INTRODUCTION In the large-scale case-control study EPILIFT, we investigated the dose-response relationship between lifestyle factors (weight, smoking amount, cumulative duration of different sports activities) and lumbar disc disease. METHODS In four German study regions (Frankfurt am Main, Freiburg, Halle/Saale, Regensburg), 564 male and female patients with lumbar disc herniation and 351 pa...

This study was to analyse the degeneration of the Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer (RNFL) and optic disc and the relationship between optic nerve damage and the severity of cognitive impairment in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). The RNFL thickness and optic disc variables were assessed by optical coherence tomography in patients with MCI and AD and control s...

OBJECTIVE To determine the correspondence between optic disc margins evaluated using disc photography (DP) and optical coherence tomography (OCT). METHODS From May 1, 2005, through November 10, 2005, 17 healthy volunteers (17 eyes) had raster scans (180 frames, 501 samplings per frame) centered on the optic disc taken with stereo-optic DP and high-speed ultrahigh-resolution OCT (hsUHR-OCT). T...

Magnetic resonance images (MRIs) were obtained of 52 temporomandibular joints (TMJs) of 30 patients with TMJ disease, before insertion of an anterior repositioning splint. Ten TMJs showed a normal disc-condyle relationship. Pathological findings were partial or complete anterior disc displacement with disc reduction (n = 18), without (n = 7), or with partial reduction (n = 4) or non-reducing jo...

Total disc arthroplasty is a new option in the treatment of cervical degenerative disc disease. Several types of cervical disc prostheses currently challenge the gold-standard discectomy and fusion procedures. This review describes the Bryan Cervical Disc System and presents the Bryan prosthesis, its indications, surgical technique, complications, and outcomes, as given in the literature.

We consider the implications of the detection of spiral structure in the accretion disc of the binary IP Pegasi. We use numerical simulations of the development of a disc outburst to construct predicted Doppler tomograms, which are found to be in close agreement with the observations if the spiral pattern arises as a transient feature when the disc expands viscously at the start of the outburst...

Glaucoma is a chronic eye disease that leads to blindness. This disease cannot be cured but we can detect the disease in time. Current tests using intraocular pressure (IOP) measurement are not sensitive enough for population based glaucoma screening. Optic nerve head assessment in retinal fundus images is more promising and superior than current methods. This paper proposes segmentation of opt...