Radiologic findings of a traumatic urethral diverticulum with stones in an infertile male patient

Urethral diverticulum is rarely encountered in male patients. Although postmicturition dribble, pain and infection are usually present, infertility is rarely reported in urethral diverticulum. We present a case with urethral diverticulum associated with infertility, which was diagnosed radiologically.

Multiple basilic vein aneurysms concomitant with multiple hemangiomas of the upper extremity: A case report

Basilic vein aneurysms are rare clinical entities. A 21-year-old woman with basilic vein aneurysms and multiple hemangiomas in the right upper extremity is presented. The case is discussed in light of the relevant literature with emphasis on the use of Doppler ultrasonography and magnetic resonance venography.

Spatio-temporal genetic variation in populations of wild emmer wheat, Triticum turgidum ssp. dicoccoides, as revealed by AFLP analysis

Genetic structure of natural populations of wild crop relatives has been the subject of many studies. Yet, most of them focused on the assessment of spatial genetic diversity, while information on long-term variation, affected by yearly changes, has been considered only in few cases. The present study aimed therefore, to estimate the spatio-temporal genetic variation in populations of wild emmer wheat, the progenitor of domesticated wheat, and to assess the contribution of spatial versus temporal factors to the maintenance of genetic variation in a population. Single spikes were collected in the years 1988 and 2002 from plants that grew in the same sampling points, from six different habitats in the Ammiad conservation site, Eastern Galilee, Israel. Seeds were planted in a nursery and DNA was extracted from each plant and analyzed by the AFLP method. Fourteen primer combinations yielded 1,545 bands of which 50.0 and 48.8% were polymorphic in the years 1988 and 2002, respectively. Genetic diversity was much larger within populations than between populations and the temporal genetic diversity was considerably smaller than the spatial one. Nevertheless, population genetic structure may vary to some degree in different years, mainly due to fluctuations in population size because of yearly rainfall variations. This may lead to predominance of different genotypes in different years. Clustering the plants by their genetic distances grouped them according to their habitats, indicating the existence of genotype-environment affinities. The significance of the results in relation to factors affecting the maintenance of polymorphism in natural populations is discussed.

Imaging of Hepatic Arterial Anatomy for Depicting Vascular Variations in Living Related Liver Transplant Donor Candidates With Multidetector Computed Tomography: Comparison With Conventional Angiography

AIMS

The aim of this study was to evaluate liver arteries to depict variations by using multidetector computed tomography (CT) in donor candidates for living related liver transplantation.

METHODS

Computed tomographic hepatic angiography was carried out using a multidetector 16-row CT scanner (Sensation 16; Siemens) in 48 candidates between April 2003 and August 2004. Multidetector CT was performed after intravenous injection of 150 mL of contrast material at a rate of 4 mL/s. Arterial phase images were acquired after contrast injection. Afterward, maximum intensity projections and volume-rendered images were produced from the axial image data. Twenty-eight of these patients underwent conventional catheter angiography.

RESULTS

Excellent arterial opacification was shown on multidetector CT scans in all patients; arteries up to tertiary branches were identified with CT. Of 28 patients who had both multidetector CT angiography and conventional angiography, only a branch of hepatic artery originating from superior mesenteric artery that supplied the posterior segment of the right lobe was not identified on multidetector CT angiography. In 27 donors, hepatic arterial anatomy depicted at multidetector CT angiography was identical to that at conventional angiography. We identified hepatic vascular variants in 22 of 48 patients with multidetector CT. The most common arterial variant was an accessory hepatic artery arising from the left gastric artery.

CONCLUSIONS

Preoperative imaging evaluation of hepatic vascular anatomy is crucial for surgical planning in living related transplant donors. Multidetector CT is useful to depict hepatic arterial anatomy with high accuracy.

Isolated idiopathic ovarian vein thrombosis: a rare case

This article describes the case of a 36-year-old woman who presented with a 2-day history of abdominal pain and nausea. Laboratory investigations revealed no abnormalities. Ovarian vein thrombosis was detected on ultrasound examination, and computed tomography of the pelvis and abdomen confirmed this finding. The patient was placed on anticoagulant therapy with unfractionated heparin and warfarin. Within 40 days her thrombosis improved. Laboratory testing for coagulation disorder revealed nothing abnormal. Ovarian vein thrombosis must be recognized and treated early to reduce the risk of serious complications. This case of idiopathic ovarian vein thrombosis underlines the importance of including this condition in the list of differential diagnoses for abdominal pain.