Ferumoxides-enhanced MR imaging is more accurate than unenhanced MR imaging and at least as accurate as CTAP for the detection of hepatic metastases.

To solve frequently encountered clinical problems in the anorectal area, we have developed a simplified dynamic method of defecography. A radiopaque substance, the consistency of normal stools, is introduced into the rectum and the patient is then seated on a specially designed seat composed of superposed air chambers which, for technical reasons, are filled with water. The movements induced by evacuation of the rectum are recorded using 100-mm ampliphotography. After recording findings in 56 normal patients, we are able to define 5 criteria for "normal": increase in anorectal angulation, obliteration of the impression of the puborectal muscle, wide opening of the anal canal, total evacuation of the rectal contents, and normal resistance of the pelvic floor. The mean value of the anorectal angle (ARA) was 91.96 degrees (+/- 1.52 SEM) at rest and 136.76 degrees (+/- 1.51 SEM) during straining. The increase of ARA during straining is 44.8 degrees.

The concept of "abdominal tuberculosis" in this review refers to peritoneum and its reflections, gastrointestinal tract, abdominal lymphatic system, and solid visceral organs, as they are subject to varying degrees of involvement alone or in combination. Some features, including free or loculated ascites with thin-mobile septa, smooth peritoneal thickening and enhancement, misty mesentery with large lymph nodes, smudged omental involvement, and advanced ileocecal changes demonstrated by US, CT, or gastrointestinal series are deemed suggestive radiological findings. The diagnosis still requires a high index of suspicion, once the suggestive features have been demonstrated by imaging modalities.

This prospective clinical study suggests that elective laparoscopic surgery for hematological diseases does not allow complete detection of accessory spleens. Moreover, after such a laparoscopic approach, residual splenic tissue is detectable in half of the patients during the follow-up.

Our simple method of defecography has proved to be more sensitive than clinical evaluation in the detection and description of defecation disorders. Among the different types of disorders, described on the basis of 144 abnormal defecograms, the most common are rectal intussusception (RI), intraanal rectal intussusception (IRI), external manually (EMRP) or spontaneously (ESRP) reducible prolapses, rectocele, and accentuation of the impression of the puborectalis sling (AIPR). Study of the mean values of the anorectal angle (ARA) (normal mean value = 92 degrees at rest) reveals an increase (p less than 0.05) in the ARA in IRI and ESRP and a decrease (p less than 0.05 at rest, p less than 0.001 at strain) in AIPR. The most striking observation is a highly significant increase (p less than 0.001) in the ARA associated with incontinence.