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Background: In acute stroke patients, there is a need for noninvasive measurement to monitor blood flow-based therapies. We investigated the utility of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to determine cerebral perfusion in these patients. Methods: Eleven patients were investigated within 1.4 ± 2.2 days after onset of an ischemic middle cerebral artery infarction by monitoring the kinetics of an intravenous bolus of indocyanine green (ICG). For ICG kinetics, bolus peak time, time to peak (TTP = time between 0 and 100% ICG maximum), maximum ICG concentration, rise time (time between 10 and 90% ICG maximum), slope (maximum ICG/TTP), and blood flow index (BFI = maximum ICG/rise time) were obtained. Perfusion-weighted MRI (PWI) and NIRS measurements were performed within 24 h, and the interhemispherical differences of TTP values were compared. Results: Stroke patients showed an increased bolus peak time (p < 0.02), TTP (p < 0.01), and rise time (p < 0.01), whereas slope (p < 0.01) and BFI (p < 0.01) were diminished at the site of infarction as compared to the unaffected hemisphere. The interhemispherical differences of TTP as measured by PWI and NIRS were closely correlated (r = 0.86). Conclusions: Noninvasive measurements of cerebral ICG kinetics by NIRS provide a useful means of detecting cerebral perfusion deficits in patients with acute stroke, which correlate well with those obtained by PWI.

Objective. To evaluate digital x-ray radiogrammetry (DXR) and the Radiogrammetry Kit program as new diagnostic tools for quantifying disease-related periarticular osteoporosis and for measuring joint space narrowing according to the severity and duration of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).Methods. Using DXR, we performed computerized calculations of bone mineral density (BMD) and the metacarpal index (MCI) in 258 patients with active RA. Using the Radiogrammetry Kit program, we also performed semiautomated measurements of joint space width(JSW)atthesecondthroughthefifthmetacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints in these patients.Results. All correlations between the different parameters of both techniques (BMD and the MCI as measured by DXR and MCP JSW as measured by the Radiogrammetry Kit) were significant (0.36 < R < 0.63; P < 0.01). As expected, a significant negative association was shown between the different MCP JSW results and the results of all scoring methods (؊0.67 < R < ؊0.29). The BMD and the MCI measured by DXR both decreased significantly between Steinbrocker stage I and stage IV (by 32.7% and 36.6%, respectively; both P < 0.01). Reductions in the overall (mean) MCP JSW varied from 35.3% (Larsen score) to 52.9% (Steinbrocker stage). Over a period of 6 years, we observed relative decreases in BMD and the MCI as measured by DXR (32.1% and 33.3%, respectively), as well as in the overall (mean) MCP JSW (23.5%), and these were pronounced in early RA (duration <1 year). In addition, excellent reproducibility of DXR and Radiogrammetry Kit parameters was verified (coefficients of variation <1%).Conclusion. DXR with the integrated Radiogrammetry Kit program could be a promising, widely available diagnostic tool for supplementing the different RA scoring methods with quantitative data, thus allowing an earlier and improved diagnosis of RA and more precision in determining disease progression.

Regardless of the bone model, the nails with angle-stable or compressed angle-stable locking had better initial stability and better stability following cycling than did the nails with static locking.