Radiology
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A geometric method of measuring absolute left ventricular volumes from gated blood-pool studies obtained in a single-plane modified left anterior oblique view was evaluated prospectively in 30 patients who also underwent single-plane contrast ventriculography. The gated studies used a 30 degrees straight-bore slant-hole collimator with the holes slanted caudally. Left ventricular end-diastolic volume was calculated using the area-length method, with semiautomatic definition of the left ventricular region of interest and the maximum length of the left ventricle. ⋯ The left ventricular end-systolic volume was derived using the end-diastolic volume and ejection fraction. Correlation coefficients between the two methods were 0.93 for end-diastolic volume, 0.95 for end-systolic volume, and 0.91 for ejection fraction. This method provided accurate and highly reproducible measurements of actual left ventricular volumes and was easily applicable in routine clinical studies.
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Comparative Study
Sonographic appearance of hematoma in liver, spleen, and kidney: a clinical, pathologic, and animal study.
Following the observation of several cases of localized echogenic foci in abdominal parenchymal organs in patients with acute bleeding due to trauma, an experimental study was designed to define the sonographic appearance of fresh, nonhemolyzed blood. Ultrasound scanning performed before and after the injection of blood or air into the parenchyma of cadaveric organs (liver, spleen, and kidney) resulted in consistent ultrasonic patterns. ⋯ To determine if the ultrasound appearance of the cadaveric organs could have been caused mainly by air, an in vivo experiment was performed in which computed tomograms of the liver of a dog that had been injected with autologous blood were obtained. It is concluded that CT confirmed the ultrasound findings, and that ultrasound is useful for the investigation of hematoma following blunt, and possibly penetrating, trauma.