scholarly journals Do Fetal Isolated Mild Venticulomegaly Make Any Difference in Regional ADC Values at Magnetic Resonans Imaging?

Author(s):  
Zeynep Ayvat Öcal ◽  
Özgür Öztekin ◽  
Deniz Öztekin

Objective: Ventriculomegaly may not only develop secondary to a process,but it may also be in the form of isolated ventriculomegaly with no specific reason. MRI is performed to show the presence of accompanying pathologies.In this study, we measured ADC values in mild ventriculomegaly cases and aimed to investigate the role of ADC value measurements in predicting neurological prognosis in isolated mild ventriculomegaly during MRI. Methods: In our study, ADC values were measured of 37 patients detected to be present with mild ventriculomegaly and 17 fetuses in the control group who had no additional central nervous system patology. For the measurement, ROI was placed in differtent brain regions (frontal lobe white matter,occipital lobe white matter, basal ganglia, thalamus, cerebellum and pons). The analysis of the data obtained was performed using the SPSS (20th version) program. MannWhitney U test was applied. Statistical significance level was set as p<0.05. Results: There was no statistically significant difference between the isolated mild ventriculomegaly and the control group in terms of the mean maternal age (p=0.160). Also, no statistically significant difference was observed between the mean gestational age in the ventriculomegaly group and the control group (p=0.890). There was also no statistically significant difference between ADC measurements in different brain regions in the isolated mild ventriculomegaly and the control group (p=0.807). Conclusion: In order to determine the prognosis in isolated mild ventriculomegaly, other quantitative parameters such as ADC measurement, beyond morphological evaluation and diameter measurement should be determined, and also we need more studies comprising more cases in this field.

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seyedeh Zahra Masoumi ◽  
Khodayar Oshvandi ◽  
Masoumeh Rostami-Moez ◽  
Arezoo Shayan ◽  
Farideh Kazemi

Background: Infertility can cause low marital satisfaction. Marital satisfaction has an important effect on infertile couples’ health. Objective: This study aimed to assess the effect of relationship enrichment training on improving the marital satisfaction of infertile couples. Methods: This randomized clinical trial was conducted on 50 infertile couples in the infertility center of Fatemieh Hospital in Hamadan, Iran in 2018. Participants were matched for demographic characteristics and randomly assigned to intervention and control groups (each group had 25 couples). Informed consent was obtained from all participants. The Enrich Marital Satisfaction questionnaire and demographic information were used to collect data before the study and two months after the intervention. Two trained midwifery students taught only the intervention group the relationship enrichment topics in seven sessions (each session = 90 minutes). The data were analyzed by SPSS Statistics version 21 using analysis of covariance, independent t-test, chi-square, and Mann–Whitney. The significance level was set at p ≤ 0.05. Results: There was no significant difference in demographic and obstetric information between the two groups (p >0.05). The mean of marital satisfaction in the intervention group significantly increased among women and men from 151.00 ±28.61 to 154.88 ±22.62 and from 152.56 ±27.33 to 159.24 ±22.14, respectively, (p <0.001). Conversely, the mean of marital satisfaction decreased among women and men from 158.13 ±13.86 to 146.25 ±19.53 and from 164.25 ±17.00 to 153.17 ±27.50 in the control group (p=0.02). Conclusion: Relationship enrichment training can be effective in promoting the marital satisfaction of infertile couples. Registration number: The National Center for Strategic Research in medical education, No. 960185.


Twin Research ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
pp. 422-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simona Jirsova ◽  
Tonko Mardesic ◽  
Pavel Muller ◽  
Renata Huttelova ◽  
Jana Zvarova ◽  
...  

AbstractThe objective of this study was to compare perinatal results in multifetal pregnancies where the reduction to twins was performed with non-reduced twin pregnancies. Perinatal results in 99 sets of twins after transabdominal multifetal pregnancy reduction of triple and higher-order multiple pregnancies performed in a single center were compared with a control group consisting of 151 twin pregnancies conceived in the same time period after infertility treatment, which were not a result of reduction. The main outcome measures were length of pregnancies, weight of the newborns, percentage of miscarriages and the mode of the delivery were analyzed. No significant difference could be found at a 5% level of significance regarding the average duration of pregnancy or average weight of the twins. Fisher test on 5% significance level did not ascertain any significant difference in the probability of miscarriage between the group with reduction (5.26%) and the group without reduction (12.84%). At a 5% level of statistical significance, no significant difference in probability of perinatal death of the fetus or delivery of a stillborn fetus was found. The percentage of cesarean sections did not differ significantly in both groups. The analysis of both groups demonstrated that reduction of multifetal pregnancies to twins may not influence perinatal results in comparison to twin pregnancies where reduction was not performed.


Blood ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 104 (11) ◽  
pp. 4899-4899
Author(s):  
William F. Clark ◽  
A. Keith Stewart ◽  
Gail A. Rock ◽  
Marion Sternbach ◽  
David M. Sutton ◽  
...  

Abstract In myeloma, plasma exchange (PE) has been suggested to prevent rapidly progressive kidney failure by reducing exposure to nephrotoxic light chains. We carried out a randomized controlled multi-centre trial comparing PE or no PE in 104 patients of whom 101 met the inclusion, exclusion criteria and 4 were lost to follow-up. We compared baseline characteristics as well as renal outcomes and performed a futility analysis to determine the sample size necessary for potential statistical significance for the changes noted. Thirty-nine patients were randomized to the control group and 58 to the PE group with a 6-month follow-up. The baseline characteristics of these 2 groups were similar including serum creatinine, dialysis dependence, age, gender, serum calcium, serum albumin, 24 -hour urine for protein levels and Durie-Salmon myeloma staging. Thirteen (33.3%) of the control group and 19 (33.3%) of the PE group died within 6 months of follow up. Ten patients (31%) in the control and 10 patients (21%) in the PE arm were dialysis dependent at 6 months. Seven patients (47%) came off dialysis in the control and 13 patients (59%) in the PE arm with the mean number of dialysis days from 0–6 months being 45.7±67.6 in the control versus 29.2±56.1 in the PE arm at 6 months. The mean serum creatinine in the control group was 314.6±256.1 μmol/L versus 215.4±215.3 μmol/L in the PE group and the composite end point of death, dialysis or serum creatinine >254 μmol/L occurred in 12 (30.8%) in the control and 11 (19.3%) in the PE arm. The futility analysis to indicate the per group sample size necessary to achieve statistical significance at 6 months for the difference we observed was infinite for cumulative mortality, 805 for dialysis dependence, 2418 for coming off dialysis, 321 for number of dialysis days, 132 for creatinine difference of 100 μmol/L and for the composite outcome of death, dialysis or creatinine>354 μmol/L, 737. We did not observe a statistically significant difference in mortality or renal morbidity for PE versus no PE in patients with myeloma and rapidly progressive kidney failure.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fereydoon Laal ◽  
Mohammad Jafari Modrek ◽  
Davoud Balarak ◽  
Mahdi Mohammadi ◽  
Mahdieh Rakhshani ◽  
...  

<p>With the development of science and technology, occupational accidents, as one of the most important problems in the world, result in negative effects on physical and psychological health, and also the quality of life of workers. The aim of this study was to compare the quality of life among workers with and without accident. In a cross-sectional study, 93 workers were selected, 31 who experienced accident and 62 as control group. To gather the data, a researcher-made questionnaire for demographic characteristics and the quality of life questionnaire (SF-36) were used. Mann-Whitney and Chi-square tests were used for data analysis. The mean and standard deviation of age was 30.81±7.29 and 30.56±7.19 in workers with accident (case group) and control group, respectively. Homogeneity was ensured in terms of age and work experience and the two groups had no significant difference in this regard (p&gt;0.05). Most of the participants were high school graduates (67.7%). The majority of accidents (68.8%) had occurred in the manufacturing sections. The most common accident type was sprayed chemical substances (19.4%) and the less frequent was electrocution (3.2%). The mean total score for the quality of life was 37.61±14.29 and 74.92±12.95 in the case and control groups with a statistical significance difference (p&lt;0.001). The results of this study indicate that the incident could affect the quality of life of workers. Therefore, promoting the safety culture can help to reduce the occupational accidents.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Zaman-hosieni ◽  
Mohamad hasan Mirtajaddini ◽  
Roghayeh Mehdipour-Rabori

Abstract Background: When a crisis occurs, nurses are at the forefront of providing care to patients in emergency rooms. The need for skilled nurses is increasing due to the crises and disasters that are occurring around the world. The aim of the study was to determine whether teaching clinical skills through social networks can affect nursing students’ clinical skills in crisis handling.Methods: This study was done in Iran in 2021. One hundred nursing students were selected by simple random sampling and divided into control and intervention groups. Nursing clinical skills in crisis questionnaires were used before and after intervention in two groups. Distance learning through social networks was done for a month. SPSS version 15 was used for data analysis. The significance level was 0.05.Results: There was no significant difference between the control and intervention groups before the intervention (P >0.05). The mean score of clinical skills in the control group increased from 60.82 before the study to 62.75 after the study, which was not statistically significant (P >0.05). The mean clinical skills of the intervention group increased from 58.02 before the intervention to 82.52 after the intervention, which was statistically significant (P < 0.001).Conclusions: This study showed nurses’ clinical skills are low during crises. Education through social networks can improve them and should be part of nursing education. The application of this low-cost and inexpensive method is recommended for improving clinical skills in nursing.


2021 ◽  
Vol In Press (In Press) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dalin Zhu ◽  
Manxia Wang ◽  
Fan Feng ◽  
Nan Nan ◽  
Yuefen Liu ◽  
...  

Background: Brain injury in premature infants (BIPI) is a severe brain damage in premature infants, resulting in a series of neurological sequelae. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), as a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique, is more widely used for premature infants. It is of paramount importance to improve the early diagnosis, treatment, and intervention for this population by using DTI. There are few reports on the application of DTI for the evaluation of BIPI in low-birth-weight (LBW) and very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants. Objectives: To analyze the clinical characteristics of BIPI in LBW and VLBW infants and to explore the value of MRI-based DTI in the evaluation of BIPI in LBW infants. Patients and Methods: This prospective study was conducted on 31 cases of BIPI (16 LBW and 15 VLBW infants) and 20 normal control premature infants, undergoing MRI-based DTI at the postmenstrual age (PMA). Differences in fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) between the BIPI and control groups and also between the LBW and VLBW groups with BIPI were analyzed. Also, differences with normal controls in terms of the FA and ADC values were investigated in different brain regions. Results: The FA values in the central white matter of the frontal lobe, central white matter of the occipital lobe, centrum semiovale, posterior limb of the internal capsule (PLIC), and ventral thalamus were significantly lower in the BIPI group as compared to the control group (P < 0.05). The ADCs were lower in the BIPI group compared to the control group, and there was a significant difference (P < 0.05). Comparison of FA and ADC values in the central white matter of the frontal lobe, central white matter of the occipital lobe, centrum semiovale, PLIC, and ventral thalamus did not show any significant differences between the LBW and VLBW groups with BIPI (P > 0.05). Conclusion: The FA and ADC values of DTI can be used for the quantitative evaluation of BIPI in LBW and VLBW infants. The FA value was found to be more accurate than the ADC. Overall, different FA values in different brain areas reflect differences in the brain development of normal premature infants.


2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 184
Author(s):  
Agustinus Hary Setyawan

The objective of the research is to investigate whether or not there is a significant difference in the mastery of the speaking skill between the students who are taught by using classroom discussion and those who are taught without using classroom discussion. This study is a quasi-experimental study employing two groups. The experimental group is 8A and the control group is 8C. The data were collected by using an achievement test. The data of both pre-test and post-test scores from the control and experimental groups were analyzed by using inferential statistics. To test the hypothesis, the researcher used t-test to find out the differences of speaking skill mastery achievement between control and experimental groups. The result of post-test indicates that t o is higher than the t value at the significance level of 5%, i.e. 2.106<2.000. The level significance is 0.037. It is lower than 0.05. It was found that the mean of the post-test scores and gained scores of the experimental group were higher than that of the control group. The standard deviation of the experimental group decreases from 7.30 to 6.92 or the scores of the experimental group from pre-test to post-test are more homogenous. While, the standard deviation of the control group increases from 7.53 to 8.36 or the scores of the control group from pre-test to post-test are more heterogeneous. Besides, the mean of experimental group increases 207% from the standard deviation of the pre-test. While the mean of the control group also increases 147% from the standard deviation of the pre-test. It is found that classroom discussion is effective in improving English learning achievement in student’s mastery of speaking and there is a significant difference in between the both class.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiping Zhao ◽  
Chunxiao Cui ◽  
Haozhi Lin ◽  
Minge Ma ◽  
Chongfeng Duan ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The purpose of this study was to observe the distribution of punctate white matter damage (PWMD) in premature infants and the signal characteristics of conventional and diffusion weighted imaging MRI .To explore the application value of routine MRI and ADCvalue in evaluating white matter damage in premature infants. Methods A total of 218 premature infants were enrolled from the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University and divided into a case group (n=110) and a control group (n=108). ADC values of lesions in white matter, areas around lesions (within 5 mm) and contralateral areas of mirror images were measured. ADC values of the same areas were reexamined and measured after 5-7 weeks. ADC values were measured in normal appearing areas of the case group and control group. Results 1. A total of 390 white matter lesions were found in 110 children in the case group.324 lesions (83.1%) had a hyperintense signal in T1WI, 352 (90.3%) had a hyperintense signal in diffusion weighted imaging (DWI), 326 (83.5%) had a hyperintense signal in fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR), and 118 (30.3%) had a low signal on T2WI. 2. The ADC value in the lesion was significantly lower than that in the surrounding area and the contralateral area, and the ADC value in the surrounding area was also lower than that in the contralateral area. At the time of reexamination, the ADC value of the lesions was still significantly lower than that of the surrounding and contralateral areas of the lesion. In the case group, the ADC values of the normal area in the bilateral centrum ovale and in the splenium of the corpus callosum were lower than those in the control group. Conclusion In the early stage, (within 7 days), DWI was the most sensitive to detecting lesions, and the detection rate of lesions on T1WI was the highest as time went on. By measuring the ADC value, we can find the damage in the surrounding area of the lesion and the damage in the normal area ,which can not be detected on a conventional MRI sequence.


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 328-334
Author(s):  
Yali Wu ◽  
Ran Meng ◽  
Gary B. Rajah ◽  
Yuchuan Ding ◽  
Yaoming Xu ◽  
...  

Background and Purpose: Cloudy white matter lesions are associated imaging features of internal jugular venous stenosis (IJVS). However, the mechanism of the IJVS associated cloudy white matter lesions is still unclear. This study aims to evaluate blood-brain barrier integrity of the patients with IJVS. Materials and Methods: A total of 45 eligible patients with IJVS confirmed by computed tomography venography (CTV) and 45 healthy controls were enrolled into this study. The levels of serum MMP-9 and the markers of tight junctions, including occludin and ZO-1 obtained from IJVS patients and control group were tested by enzyme-linked immune-sorbent assay and compared. Results: Both the levels of serum MMP-9 (0.2ng/ml) and occludin (0.05ng/ml) in IJVS group were higher than in the control group (0.01ng/ml vs. 0 ng/ml, all p<0.001). While, the levels of serum ZO-1 showed no statistical significance between the two groups (0.55ng/ml vs 0.735ng/ml, P=0.34). The levels of serum MMP-9 between the subset with or without white matter lesions in IJVS group showed a significant difference (0.22 [0.06, 0.43] vs. 0.01 [0.01, 0.06], P =0.019). Conclusions: BBB disruption may participate in the formation of IJVS-associated white matter lesions; the mechanism of BBB disruption may involve MMP-9 and occludin.


2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 142-146
Author(s):  
Kadihan Yalçın-Şafak ◽  
Ahmet Akça ◽  
Özlem Elibol ◽  
İrem Sarı

Aim To determine if there are differences in ADC values between normal appearing corticospinal tracks in patients with MS compared to ADC values in controls. Material and methods The study population comprised 62 consecutive MS patients (36 women and 26 men; mean age 36.45±8.63 years). 50 control subjects with no neurological disabilities or intracranial were included the study (32 women and 18 men; mean age 40.18±12.25 years). All ADC maps were independently evaluated by two experienced radiologists. ROI of approximately 15–18 mm2 in capsula interna and 10–12 mm2 in mesencephalon were placed bilaterally for measurement of ADC values. Three circular ROIs were placed-one each side for internal capsule-and 6 total ROIs from right and left internal capsule were averaged for each patient. Mesencephelon ADC measurements were performed similarly. Result The mean ADC values of the left internal capsule in MS patients were significiantly lower than the control group (p:0.002). No statistically significant difference was found between the MS patients and control group mean ADC values of the right internal capsule (p>0.05). The mean ADC values of the right and left mesencephalon in MS patients were significiantly lower than the control group (respectively; p:0.031, p<0.001). The mean ADC values of the left internal capsule were significiantly lower than the right internal capsule in MS patients (p<0.001). The mean ADC values of the left mesencephalon were significiantly lower than the right mesencephalon in MS patients (p<0.001). Conclusion The mean ADC values of the normal-appearing corticospinal tract in MS patients were significantly lower than the control group except for the right internal capsule.


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