442 Freely available online open Access bJr radiological imaging is the bedrock of investigations in the management of patients with orthopaedic disorders. Articles in this journal show a particular interest in the state of the articular cartilage: assessed in this month's issue by narrowing of the joint space 1 and in July's issue, by signal changes on mrI. 2 the problem arises, however, in ho...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE It is difficult to evaluate glenoid component periprosthetic radiolucencies in total shoulder arthroplasties (TSAs) using plain radiographs. This study was performed to evaluate whether computed tomography (CT) using a specific patient position in the CT scanner provides a better method for assessing radiolucencies in TSA. METHODS Following TSA, 11 patients were CT scan...

BACKGROUND Vascular calcification (VC) and carotid intima media thickness (CIMT) are strongly associated with cardiovascular (CV) disease. We hypothesized that significant VC on plain radiographs is associated with CIMT and CV events in dialysis patients. In addition, we evaluated risk factors for VC progression on plain radiographs in dialysis patients. METHODS In this 2-year observational, ...

BACKGROUND Respiratory isolation has been recommended for all patients with suspected tuberculosis (TB) to avoid transmission to other patients and health care personnel. In implementing these guidelines, patients with and without TB are frequently isolated, significantly increasing hospital costs. The objective of this study was to derive a clinical rule to predict the need for respiratory iso...

BACKGROUND In Zambia the vast majority of chest radiographs (CXR) are read by clinical officers who have limited training and varied interpretation experience, meaning lower inter-rater reliability and limiting the usefulness of CXR as a diagnostic tool. In 2010-11, the Zambian Prison Service and Ministry of Health established TB and HIV screening programs in six prisons; screening included dig...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the usefulness of plain abdominal radiography as an evaluation method for bowel dysfunction in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). METHODS Forty-four patients with SCI were recruited. Patients were interviewed about their clinical symptoms, and the constipation score and Bristol stool form scale were assessed. The colon transit time (CTT) was measured by using radio-...

OBJECTIVE (1) To determine the accuracy of accident and emergency (A&E) doctors' diagnosis of radio-opaque ureteric calculi on plain abdominal radiographs; (2) to study the predictive value of haematuria with a history suggestive of ureteric colic. DESIGN A prospective study of all patients seen in a three month period with a provisional diagnosis of ureteric colic. Intravenous urography (IVU...

BACKGROUND The morphologic features of the proximal femur are used in preoperative planning prior to total hip arthroplasty. The standard commercially available marketed prostheses sometimes may not be the best fit to all subjects because of the large anatomic variation among different population. Orthopaedic surgeons always stress the need for a proper implant-patient match in hip joint replac...