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Biomedical subjects

E J Potchen

Publications and source records attributed to E J Potchen.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

The history and the effect of the mammography quality assurance legislation in Michigan.

This paper describes the history of mammography quality assurance legislation in Michigan, the first of its kind in the nation. It discusses the collaboration of multiple organizations in the legislative process as well as in the implementation of it. It describes the effect of the legislation on the quality of mammography throughout the state and summarizes the lessons learned from the process, especially as they apply to the implementation of the Mammography Quality Standards Act at the national level.

Female

Changes in magnetic resonance images of muscle depend on exercise intensity and duration, not work.

Echo-planar magnetic resonance imaging was used to study the effect of exercise rate and duration on magnetic resonance imaging signal intensity (SI) of anterior tibialis muscle in normal human subjects (mean age 35 yr, n = 6). Axial midcalf echo-planar images (repetition time/echo time = 6,000/45, acquisition time = 80 ms) were acquired every 6 s for 1 min before and during 15 min of dynamic ankle dorsiflexion exercise (peak force 36% of 1 repetition maximum) at 10, 20, and 30 contractions/min. At each rate, muscle SI rose along an approximately exponential time course (mean time constant 1.8 min) toward a plateau that was linearly dependent on force times contraction rate (r = 0.64, P < 0.01) but varied significantly among subjects. The results confirm previous reports that changes in muscle SI correlate with exercise intensity, but not with total work performed, over a submaximal range of exercise intensities.

Adult

Magnetic resonance measurement of blood flow in peripheral vessels after acute exercise.

Velocity-encoded Cine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to measure blood flow in the anterior tibial artery (AT), posterior tibial artery (PT), and popliteal artery of adult human subjects (mean age 29 yr) before and after 90 s of ankle dorsiflexion exercise. Before exercise, mean flow, peak systolic velocity, and end-diastolic velocity in AT were 8.1 +/- 1.6 (SE, n = 6) ml/min, 26.9 +/- 2.6 cm/s, and -0.6 +/- 0.4 cm/s, respectively. After exercise, mean flow and peak systolic velocity in AT increased by 19-fold and 3-fold, respectively, and end-diastolic velocity increased to 8.7 +/- 1.1 cm/s. Flow in popliteal artery above its bifurcation was similar to the sum of flows in AT and PT, both before and after exercise. Flow in AT declined exponentially after exercise with a mean half-time of 4 min. The results demonstrate the utility of MR phase-encoded flow-velocity measurements for physiological studies of peripheral vascular dynamics after exercise.

Adult

Readability of the radiologic report.

To objectively assess the linguistic complexity of radiographic reports, the authors retrospectively performed readability analysis on 10,361 reports dictated by seven attending radiologists in 1989. A commercial writing evaluation program was used to determine the Flesch-Kincaid readability index of each report. Four radiographic modalities were studied: general radiography, mammography, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Analysis of the reports demonstrated that the average readability index was consistently higher for mammography and MRI when compared with ultrasound and general radiology. Reports were categorized by radiologist and modality, and a two-way analysis of variance was performed that showed a significant difference between radiologist and modality (F = 18.6, P less than .001). To assess the relevance of this observation, 40 chest radiographic reports, randomly selected from the reports in the sample, were sent to family practitioners. The practitioners were asked to evaluate each report for clarity and the certainty of the radiologists about their findings. There was a strong negative correlation between readability and average clarity (r = -0.63, P less than .001) and readability and average certainty (r = -0.58, P less than .001). Thus, the results of this study suggest that there are differences in the linguistic complexity of radiographic reports, as measured by the readability index, among individual radiologists and different modalities. The survey data indicate that reports containing lengthy, complex sentences are viewed negatively by family practitioners and may impede effective communication between radiologists and clinicians.

Evaluation Studies as Topic

Physiologic alterations in cranial blood flow demonstrated by magnetic resonance angiography.

Two-dimensional phase contrast magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) was used to image alterations in cranial blood flow induced by changes in arterial PCO2 in an animal model. MRA was performed on five sheep; 64 acquisitions were obtained in each of three flow encode directions using a 256 x 256 matrix. Sheep were intubated and ventilated with oxygen and 1.5% halothane to prevent any movement. Femoral arterial cannulation was performed to monitor arterial blood gases and pressure. The sheep was secured in a cradle with its head and neck in a 6-inch imaging coil within the 26-cm-clear bore. Images were obtained during separate physiologic states, which were induced by changes in ventilatory parameters. These were normocapnia (PCO2 35-45 mm Hg), hypercapnia (greater than 90-130 mm Hg), and hypercapnia with superimposed hypoxia. Comparisons of images were performed using both a video flashback mode and image subtraction. The authors noted that 1) both venous and arterial flow velocity qualitatively increased during hypercapnia; 2) in addition to change in the caliber of blood vessels, redistribution of blood flow within the cranium could be demonstrated during the PCO2 changes; and 3) blood was directed away from superficial structures and toward the brain during superimposed hypoxia. MRA, previously used to show steady-state cranial flow also can demonstrate flow responses to physiologic stimuli.

Animals

Physical principles and application of magnetic resonance angiography.

This paper reviews the physical principles of magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) acquisition methods, explains image presentation strategies for MRA, and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of various MRA methods. These methods include the time-of-flight, phase contrast, and black blood techniques. The essential goal of each of these flow imaging methods is to maximize signal differences between flowing and stationary tissues in order to provide morphological and physiological information.

Blood Vessels

Magnetic resonance angiography in intracranial vascular disease.

Magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) offers a noninvasive alternative for studying normal and pathological blood vessels within the brain. Insights from important clinical aspects of intracranial vascular disease enable the effective application of MRA. Several MRA techniques have demonstrated clinical utility for the detection and characterization of intracranial vascular pathology. Clinical protocols should comprise combinations of time-of-flight and phase-contrast acquisitions to achieve diagnostic sensitivity.

Brain Neoplasms

Intra- and extracellular pH of the brain in vivo studied by 31P-NMR during hyper- and hypocapnia.

Studies were performed to determine the pH relationships among the extracellular, intracellular, and arterial blood compartments in the brain in vivo. Resolution of the extracellular monophosphate resonance peak from the intracellular peak in 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra of sheep brain with the calvarium intact enabled pH measurement in these respective compartments. Sheep were then subjected to both hyper- and hypoventilation, which resulted in a wide range of arterial PCO2 and pH values. Linear regression analysis of pH in these compartments yielded slopes of 0.56 +/- 0.05 for extracellular pH (pHe) vs. arterial pH, 0.43 +/- 0.078 for intracellular pH (pHi) vs. pHe, and 0.23 +/- 0.056 for pHi vs. arterial pH. These data indicate that CO2 buffering capacity is different and decreases from the intracellular to extracellular to arterial blood compartments. Separation of the extracellular space from the vascular space may be a function of the blood-brain barrier, which contributes to the buffering capability of the extracellular compartment. A marked decrease in the pH gradient between the extracellular and intracellular space occurs during hypercarbia and may influence mechanisms of central respiratory control.

Animals

Direct relationship between proton T2 and exercise intensity in skeletal muscle MR images.

Exercise selectively increases the signal intensities (SI) of active muscles in T2-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) images. If these SI increases are graded with exercise intensity, the identification of muscle recruitment patterns may be possible using MR imaging. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of force generation during exercise on muscle T2 values. Also, we examined the effects of extracellular fluid volume (ECV) expansion on muscle T2 values. Transaxial midcalf images were collected before and after exercise on eight volunteers in a 1.5T GE magnet using a standard spin echo sequence. Exercise consisted of three consecutive bouts of ankle dorsiflexion against graded loads. Three subjects also underwent brief bouts of lower leg venous occlusion (ECV expansion) during and in addition to the exercise protocol. T2 values for the dorsiflexors significantly increased after exercise. Greater mean force produced during exercise caused greater increases in T2 after exercise (T2 = 29.6 +/- 0.9 X Force). Exercise and venous occlusion caused equivalent increases in muscle cross-sectional area. These equivalent increases in ECV were not accompanied by equivalent increases in muscle T2; venous occlusion alone caused less than a 5% increase in T2 while exercise caused a 14% to 25% increase. Consequently, a direct relationship between increases in T2 and in ECV after exercise was not established. Venous occlusion during exercise, however, did significantly augment the increase in T2 and ECV of the anterior compartment muscles. Contrast enhancement among muscles after exercise in T2-weighted MR images is dependent on generated force during exercise.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult