Hepatobiliary study. Left hepatic lobe herniation into the thorax.

After a motor vehicle accident, an 18-year-old woman reported cough and dyspnea. A chest radiograph revealed an intrathoracic mass blending with the cardiac shadow. Hepatobiliary imaging showed that this was due to herniation of the left hepatic lobe and a portion of the right lobe and gallbladder into the right hemithorax.

Nuclear medicine studies of aging--VIII. Bone to soft-tissue ratio of 99mTc labeled MDP and HMDP vs age.

An objective approach to determine whether there was an advantage of using 99mTc-MDP or 99mTc-HMDP for bone imaging, particularly in elderly subjects, was evaluated by measuring the bone to soft-tissue ratio in relation to age. This was done by quantifying analog images of the femoral region by using an optical densitometer. A ratio (mean for right and left thighs) was determined for mid-femur to adjacent soft-tissue. These values were analyzed in relation to the age of patients studied with either MDP or HMDP. Little correlation with age was observed. An analysis at 10-year intervals of age indicated a decline in the ratio after 70 years, without any significant difference between MDP and HMDP.

Regression of left ventricular mass is accompanied by improvement in rapid left ventricular filling following antihypertensive therapy with metoprolol.

Left ventricular hypertrophy is associated with abnormal left ventricular diastolic filling in patients with hypertension. To assess the effects of antihypertensive therapy on the heart in nine previously untreated patients with echocardiographically-detected left ventricular hypertrophy, left ventricular mass and rapid left ventricular filling rate were compared before and after 6 months of treatment with metoprolol monotherapy. Metoprolol was given in doses of 100 to 400 mg/day (average dose, 167 mg/day in two divided doses) and significantly reduced both casual, office blood pressure (150/101 to 130/86 mm Hg, p less than 0.01) and 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure (139/91 to 126/79 mm Hg, p less than 0.05 for systolic, p less than 0.01 for diastolic). Following treatment with metoprolol, left ventricular mass index decreased from 135 +/- 20 to 120 +/- 13 gm/m2 (p less than 0.05), while rapid left ventricular filling rate increased from 1.89 +/- 0.24 to 2.09 +/- 0.27 end-diastolic volumes/sec (p less than 0.01). The reduction in left ventricular mass index was secondary to decreased posterior and septal wall thicknesses (13% and 11%, respectively, p less than 0.05 for both), as there were no changes in the left ventricular internal dimensions. Neither resting nor exercise left ventricular ejection fraction changed on metoprolol therapy compared to the baseline values. These data demonstrate that regression of left ventricular hypertrophy in never-previously-treated hypertensive patients is accompanied by improved diastolic performance following beta-adrenergic blocker monotherapy.

Echocardiographic assessment of left ventricular diastolic performance in hypertensive subjects. Correlation with changes in left ventricular mass.

Left ventricular hypertrophy resulting from hypertension is accompanied by significant morbidity and mortality and in advanced stages may be irreversible. Hence, early detection of cardiac changes in hypertensive patients remains an important diagnostic goal. When the hypertrophy is mild or moderate, parameters of left ventricular diastolic function and measurements of left atrial size may facilitate the distinction between normal variation and pathologic increases in left ventricular mass. We measured left ventricular isovolumic relaxation time (IVRT, the time from aortic valve closure to mitral valve opening) and left atrial dimensions and correlated them to left ventricular mass index measured by M-mode echocardiography and rapid left ventricular filling by radionuclide ventriculography. In 20 subjects with untreated mild essential hypertension, IVRT was prolonged compared to a normotensive age-matched control group (91 +/- 23 vs 65 +/- 13 msec, p less than 0.0001). Left atrial dimension index was increased in patients compared to controls (1.9 +/- 0.4 vs 1.4 +/- 0.5 cm/m2, p less than 0.001), and this increase was related to prolonged IVRT (r = 0.46, p less than 0.001). Abnormal IVRT correlated with both increased left ventricular mass and decreased rapid ventricular filling in the hypertensive subjects. Thus, prolonged IVRT and borderline left atrial dimension may help identify subtle pathologic left ventricular mass increases in hypertensive subjects.

Improved left ventricular filling accompanies reduced left ventricular mass during therapy of essential hypertension.

Abnormal left ventricular diastolic performance, an early manifestation of hypertension in the heart, may precede the development of left ventricular hypertrophy. To assess effects of antihypertensive therapy on the heart, left ventricular mass (determined by echocardiography) and rapid left ventricular filling rate (determined by radionuclide ventriculography) were compared before and after 6 months of treatment of 16 patients. Nitrendipine (a dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker) was given alone or in combination with either propranolol or hydrochlorothiazide, or both, and significantly reduced blood pressure (156/103 +/- 12/7 to 137/89 +/- 10/6 mm Hg). In 6 of the 16 patients, left ventricular mass decreased by more than 10% (270 +/- 95 to 193 +/- 47 g, p less than 0.01); in the same patients, left ventricular filling rate increased (2.03 +/- 0.35 to 2.30 +/- 0.45 end-diastolic counts/s [EDC/s], p less than 0.01). In the one patient whose left ventricular mass increased (137 to 195 g), left ventricular filling rate decreased from 2.01 to 1.78 EDC/s. In the remaining nine patients who had no change in left ventricular mass, there was no significant changes in left ventricular filling. The changes in ventricular mass and filling could not be related to the extent of change in blood pressure or heart rate. These data suggest that regression of left ventricular mass during antihypertensive therapy with nitrendipine is accompanied by improved diastolic function.

Gastric dilatation observed on radionuclide studies. Spherical approximation and effective wall thickness.

Radionuclide studies often define the gastric contents as a photopenic volume. In many cases, the volume can be described by a spherical approximation, which allows a first approach to calculating the volume and monitoring its change. With the further assumption that the stomach wall is a sphere surrounding the contents, the effective thickness of the gastric wall can be determined. This thickness is approximately 0.4-4 mm.

Radiogallium hot spleen in Trousseau's syndrome with splenic vein occlusion.

A 75-year-old man had multiple findings that indicated thromboembolic disease. A radiocolloid study showed splenic defects. The remainder of the spleen was hot on radiogallium imaging. The patient had Trousseau's syndrome (tumor-associated thromboembolism) due to carcinoma of the pancreas. The splenic vein was obstructed. Vascular compromise should be considered in the differential diagnosis of the radiogallium hot spleen.

Introduction of bone imaging agent into the pleural space.

Tc-99m MDP injected into a central venous catheter showed a pattern corresponding to the left pleural space. The catheter had perforated into this locale.