained unaffected throughout. CONCLUSION: Both T3 and T4 levels were decreased in PTB but T4 levels were less affected. TSH was found unaffected by the disease. This confirms that PTB produces euthyroid sick syndrome (SES) i.e., decreased T3 and T4, and no change affected by 5'deiodinase (an enzyme that causes deiodination of T4). The levels improved after chemotherapy.

Role of hysterosalpingoscintigraphy in the workup of infertility.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the role of hysterosalpingoscintigraphy (HSSG) in the evaluation of fallopian tube patency and function and compare the results with hysterosalpingography (HSG) and laparoscopy (LS). DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: The study was conducted at Multan Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Radiotherapy (MINAR), Multan from August 2004 to February 2005. PATIENTS AND METHODS: HSSG was performed after instillation of 4mCi (148 MBq) 99mTechnetium-macroaggregated albumin (99mTc-MAA) in posterior vaginal fornix in 65 patients. Serial static images were acquired in supine position at 1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours and, if needed, at 24 hours. The results were compared to the findings on LS and HSG. RESULTS: Out of 65 patients, 37 (56.9%) patients had bilateral blocked tubes, 17 (26.1%) patients had bilateral patent tubes, 6 (9.2%) patients had blocked left tube and 5 (7.1%) patients had blocked right tube. The calculated sensitivity, specificity, positive predicted value (PPV), negative predicted value (NPV) and accuracy for HSSG were 90%, 83%, 90% and 90% respectively. The agreement between HSSG and LS was found in 32 out of 35 patients and agreement between HSG and HSSG was found in 24 out of 30 patients. CONCLUSION: This simple procedure can delineate tubal physiology; in selected cases it can replace HSG and in others augment the information gathered by HSG. HSSG should be part of the infertility workup algorithm.

Managing thyroid dysfunction in selected special situations.

Managing thyroid dysfunction is simple at first glance, the idea is to bring hormone levels in the euthyroid range, treat with antithyroid drugs, radio-iodine or surgery if toxic and replace with thyroxine or T3 if hypothyroid. Complexities arise when there are coexisting conditions that affect the thyroid or are affected by thyroid dysfunction and this review will deal with the special situations that need care when correcting thyroid hormone levels.

Image perception and interpretation of abnormalities; can we believe our eyes? Can we do something about it?

The radiologist's visual impression of images is transmitted, via non-visual means (the report), to the clinician. There are several complex steps from the perception of the images by the radiologist to the understanding of the impression by the clinician. With a process as complex as this, it is no wonder that errors in perception, cognition, interpretation, transmission and understanding are very common. This paper reviews the processes of perception and error generation and possible strategies for minimising them.