Nonlinear fluid flow through three-dimensional rough fracture networks:Insights from 3D-printing,CT-scanning,and high-resolution numerical simulations

Nonlinear flow behavior of fluids through three-dimensional(3D)discrete fracture networks(DFNs)considering effects of fracture number,surface roughness and fracture aperture was experimentally and numerically investigated.Three physical models of DFNs were 3D-printed and then computed tomography(CT)-scanned to obtain the specific geometry of fractures.The validity of numerically simulating the fluid flow through DFNs was verified via comparison with flow tests on the 3D-printed models.A parametric study was then implemented to establish quantitative relations between the coefficients/parameters in Forchheimer’s law and geometrical parameters.The results showed that the 3D-printing technique can well reproduce the geometry of single fractures with less precision when preparing complex fracture networks,numerical modeling precision of which can be improved via CT-scanning as evidenced by the well fitted results between fluid flow tests and numerical simulations using CT-scanned digital models.Streamlines in DFNs become increasingly tortuous as the fracture number and roughness increase,resulting in stronger inertial effects and greater curvatures of hydraulic pressure-low rate relations,which can be well characterized by the Forchheimer’s law.The critical hydraulic gradient for the onset of nonlinear flow decreases with the increasing aperture,fracture number and roughness,following a power function.The increases in fracture aperture and number provide more paths for fluid flow,increasing both the viscous and inertial permeabilities.The value of the inertial permeability is approximately four orders of magnitude greater than the viscous permeability,following a power function with an exponent a of 3,and a proportional coefficient b mathematically correlated with the geometrical parameters.

Prognostic Value of the Brain CT-Scan in Head Trauma in Yaounde Central Hospital

Introduction: Cranial trauma is a serious medico-surgical pathology that hinders the vital and functional prognosis. The Rotterdam computed tomography (CT) score refined features of the Marshall score. This score was designed to categorize traumatic brain injury (TBI) type and severity in adults. The aim of our research was to evaluate the association between the Rotterdam CT scores of patients after a cranial traumatism in terms of survival. Material and methods: It was a cross-sectional and analytical study from January 2018 to March 2020, using medical records of patients suffering from cranial traumatism, received and taken in charge in the Yaounde central hospital. Results: 100 patients were retained out of 115 recruited patients. The average age was 35.20 with a sex ratio of 4.55. The Rotterdam score was between 1 and 5 with a median of 2. The overall mortality at 6 months and 1 year was 32%. With an equal score compared to European studies, we recorded significantly higher mortality. We found the sequelae in 24% of the patients. GOS ranged from 1 to 5, and survival without sequelae (GOS 1) was the most represented. There was a positive correlation between the Rotterdam score and the GOS with a Pearson correlation coefficient of +0.514. Conclusion: The death rate in Rotterdam score equals is greater in our context compared to European studies.

A shield of defense:Developing ballistic composite panels with effective electromagnetic interference shielding absorption

The primary goal of this study is to develop cost-effective shield materials that offer effective protection against high-velocity ballistic impact and electromagnetic interference(EMI)shielding capabilities through absorption.Six fiber-reinforced epoxy composite panels,each with a different fabric material and stacking sequence,have been fabricated using a hand-layup vacuum bagging process.Two panels made of Kevlar and glass fibers,referred to as(K-NIJ)and(G-NIJ),have been tested according to the National Institute of Justice ballistic resistance protective materials test NIJ 0108.01 Standard-Level IIIA(9 mm×19 mm FMJ 124 g)test.Three panels,namely,a hybrid of Kevlar and glass(H-S),glass with ceramic particles(C-S),and glass with recycled rubber(R-S)have been impacted by the bullet at the center,while the fourth panel made of glass fiber(G-S)has been impacted at the side.EMI shielding properties have been measured in the X-band frequency range via the reflection-transmission method.Results indicate that four panels(K-NIJ,G-NIJ,H-S,and G-S)are capable of withstanding high-velocity impact by stopping the bullet from penetrating through the panels while maintaining their structural integrity.However,under such conditions,these panels may experience localized delamination with variable severity.The EMI measurements reveal that the highest absorptivity observed is 88% for the KNIJ panel at 10.8 GHz,while all panels maintain an average absorptivity above 65%.All panels act as a lossy medium with a peak absorptivity at different frequencies,with K-NIJ and H-S panels demonstrating the highest absorptivity.In summary,the study results in the development of a novel,costeffective,multifunctional glass fiber epoxy composite that combines ballistic and electromagnetic interference shielding properties.The material has been developed using a simple manufacturing method and exhibits remarkable ballistic protection that outperforms Kevlar in terms of shielding efficiency;no bullet penetration or back face signature is observed,and it also demonstrates high EMI shielding absorption.Overall,the materials developed show great promise for various applications,including the military and defense.

CT-Scan Presentations of Brain Malformations in Children: About Three Cases in Regional Hospital of Ngaoundere-Cameroon

Brain malformations are rare, difficult to diagnose and have unpredictable evolution. They are the major causes of epilepsy, psychomotor development abnormalities and other neurological disorders. The neuroimaging technique of choice for diagnosis of these malformations is magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), but unfortunately MRI is expensive, and is not available in a poor resource country like Cameroon. CT scan associated to clinical signs can help to suspect or to confirm a malformation. The authors report here three cases of malformations discovered during cranial CT scan at the regional hospital of Ngaoundéré. They are Dandy Walker malformation, Sturge Weber’s disease and hemimegalencephaly. These cases contribute to the knowledge of this rare event, and emphasize the importance of CT scan on their diagnosis in the absence of MRI.

Predictive Factors for Abnormal Brain CT-Scan in Childhood Epilepsy at Yaoundé(Cameroon)

Purpose: Despite irradiation, CT-scan remains an important diagnostic tool in epilepsy in poor countries where MRI is neither available nor affordable. But many causes of epilepsy are not accessible to CT-scan and this technique remains expensive for many poor families in countries with limited resources. The aim of this study was to determine clinical or electroencephalogram variables which could predict brain CT-scan abnormalities in childhood epilepsy. Methods: It was a cross-sectional study including 151 epileptic children who underwent head CT-scan from October 2011 to march 2012, in one university-affiliated hospital in Cameroon (YGOPH). The data collected were clinical, type of seizure, Electroencephalogram and head CT-scans results. Independent predictive factors for CT abnormalities were sought by logistic regression. A p value : Of the 151 children, 54.3% (82/151) were boys (sex ratio: 1.18 M/1F). The median age was 54 months [2 - 190 months];74.8% of children were more than 2 years old but at the onset of epilepsy they were 2 years old or less. Birth asphyxia, mental retardation and neurologic deficit were respectively associated in 62.4%, 54.3% and 51.7% of cases. Eighty-five had focal epilepsy (56.3%), 61.6% had abnormal head CT-scan, 68.9% had abnormal EEG, with no significant gender difference. The factors most significantly associated with abnormal head CT-scan were: child age ≤ 2 years, maternal hypertension/eclampsy, cerebral palsy, and child microcephaly, with 89% to 92% abnormal CT. The two independent predictors of abnormal CT were patients’ age ≤ 2 years and microcephaly. The two main CT-scan lesions were cerebral atrophy (28.5%) and brain infarct (16.6%). None of these abnormalities was correlated to any type of epilepsy. Conclusion: Almost two-thirds of head CT-scan performed in epileptic children are abnormal in our setting. Patients of 2 years old or less and those with microcephaly are very likely to have brain anomalies on CT-scan. The most common brain lesions are atrophy, cerebral infarction and porencephalic cavities. Action to reduce birth asphyxia may lead to the reduction of the incidence of epilepsy in children.

Test Accuracy of CT-Scan for the Detection of Malignant Liver Mass

Background: Detection of malignant liver mass is very important for the treatment modalities. Objective: The purpose of the present study was to establish the usefulness of CT scan in the diagnosis of malignant hepatic mass. Methodology: This cross sectional study was carried out in the Department of Radiology and Imaging at Mymensingh Medical College Hospital (MMCH), Mymensingh, Banghabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka and Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), Dhaka during the period of 1st January 2006 to 31st December 2007. Patients admitted in the Department of Medicine and Department of Hepatobiliary of MMCH, BSMMU, and DMCH with the clinical diagnosis of fever, abdominal pain, anorexia, nausea/vomiting, loss of appetite, jaundice, weight loss and ascites were selected as study population. CT scan and histopathology were performed to all the patients. Result: A total number of 50 patients were recruited for this study. Mean age of all patients was 51.28 ± 14 years with a range of 17 year to 78 years. Among all patients 28 had multiple lesion, of them 71.4% was malignant and 28.6% was benign. On the other side 22 patients had solitary lesion, of them 36.4% was malignant and 63.6% was benign

CT-Scan Findings of Hepatic Mass Patients Attending at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Bangladesh

Background: CT-scan is a very useful diagnostic tool for the detection of hepatic mass. Objective: The present study was undertaken to determine the CT-scan findings of benign and malignant hepatic mass patients. Methodology: This was a cross sectional study conducted in Radiology and Imaging Department at Mymensingh Medical College Hospital (MMCH), Mymensingh;Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), Dhaka and Banghabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka with the collaboration of Pathology Department of the same institute for histopathological confirmation. This study was carried out from January 2006 to December 2007 for a period of 2 years. The patients who were clinically suspected of having hepatic mass attended in the Radiology and Imaging Department in the above mentioned institutes were included as study population. All the CT-scan findings were recorded. Result: A total number of 50 patients were enrolled for this study. CT-scan was done among 40 males and 10 females with a mean age of 51.28 years old. Hypodensity was found in 17 (60.7%) and 18 (81.8%) cases in malignant and benign hepatic lesions respectively. Ill-defined margin was detected in 12 (42.9%) and 6 (27.3%) cases respectively. Calcification was present on 11 (39.3%) malignant lesion and 6 (27.3%) benign lesions. Pressure effect on biliary apparatus was found in 11 (39.3%) malignant lesions and 1 (4.5%) benign lesions (p < 0.05). Lymphadenopathy was found in 10 (35.7%) malignant lesions and 1 (4.5%) benign lesions (p < 0.05). Conclusion: In conclusion, CT-scan findings of malignant and benign hepatic mass show hypodensity with more contrast enhancement in malignant lesions with more calcification in malignant lesion;however, significant difference is detected in pressure effect on biliary apparatus and lymphadenopathy.

Identifying Severity of COVID-19 Medical Images by Categorizing Using HSDC Model

Since COVID-19 infections are increasing all over the world,there is a need for developing solutions for its early and accurate diagnosis is a must.Detectionmethods for COVID-19 include screeningmethods like Chest X-rays and Computed Tomography(CT)scans.More work must be done on preprocessing the datasets,such as eliminating the diaphragm portions,enhancing the image intensity,and minimizing noise.In addition to the detection of COVID-19,the severity of the infection needs to be estimated.The HSDC model is proposed to solve these problems,which will detect and classify the severity of COVID-19 from X-ray and CT-scan images.For CT-scan images,the histogram threshold of the input image is adaptively determined using the ICH Swarm Optimization Segmentation(ICHSeg)algorithm.Based on the Statistical and Shape-based feature vectors(FVs),the extracted regions are classified using a Hybrid model for CT images(HSDCCT)algorithm.When the infections are detected,it’s classified as Normal,Moderate,and Severe.A fused FHI is formed for X-ray images by extracting the features of Histogram-oriented gradient(HOG)and Image profile(IP).The FHI features of X-ray images are classified using Hybrid Support Vector Machine(SVM)and Deep Convolutional Neural Network(DCNN)HSDCX algorithm into COVID-19 or else Pneumonia,or Normal.Experimental results have shown that the accuracy of the HSDC model attains the highest of 94.6 for CT-scan images and 95.6 for X-ray images when compared to SVM and DCNN.This study thus significantly helps medical professionals and doctors diagnose COVID-19 infections quickly,which is the most needed in current years.

Intra-Articular Distal Radius Fracture with Lunate Fossa Rotated and Associated Lesions: Radiologic Analysis

Introduction: Intra-articular distal radial fractures in young patients occur in high energy trauma which can lead to a combination of bone and ligaments lesions. An articular step superior to 2 mm is pejorative, for that an adequate radiologic analysis is necessary accessing to the best surgical treatment. The purpose of our study was to investigate this type of fracture and expose radiologic analysis (radiograph and CT-scan) of bone and ligamentous associated lesions of this specific twisted lunate facet fracture for recognizing it and accessing to the best surgical treatment. Patients and Methods: Seven patients with severely displaced type 4 articular fractures of the distal radius whose wrists had been exposed to violent compression are reported in our series, they are required open treatment for the reduction and fixation of disrupted articular surfaces by using an antero-medial approach which allows direct access to the fragment of the lunate facet and easier visualization of the distal radio-ulnar joint. Results: All the patients were clinically examined with antero-posterior and lateral X ray, completed by a CT scan, all the fractures were type IV according to Melone classification. In all of our seven cases there was a lesion of the distal radioulnar joint (DRUJ) identified in the CT scan. The CT scan allowed us to individualize well the void of the lunate fossa and calculate his exact degree of rotation, which is very important for planning therapeutic management. Discussion: In all of our cases the CT scan was to expose all of the osseous and ligamentous injuries;in the sagittal reconstruction we were able to objectify and calculate the exact degree of the rotation of the lunate fossa fragment;in the frontal reconstruction the void of the lunate fossa is visible and in the axial reconstruction we can determine the incongruence of the distal radio-ulnar joint (DRUJ). Intra-articular involvement has long been recognized as a poor prognostic factor in fractures of the distal radius. However, despite early studies reporting poor results with non operative treatment for these injuries, most authors opposed operative intervention, due to lack of a good radiological analysis and the CT scan;knowledge that a number of studies have shown that inadequate reduction of intra-articular distal radius fractures leads to the development of arthritis.

Real-Time Multi-Class Infection Classification for Respiratory Diseases

Real-time disease prediction has emerged as the main focus of study in the field of computerized medicine.Intelligent disease identification framework can assist medical practitioners in diagnosing disease in a way that is reliable,consistent,and timely,successfully lowering mortality rates,particularly during endemics and pandemics.To prevent this pandemic’s rapid and widespread,it is vital to quickly identify,confine,and treat affected individuals.The need for auxiliary computer-aided diagnostic(CAD)systems has grown.Numerous recent studies have indicated that radiological pictures contained critical information regarding the COVID-19 virus.Utilizing advanced convolutional neural network(CNN)architectures in conjunction with radiological imaging makes it possible to provide rapid,accurate,and extremely useful susceptible classifications.This research work proposes a methodology for real-time detection of COVID-19 infections caused by the Corona Virus.The purpose of this study is to offer a two-way COVID-19(2WCD)diagnosis prediction deep learning system that is built on Transfer Learning Methodologies(TLM)and features customized fine-tuning on top of fully connected layered pre-trained CNN architectures.2WCD has applied modifications to pre-trained models for better performance.It is designed and implemented to improve the generalization ability of the classifier for binary and multi-class models.Along with the ability to differentiate COVID-19 and No-Patient in the binary class model and COVID-19,No-Patient,and Pneumonia in the multi-class model,our framework is augmented with a critical add-on for visually demonstrating infection in any tested radiological image by highlighting the affected region in the patient’s lung in a recognizable color pattern.The proposed system is shown to be extremely robust and reliable for real-time COVID-19 diagnostic prediction.It can also be used to forecast other lung-related disorders.As the system can assist medical practitioners in diagnosing the greatest number of patients in the shortestamount of time, radiologists can also be used or published online to assistany less-experienced individual in obtaining an accurate immediate screeningfor their radiological images.

The Role of Chest Computed Tomography in the Work-up of Patients with Cervical or Endometrial Cancer

Background and Objectives: To determine whether chest CT-scan in patients with cervical or endometrial cancer is of additional value for planning initial treatment and work-up. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed of 465 patients diagnosed with cervical or endometrial cancer between January 2003 and December 2007. All patients who underwent a chest CT-scan before treatment were included for analysis. Results: Out of 465 patients 74 patients underwent a pre-treatment chest CT-scan (cervical cancer, n = 58, and endometrial cancer, n = 26). Abnormalities were detected in 53.4% (31/58) and 73.1% (19/26) of patients with cervical and endometrial cancer, respectively. The majority of abnormalities were presumed to be benign, yet work-up was adjusted in 28.6% (13/58 and 11/26), and therapy was adjusted in 17.6% (6/58, and 7/26) of patients with cervical and endometrial cancer. Pulmonary metastasis were observed in 10.3% (6/58) and 24.1% (7/26) of patients with cervical cancer, and endometrial cancer, respectively. Most patients with pulmonary metastasis presented with extended disease based on clinical examination. Conclusions: Chest CT scans in patients with cervical and endometrial cancer frequently demonstrate abnormalities that are most likely benign, yet work-up is adjusted in a substantial number of cases. Therefore, chest CT-scan is only recommended for those patients with a clinical suspicion of extended disease.

Graves’眼眶病CT诊断（附29例病例分析）

对２９例Ｇｒａｖｅｓ’眼眶病行眶ＣＴ扫描，发现２７例异常。其中眼外肌增大２７例；视神经增粗６例；移位９例；眼球突出２３例；眶隔前移８例；副鼻窦炎１２例。讨论了眼眶直接冠状面扫描在Ｇｒａｖｅｓ’眼眶病诊断中的重要价值及副鼻窦炎与Ｇｒａｖｅｓ’眼眶病的关系。指出ＣＴ扫描对Ｇｒａｖｅｓ’眼眶病诊断及鉴别诊断有重要价值。

Three dimensional modeling method of MIMICS adjacent mask spherical open cell aluminum foam-polyurethane composites based on DICOM data

The complexity and irregularity of the internal structure of aluminum foam and the particularity of the fabricating method make it difficult to establish a three-dimensional model that can accurately reflect the internal structure of aluminum foam-polyurethane composites. This study presents a method of three-dimensional reconstruction of the Materialise's Interactive Medical Image Control System (MIMICS) adjacent mask based on Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) data. Firstly, spherical open cell aluminum foam-polyurethane composites with different pore sizes (5 mm, 7 mm, 9 mm) were prepared. Then the corresponding DICOM data of the spherical open cell aluminum foam-polyurethane composites were obtained by CT-scan. Based on adjacent mask, the three-dimensional simulation model of spherical open cell aluminum foam-polyurethane composites was successfully reconstructed in MIMICS. In order to verify the feasibility of this modeling method, a quasi-static compression simulation of the three-dimensional simulation model was carried out by ABAQUS, and the simulated stress-strain curves were acquired. The quasi-static compression experiments were performed on the prepared aluminum foam-polyurethane composites, and the experimental nominal stress-strain curves were obtained. The simulated nominal stress-strain curves were compared with the experimental nominal stress-strain curves. Results show that the two curves are basically the same. The feasibility and accuracy of the three-dimensional modeling method for the aluminum foam-polyurethane composites are verified.

Intelligent Decision Support System for COVID-19 Empowered with Deep Learning

The prompt spread of Coronavirus(COVID-19)subsequently adorns a big threat to the people around the globe.The evolving and the perpetually diagnosis of coronavirus has become a critical challenge for the healthcare sector.Drastically increase of COVID-19 has rendered the necessity to detect the people who are more likely to get infected.Lately,the testing kits for COVID-19 are not available to deal it with required proficiency,along with-it countries have been widely hit by the COVID-19 disruption.To keep in view the need of hour asks for an automatic diagnosis system for early detection of COVID-19.It would be a feather in the cap if the early diagnosis of COVID-19 could reveal that how it has been affecting the masses immensely.According to the apparent clinical research,it has unleashed that most of the COVID-19 cases are more likely to fall for a lung infection.The abrupt changes do require a solution so the technology is out there to pace up,Chest X-ray and Computer tomography(CT)scan images could significantly identify the preliminaries of COVID-19 like lungs infection.CT scan and X-ray images could flourish the cause of detecting at an early stage and it has proved to be helpful to radiologists and the medical practitioners.The unbearable circumstances compel us to flatten the curve of the sufferers so a need to develop is obvious,a quick and highly responsive automatic system based on Artificial Intelligence(AI)is always there to aid against the masses to be prone to COVID-19.The proposed Intelligent decision support system for COVID-19 empowered with deep learning(ID2S-COVID19-DL)study suggests Deep learning(DL)based Convolutional neural network(CNN)approaches for effective and accurate detection to the maximum extent it could be,detection of coronavirus is assisted by using X-ray and CT-scan images.The primary experimental results here have depicted the maximum accuracy for training and is around 98.11 percent and for validation it comes out to be approximately 95.5 percent while statistical parameters like sensitivity and specificity for training is 98.03 percent and 98.20 percent respectively,and for validation 94.38 percent and 97.06 percent respectively.The suggested Deep Learning-based CNN model unleashed here opts for a comparable performance with medical experts and it ishelpful to enhance the working productivity of radiologists. It could take the curvedown with the downright contribution of radiologists, rapid detection ofCOVID-19, and to overcome this current pandemic with the proven efficacy.

Caroli Disease: A Case Report Observed at the Cocody Teaching Hospital of Abidjan (Cote D’Ivoire)

Caroli disease is a rare affection. It’s commonly associated to polycystic kidneys. We report a case of a nine-year-old girl. She was hospitalized at the pediatric unit of the Cocody Teaching Hospital for an intermittent fever. During the clinical examination, we found a likely cirrhotic hepatomegaly associated to an edematous-ascitic syndrome. Biological exams showed an infectious syndrome with a hyperleukocytosis at 13.000 per mm3, a hyperneutrophilia at 9.600 per mm3. Serological viral markers of B, C and D hepatitis were negative. We saw an intra-hepatic cystic picture at the liver CT-scan with a vascular lesion at his center called a “dot sign”. The diagnosis of Caroli disease could be evocated.

Anatomical Variants of Celiac Trunk in Relation to Its Branching: A Preliminary Sub-Saharan Study

Background: Surgical treatment of upper mesocolic organs is improved by preoperative diagnosis of anatomical variants of celiac trunk. According to the literature, these anatomical variants are little known in sub-Saharan Africa. Purpose: To evaluate the prevalence of anatomical variants of celiac trunk in relation to its branching. Materials and methods: This was a cross-sectional study of descriptive type. It retrospectively evaluated 160 abdominal contrast enhanced CT-scan, from patients attending Yalgado OUEDRAOGO teaching hospital, from 1 January 2015 to 30 September 2016. Patients with a history of heavy abdominal surgery were excluded. Images obtained by 64-row CT-scan were analyzed for anatomical variants of the celiac trunk. Results: One hundred and twenty-eight patients (80%) had a classic anatomical configuration of celiac trunk, while thirty-two (20%) had at least one anatomical variant. Two anatomical variants were found in fifteen patients (9.4%) while five other patients (3.1%) had more than two variants. The most frequent anatomical variant was the hepato-splenic bifurcation, found in fourteen patients (8, 8%). It was followed by common celiac and mesenteric trunk, and then collateral arteries, in particular left hepatic artery and right lower diaphragmatic artery, each with three patients (1.9%). Conclusion: Anatomical variants related to celiac trunk branching, are as frequent in our study as in the literature. However, the two most common anatomical variants were hepato-splenic bifurcation and common celiac and mesenteric trunk.

Tuberculosis of the Sternoclavicular Joint: Report of 3 New Cases Observed in Abidjan

The sternoclavicular joint is a rare site of osteoarticular tuberculosis. We now report three new cases of sternoclavicular tuberculosis. The report concentrates mostly on immunocompromised patients, notably two with HIV infection and one case marked by its acute onset which is rather original because, in this case, there was a swollen sternoclavicular joint with normal X-ray and it was the CT-scan which showed the lesions. The etiological diagnosis was made in the first case by polymerase chain reaction and in the second case by identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In the third case, the diagnosis was presumptive and the outcome on anti-tuberculous drugs was satisfactory. Sternoclavicular joint tuberculosis is unusual;the painful swelling of that joint should lead to realize a performed imaging such as CT-scan.

Anatomic Variants of Sphenoid Sinuses and Adjacent Structures: A Study of 225 Skull CT Scans at CNHU-HKM in Benin, West Africa

Objective: This study aimed to describe anatomic variants of sphenoidal sinuses and adjacent structures. Methods: A retrospective and descriptive study was carried out at The National and University Teaching Hospital Hubert Koutoukou Maga (CNHU-HKM), of Cotonou in Benin from November 1st to December 31st. A review of CT scans skull was done for the subjects aged at least 16 years old. Anatomic variants of the sphenoid sinuses and adjacent structures have been investigated. Results: 225 CT scans of skull were analyzed. The sellar type was the most common type of pneumatization of sphenoid sinuses (74.7%). Pneumatization of anterior clinoid processes of greater and lesser wings of the sphenoid and of pterygoid processes was observed in 7.1%;4.6%;3.3% and 7.3%;respectively. Protrusion of carotid canals and optic canals, maxillary and vidian nerves were observed in 48.3%;13.1%;18% and 9.5%;respectively. Conclusion: Risky anatomic variants of the sphenoid sinuses and adjacent structures are also described by CT-scan among Beninese. Before any surgery and to avoid bad outcome, a precise approach of these risky anatomic variants must be carried out by using CT-scan.

Primary Hepatic Angiosarcoma Revealed by a Hemorrhagic Parietal Metastasis about a Case in Lomé

Angiosarcoma is a malignant tumor developed at the expense of endothelial cells. Primary hepatic localization is rare. Chronic toxic exposure is classically described as responsible for the development of this tumor. The diagnosis is based on the pathological examination. The authors report a case of hepatic angiosarcoma in a 28-year-old woman who received for a thoraco-abdominal hemorrhagic parietal secondary lesion. A thoracic abdominal and parietal ultrasound was performed followed by thoraco-abdomino-pelvic CT. The diagnosis was confirmed by histology. Palliative treatment combining surgery and chemotherapy has been established with a poor prognosis.

Activation of DNA Damage Signaling Components by Diagnostic Computed Tomography (CT) Scans Detected in Patient Samples Using an Electrochemiluminescence-Based Assay Platform

Technologies that measure activation of components of the DNA damage response (DDR) have applications in exposure assessment and personalized medicine. The DDR and associated DNA repair pathways encompass hundreds of proteins, making detailed measurement of activation technically challenging and laborious. The purpose of our study was to develop protein-specific assays for certain DDR components on a high-throughput electrochemiluminescence (ECL)-based platform. We developed five working assay pairs for ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM), checkpoint kinase 2 (CHK2), phosphorylated-ATM S1981, phosphorylated-CHK2 T68 and phosphorylated-tumor protein p53 (p53) S15. We validated the ECL results against traditional immunoblot and γ-H2AX foci measures in cell and cancer models. In an effort to test the ECL-based technology in a clinical setting, we utilized peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients undergoing computed tomography (CT) scans. CT scans represent both a valuable medical imaging diagnostic and a controlled environmental exposure to ionizing radiation for research studies, as they deliver ~2 to 31 millisieverts (mSv) and are known to activate DDR components. In this study, we show that ECL-based technology can measure the basal and damage-induced levels of DDR components in patient PBMC samples. Using a blinded study design and patient matched pre- and post CT scan samples, we show that ECL-derived data can consistently (94% of the time, 15/16 patients) identify PBMCs that have been exposed to low dose ionizing radiation associated with CT scans. Ultimately, the results of our pilot clinical study support the idea that ECL-based technology is applicable for use in clinical and population cohorts that study components of the DDR.