This study was designed to analyse postural aberrations of the back and lower back region in patients with acute and chronic low back pain and to investigate the accordance of clinical and radiological assessments. Fifty patients with acute and 50 with chronic low back pain and 50 controls were studied and a detailed spinal physical examination was performed. In addition, the angles of thoracic kyphosis, lumbar lordosis and sacral inclination were assessed radiologically. Differences among the three groups, correlations of radiological parameters with each other and with clinical parameters such as age, gender and body mass index, and the accordance of clinical and radiological postural assessments were investigated. It was concluded that there were no statistically significant differences among the groups for angles of thoracic kyphosis, lumbar lordosis and sacral inclination; however, we found significant correlations among all radiological parameters, especially between lumbar lordosis and sacral inclination. Both lumbar lordosis and sacral inclination were increased with body mass index, and lumbar lordosis and thoracic kyphosis were increased with age. Clinical assessments of thoracic kyphosis and lumbar lordosis were not in accordance with radiological assessments.

The aim of this study was to determine the normal values for aortic diameters and the prevalence of aortic dilatation in a mixed Turkish population. Between March 1998 and May 2000, patients who were undergoing abdominal ultrasonography examination for pathologies not involving the aorta, in three different cities, were enrolled into the study prospectively. The anterior posterior aortic diameters were measured at the subdiaphragmatic and aortic bifurcation levels using ultrasonography. A total of 596 patients were included (302 females, 294 males). The mean age was 48 +/- 16 years (range, 6-88 years). The mean aortic diameter in the whole group was 19.0 +/- 3.9 mm (10-45 mm) at the subdiaphragmatic level and 15.7 +/- 3.6 mm (9-65 mm) at the aortic bifurcation level. The mean subdiaphragmatic aortic diameter was 18 +/- 3 mm in females and 19 +/- 4 mm in males. The mean aortic diameters at the bifurcation level was 15 +/- 3 mm in females and 16 +/- 4 mm in males. An aortic bifurcation diameter > 30 mm was encountered in 0.67% of the population. This ratio increased to 1.8% in patients over 55 years of age, regardless of sex. A subdiaphragmatic aorta diameter above 30 mm was observed in 1.2% of the population. In patients over the age of 55 years, this ratio increased to 2.7% (3.6% in males and 1.9% in females). In this national study, the subdiaphragmatic aortic diameters were similar to mean values reported in the world literature. The mean aortic bifurcation diameters were generally lower when compared with the literature, which may be due to difficulties in standardization of the measurements. Aneurysmal dilatation rates in this study also conform to those reported in studies conducted in other countries. Considering the significant number of patients with aneurysmal dilatation of the aorta in the elderly population, we believe it would be prudent to evaluate the aorta in all patients undergoing abdominal ultrasonographic examination.

The purpose of this study was to determine the value of MR imaging for the demonstration of masses in the tongue and floor of the mouth. Nine patients were prospectively examined with MR imaging after physical examination. Imaging protocol included T2 and contrast-enhanced and non-contrast-enhanced T1-weighted turbo spin-echo sequences, and the findings were compared with surgical and histopathological results. Histopathological examination revealed four squamous cell carcinomas, one adenoid cystic carcinoma, two tongue abscesses, and one chronic inflammatory change. The other case was diagnosed as hemangioma depending on clinical and imaging findings alone. In cases with squamous cell carcinoma, staging was done on the basis of MR imaging findings, and was found to be T4 in two cases, T3 in one case, and T2 in another. The primary role of MR imaging of the tongue and oropharynx is not to make a tissue diagnosis. Multiple deep biopsies are mandatory for the differentiation of other inflammatory and neoplastic lesions. Magnetic resonance imaging produces coronal and sagittal image planes to assess the volume and spread of the lesion and helps the surgeon determine the direction in which the biopsy should be performed.

Because the disease is inherited in an autosomal recessive manner, the parents and the healthy siblings were not supposed to exhibit any demonstrable brain lesions, but the brain perfusion SPECT and MRI examinations clearly revealed multiple lesions in some of the parents and healthy siblings. Detailed neurological examinations of these individuals were normal except for one apparently healthy sibling (EY). Follow-up imaging of these families is being undertaken and further studies are essential in understanding the pathogenesis and genetics of neuronal ceroid-lipofuscinoses.