Can Ultrasonographic Measurement of Bone Cortical Thickness Predict Osteoporosis?

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: In this study, we aimed to describe a more accessible and safe diagnostic tool for osteoporosis or osteopenia diagnosis. We utilized cortical thickness (CoT) measurement of various bones via ultrasonography and evaluated the method's accuracy relative to bone mineral density (BMD) results determined by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 200 volunteers (all female) who agreed to participate in the study and had undergone BMD measurement (femoral or vertebral) were included in the study. Patients with normal BMD result (≥-1.0 T-score) were defined as controls. CoT measurements were made from three bones (radius, tibia, and second metatarsal) for each patient via ultrasonography. RESULTS: Radius CoT and tibial CoT measurements of both femoral and vertebral osteoporotic or osteopenic patients were significantly higher compared to controls. Second metatarsal CoT of femoral osteoporotic and osteopenic patients was also found to be significantly higher than the control group. We found tibia CoT and radius CoT to have high sensitivity and positive predictive value in identifying patients with abnormal femoral T-scores (<-1). In multivariable analyzes, radius CoT was found to be independently predictive in distinguishing patients with abnormal T-score (<-1) from controls in both the femur and vertebral BMD groups. CONCLUSION: Radius CoT and tibia CoT values appear to have value in predicting patients with abnormal T-scores measured via DXA. This method may be a very simple technique that can be used for early detection of osteoporosis and osteopenia, but its results need to be supported by more comprehensive studies.

CT-angiography protocol with low dose radiation and low volume contrast medium for non-cardiac chest pain.

AIM: To evaluate the diagnostic quality of a new multiple detector-row computed tomography angiography (MDCT-A) protocol using low dose radiation and low volume contrast medium techniques for evaluation of non-cardiac chest pain. METHODS: Forty-five consecutive patients with clinically suspected noncardiac chest pain and requiring contrast-enhanced chest computed tomography (CT) were examined. The patients were assigned to the protocol, with 80 kilovolt (peak) (kV[p]) and 150 effective milliampere-second (eff mA-s). In our study group, 40 mL of low osmolar contrast material was administered at 3.0 mL/s. RESULTS: In the study group, four patients with pulmonary embolism, four with pleural effusion, two with ascending aortic aneurysm and eight patients with pneumonic consolidation were detected. The mean attenuation of the pulmonary truncus and ascendant aortic locations was considered 264±44 and 249±51 HU, respectively. The mean effective radiation dose was 0.83 mSv for MDCT-A. CONCLUSIONS: Pulmonary artery and the aorta scanning simultaneously was significantly reduced radiation exposure with the mentioned dose saving technique. Additionally, injection of low volume (40 cc) contrast material may reduce the risk of contrast induced nephropathy, therefore, facilitate the diagnostic approach. This technique can be applied to all cases and particularly patients at high risk of contrast induced nephropathy due to its similar diagnostic quality with a low dose and high levels of arteriovenous enhancement simultaneously.

[Does tumor type and sex distribution of primary lung cancer change? The comparison of the results of 2004 and previous years]. / Primer akciger kanserinde tümör tipi ve cinsiyet dagilimi degisiyor mu? 2004 Yili sonuçlarinin daha önceki yillar ile karsilastirilmasi.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the tumor cell type and sex distribution of patients diagnosed with primary lung cancer during 2004. Patients with primary lung cancer were detected from pathology records. Clinical files of patients were analyzed retrospectively. 1403 patients with primary lung cancer were included in the study. 1238 (88.2%) patients were male and 165 (11.8%) were female and female to male ratio was 1/7.5. When the ratio was compared with 1/10.9 in 1998, the ratio of female patients was determined to increase. Tumor cell type was squamous cell carcinoma in 577 (41.1%) patients, adenocarcinoma in 359 (25.6%), small cell carcinoma in 184 (13.1%), nonsmall cell carcinoma in 115 (8.2%) and other malign tumors in 21 (1.5%) patients. Tumor cell type was not detected in 147 (10.5%) patients. When 147 patients were excluded from the study, the frequency of squamous cell carcinoma was 45.9%, adenocarcinoma was 28.6% and small cell carcinoma was 14.6%. The results of our study show that squamous cell carcinoma is the most frequent tumor cell type in our center and the ratio of female patients is increasing.