Dual-photon absorptiometry with gadolinium 153 was used to measure the mineral content of lumbar vertebrae in cadavers, excised vertebrae with marrow, and dry, marrow-free vertebrae. The error introduced by the surrounding soft tissue of cadavers was 3%, and the error in determining mineral mass or density in excised vertebrae was about 5%. The correlation coefficient between the results of Gd-153 and corrected iodine 125 (single-photon) absorptiometry on 24 femoral necks was 0.99, and the predictive error was 3.7%. Dual-photon absorptiometry accurately indicates bone mass and bone density and is only slightly affected by either surrounding tissue or fat changes in bone marrow.

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Purpose: Although bronchial artery embolization (BAE) is accepted as a standard treatment of major hemoptysis, little is known about its role in cryptogenic hemoptysis (CH). This study aimed to assess the safety and effectiveness of BAE using N-butyl-cyanoacrylate (NBCA) in patients with CH. Materials: Between May 2003 and March 2014, 27 patients (M:F¼21:6, mean 46.9 years) who underwent BAE for CH (negative finding on bronchoscopy and CT except aspirated blood) were enrolled in this study. A retrospective review was conducted for angiographic findings, technical and clinical success, complications, and recurrent hemoptysis. Results: Selective bronchial arteriograms were abnormal in 23 patients (85.2%: hypertrophied bronchial arteries [n¼20], parenchymal hypervascularity [n¼19], and bronchopulmonary shunt [n¼6]). All abnormal bronchial arteries (right [n¼18], left [n¼12]) were successfully embolized with NBCA.In 4 patients with normal angiographic findings (14.3%), unilateral bronchial arteries were embolized based on CT and/or bronchoscopic lateralization. Hemoptysis stopped within 24 hours in all patients. There was no major complication. During follow-up periods (ranged 11-117 months, median 54.6), 2 patients (7.4%) experienced recurrent hemoptysis at 5 and 11 months after BAE, which were treated with repeated embolization. The estimated hemoptysis-free survival rates were 96.3%, 92.3%, and 92.3% at 1, 3, and 5 years, respectively. Conclusions: Bronchial arteries were angiographically abnormal in a large proportion of patients (85.2%) despite negative finding on bronchoscopy and CT. BAE using NBCA is a safe and effective treatment in patients with CH.

assessment of the corresponding vessels in human fundal sections from normal obese human patients. Materials: Four healthy juvenile swine underwent bariatric arterial using 50-μm spherical embolics and the animals were humanely euthanized after four weeks for pathological analysis. The stomachs were harvested and representative fundal sections were collected and processed for routine H&E histology. Concurrently, gastric fundal remnants from patients who had undergone gastric bypass were obtained (n ¼ 18) and representative sections were fixed in formalin and processed for routine H&E histology. In both cases, slides were scanned at 20X magnification using a NanoZoomerDigital Slide Scanner (Hamamatsu Corporation Japan). Vessels in the region where embolic deposition was identified in swine were measured and averaged using Halo software (Indica Labs, Corrales, New Mexico) and verified by a board-certified pathologist. Arteries in a similar histologic region in the submucosa were then measured in the human fundal sections, and also verified by a board-certified pathologist. Results: Presence of 50-micron embolics was confirmed in the fundus in all experimental animals with specific deposition in arteries located in the luminal half of the submucosal layer. Average blood vessels in this region measured 49.3 ± 30.2 microns (n ¼ 27) in the experimental swine. The average vessel size in this same region in the human fundal sections was 39.9 ± 29.9 microns (n ¼ 337). Conclusions: Based on this histopathologic analysis, a bead measuring closer to 50-80 microns could theoretically be used in future human bariatric embolization trials to mimic the weight loss and safety profile observed in the swine model.

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