OBJECTIVE A retrospective evaluation of waiting times for elective procedures was conducted in a sample of Mexican public hospitals from the following institutions: the Mexican Institute for Social Security (IMSS), the Institute for Social Security and Social Services for Civil Servants (ISSSTE) and the Ministry of Health (MoH). Our aim was to describe current waiting times and identify opportu...

Six patients with seven intracranial fluid levels were evaluated with both CT and MR at 1.5 T. A surgical diagnosis was obtained in six of the seven instances. MR was found to be superior to CT in detecting intracranial fluid levels, and the MR signal characteristics were helpful in identifying their contents. These cases demonstrate the necessity for a slightly different approach to lesions wi...

remains a clinical challenge with many patients left undiagnosed with an estimated average delay of up to 10.4 years [5,810]. Two thirds of women with endometriosis are initially misdiagnosed and almost half are examined by five physicians or more before a correct diagnosis is made [11]. Diagnostic delay is significantly longer in women presenting with pelvic pain in comparison to those present...

New or emerging surgical procedures and technologies continue to be developed at a rapid rate and must be implemented safely into clinical practice. Additional privileging may be required if substantively new technical or cognitive skills are required to implement an innovative procedure or technology. Guiding principles for privileging should include cognitive and technical assessment to ensur...

Biomechanical properties are an excellent health marker of biological tissues, however they are challenging to be measured in-vivo. Non-invasive approaches to assess tissue biomechanics have been suggested, but there is a clear need for more accurate techniques for diagnosis, surgical guidance and treatment evaluation. Recently air-puff systems have been developed to study the dynamic tissue re...

To date, several accurate tests for diagnosing vascular ED may be chosen. It is necessary to be well aware of the purpose of testing: global assessment of erectile capacity in preparation for auto-injection therapy, or detailed assessment of arterial and erectile response in preparation for surgical treatment. Pharmacotesting may be sufficient for the majority of patients. Other, more invasive ...

CONTEXT Heel pain, a relatively common problem in the athlete, can present a diagnostic and therapeutic dilemma. The purpose of this article is to review treatment techniques for common causes of heel pain in the athlete. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION Articles in the English literature through August 2008 were selected and reviewed in the context of the management of heel pain in the athlete. Clinical...

INTRODUCTION The high diagnostic accuracy of plasma metanephrines (PMets) in the diagnosis of Phaeochromocytoma/Paraganglioma (PPGL) is well established. Considerable controversy exists regarding optimum sampling conditions for PMets. The use of reference intervals that do not compromise diagnostic sensitivity is recommended. However, the optimum rest period prior to sampling has yet to be clea...

Background Measurement of plasma metanephrines is regarded as one of the best screening tests for phaeochromocytoma/paraganglioma. Current guidelines recommend that samples are ideally collected in the supine position after 30 min rest and interpreted using supine reference ranges, in order to optimize the diagnostic performance of the test. Current practice in our centre is to collect samples ...