These results confirm the findings of computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging investigations. When IAF is measured by ultrasound, the associations are more pronounced than when WC measurements are used and are independent of BMI. This suggests that IAF can be more reliably assessed by ultrasound measurements than by WC measurements.

Individualised dosage models are frequently applied for radioiodine therapy in patients with Graves' hyperthyroidism, especially in Europe. In these dosage schemes the thyroid volume is an important parameter. Thyroid volume determinations are usually made with ultrasonography or with thyroid scintigraphy, although the accuracy of planar scintigraphy for this purpose is not well established. The aim of this study was to compare the accuracy of three modalities for the determination of the thyroid volume in patients with Graves' disease: planar scintigraphy (PS), single-photon emission tomography (SPET) and ultrasonography (US). These three modalities were compared with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as the gold standard. Thyroid volume estimations were performed in 25 patients with Graves' disease. The PS images were subjected to filtering and thresholding, and a standard surface formula was used to calculate the thyroid volume. With SPET the iteratively reconstructed thyroid images were filtered, and after applying a threshold method an automatic segmentation algorithm was used for the volume determinations. Thyroid volumes were estimated from the US images using the ellipsoid volume model for multiple two-dimensional measurements. For MRI, thyroid segmentation was performed manually in gadolinium-enhanced T1-weighted images and a summation-of-areas technique was used for the volume measurements. The thyroid volumes calculated with MRI were 25.0+/-13.8 ml (mean+/-SD, range 7.0-56.3 ml). PS correlated poorly with MRI ( R(2)=0.61) and suffered from a considerable bias (-4.0+/-17.6 ml). The differences between PS and MRI volume estimations had a very large spread (33+/-58%). For SPET both the correlation with MRI ( R(2)=0.84) and the bias (1.8+/-11.9 ml) were better than for PS. US had by far the best correlation with MRI ( R(2)=0.97) and the best precision, but the bias (6.8+/-7.5 ml) was not negligible. In conclusion, SPET is preferred over PS for accurate measurements of thyroid volume. US is the most accurate of the three modalities, if a correction is made for bias.

No abstract

Thirty-five consecutive patients (11 males, 24 females; mean age, 48 years) diagnosed with CTEPH, referred to the Academic Medical Center of the University of Amsterdam, were studied. The diagnosis of CTEPH was established on the basis of previously reported procedures. 15,16 Diagnosis and cardiopulmonary hemodynamics were determined by pulmonary angiography and right heart catheterization, as part of the routine (preoperative) work-up for PEA. Pulmo-

Background Population-based studies of ultrasound measures of carotid atherosclerosis are informative about future risks of cardiovascular disease. Design Cross-sectional studies of carotid artery atherosclerosis in 24,822 Chinese adults from the China Kadoorie Biobank and 2579 Europeans from the UK Biobank. Methods Mean intima-media thickness of the common carotid arteries and presence of carotid artery plaque were examined in the China Kadoorie Biobank study. The carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) findings in Chinese (mean age 59 years) were compared with a European population (mean age 62 years). Results Overall, the mean cIMT in Chinese was 0.70 mm (SD 0.16) and increased with age by 0.08 mm (SE 0.008) per 10-years older age. About 31% of the Chinese had carotid plaques and the prevalence varied 10-fold with age (6% at 40-49 to 63% at 70-89 years) and four-fold by region (range, 14%-57%). After adjustment for age, sex and region, plaque prevalence was higher in smokers than in non-smokers (36% vs. 28%) and two-fold higher in individuals with systolic blood pressure ≥160 mmHg than those with systolic blood pressure <120 mmHg (44% vs. 22%) in the China Kadoorie Biobank study. Mean cIMT was similar in the younger Chinese and European adults, but increased more steeply with age in the Chinese ( p = 0.002). Conclusions About one-third of Chinese adults had carotid plaques. The rate of progression of carotid atherosclerosis with age was more extreme in the Chinese compared with the European population, highlighting the need for more intensive strategies for cardiovascular disease prevention in China.