Knowledge of coronary artery variations and pathologies is important in planning the treatment and in interpretation of findings of cardiovascular diseases. Our study indicated that, although right dominance circulation is more common in general population, both the coronary diseases and coronary artery variations are more common in individuals with left dominance circulation.

Facial paralysis can lead to dysfunctions in eyelid closure, which is called lagophthalmos. A number of surgical procedures, both dynamic and static, have been described to restore the innervation of the orbicularis oculi muscle that closes the eyelids. This cadaver-based anatomical study aimed to evaluate the anatomy of the anterior, middle, and posterior deep temporal nerves; nerves to the temporalis muscle; and their availability for direct muscle neurotization of the orbicularis oculi. A total of 10 hemisectioned head specimens from 5 adult cadavers (2 men and 3 women) were used in this study. The adequacy of the length of the anterior deep temporal nerve was assessed for direct neorotization of the orbicularis oculi muscle. The mean distances between the originating point of the deep temporal nerves from the mandibular nerve in the infratemporal fossa and their terminal entry points into the muscle were 46.4 (42-51 mm), 42.2 (38-46 mm), and 33.4 mm (26-40 mm) for the anterior, middle and posterior branches of the nerves, respectively. We conclude that the anterior deep temporal nerve is a versatile nerve that can be used for direct muscle neurotization, nerve transfer, and babysitter procedures in selective blinking restoration. Before proceeding with any further clinical use, an anatomical study should be performed with fresh specimens from cadavers.

No abstract

Objectives: Bone age (BA) is used in age determination for a number of medico-legal reasons. One of the most commonly used radiographic methods in BA assessment is to compare hand-wrist radiographs with a standard reference. In this study, Greulich-Pyle (GP) method was used to determine the bone maturation values of a population of children and adolescents living in the city of Erzurum, Turkey. Methods: Hand and wrist radiographs of 507 individuals (243 boys and 264 girls) aged between 7-19 years were evaluated and the BA was estimated by a radiologist using the GP method. Difference between estimated BA and chronological age (CA) was analyzed. Results: In boys, except for the ages of 12,13 and 17 years, BA was significantly lower than the chronological age. In girls, BA was significantly lower than CA at 7, 8, 18 and 19 years of age, but not statistically different in the other ages. Conclusion: According to the GP atlas, it is suggested that many factors including high altitude, cold climate, environment, nutrition, genetics, ethnics and socioeconomic diversities might cause differences between BA and CA. Our results obtained in this study suggest that this method can guide the determination of bone age in children living in Erzurum, Turkey. However, in certain age groups for both genders, the GP method significantly underestimated skeletal age.

No abstract