Objectives To examine changes in corneal endothelial cell density (ECD) in different stages of keratoconus and evaluate its correlation with corneal tomographic parameters. Materials and Methods Two hundred six patients with keratoconus were enrolled in the study. Corneal topography was performed by Sirius (CSO, Italy), which has a rotating Scheimpflug camera and a Placido disc topographer. A...

We studied microvascular injury after myocardial cryothermia in rats using intravital fluorescence microscopic techniques. Cryolesions were induced to the right ventricle by freezing with -160 degrees C (probe diameter: 5 mm) for a total of 5 min. Fluorescence microscopy was performed at 15, 30, 60, 90, and 120 min as well as at 3 and 7 days after cryothermia. Analysis of the epicardial microva...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Neuroaxonal dystrophy is a rare progressive disorder of childhood characterized by mental deterioration and seizures. The diffusion-weighted and conventional MR imaging findings are reported for six cases. METHODS Six patients aged 19 months to 9 years with proved neuroaxonal dystrophy (one with the infantile form, five juvenile forms) underwent imaging at 1.5 T. Echo-p...

PURPOSE Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) modulates balance between proliferation and apoptosis in gastric mucosa of the gastrointestinal tract. The aim of the study was to evaluate immunohistochemically the EGFR expression in epithelial and gland cells of antral mucosa in children infected with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori). MATERIAL/METHODS The study included 44 children, aged from ...

BACKGROUND The upper airway tends to be obstructed during anesthesia in spontaneously breathing patients. The purpose of the current study was to determine the effect of increasing depth of propofol anesthesia on airway size and configuration in children. METHODS Magnetic resonance images of the upper airway were obtained in 15 children, aged 2-6 yr. Cross-sectional area, anteroposterior dime...

BACKGROUND The ligaments in coherence with the capsule of the hip joint are known to contribute to hip stability. Nevertheless, the contribution of the mechanical properties of the ligaments and gender- or side-specific differences are still not completely clear. To date, comparisons of the hip capsule ligaments to other tissues stabilizing the pelvis and hip joint, e.g. the iliotibial tract, w...

BACKGROUND Using high-resolution ultrasonography (US) to measure the median nerve cross-sectional areas (CSAs) such as in the "inching test" conducted in nerve conduction studies is a valuable tool to assess carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). However, using this US measurement method to assess the median nerve CSA in diabetic patients with CTS has rarely been reported. Therefore, we used this US mea...

UNLABELLED Angiogenesis is new blood vessel formation, a process that can lead to tumor development. Microvessel count has been correlated to metastasis in some neoplasias. PURPOSE To determine if measurement of microvessel density is useful in predicting metastasis to the cervical lymph node and prognosis in patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma. METHODS A retrospective analysis was pe...

We hypothesized that activation of the coagulation cascade is involved in arterial remodeling in response to sequential injury. An active site-inhibited recombinant human factor VIIa (FVIIai) was used to inhibit tissue factor, the primary cofactor in the extrinsic pathway of coagulation, in a sequential balloon injury model of the rabbit abdominal aorta. Single balloon injury produced limited i...

INTRODUCTION Unawareness of an asymmetry between the right and left internal jugular vein (IJV) and methodological pitfalls in previous studies raise concerns about such asymmetry. Hence the aim of this prospective non-interventional study was to validate the hypothesis that right IJV diameter is greater than those of left IJV and to determine the cross-sectional area of the IJVs using computed...