Percutaneous needle aspiration of small interloop abscesses in children.

Treatment of small postoperative interloop abscesses (ILA) can be challenging. In children, these collections have usually been drained surgically at a second operation. This article describes three children with small postoperative ILAs who were treated by percutaneous needle aspiration and parenteral antibiotics, with good outcomes. The advantages of this technique and its utilization in the management of children with ILAs are discussed.

Arterial waveforms in the femoral heads of healthy neonates.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to characterize the Doppler waveform in the cartilaginous capital femoral epiphysis of healthy neonates with the aid of power Doppler and duplex Doppler imaging. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: In this prospective study, both hips were examined in 63 neonates. We used conventional sonographic imaging and power Doppler imaging. Spectral Doppler tracings were obtained when possible. Spectral analysis and resistive index measurements were performed. RESULTS: The examination was completed in 97 hips, revealing pulsatile arterial blood flow with a low-velocity, low-resistance, reproducible waveform. Mean resistive index was 0.48 +/- 0.11. Additional time spent on the Doppler study was documented in all patients and averaged 6 min. CONCLUSION: The arterial blood flow pattern in the femoral chondroepiphysis of healthy neonates has been described. The additional time spent doing the Doppler examination is acceptable. In future studies, this pattern of blood flow can be compared with that of abnormal hips and those undergoing treatment for developmental dysplasia.

Hemophilia presenting in an infant as a radial artery pseudoaneurysm following arterial puncture.

The case presented is of an infant who developed a radial artery pseudoaneurysm following arterial puncture and was subsequently diagnosed with hemophilia. A discussion of radial artery pseudoaneurysms follows.

Idiopathic bilateral anterior mediastinal abscesses.

Mediastinal suppuration and abscess formation are uncommon in the era of antibiotics. The case of a child with seemingly idiopathic bilateral and separate anterior mediastinal abscesses is presented. The chest radiography, sonography and computed tomography findings are described.

The diagnosis of malrotation during air enema procedure.

This paper describes the correct diagnosis of cecal malposition, suggesting midgut malrotation, during air enema examination in seven patients. It is possible to diagnose cecal malposition by air enema, even in the presence of a reducible intussusception.

Case report: ultrasound appearances of a malignant mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis testis.

A case of a 91-year-old gentleman who developed massive scrotal swelling secondary to malignant mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis testis is presented. Preoperative sonography was performed and the findings and difficulty in establishing the pathological diagnosis are discussed.

The costal hook: an indicator of occult flail segment in chest trauma.

The presence of a hook-like configuration at the site of rib fracture reflects significant rotational displacement. Such displacement can occur only as the result of a further fracture at another site within the same rib and is therefore indicative of a flail segment injury even if a second fracture site is not clearly identified. This appearance is illustrated and termed the 'costal hook' sign.

The effect of numbers of noise events on people's reactions to noise: an analysis of existing survey data.

The effect of the number of noise events on noise annoyance has been examined in an analysis of data from large-scale social surveys. The relative impact of noise level and number on human reactions is measured by the decibel equivalent number effect (k) expressed as the number of decibels which have an effect equivalent to that of a tenfold increase in number of events. Values of k differ between surveys but none is significantly greater (p greater than 0.05) than the value of k = 10 which is implicit in Leq or Ldn. The mean of the existing data provide a best estimate of k = 5. Although there are some surveys in which annoyance decreases as numbers of events increase above about 150 a day, the available evidence is not strong enough to reject the conventional assumption that reactions are related to the logarithm of the number of events. The conventional assumption that the effects of number and peak noise level are additive cannot be rejected with these data. Differences between the surveys' estimates of the effect of number of events remained large even when equivalent questionnaire items and definitions of noise events could be used. The most likely explanations for inconsistent estimates are (1) errors in specifying the values of noise parameters, (2) the effects of unmeasured acoustical and area characteristics which are correlated with noise level or number, and (3) large sampling errors which are due to community differences in response to noise. Multipoint annoyance scales give more reliable estimates than do dichotomous "very annoyed" measures. It is concluded that significant improvements in the knowledge about the effects of numbers of noise events will only occur if surveys include large numbers of study areas, a requirement which can only be met if economical noise measurement techniques are developed which have known levels of precision.

Impact resistance of variously mounted ophthalmic lenses.

An experimental investigation was conducted to determine the frangibility of ophthalmic glass lenses loaded by the impact of steel spheres with diameters ranging from 6.35 to 28.6 mm when dropped from heights up to 1.905 m. These lenses were supported either simply, by a ring similar to that used in U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) drop tests, or while inserted in three different commercially used frame configurations placed on a head form. Strains up to 4000 mu strain were recorded by gauges cemented to the lenses, and impact forces on the glass up to 10.2 kN were determined, with many lenses surviving. Plano lenses tested according to FDA standards experienced peak values of 2300 mu strain. The maximum force transmitted to the head form at the nose piece was found to be 91 N as determined by embedded crystal transducers. A series of special tests on circular plano lenses inserted in specially constructed rings and a circular eyewire indicated that eyewire tension is not a significant factor in impact resistance of lenses under both static and dynamic loading.