Increased brain cortical thickness associated with visceral fat in adolescents.

BACKGROUND: There has been a growing amount of evidence indicating that excess visceral fat is associated with alterations in brain structure and function, including brain cortical thinning in adults. OBJECTIVES: This study aims to investigate the relationship between brain cortical thickness with obesity assessments, in adolescents. METHODS: In this study, we measured three different obesity assessments within an adolescent population (aged 15 - 18 years): body mass index (BMI), visceral fat ratio measured with an MRI and hepatorenal gradient measured with an ultrasound. Volunteers also underwent an MRI scan to measure brain structure. RESULTS: Results indicated that there was no relationship of BMI or hepatorenal gradient with brain cortical dimensions. However, there was a significant association between visceral fat ratio and an increase of cortical thickness throughout the brain. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that visceral fat, but not BMI, is correlated with cortical thickening in adolescence.

Grey-scale and colour Doppler sonography in the evaluation of children with suspected bowel inflammation: correlation with colonoscopy and histological findings.

AIM: To evaluate the correlation of grey-scale and colour Doppler sonography with colonoscopy and histology to detect bowel inflammation in children. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The records of 72 patients with suspected bowel inflammation were reviewed retrospectively. Patients were included in the study if sonography had been performed up to 30 days before colonoscopy. Grey-scale and colour Doppler sonography were used to evaluate bowel wall thickness and vascularity for the detection of distal bowel inflammation. Findings were correlated with colonoscopy and histological findings. The sensitivity and specificity of sonographic wall thickness to detect inflammation was determined. Spearman's coefficient (rs) was used to determine the correlation of Doppler findings with colonoscopy/histology. RESULTS: Sonograms of 372 bowel segments were evaluated and results were correlated with colonoscopy and histological findings of 352 segments. The sensitivity and specificity of sonographic bowel thickness to detect inflammation in the terminal ileum and the right colon were high; in the other segments, specificity was high but sensitivity was low. The correlation of Doppler sonography with colonoscopy and histology to detect inflammation in the terminal ileum was strong (rs: 0.84; p<0.001) and in the other segments, weak to moderate; when the interval between examinations was shorter than 10 days, the correlation was stronger in all segments. Of nine patients with abnormal small bowel sonograms but normal colonoscopies, three had Crohn's disease. CONCLUSION: Sensitivity and specificity of grey-scale sonography to detect inflammation in the terminal ileum and the right colon were high, and the correlation of Doppler with colonoscopy and histology was very strong in the same segments.

Agreement between ultrasonography and computed tomography in detecting intracranial calcifications in congenital toxoplasmosis.

AIM: To evaluate the agreement between ultrasound (US) and computed tomography (CT) in detecting intracranial calcification in infants with congenital toxoplasmosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-four infants referred for investigation of congenital toxoplasmosis were prospectively evaluated, and the diagnosis was confirmed or ruled out by serological testing and by follow-up in the first year of life. The investigation protocol included cranial US and cranial CT, and examinations were conducted and interpreted by two radiologists blinded to the results of the other imaging test and to the diagnostic confirmation. RESULTS: The diagnosis of congenital toxoplasmosis was confirmed in 33 patients, and agreement between US and CT findings was found in 31 of these cases. Both methods detected calcifications in 18 patients, and neither detected calcifications in 13 patients. Overall agreement was 94% and the kappa coefficient was 0.88 (95% confidence interval: 0.71, 1; p<0.001), which revealed almost perfect agreement between the two diagnostic methods. CONCLUSION: In this study, US and CT demonstrated equal sensitivity in the detection of intracranial calcification in infants with congenital toxoplasmosis.

Is colour Doppler sonography a good method to differentiate normal and abnormal appendices in children?

AIM: To determine whether colour Doppler sonograms can be used to differentiate between the normal appendix and acute appendicitis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This prospective study examined 50 consecutive children with suspected appendicitis using grey-scale and colour Doppler US. Appendicitis was diagnosed when the appendix diameter was greater than 6 mm. Blood flow on the appendiceal wall was measured and classified as non-existent (0 pixels), low (1-2), moderate (3-4) or abundant (>4). Likelihood ratios were calculated for each of these levels. The diagnosis of acute appendicitis was confirmed by pathological findings, and ruled out by clinical follow-up or pathological findings. RESULTS: Of the 50 patients examined, 24 had appendicitis and 26 had a normal appendix. For 25 of the patients with a normal appendix, appendicitis was ruled out by clinical follow-up, and for one patient, by pathological findings. The abnormal appendix was identified in all patients with appendicitis. In the group of 26 patients without appendicitis, the normal appendix was visualized in 23 cases, one of which was false positive (100% sensitivity, 96% specificity). Abnormal appendices showed moderate to abundant flow in 62% of the cases and non-existent or low flow in 38%. Normal appendices had non-existent or low flow in 82% of the cases, but moderate or abundant in 18%. Significant differences were only found when the number of pixels was >4. CONCLUSION: Although the vascularity of normal and inflamed appendices may be different, this difference was not a good diagnostic indicator of appendicitis.

Obstrução intestinal na criança: avaliação por métodos de imagem / Intestinal obstruction in the child: evaluation for image methods

Tendo como base uma revisão da literatura, esse artigo visa relatar os métodos de imagem empregados para o diagnóstico das patologias mais prevalentes que levam à obstrução intestinal. Particularmente para cada doença, são apresentados os métodos mais utilizados, bem como suas características ao estudo da imagem. Em alguns casos, comentários a respeito da fisiopatologia, epidemiologia e tratamento também são abordados para uma melhor elucidação acerca da patologia.

Hepatobiliary and pancreatic complications of ascariasis in children: a study of seven cases.

OBJECTIVES: This study presents seven cases of severe hepatobiliary and pancreatic complications of ascariasis in children. The authors describe the clinical, laboratory, and imaging findings, as well as the patients' clinical evolution. METHODS: These cases were studied within a period of approximately 1 year and included children younger than 11 years (mean age, 4.4 years). The authors reviewed their medical history and evaluated the results of their main diagnostic examinations. RESULTS: All of the patients had vomiting, abdominal pain, pallor, and abdominal distension at presentation. Passage of Ascaris lumbricoides in stool occurred in five cases, emesis with worms in three, fever in three, and hepatomegaly in two. Five patients had pancreatitis, of which two were necrohemorrhagic and one had pseudocyst of the pancreas. In three patients, A. lumbricoides was present in the pancreatic duct. Two patients had hepatic abscess (28.6%), and one of them also had cholangitis. One of the patients with pancreatitis also had signs of cholecystitis at presentation. CONCLUSIONS: Ultrasonography was the imaging diagnostic method of choice and demonstrated the presence of A. lumbricoides in the biliary and the pancreatic ducts, as well as signs of pancreatitis, cholecystitis, and hepatic abscess. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, used to confirm the diagnosis, was a fundamental procedure in the treatment, allowing the removal of worms from the biliary duct in four of seven patients.

Accuracy of noncompressive sonography of children with appendicitis according to the potential positions of the appendix.

OBJECTIVE: This study evaluates noncompressive sonography of appendicitis in children according to the potential positions of the appendix. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We evaluated 425 consecutive boys and girls clinically suspected of having appendicitis. Noncompressive sonography used a 5.0-MHz curved-array transducer to assess deep layers. We systematically investigated the possible positions of the appendix by evaluating the right retrocecal region through the flank, the pelvis through the suprapubic region with the urinary bladder full, and the right lower quadrant. Whenever the appendix was not visualized, graded compression examination was performed with 5.0-MHz curved-array and 7.5-MHz linear transducers, and the remainder of the abdomen was thoroughly examined with 5.0- and 3.75-MHz curved-array transducers. Sonographic findings were correlated with pathology findings after surgery in 212 cases and with clinical follow-up in 213. RESULTS: Of the 425 patients with abdominal pain, 199 had surgically confirmed appendicitis; noncompressive examination accurately identified 135 (31.7%) of these 425 cases, and the combined noncompressive and compressive examinations diagnosed 196 cases. The combined noncompressive and compressive techniques had a sensitivity of 98.5% (95% confidence interval, 96.8-100), specificity of 98.2% (96.5-99.9), positive and negative predictive values of 98.0% (99.9) and 98.7% (97.2-100), respectively. CONCLUSION: The noncompressive technique is a valuable tool in sonographic investigation of appendicitis.

Ultrasound findings in children with toxocariasis: report on 18 cases.

PURPOSE: To evaluate abdominal ultrasound (US) findings in children infected with Toxocara canis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighteen children, 18 months to 7 years of age, with serological diagnosis of T.canis infection underwent abdominal US. Eosinophil counts, hemoglobin levels and immunoglobulin E titers were measured for all patients. RESULTS: Abdominal ultrasound revealed multiple hypoechoic areas in the livers of 15 patients (83.3%). Hepatohilar lymph-node enlargement was present in 14 patients (77.7%), 2 of whom also showed peripancreatic lymph-node enlargement. Hepatomegaly was present in 13 patients (72.7%) and splenomegaly in 9 (50%). CONCLUSION: The most prevalent findings of abdominal ultrasound examination of children with T.canis infection are hepatic granulomas and abdominal lymph-node enlargement. This infection should be considered in the differential diagnosis of any children who exhibit these findings on abdominal US examination, especially for those with eosinophilia.