The visual evoked potentials technique records the cerebral bioelectric activity generated by light stimulation. Evoked potentials is a good method of assessing the electrical response of the brain to different stimuli and has been used extensively in the study of brain disturbances. We registered VEP on 18 hyperthyroid and 18 hypothyroid patients, without other endocrine, metabolic, ophthalmologic or neurological illnesses, the 2 groups having practically identical ages, but sex repartition, illness age and treatment duration being statistically different (p[0.001). Hormonal, radiological, biochemical dosages and physiological paraclinic determinations were performed on all 36 subjects, through classical methods, and VEP recordings, with a 4 channel polygraph through pattern reversal stimulation (1 Hz), measuring all parameters (latency, amplitude, duration, surface, steepness etc.) of N75 and P100 waves. Between groups, the recorded hormone levels and other recordings showed great differences, very highly statistically significant (p[0.001), only arterial pressures being just statistically significant (p[0.05). The Pearson�s r correlation coefficients indicated extremely high correlations (r=0.90-0.98) between all parameters. Between the 2 groups, hypothyroid patients had latencies of P100 wave higher with 17.88% (p=0.0028) and of the N75 wave with 9.98% (p=0.016), and the duration of the N75 wave lower with 26.37% (p=0.026), the other parameters of VEP waves modifying up to 52.35%, not statistically sgnificant due to high standard deviations. The duration of N75 correlates with the majority of humoral-paraclinical parameters, indicating a functional interdependency between them and the function of the cortex. The ratio of the amplitudes and of the areas of P100/N75 indicate a severe inhibition to hypothyroid patients, a precisely quantified reduction of the cerebral activity.

Pancreatic adenocarcinomas are considered one of the most complicated cancers in terms of treatment options and patient management. Regarding the diagnosis of pancreatic cancers, imaging techniques still play the central role with multiple options such as Computer Tomography (CT), Ultrasound (US), or Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS) being available. The study was conducted at the Emergency County Hospital of Craiova, at the Radiology and Medical Imaging Department, the Imaging Compartment of the Research Center of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Research Center, on 170 patients suffering from pancreatic cancer, mostly adenocarcinomas. The neoplastic lesions were described using either US, CT or EUS techniques. The location of the tumor was assessed suing US and CT examination for all 170 patients in the study. There was a statistically significant correlation ([ 0.0001) between US and CT examination in terms of accuracy, with both techniques proving to be highly reliable. For measuring tumor size, 31 patients were evaluated using CT and EUS techniques. EUS proved to be more accurate in comparison to CT examination, with 9 (27%) of the total 31 patients having their tumor size underestimated by CT examination. There are no notable differences between the US evaluation of the tumor location and the actual location identified at the CT scan. As for tumor size, EUS showed greater reliability in evaluating tumor size in comparison to CT examination.

Whole-organ plastic resin casting is a very useful method for preserving rare pathological specimens for forensic/anatomical studies and for teaching/research purposes. Many techniques have been proposed over time, but most of them use special non-commercially available resin mixtures, lengthy protocols, and are overall not easily implemented in any anatomy/pathology department that might need such a procedure for rapid organ preservation. Here, we utilized anatomical sections of the human brain, heart, kidneys, spleen, large intestine, and lungs from on-display organs that were fixed for more than 1 year in 10% neutral-buffered formalin and from a freshly processed cadaver for teaching purposes in our Human Anatomy Department, and we optimized a fast-processing protocol without the use of any clearing agents, which yields solid, clear, cylindrical resin casting blocks. The resulting protocol, which takes no longer than 4 days, proves that at least three commonly used epoxy resins from hobby shops can be utilized without any restrictions, and the use of resin or glycerin vacuum-forced impregnation even offers two choices of intrinsic contrast, depending on the nature of the preparation. A number of innovations have been included here and compared to existing publications, such as the use of a system of permanent fixation plexiglas rods that maintain the organ in the desired position and become invisible in the final block, the use of UVC sterilization of the tissue to ensure a long shelf life of the block, and the utilization of cheap cylindrical polypropylene food containers as casting molds. Altogether, we present a simple resin-embedding protocol that can be made available to any department/institution without the need for expensive materials and specially trained personnel.

Imaging techniques play an essential role in the diagnosis, staging and establishing the treatment protocols in pancreatic cancer. Our proposed study explores and improves recent discoveries in the field of pancreatic cancer, especially relying on complex imaging techniques such as Computer Tomography (CT), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (MR 3T), Ultrasonography (US) and Endoscopic Ultrasonography (EUS). In the case of pancreatic tumors, regardless of their origin, imaging exams also allow the evaluation of local and distant extension, with important prognostic and treatment ramifications. CT exams alongside RM and EUS offer a highly sensible and specific diagnosis of pancreatic tumors, with the added advantage of concomitant evaluation of adjacent parenchymatous abdominal organs.

No abstract