In sonoelastography, the recognition of normal tendon structure will be useful in assessing pathologies of the Achilles tendon. Additionally, in patients with excellent American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) scores and surgically repaired complete ruptures, a hard and heterogeneous pattern of tendon structure may be a natural consequence of tendon healing.

Aims: The present study aimed to determine whether yolk sacs with abnormal sonographic appearance are associated with adverse perinatal outcomes in both early and late gestation. Matherial and methods: A total of 305 viable singleton pregnancies with gestational age of 6 to 9 weeks were prospectively evaluated with respect to perinatal outcomes and sonographic characteristics of the yolk sacs. Results: An abnormal yolk sac was found in 66 pregnancies. In pregnancies with enlarged yolk sacs a miscarriage occurred in 37.5% of cases (3/8). The pregnancies with a yolk sac diameter ≥ 5 mm had a significantly higher risk of miscarriage (p = 0.005). The risk of miscarriage was statistically similar between the pregnancies with regular and those with irregular yolk sacs (p = 0.73). Miscarriage occurred in 3.8% of pregnancies with irregular yolk sacs (2/52) and none of pregnancies with echogenic yolk sacs (0/6). Adverse perinatal outcomes were not associated with either irregular or echogenic yolk sacs. Conclusions: An enlarged yolk sac visualized before the 7th week of gestation is strongly associated with a significantly increased risk for spontaneous miscarriage. The presence of an echogenic or irregular yolk sac appears to be unrelated to adverse perinatal outcome.

303T he presence of scrotal calculi is a relatively rare condition that is characterized by the presence of freely mobile calcified bodies between the layers of the tunica vaginalis of the testes, which are often found in patients who have been referred for scrotal ultrasound (1). The etiology of the scrotal calculi is uncertain. However, inflammatory changes within the remnants of the appendix, testis or epididymis may play a role in the development of these types of calculi (1, 2). There are a limited number of studies on scrotal calculi in the literature, and most of these are case reports. Furthermore, to our knowledge, no clinical trial has focused on whether there is a relationship between scrotal calculi and pain.The purpose of this large series study was to determine the frequency of scrotal calculi in men who were referred for scrotal ultrasound, and to identify any associated pathologic conditions in order to investigate whether any relationship exists between the presence of scrotal calculi and pain. Materials and methodsThis research was approved by the institutional human ethics committee at our hospital. A retrospective review of the radiology data processing system database revealed the existence of 4084 ultrasonography (US) scrotal reports from 3435 men between January 2008 and February 2011.US examinations were performed using US equipment with a 9-14 MHz linear probe (Logic9, GE Healthcare, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA) and with an 8-14 MHz linear probe (Technos MPX, Esaote, Genoa, Italy). US examinations were performed by two radiologists who were experienced in ultrasound techniques. The examinations were performed while the patient was lying in the supine position. The scrotum was immobilized prior to the application of a small amount of gel, and the US scans were performed in the transverse, longitudinal and multiple oblique planes. In this study, the patient information and the US findings were obtained from the US reports. These reports had been recorded in the radiology information system and we evaluated each of the scrotal US reports.Scrotal calculi were defined as typical round or oval echogenic foci with or without acoustic shadowing that were located between the layers of the tunica vaginalis of the testes (Fig. 1). Additionally, scrotal abnormalities, such as the presence of hydrocele or varicocele, or any other testicular or epididymal abnormalities that were reported during the scrotal US examination, were noted.Following the identification of scrotal calculi from the US reports, a total of 67 patients were contacted by phone, and 40 patients were interviewed. Subsequently, patients were asked whether they had any scrotal PURPOSEThe purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of scrotal calculi in men referred for scrotal ultrasonography (US), to identify any associated pathologies, and to investigate if any relationship exists between scrotal lithiasis and pain. MATERIALS AND METHODSThis was a retrospective study in which 4084 scrotal US examinations in 3435 men were eval...

ABDOMINAL IMAGINGORIGINAL ARTICLE PURPOSE We aimed to assess the feasibility and reproducibility of real-time elastography (RTE) for displaying the effects of morphological changes in the ovary in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). METHODSForty-eight patients diagnosed with PCOS and 48 healthy women were enrolled in the study. Ultrasonography and RTE were performed on the 3 rd day of the menstrual cycle. Evaluations were performed independently by two radiologists. Ovarian volume, number of follicles, elasticity pattern, and strain ratio were measured. Elasticity patterns were assessed as hard (type 1; blue or blue-green), moderate (type 2; green or green-yellow) or soft (type 3; red or orange-red). RESULTSBoth radiologists determined the elasticity pattern as mostly type 1 in the PCOS group and type 3 in the control group (P < 0.01). The mean strain ratios obtained by the first and second radiologist were 6.1±1.8 (2.7-10.1) and 6.0±1.5 (3.0-9.0) in PCOS and 3.3±1.2 (1.7-7.2) and 3.2±0.9 (1.7-6.8) in the control group, respectively (P < 0.001). Interobserver agreement was moderate for the elasticity pattern (κ=0.48) and good for the strain ratio (intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.77). A strain ratio of 3.8 was determined as the optimized cutoff point by receiver operating curve analysis. Strain ratio was correlated with the ovarian volume and the number of detected follicles (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION Elasticity pattern and strain ratio can help identify morphological changes that make PCOS ovaries stiffer than normal ovaries. In reproductive-aged women, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is an important cause of infertility and is characterized by menstrual irregularities, hirsutism and signs of hyperandrogenism, and polycystic ovary appearance (1-3). In addition to insulin resistance, serum androgenic hormone levels are increased, causing undesired effects on women's metabolic, reproductive, and cardiovascular health (1-5). PCOS is characterized by enlarged ovaries containing small cysts, for which the syndrome was named (6).Real-time elastography (RTE) is a novel and dynamic imaging technique that is simply based on the hardness or softness of tissues or organs under the appropriate compression and can be used with conventional ultrasonography (US) probes after performing gray-scale and Doppler US. Displacement of soft tissues is greater than hard tissues, and tissue hardness is displayed as a color-coded image that lays over the gray-scale US image translucently (7). Elastography has been used previously for differentiation of pathologies of tissues and organs, such as thyroid, breast, kidneys, and liver (7-9). There are limited studies about the elastographic properties of the ovaries, mostly focused on ovarian neoplasms and, to the best of our knowledge, there is no medical data concerning the elasticity properties of the ovary in PCOS (10, 11). In this study, our purpose was to assess the feasibility and reproducibility of RTE for displaying the effects of morphological changes in the ovary in PCOS and to p...

RA per se is sufficient to cause arteriosclerosis in the absence of classical CV risk factors. However, arterial hypertrophy is only increased in seronegative patients but not in seropositive group.