Symmetric abnormality involving the cerebellar white matter and posterior limb of the internal capsule is characteristic of heroin vapor inhalation toxicity, although involvement may be more extensive, depending on the severity of the condition. MR imaging and CT appear to be essential for making this diagnosis because clinical history is often unreliable and findings at physical examination are nonspecific.

Despite a stable rate of prescription opioid use among the observed population, the prevalence of diagnosed opioid abuse is increasing, particularly in the Medicare population.

No abstract

There is a need to better understand inhalational anthrax in relevant animal models. This understanding could aid risk assessment, help define therapeutic windows, and provide a better understanding of disease. The aim here was to characterize and quantify bacterial deposition and dissemination in rabbits following exposure to single high aerosol dose (> 100 LD50) of Bacillus anthracis (Ames) spores immediately following exposure through 36 h. The primary goal of collecting the data was to support investigators in developing computational models of inhalational anthrax disease. Rabbits were vaccinated prior to exposure with the human vaccine (Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed, AVA) or were sham-vaccinated, and were then exposed in pairs (one sham and one AVA) so disease kinetics could be characterized in equally-dosed hosts where one group is fully protected and is able to clear the infection (AVA-vaccinated), while the other is susceptible to disease, in which case the bacteria are able to escape containment and replicate uncontrolled (sham-vaccinated rabbits). Between 4–5% of the presented aerosol dose was retained in the lung of sham- and AVA-vaccinated rabbits as measured by dilution plate analysis of homogenized lung tissue or bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid. After 6 and 36 h, >80% and >96%, respectively, of the deposited spores were no longer detected in BAL, with no detectable difference between sham- or AVA-vaccinated rabbits. Thereafter, differences between the two groups became noticeable. In sham-vaccinated rabbits the bacteria were detected in the tracheobronchial lymph nodes (TBLN) 12 h post-exposure and in the circulation at 24 h, a time point which was also associated with dramatic increases in vegetative CFU in the lung tissue of some animals. In all sham-vaccinated rabbits, bacteria increased in both TBLN and blood through 36 h at which point in time some rabbits succumbed to disease. In contrast, AVA-vaccinated rabbits showed small numbers of CFU in TBLN between 24 and 36 h post-exposure with small numbers of bacteria in the circulation only at 24 h post-exposure. These results characterize and quantify disease progression in naïve rabbits following aerosol administration of Ames spores which may be useful in a number of different research applications, including developing quantitative models of infection for use in human inhalational anthrax risk assessment.

The proximal tibiofibular joint is often neglected in the evaluation of lateral knee pain. The images presented in this article highlight the diverse disorders of this area. Because this joint is usually in the field of view in radiography, CT, and MRI of the knee, evaluation of it should be a part of all knee imaging assessments.

We discuss inequalities between the rank counts N(r, m, n) and between the crank counts M(r, m, n), for m=2, 3, and 4, and state three conjectures. 2000Academic Press

No abstract

Dual-energy CT (DECT) provides insights into the material properties of tissues and can differentiate between tissues with similar attenuation on conventional single-energy imaging. In the conventional CT scanner, differences in the X-ray attenuation between adjacent structures are dependent on the atomic number of the materials involved, whereas in DECT, the difference in the attenuation is dependent on both the atomic number and electron density. The basic principle of DECT is to obtain two datasets with different X-ray energy levels from the same anatomic region and material decomposition based on attenuation differences at different energy levels. In this article, we discuss the clinical applications of DECT and its potential robust improvements in performance and postprocessing capabilities.