The purpose of the study was to determine the difference in extrahepatic bile duct (EBD) size measured by magnetic resonance (MR) compared with those measured by ultrasound (US). Changes of EBD size related to aging were analyzed too. Size of EBD was measured in 76 randomly selected healthy individuals. Three radiologists blinded to the result of other study preformed measurements by US and three different T2 weighted MR sequences. Correlation and linear regression analysis of obtained data were performed. The mean diameter of EBD measured by US was 3.17 mm and by MR was 3.14 mm on thick slab rapid acquisition with relaxation enhancement (TSE), 3.26 mm on thin section single-shot TSE (HASTE) and 3.30 mm on coronal fully rewound gradient echo (True FISP). There was no statistical difference between US and different MR sequences (p < 0.05). A trend of increase of EBD with age (0.0155 mm per year, p = 0.0954) was observed. Size of EBD highly correlated for each MR sequence with US measurement validating use of MR as a reliable method for evaluation of EBD size. This conclusion is stressed by increase of EBD size with age demonstrated by all measuring methods.

Retained surgical textile foreign bodies are a problem despite precautions taken by surgeons. Computed tomography (CT) is a method of choice in diagnosing the cases of retained textilomas. Over 12 years, we diagnosed 11 acute textilomas in 10 patients in the early postoperative period within 3 months after abdominal surgery. The presence of considerable amount of air bubbles within textile fibers was the most representative sign. A 3-10 mm wide peripheral rim was present in all textilomas. In additional 3 cases, chronic, encapsulated foreign body granulomas were found, two were mimicking renal neoplasms. All granulomas contained discrete or coarse calcifications. The period between surgery and CT diagnosis was from 6 months to 14 years in chronic lesions. It is important to emphasize that 9 textilloma in 8 patients were associated with the years of war in Croatia (1991 and 1992), in hospitals on battle fronts, where surgeons worked under extremely strenuous conditions and with great inflow of wounded soldiers and civilians.

SUMMARY ∑ With the introduction of breath-hold techniques, magnetic resonance (MR) imaging has become an excellent diagnostic tool for the detection and characterization of benign and malignant liver lesions. Dynamic, gadolinium postcontrast studies as well tissue-specific contrast media highly improve the characterization of liver lesions. Multisection breath-hold techniques enable imaging of the entire region of interest in a single suspended respiration. MR-cholangiopancreatography allows for simultaneous analysis of biliary tree and pancreatic duct. The ability of various MR pulse sequences to display differences between normal and pathologic tissues is the basis of detection and characterization of focal and diffuse liver changes.

Dometi i ogranicenja konvencionalne kompjuterizirane tomografije u dijagnostici disekcije aorte

A prospective study of the possibilities and achievements of ultrasonography of the adrenal glands is presented. The adrenal glands of 146 patients with abnormalities suspected clinically were examined with ultrasound. Patients were also evaluated with computed tomography where there are firm criteria for the evaluation of adrenal pathology. Positive findings were detected by ultrasound in 46 patients, whereas computed tomography disclosed pathologic changes in 65 patients. In 81 patients, the finding of computed tomography was normal. With ultrasound, false positives were obtained in 3 cases and false negatives in 19 cases (14 hyperplasias, 5 tumors). Ultrasound findings were additionally compared with angiographic and clinical tests as well as with pathohistologic results of surgery and autopsy.

Rad je prospektivna studija mogucnosti i dometa ultrazvucne analize patomorfoloskih promjena nadbubrežnih žlijezda. Ultrazvucno smo pregledali 146 bolesnika s klinickom slikom kod koje su se ocekivale promjene nadbubrežnih žlijezda. Bolesnici su usporedno pregledani kompjutoriziranom tomografijom kod koje postoje utemeljeni kriteriji u procjeni patomorfoloskih promjena nadbubrežnih žlijezda. Pozitivan nalaz ultrazvucnom pretragom nasli smo u 46 bolesnika, dok je kompjutorizirana tomografija pokazala patoloske promjene u 65 bolesnika. Kod 81 bolesnika nalaz kompjutorizirane tomografije bije uredan. Lažno pozitivne nalaze imali smo ultrazvukom u 3 slucaja, a lažno negativne u 19 slucajeva (14 hiperplazija, 5 tumora). Ultrazvucni nalazi uspoređivani su dodatno s klinickom slikom, nalazima angiografije, operativnim i obdukcijskim patohistoloskim rezultatima.