Doubly capped nanocrystals: A new technique was developed for coating of colloidal inorganic nanoparticles with different surface properties with a thin, cross‐linked, and functionalized shell containing organic and inorganic layers (see picture). The underlying amphiphilic polymer foundation arranges on the particle surface as predicted in past reports.

Although patients on PIAF had a higher overall response rate and better survival than patients on doxorubicin, the differences were not statistically significant. PIAF was also associated with increased treatment-related toxicity. The prognosis of patients with unresectable HCC remains poor.

Idiopathic granulomatous mastitis (IGM) is a rare benign inflammatory disease of the breast that mimics carcinoma of the breast. Its etiology and treatment remain unclear. A retrospective review of nine women with histopathologic diagnosis of IGM was performed. The women had a mean follow-up of 18.7 months and a mean age of 45.7 years (range 32-83 years). The main presentation was breast mass (100%). Clinically and radiologically, 55.6% of the women were suspected to have malignancy. One patient was treated with lumpectomy without recurrence. Eight patients were treated with expectant management with close regular surveillance. No surgery was performed and no medications were given. Fifty percent of the patients had spontaneous complete resolution of disease after a mean interval of 14.5 months. These four patients had no recurrence. Fifty percent of patients had static disease. In conclusion, it is important to differentiate IGM from carcinoma of the breast. Tissue biopsy remains the gold standard to confirm the diagnosis. Expectant management with close regular surveillance is the treatment of choice.

Objective. Sonographic examination of the median nerve has been suggested as a useful alternative to electrophysiologic study in the diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome. To determine its usefulness and the best diagnostic criterion, sonograms of patients with the disease were compared with sonograms of healthy subjects in a case-control study.Methods. Patients with carpal tunnel syndrome and asymptomatic controls who were matched for age and sex were enrolled and underwent sonography of the wrists. Eight separate sonographic criteria were analyzed in each wrist. Data from the patient group and the control group were compared to establish optimal diagnostic criteria for carpal tunnel syndrome, using receiver operating characteristic analytic techniques.Results. Thirty-five patients with carpal tunnel syndrome and 35 asymptomatic controls were examined. Increased cross-sectional area of the median nerve was found to be the most predictive measure of carpal tunnel syndrome, proximal to the tunnel inlet, at the tunnel inlet, and at the tunnel outlet, with significant differences between patients and controls. Using a receiver operating characteristic curve, a cut-off value >0.098 cm 2 at the tunnel inlet provided a diagnostic sensitivity of 89% and a specificity of 83%.Conclusion. Sonographic measurement of the median nerve cross-sectional area is both sensitive and specific for the diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome.A diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is usually based on symptom characteristics and confirmatory neurophysiologic evaluation (1). Sonographic examination of the median nerve in CTS has been proposed as a useful alternative to neurophysiologic study in the diagnosis of CTS, and proposals for different criteria have been presented (2-7), as summarized in Table 1. The lack of consensus on the optimal criteria for CTS may be attributable to differences in equipment, patient populations, and sonographic techniques. These discrepancies underscore the need for each center to validate internally the criteria it uses to diagnose CTS with ultrasound.This study aimed to prospectively evaluate the characteristics of the median nerve in CTS patients against the findings in normal, healthy subjects, to elicit the optimal discriminatory sonographic criteria and relevant threshold values. PATIENTS AND METHODSCases and controls. This was a prospective, agematched case-control study of CTS in a cohort comprised solely of women, since women account for the majority of CTS patients in the local population (8). The study ethics were reviewed and approved, and patients gave their written informed consent. Consecutive CTS patients from our neurology and rheumatology clinics were invited to join the study. Patients were enrolled into the study after electrophysiologic examination, if the following criteria were fulfilled: 1) presence of sensory symptoms over the median nerve distribution, and 2) confirmatory neurophysiologic results (prolonged median nerve distal motor latencies Ͼ4 ms or a median-ulnar palmer sensory ...

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