Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Diagnostic Capabilities (diagnostic + capability)
Selected AbstractsMonitoring Lung Resistivity Changes in Congestive Heart Failure Patients Using the Bioimpedance TechniqueCONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE, Issue 6 2005Sharon Zlochiver MSc The feasibility of a novel, dedicated system for monitoring lung resistivity in congestive heart failure patients, implementing a hybrid approach of the bioimpedance technique, was assessed in this preliminary study. Thirty-three healthy volunteers and 34 congestive heart failure patients were measured with the PulmoTrace system (Cardiolnspect, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel) during tidal respiration, and the ability to monitor the respective lung resistivity values was assessed. Mean left and right lung resistivity values of 1205±163 and 1200±165 ,·cm for the control group and 888±193 and 943±187 ,·cm for the congestive heart failure group were found, indicating a significant (p<2·10,7) difference between the two groups. The results of long-term monitoring of two patients during medical treatment are also shown. This hybrid approach system is believed to improve diagnostic capabilities and help physicians to better adjust medication dosage on a frequent basis. [source] The non-Hodgkin lymphomas: A review of the epidemiologic literatureINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CANCER, Issue S12 2007Dominik D. Alexander Abstract The non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) are a heterogeneous group of B-cell and T-cell neoplasms that arise primarily in the lymph nodes. NHL incidence rates in the US doubled between about 1970 and 1990, and stabilized during the 1990s. NHL accounts for ,3.4% of cancer deaths in the US. Although some of the observed patterns in NHL have been related to HIV/AIDS, these conditions cannot fully explain the magnitude of the changes; neither do changes in classification systems nor improved diagnostic capabilities. Studies of occupational and environmental exposures (e.g., pesticides, solvents) have produced no consistent pattern of significant positive associations. Inverse associations with ultraviolet radiation exposure and alcohol and fish intake, and positive associations with meat and saturated fat intake have been reported in several studies; additional studies are needed to confirm or refute these associations. Family history of NHL or other hematolymphoproliferative cancers and personal history of several autoimmune disorders are associated with increased risk of NHL, but are not likely to account for a large proportion of cases. HIV and other infectious agents, such as human herpesvirus 8 and Epstein,Barr, appear to be associated with differing types of NHL, such as some B-cell lymphomas. Future epidemiologic studies should evaluate associations by NHL type, enhance exposure information collected, and elucidate factors that may identify susceptible (or resistant) subpopulations because of genetic, immunologic or other characteristics. The extent to which the etiology of NHL types may differ is important to resolve in ongoing and future studies. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Two-dimensional and three-dimensional sonography of conjoined twinsJOURNAL OF CLINICAL ULTRASOUND, Issue 2 2002Fernando Bonilla-Musoles MD Abstract Purpose The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the diagnostic capabilities of 2-dimensional (2D) and 3-dimensional (3D) sonography for the study of conjoined twins. Methods Four pregnant women with an initial 2D sonographic diagnosis of conjoined twins were examined with color Doppler sonography, 3D multiplanar sonography, and orthogonal plane imaging and 3D surface rendering. Results All 4 cases of conjoined twins were initially diagnosed with either transvaginal or transabdominal 2D sonography. 3D sonography afforded more realistic views and demonstrated more clearly the linking areas and surface anomalies, but 2D and color Doppler sonography provided more definitive and specific information about shared organs. Conclusions Although 2D sonography is the primary modality for diagnosing and evaluating conjoined twins, color Doppler and 3D sonography can sometimes provide additional information that assists in the clinical management of these twins. 3D sonography also provides images that are easier for parents to understand, which can help them with decision making. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound 30:68,75, 2002; DOI 10.1002/jcu.10035 [source] An Evaluation of Qualitative Indexes of Physical Habitat Applied to Agricultural Streams in Ten U.S. States,JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION, Issue 4 2010Robert M. Hughes Hughes, Robert M., Alan T. Herlihy, and Philip R. Kaufmann, 2010. An Evaluation of Qualitative Indexes of Physical Habitat Applied to Agricultural Streams in Ten U.S. States. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 46(4): 792-806. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2010.00455.x Abstract:, Assessment of stream physical habitat condition is important for evaluating stream quality globally. However, the diversity of metrics and methods for assessing physical habitat condition confounds comparisons among practitioners. We surveyed 51 previously sampled stream sites (0.0-6.3 m wide) located in regions of row-crop agriculture in Oregon, California, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia to evaluate the comparability of four indexes of physical habitat condition relative to each other. We also compared the indexes to previously calculated indexes of fish and macroinvertebrate condition. The physical habitat indexes included the Stream Visual Assessment Protocol Version 2 of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the qualitative habitat evaluation index of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, the rapid bioassessment protocol of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), and a qualitative physical habitat index based on USEPA quantitative physical habitat measurements. All four indexes were highly correlated with each other, but low-to-moderately correlated with biotic index scores for fish and macroinvertebrate assemblages. Moderately high correlations occurred between some macroinvertebrate biotic index scores and quantitative metrics. We conclude that additional research is needed to increase the predictive and diagnostic capabilities of qualitative physical habitat indexes. [source] Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction: A Novel Molecular Diagnostic Tool for Equine Infectious DiseasesJOURNAL OF VETERINARY INTERNAL MEDICINE, Issue 1 2006N. Pusterla The focus of rapid diagnosis of infectious disease of horses in the last decade has shifted from the conventional laboratory techniques of antigen detection, microscopy, and culture to molecular diagnosis of infectious agents. Equine practitioners must be able to interpret the use, limitations, and results of molecular diagnostic techniques, as they are increasingly integrated into routine microbiology laboratory protocols. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is the best-known and most successfully implemented diagnostic molecular technology to date. It can detect slow-growing, difficult-to-cultivate, or uncultivatable microorganisms and can be used in situations in which clinical microbiology diagnostic procedures are inadequate, time-consuming, difficult, expensive, or hazardous to laboratory staff. Inherent technical limitations of PCR are present, but they are reduced in laboratories that use standardized protocols, conduct rigid validation protocols, and adhere to appropriate quality-control procedures. Improvements in PCR, especially probe-based real-time PCR, have broadened its diagnostic capabilities in clinical infectious diseases to complement and even surpass traditional methods in some situations. Furthermore, real-time PCR is capable of quantitation, allowing discrimination of clinically relevant infections characterized by pathogen replication and high pathogen loads from chronic latent infections. Automation of all components of PCR is now possible, which will decrease the risk of generating false-positive results due to contamination. The novel real-time PCR strategy and clinical applications in equine infectious diseases will be the subject of this review. [source] Automatic Mode Switching of Implantable Pacemakers: I. Principles of Instrumentation, Clinical, and Hemodynamic ConsiderationsPACING AND CLINICAL ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY, Issue 6 2002CHU-PAK LAU LAU, C.-P., et al.: Automatic Mode Switching of Implantable Pacemakers: I. Principles of Instrumentation, Clinical, and Hemodynamic Considerations. Automatic mode switching (AMS) is now a programmable function in most contemporary dual chamber pacemakers. Atrial tachyarrhythmias are detected when the sensed atrial rate exceeds a "rate-cutoff,""running average,""sensor-based physiological" rate, or using "complex" detection algorithms. AMS algorithms differ in their atrial tachyarrhythmia detection method, sensitivity, and specificity and, thus, respond differently to atrial tachyarrhythmia in terms of speed to the AMS onset, rate stability of the response, and speed to resynchronize to sinus rhythm. AMS is hemodynamically beneficial, and most patients with atrial tachyarrhythmias are symptomatically better with an AMS algorithm in their pacemakers. New diagnostic capabilities of pacemaker especially stored electrograms not only allow programming of the AMS function, but enable quantification of atrial fibrillation burden that facilitate clinical management of patients with implantable devices who have concomitant atrial tachyarrhythmia. [source] Pacemaker Stored Electrograms: Teaching Us What Is Really Going On in Our PatientsPACING AND CLINICAL ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY, Issue 5 2002BERND NOWAK NOWAK, B.: Pacemaker Stored Electrograms: Teaching Us What Is Really Going On in Our Patients. Stored electrograms (EGMs), well-known diagnostic tools in implantable cardioverter defibrillators, have now been incorporated in pacemakers as well, thereby increasing their diagnostic capabilities. The clinician can detect and diagnose patient arrhythmias with EGMs and directly validate diagnostic data stored by the devices. The appropriateness of detection algorithms can also be judged. Initial experiences with pacemaker EGMs reveals their potential to detect and diagnose sensing or detection algorithm problems. These so-called "false-positive" EGMs help to optimize pacemaker programming. Date and time stamp can correlate an event to patient symptoms. Recent advances, like onset recordings and marker annotation, have further increased the effectiveness of stored EGMs. The use of patient-triggered magnet-stored EGMs facilitates diagnostic workups in symptomatic pacemaker patients and reveals nondevice related symptoms in a considerable number of cases. Stored EGMs in pacemakers will soon be a standard diagnostic tool that can illustrate what is really going on in our patients. [source] | ||||||||||