OBJECTIVE To investigate the use of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) in detecting the presence of arterial remodelling in patients with unstable angina. DESIGN Prospective case study. PATIENTS 60 of 95 consecutively admitted patients with unstable angina (41 male, 19 female), mean (SD) age 61.2 (8.1) years. INTERVENTIONS Qualitative and quantitative coronary angiography and IVUS. MAIN OU...

STUDY OBJECTIVES In obese patients, obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is attributed to a reduction in pharyngeal cross-sectional area due to peripharyngeal fat deposition. The effect of weight loss on the size of the upper airways of obese subjects is still unknown. We analyzed the pharyngeal cross-sectional area before and after weight loss in morbidly obese patients with OSAS. DESIGN,...

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the paraspinal muscle cross-sectional area and the relative proprioceptive weighting ratio during local vibratory stimulation of older persons with lumbar spondylosis in an upright position. [Subjects] In all, 74 older persons hospitalized for lumbar spondylosis were included. [Methods] We measured the relative proprioc...

Study Design Cross-sectional study. Background Findings of fat infiltration in cervical spine multifidus, as a sign of degenerative morphometric changes due to whiplash injury, need to be verified. Objectives To develop a method using water/fat magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to investigate fat infiltration and cross-sectional area of multifidus muscle in individuals with whiplash-associated d...

In this study, we report the development and accuracy of a direct technique to measure airway calibre using a superfine fibreoptic bronchoscope. Ten mongrel dogs were anaesthetized with pentobarbitone and the trachea intubated with a tracheal tube; the small lumen of the tube allowed passage of a superfine fibreoptic bronchoscope (od 2.2 mm). Bronchial cross-sectional area and airway pressure w...

BACKGROUND Although the relationship between low back pain (LBP) and the size of certain trunk muscles has been extensively studied, the relationship between gluteus maximus (GM) size and LBP has been only minimally examined. Determining whether such a relationship exists would help improve our understanding of the etiology of LBP, and possibly provide a rationale for the use of therapeutic exe...

In an attempt to clarify the function of the suboccipital muscles, we performed morphological observation of the suboccipital muscles for variations in the muscle belly and compared the morphology of their muscle fibers in terms of cross-sectional area by immunostaining with anti-myosin heavy chain antibodies. The cadavers of 25 Japanese individuals were used: 22 for morphological examinations ...

Acoustic rhinometry is a new method of evaluating the geometrical distributions of the cross-section and volume of the nasal cavity. Its characteristics are that of a nontraumatic procedure requiring minimal time for measurements. Eight males (27-39 years old) without nasal lesions were investigated with acoustic rhinometry before and after unilateral administrations of decongestants. Conventio...

PURPOSE To identify the parameters on noncontrast computed tomography (NCCT) that best predict the success of shock wave lithotripsy (SWL). MATERIALS AND METHODS We reviewed the records of 75 patients who underwent SWL for urinary calculi measuring 5 to 20 mm. Using NCCT images, we estimated the largest stone cross-sectional area and contoured the inner edge of the stone. Clinical outcome was...