CT quantification of pulmonary vessels in lung aging.

AIM: To evaluate the effect of aging on pulmonary vessels based on computed tomography (CT) quantification and analyse the correlation between quantitative pulmonary vascular volume and pulmonary function during aging. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 330 healthy adult volunteers, including 161 men (53 aged 20-39 years, 61 aged 40-59 years, and 47 aged ≥60 years) and 169 women (53 aged 20-39 years, 63 aged 40-59 years, and 53 aged ≥60 years) were recruited in this study. AVIEW software was used to quantitatively measure pulmonary vascular volume, including pulmonary total blood vessel volume (TBV) and small blood vessel volume with a cross-sectional area of <5 mm2 (BV5). Pulmonary vascular volume parameters were standardised using the ratio of vascular volume to the body surface area (BSA; TBV/BSA and BV5/BSA). Subsequently, the effect of aging on the pulmonary vessels was analysed. RESULTS: The pulmonary vascular volume parameters TBV/BSA and BV5/BSA of the whole lung, right lung, and left lung decreased significantly with increasing age (p<0.05). Additionally, TBV/BSA and BV5/BSA of the whole lung were higher in men than in women. The declining trend of pulmonary vascular volume was consistent in men and women and increased with age. CONCLUSIONS: The pulmonary vascular volume parameters, TBV/BSA and BV5/BSA, decreased with age and were weakly positively correlated with pulmonary function.

Scaphoid bone bruising--probably not the precursor of asymptomatic non-union of the scaphoid.

The MRI finding of bone marrow oedema, without fracture, following trauma to the scaphoid has been called a 'bone bruise'. A similar injury is found in the knee, considered benign and managed conservatively. In the scaphoid, there is the concern that this lesion may lead to scaphoid non-union. This study addresses that concern. The clinical and radiological findings of 41 patients with a scaphoid bone bruise on MRI are described, an MRI classification system proposed and clinical outcomes investigated. Patients were immobilised for 6 weeks. At 3 months, 8 remained symptomatic and had repeat MRI. Four of these showed complete resolution of the bruise, the others improvement. At 6 months, 2 of the 8 complained of minor, intermittent discomfort but progressed to resolution of symptoms. This study suggests that the scaphoid bone bruise is a benign injury with predictable recovery and is unlikely to result in long-term morbidity in the form of non-union.