The use of conventional radiography has been surpassed; this examination has only a possible role in the setting of bowel obstruction. However, CT is more accurate and more informative in this setting as well. In cases of bowel perforation, CT is the most sensitive technique for depicting free intraperitoneal air

and is valuable for determining the cause of the perforation. Imaging is less useful in cases of bowel ischemia, although some CT signs are highly specific. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is a promising alternative to CT in the evaluation of acute abdominal pain and does not involve the use of ionizing radiation exposure. However, data on the use of MR imaging for this indication are still sparse. (C) RSNA, 2009″
“P>We assessed patient- https://www.selleckchem.com/products/ch5424802.html and physician-reported prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms and their BIX 01294 concentration impact on quality of life (QOL) in Italian renal transplant recipients with stable graft function. Patients >= 18 years with a renal allograft functioning for >= 6 months and stable serum creatinine levels of < 2.5 mg/dl were enrolled. Physicians and patients completed an Italian translation of the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale (GSRS) and Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index (GIQLI) questionnaires. The average time since transplantation

(n = 1130) was 5.9 years. Forty-two immunosuppressant drug regimens were reported. The top three regimens (cyclosporine/mycophenolate mofetil/steroids; tacrolimus/mycophenolate mofetil/steroids; cyclosporine/steroids) accounted for approximately 40% of patients. In the physician interview, 39.2% of patients had >= 1 gastrointestinal symptom vs. 88.3% of patients in the self-administered questionnaire.

The prevalence of GSRS symptoms was similar for each of the most frequently prescribed immunosuppressant drug regimens. GIQLI total score was significantly poorer in patients with versus those without gastrointestinal symptoms (121.8 +/- 17.6 vs. 138.4 +/- 3.7; P < 0.0001), and there was a strong inverse correlation between GIQLI 4EGI-1 clinical trial and patient-reported GSRS scores (Pearson’s correlation coefficient -0.816; P < 0.0001). Gastrointestinal symptoms are frequent in renal transplant patients, are under-evaluated by physicians and may adversely impact on patient QOL.”
“Encapsulated wire-element stress gauges enable changes in lateral stress during shock loading to be directly monitored. However, there is substantial debate with regards to interpretation of observed changes in stress behind the shock front; a phenomenon attributed both to changes in material strength and shock-dispersion within the gauge-encapsulation. Here, a pair of novel techniques which both modify or remove the embedding medium where such stress gauges are placed within target materials have been used to try and inform this debate.