Journal of ultrasound in medicine : official journal of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine
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Fetal axillary cystic hygroma has been reported rarely and only as a sonographic finding late in gestation. A retrospective study of 19,200 early second trimester screening ultrasonograms for anomalies revealed five cases of axillary cystic hygroma. ⋯ Early fetal axillary cystic hygroma appears to be different from postnatal axillary cysts on the basis of differences in prevalence, structure, and appearance. It also may be a normal variant in the development of the fetal lymphatic system.
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The objectives of the study were to establish color and pulsed Doppler sonographic characteristics of uterine vascularity in postmenopausal patients with pathologic endometrium in order to reduce the number of unnecessary diagnostic dilatation and curettage procedures. The prospective study involved 42 postmenopausal patients who were examined, prior to dilatation and curettage operation, with transvaginal color and pulsed Doppler sonography. Twenty patients had symptoms such as vaginal bleeding or clinically enlarged uterus and 22 postmenopausal women, from our screening group, were asymptomatic. ⋯ Percentage of visualization of myometrial and endometrial vessels in cases of endometrial carcinoma was 93% and 43% respectively, which was significantly higher than for cases with benign endometrium (P < 0.05). RI and PI values of these studied vessels of endometrial carcinoma were significantly lower than those for endometrial hyperplasia (P < 0.05). In 80% of cases of endometrial carcinoma, dense vascularity was found in the myometrium (P < 0.01).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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Comparative Study Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical Trial
Gas bubble emboli detected by transcranial Doppler sonography in patients with prosthetic heart valves: a preliminary report.
After observing spikes in the Doppler signal of cerebral arteries of patients with neurologic symptoms and prosthetic heart valves, we then studied two groups of patients with prosthetic heart valves: seven patients with neurologic symptoms and 65 asymptomatic patients. Using transcranial Doppler sonography of the middle cerebral artery, we found Doppler spikes in six symptomatic and 24 asymptomatic patients with mechanical heart valves. No spikes were found in one symptomatic and 21 asymptomatic patients with biological valves or in 20 asymptomatic patients with mechanical valves. We concluded that gas cavitation during the opening or closure of the valve, producing bubble emboli, is the most probable explanation for these Doppler spikes in patients with mechanical prosthetic heart valves.
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The purpose of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of free peritoneal fluid in children with abdominal pain, identify conditions associated with this finding, and determine the ability of ultrasonography to detect associated abnormalities. Two hundred and fifty children with acute abdominal pain and a reference group of 50 asymptomatic children were evaluated for the presence of free peritoneal fluid. Free peritoneal fluid was noted in 72 (29%) symptomatic and three (6%) asymptomatic children. ⋯ Fluid is noted in association with a variety of abdominal and pelvic disorders. In approximately one half of symptomatic children with free peritoneal fluid, the final diagnosis is abdominal pain or gastroenteritis of unknown etiology. In the remainder, ultrasonography aids in the determination of a specific diagnosis.