AJR. American journal of roentgenology
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AJR Am J Roentgenol · May 1994
Comparative StudyT2-weighted MR imaging of the upper part of the abdomen: should fat suppression be used routinely?
Fat suppression has shown promise in improving the quality of T2-weighted spin-echo MR images of the upper part of the abdomen. The purpose of this study was to determine whether fat-suppressed images should be routinely used in lieu of conventional images. Accordingly, we prospectively compared the two techniques in a series of patients with both normal and abnormal findings in the upper part of the abdomen. ⋯ Fat-suppressed T2-weighted spin-echo MR images were better than non-fat-suppressed images for evaluation of the upper part of the abdomen. These results suggest that fat suppression should be routinely used in T2-weighted MR imaging of the upper part of the abdomen.
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AJR Am J Roentgenol · May 1994
Comparative StudyDiagnosis of injuries of the aorta and brachiocephalic arteries caused by blunt chest trauma: CT vs aortography.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of chest CT in the triage of patients with potential injuries of the aorta and brachiocephalic arteries caused by blunt trauma and to test the value of chest CT scans in limiting the number of screening aortograms. ⋯ The value of chest CT as a preliminary procedure to avoid thoracic aortography in patients with blunt trauma was limited in our series. Chest CT scans with normal findings effectively exclude aortic/brachiocephalic injury; however, only about 25% of our patients had chest CT scans with unequivocally normal findings, and most patients required further evaluation with aortography.
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AJR Am J Roentgenol · May 1994
Anodyne imagery: an alternative to i.v. sedation in interventional radiology.
Pain and anxiety are to be expected in patients undergoing interventional procedures, and they are usually treated by IV conscious sedation. Insufficient treatment of pain and anxiety can cause cardiovascular strain and restlessness, which may jeopardize the success of the procedure. On the other hand, pharmacologic oversedation can provoke respiratory and cardiovascular depression, thereby increasing the procedural risks and delaying the patient's recovery. We therefore evaluated a nonpharmacologic method, which we call anodyne imagery (anodyne: able to soothe or relieve pain; soothing the feelings; relaxing), as an alternative to the use of drugs in interventional radiology. ⋯ Patients having interventional radiologic procedures frequently experience intense and frightening imagery related to the procedure. Our initial experience with anodyne imagery suggests that this alternative method of analgesia can mitigate patients' anxiety and fears and reduce the amount of drugs used during interventional radiologic procedures, and thereby has the potential to improve procedural safety and increase the speed of recovery.