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Objective: To examine the influence of age, sex and height on the symphysis–ischial spine distance (SID) measured on pelvic Computed tomography (CT)images in subjects of reproductive age, and to determine the interobserver reproducibility. This measurement (SID) is of great importance because the use of intrapartum ultrasound is based on the assumption of a specific value (30 mm) of such a measurement. Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study in which SID was measured in subjects aged 20 to 44 years who had been scheduled for pelvic CT at our centre from January 2018 to May 2021 for different reasons. Radiographic measurements of the pelvis were obtained through the multiplanar reconstruction of the CT image. The images obtained from all of the participants were independently assessed by three senior radiologists, and the SID measurements made by each one were blinded from those of the remaining observers. Correlations between the SID and patient age, height and sex were analyzed by univariate and multivariate linear regression. Results: The mean SID for 87 of the enrolled participants (45 women, 42 men) was 28.2 ± 6.25 mm. Among the observers, the mean difference in this distance was 1 to 2 mm, and was scarcely related to measurement size, with agreement being greater than 70%. The mean SID was significantly related to sex and height (SID = −24.9 − 6.51 × sex (0 or 1) + 0.34 × height (cm); p = 0.01; sex equals 1 for a man and 0 for a woman), such that it was a mean of 2.5 mm greater in women than men (29.50 mm vs. 26.99 mm). Conclusion: Measurements of SID on CT images show good interobserver reproducibility, and are related to sex and height.

Background Persistent interstitial pulmonary emphysema (PIE) is a rare disease and it is even more uncommon in full-term infants, like our patient. When conservative management is not successful, surgical treatment should be considered. In our case, ECMO support was iniciated to keep the patient ventilated in order to allow the lung to heal using lung protection strategies. Case presentation We report an 18-day-old male infant with bronchiolitis that required mechanical ventilation with high positive airway pressures due to severe respiratory insufficiency. Chest X-rays and computed tomography scan revealed a severely hyperinflated left lung with extensive destructive changes and multiple small bullae. These findings were consistent with diffuse persistent interstitial emphysema (PIE), probably due to mechanical ventilation. The patient required high frequency oscillatory ventilation, inotropic support and continuous renal replacement therapy. He eventually suffered a cardiac arrest that required cardiopulmonary resuscitation and ECMO during 5 days with progressive clinical improvement and normalization of the X-ray. Conclusion We present a patient with diffuse persistent interstitial emphysema who, despite an unfavorable evolution with different mechanical ventilation strategies, had a good response after ECMO assistance.

T cells recognize antigens via their cell surface TCR and are classified as either αβ or γδ depending on the variable chains in their TCR, α and β or γ and δ, respectively. Both αβ and γδ TCRs also contain several invariant chains, including CD3δ, which support surface TCR expression and transduce the TCR signal. Mutations in variable chains would be expected to affect a single T cell lineage, while mutations in the invariant chains would affect all T cells. Consistent with this, all CD3δ-deficient patients described to date showed a complete block in T cell development. However, CD3δ-KO mice have an αβ T cell-specific defect. Here, we report 2 unrelated cases of SCID with a selective block in αβ but not in γδ T cell development, associated with a new splicing mutation in the CD3D gene. The patients' T cells showed reduced CD3D transcripts, CD3δ proteins, surface TCR, and early TCR signaling. Their lymph nodes showed severe T cell depletion, recent thymus emigrants in peripheral blood were strongly decreased, and the scant αβ T cells were oligoclonal. T cell-dependent B cell functions were also impaired, despite the presence of normal B cell numbers. Strikingly, despite the specific loss of αβ T cells, surface TCR expression was more reduced in γδ than in αβ T cells. Analysis of individuals with this CD3D mutation thus demonstrates the contrasting CD3δ requirements for αβ versus γδ T cell development and TCR expression in humans and highlights the diagnostic and clinical relevance of studying both TCR isotypes when a T cell defect is suspected.

One of the lesser known atypical forms of radiographic presentation of pulmonary edema is the isolated or predominant affection of the upper right lobe in patients with mitral valve insufficiency. As a possible cause of this distribution, it has been established that the regurgitation jet during the ventricular systole may be directed selectively toward the orifice of the right upper lobe vein, locally accentuating the forces responsible for edema formation. There are few cases with these characteristics in the literature reviewed. We present an additional three cases, concluding that localized pulmonary edema secondary to mitral insufficiency should be suspected in the presence of any type of airspace consolidation in the right upper lobe, with or without associated affection of the middle lobe, in patients with a history of mitral valve insufficiency, especially when there are radiologic signs of left heart failure.