No abstract

Renal calyceal microlithiasis represents a spectrum of clinical situations and underlying metabolic abnormalities that need further investigation in children.

Insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDMM) is often associated with autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT) and a high prevalence of thyroid antibodies (TA). Ultrasound imaging of the thyroid may contribute to the evaluation of patients with AIT. We therefore investigated ultrasound findings of the thyroid in 83 IDDM patients (44F, 39M) with an age range of 2.3-22.3 yrs (median 11.1). Thyroid volume (ml) determined by ultrasound ranged between 1.3 and 17.9 (median 5.7). Thyroid volumes of 75 healthy children (32F, 43M) with an age range of 2.0 to 11.8 yrs (median 7.6) ranged between 1.6 and 13.2 ml (median 4.8) and did not show a significant difference from the IDDM group from age 4 to 12. TA were positive in 18.8% of the IDDM group. Thyroid volume was higher in TA (+) diabetics (p = 0.05), a finding which may be attributed to a higher percentage of cases with elevated TSH in the TA (+) group. Two diabetic patients showed non-homogeneous hypoechogenicity in the ultrasound compatible with AIT which was later confirmed in one of these cases by aspiration biopsy. Ultrasound imaging of the thyroid may contribute to the evaluation of patients with AIT in IDDM.

Aim: To evaluate the role of further grading of classical testicular microlithiasis (CTM) on the prevalence of associated testicular tumors. Methods: Patients diagnosed with CTM using scrotal ultrasound over a 5-year period from a referral radiology clinic were included in this study. Patients with CTM were categorized as group 1 (grade I; 5–10 microliths/image), group 2 (grade II 10–20 microliths/image), and group 3 (grade III > 20 microliths/image). Other pathological findings were also recorded. The prevalence of testicular cancer was compared statistically between groups using the χ² test. Results: Seventy-eight of 4,310 (1.8%) patients were found to have CTM. Of these, 17 (21.7%) had ultrasonographically detected testicular cancer. In patients without CTM (n = 4,232), 58 (1.1%) testicular cancers were found. This accounted to a 19.7-fold increase in the detection rate of testicular cancer in patients with CTM compared to patients without CTM. The rates of testicular cancer detected in groups 2 and 3 were 25 (6/24) and 26.6% (4/15), respectively (p > 0.05), while it was 17.9% (7/39) in group 1. Conclusions: CTM is an uncommon incidental finding in patients undergoing testicular ultrasonography, and grading of CTM plays no role in the prevalence of testicular cancer.

Oral fluid intake causes a statistically significant increase in renal length. This observation should be taken into consideration when renal length measurements are clinicallly important.