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Objectives: This study evaluated the surface roughness, surface hardness, and elastic modulus of CAD-CAM (Computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing) milled, three-dimensional printed and conventional compression-moulded denture base resins. Materials and Methods: Thirty specimens (65*10*3 mm) were fabricated and divided into 3 groups (10 for each group) according to the type of denture base resin, Group I contained specimens of milled denture base resin, Group II contained specimens of 3-dimensional printed denture base resin, Group III contained specimens of polymethyl methacrylate heat cured denture base resin. The surface roughness of all specimens was evaluated using an atomic force microscope. Then by using the three-point bending test, the elastic modulus of the 30 specimens was evaluated. Finally, after fracturing the specimens from the bending test, the fractured specimens of the 3 groups were used to evaluate hardness using the Vickers hardness test. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Tukey's pair-wise post hoc tests. Results: There were significant differences between the tested groups (P< 0.05). The milled denture base resins showed the lowest surface roughness (27.46 ± 5.45 nm) when compared with printed (47 ± 7.01 nm) and conventional (39.72 ± 4.72 nm) denture base resins (P< 0.05); however, there was a significant increase in elastic modulus and hardness of milled (3240.06 ± 61.23 MPa and 29.18 ± 3.44 Vickers hardness number) and conventional (3017.16 ± 215.32 MPa and 22.44 ± 0.98 Vickers hardness number) denture base resins when compared with printed denture (576.65 ± 37.73 MPa and 2.64 ± 0.37 Vickers hardness number) base resins (P< 0.05). Conclusions: Milled denture base resins showed the lowest surface roughness, and highest hardness and elastic modulus among the three groups.
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Transsphenoidal approach is considered the treatment of choice for pituitary adenoma removal. Suprasellar extension is regarded a drawback for complete removal of these tumors through this approach. Evaluate the correlation between the preoperative radiologic craniocaudal extension on MRI of pituitary adenomas and the extent of tumor removal. A retrospective study. Tertiary care hospital. 560 patients underwent transsphenoidal removal of pituitary adenomas. The degree of removal of pituitary tumor in the follow-up imaging of the patients was correlated with the preoperative extension in mid-Coronal T1 W Gd. Tumors with suprasellar extension can be classified into: Type I tumors with extension confined to the sellar boundaries, resulted in complete removal in all cases (100%), type II tumors with suprasellar extension reaching the floor of the 3rd ventricle, resulted in complete removal in 70.2% of the cases, type III tumors with suprasellar extension above the 3rd ventricle, had only 13.5% of complete removal. Integration of radiologic findings into a scheme for the preoperative determination of possibility of total removal of the tumor through transsphenoidal approach, can give better correlation to the surgical outcome of pituitary tumors.
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BACKGROUND: An avalanche of literature exists on almost every aspect of lumbar disc pathology but very limited studies have quantified the diagnostic performance of elements of clinical examination in predicting disc level, meticulously collated the reflex changes in lumbar disc herniation (LDH) as well as assessed the diagnostic performance of the medial hamstring reflex (MHR). Our study underscores the diagnostic performance of the MHR in L5 radiculopathy comparing its diagnostic power to that of the knee and ankle reflexes. METHODS: One hundred consecutive patients operated for de novo LDH in our department between January and December 2011 were prospectively followed-up. A nested case control study was designed from our cohort to assess the performance of the MHR in L5 sciatica. All patients were examined by two independent examiners pre-operatively for the MHR and the results collated and correlated to MRI and intra-operative findings. RESULTS: The MHR has a diagnostic performance intermediate to that of knee and ankle reflexes. The percentages correctly classified were respectively: 86%, 79% and 67% for the knee, MHR and ankle reflexes. The MHR is highly precise with an intra-rater reliability of 100% and inter-rater repeatability of above 90% and test-retest reproducibility of 100%. CONCLUSION: The MHR hitherto described as elusive has a high diagnostic performance and is a valid neurologic test that should be included in the routine neurologic examination of patients with suspected L5 radiculopathy.