No abstract

A human oncogene, mcf3, previously detected by a combination of DNA-mediated gene transfer and a tumorigenicity assay, derives from a human homology of the avian v-ros oncogene. Both v-ros and mcf3 can encode a protein with homology to tyrosine-specific protein kinases, and both mcf3 and v-ros encode a potential transmembrane domain N terminal to the kinase domain. mcf3 probably arose during gene transfer from a normal human ros gene by the loss of a putative extracellular domain. There do not appear to be any other gross rearrangements in the structure of mcf3.

A prospective study was performed on 28 patients who underwent surgery for tendon disorders around the ankle. Preoperatively, all patients had real-time, high resolution ultrasonography performed with a 7.5 or 10 mHz transducer. Twenty of these patients also had a preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination of the ankle. A total of 54 tendons were inspected intraoperatively, revealing a total of 24 intrasubstance or complete tendon tears. These surgical findings were compared with the ultrasound and MRI findings, from which the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were calculated for both modalities. Ultrasound produced results with a sensitivity measurement of 100%, specificity of 89.9%, and accuracy of 94.4%. MRI produced results with a sensitivity measurement of 23.4%, specificity of 100%, and accuracy of 65.75%. Ultrasound results were more sensitive and accurate than MRI in the detection of ankle tendon tears in our study.

This study evaluates the accuracy of ultrasonography in detecting ankle tendon tears of the peroneal, posterior tibial, and flexor digitorum longus tendons based on operative findings and clinical follow-up. A prospective study was performed in 33 patients with clinically suspected tendon injury. Sixty-eight tendons were evaluated sonographically. The diagnosis of an intrasubstance tear was made when disruption of uniform tendon architecture by hypoechoic linear or globular clefts was observed. Criteria used to diagnose complete tendon rupture included discontinuity or gap within the tendon or complete nonvisualization of the tendon. Treatment decisions were based on a combination of clinical parameters and imaging studies. Twenty-six patients had the presence or absence of tear confirmed at surgery. Five patients had a final diagnosis based on clinical findings, and two were lost to follow-up. Of the 68 tendons evaluated sonographically, 54 were directly inspected at surgery; 20 were found to be torn and 34 were intact. Ultrasonography was able to identify all tears correctly with an accuracy of 93%, a sensitivity of 100%, and a specificity of 88%. The positive and negative predictive values were 83% and 100%, respectively. The combined accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of ultrasonography in detecting tendon tears in all patients evaluated both surgically and by clinical follow-up were 94%, 100%, and 90%, respectively.