Clival osteomyelitis and hypoglossal nerve palsy--rare complications of Lemierre's syndrome

An increasingly reported entity, Lemierre's syndrome classically presents with a recent oropharyngeal infection, internal jugular vein thrombosis and the presence of anaerobic organisms such as Fusobacterium necrophorum. The authors report a normally fit and well 17-year-old boy who presented with severe sepsis following a 5-day history of a sore throat, myalgia and neck stiffness requiring intensive care admission. Blood cultures grew F. necrophorum and radiological investigations demonstrated left internal jugular vein, cavernous sinus and sigmoid sinus thrombus, left vertebral artery dissection and thrombus within the left internal carotid artery. Imaging also revealed two areas of acute ischaemia in the brain, consistent with septic emboli, skull base (clival) osteomyelitis and an extensive epidural abscess. The patient improved on meropenem and metronidazole and was warfarinised for his cavernous sinus thrombosis. He has an on-going left-sided hypoglossal (XIIth) nerve palsy.

The value of digital tomosynthesis of the chest as a problem-solving tool for suspected pulmonary nodules and hilar lesions detected on chest radiography

OBJECTIVES

To assess the capability of digital tomosynthesis (DTS) of the chest compared to a postero-anterior (PA) and lateral chest radiograph (CXR) in the diagnosis of suspected but unconfirmed pulmonary nodules and hilar lesions detected on a CXR. Computed tomography (CT) was used as the reference standard.

MATERIALS AND METHOD

78 patients with suspected non-calcified pulmonary nodules or hilar lesions on their CXR were included in the study. Two radiologists, blinded to the history and CT, prospectively analysed the CXR (PA and lateral) and the DTS images using a picture archiving and communication workstation and were asked to designate one of two outcomes: true intrapulmonary lesion or false intrapulmonary lesion. A CT of the chest performed within 4 weeks of the CXR was used as the reference standard. Inter-observer agreement and time to report the modalities were calculated for CXR and DTS.

RESULTS

There were 34 true lesions confirmed on CT, 12 were hilar lesions and 22 were peripheral nodules. Of the 44 false lesions, 37 lesions were artefactual or due to composite shadow and 7 lesions were real but extrapulmonary simulating non-calcified intrapulmonary lesions. The PA and lateral CXR correctly classified 39/78 (50%) of the lesions, this improved to 75/78 (96%) with DTS. The sensitivity and specificity was 0.65 and 0.39 for CXR and 0.91 and 1 for DTS. Based on the DTS images, readers correctly classified all the false lesions but missed 3/34 true lesions. Two of the missed lesions were hilar in location and one was a peripheral nodule. All three missed lesions were incorrectly classified on DTS as composite shadow.

CONCLUSIONS

DTS improves diagnostic confidence when compared to a repeat PA and lateral CXR in the diagnosis of both suspected hilar lesions and pulmonary nodules detected on CXR. DTS is able to exclude most peripheral pulmonary nodules but caution and further studies are needed to assess its ability to exclude hilar lesions.

Can ultrasound help to manage patients with scrotal trauma?

Traumatic injuries to the scrotum are uncommon but, when they do occur, frequently lead to serious complications. Early complications include testicular infarction, necrosis and abscess formation; in the longer-term trauma may result in testicular atrophy and subfertility. Early surgical intervention in patients with testicular rupture can significantly improve the clinical outcome and reduce the need for delayed orchidectomy. However, clinical examination of the scrotum following trauma is difficult and frequently inaccurate; this may result in incorrect triage of patients for surgical exploration. Scrotal ultrasound can reliably assess scrotal injuries and diagnose testicular rupture with a high level of accuracy. Additionally, ultrasound can provide important information regarding testicular perfusion, which can further inform decisions on surgical management. This article reviews the sonographic findings that may be encountered in patients with scrotal trauma, with an emphasis on blunt trauma. It describes the pivotal role that ultrasound can play in the accurate triage of these patients to surgical or conservative management.

Practical applications of digital tomosynthesis of the chest

Digital tomosynthesis is a radiographic technique that generates a number of coronal raw images of a patient from a single pass of the x-ray tube. Tomosynthesis provides some of the tomographic benefits of computed tomography (CT), but at a much lower dose of radiation and cost when compared to CT. This review illustrates the range of practical applications of digital tomosynthesis of the chest.