The incorporation of MRI evaluation of the sacroiliac joints and HLA-B27 testing into criteria for identifying individuals with preradiographic axial disease has led to DMXAA price the development of criteria for classifying axial SpA.
Summary
The development of classification criteria for axial SpA will aid in the identification of patients suitable for clinical trials testing whether early intervention will slow the development
and/or progression of structural changes in that lead to AS.”
“Objective: Longitudinal quantitative evaluation of cartilage disease requires reproducible measurements over time. We report 8 years of quality assurance (QA) metrics for quantitative magnetic resonance (MR) knee analyses from the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) and show the impact of MR system, phantom, and acquisition protocol changes.
Method: Key 3 T MR QA metrics, including signal-to-noise,
signal uniformity, T2 relaxation times, and geometric distortion, were quantified monthly on two different phantoms using an automated program.
Results: Over Screening Library nmr 8 years, phantom measurements showed root-mean-square coefficient-of-variation reproducibility of <0.25% (190.0 mm diameter) and <0.20% (148.0 mm length), resulting in spherical volume reproducibility of <0.35%. T2 relaxation time reproducibility varied from 1.5% to 5.3%; seasonal fluctuations were observed at two sites. All other QA goals were met except: slice thicknesses were consistently larger than nominal on turbo spin echo images; knee coil signal uniformity and signal level varied significantly
over time.
Conclusions: The longitudinal variations for a spherical volume should have minimal impact on the accuracy and reproducibility of cartilage volume and thickness measurements as they are an order of magnitude smaller than reported for either unpaired or paired (repositioning and reanalysis) precision errors. This stability should enable direct comparison of baseline and follow-up images. Cross-comparison of the geometric results from all four OAI sites reveal that the MR systems do not statistically differ and enable results to be pooled. MR QA results identified similar technical issues as previously published. Geometric accuracy selleck inhibitor stability should have the greatest impact on quantitative analysis of longitudinal change in cartilage volume and thickness precision. (C) 2012 Osteoarthritis Research Society International. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Tuberculosis (TB) is a significant disease for both humans and animals. Susceptibility to Mycobacterium tuberculosis is relatively high in humans, other primates and guinea pigs. Cattle, rabbits and cats are susceptible to M. bovis and are quite resistant to M. tuberculosis. Wild hoofed stock is generally susceptible to M. bovis, but few reports are available on the isolation of M. tuberculosis. Swine and dogs are susceptible to both M. bovis and M. tuberculosis. M.