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Objective: Soft-tissue injuries from animal bites and insect stings are frequent causes of emergency department visits. Although many cases follow a short and benign clinical course, life-threatening complications can occur. Imaging can play an important role in guiding clinical care by revealing the scope of the injury and associated complications. The purpose of this article is to provide a brief overview of the epidemiology of animal-related injuries, with a focus on imaging manifestations of soft-tissue injury using multiple techniques in a pictorial review format., Conclusion: This article reviews the imaging manifestations of soft-tissue injuries caused by animal bites and insect stings. After completing this article, the reader should have an improved ability to recognize complications of soft-tissue injuries and the role of advanced imaging in select cases.

Sonography has been widely utilized for several decades in the diagnosis and follow-up of developmental dysplasia of the hip due to its ability to visualize the nonossified femoral head and portions of the acetabulum in neonates, dynamic capabilities, accuracy, and lack of nonionizing radiation. Furthermore, hip sonography is also used throughout parts of the world to diagnose and guide intervention for both children and adults. The hip joint, tendons, and periarticular structures can be delineated with sonography in a variety of congenital, developmental, infectious, inflammatory, arthritic, traumatic, and neoplastic disorders. The following discussion focuses on the sonographic technique and imaging characteristics of congenital and developmental anomalies of the hip in children, as well as the sonographic evaluation of the hip joint and tendons.

Diffuse hypoxic-ischemic brain injury in the neonate results in neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). Because of differences in brain maturity at time of insult, severity of hypotension, and duration of insult, there are four distinct patterns of brain injury. Cranial ultra-sonography and computed tomography reveal periventricular leukomalacia, germinal matrix hemorrhage, and hydrocephalus. Magnetic resonance imaging is the most sensitive modality for evaluating the patterns of brain injury. In preterm neonates, mild hypotension causes periventricular injury; severe hypotension results in infarction of the deep gray matter, brainstem, and cerebellum. In term neonates, mild hypotension causes parasagittal cortical and subcortical injury; severe hypotension causes characteristic injury of the lateral thalami, posterior putamina, hippocampi, corticospinal tracts, and sensorimotor cortex. Prompt recognition of these imaging findings can help exclude other causes of encephalopathy, affect prognosis, and facilitate earlier (although mostly supportive) treatment., ((c) RSNA, 2006.)

Unlabelled: OBJECTIVE.:The aim of this study was to determine the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of CT in the diagnosis of small-bowel obstruction in children., Materials and Methods: The CT scans of 30 children with surgically proven small-bowel obstruction, 22 children with ileus, and 29 children who served as controls were retrospectively reviewed by two of four interpreters who were unaware of the children's final diagnoses. Causes of obstruction in the patients included 19 adhesions, six cases of volvulus, five intussusceptions, four strictures, and two cases each of internal hernia and abscess. Eight obstructions had multiple causes. The CT scans were evaluated for the presence of small-bowel obstruction using a scale with five degrees of confidence. In cases of discrepancy of more than one level of certainty, a third interpreter was consulted. Criteria for small-bowel obstruction included a discrepancy in caliber between the proximal dilated and the more distal small bowels or generalized small-bowel dilatation (>2.5 cm) in the presence of a collapsed colon. An interpreter's rating that an obstruction was either present or probable was considered a positive finding; a rating indicating that the interpreter was not sure whether an obstruction was present or believed that an obstruction was not probable or saw normal anatomic structures was considered a negative finding for small-bowel obstruction. The cause and level of obstruction also were recorded., Results: There were 26 true-positive (87%) and four false-negative (13%) interpretations for small-bowel obstruction. Among the interpretations of scans of patients with ileus, 68% were true-negative and 32% were false-positive interpretations for small-bowel obstruction. Among the control group, there were no false-positive readings. Sensitivity of CT was 87%, specificity was 86%, and accuracy was 86%. In the scans of children 2 years and younger, CT had a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 0%. Of the patients with surgically confirmed levels of obstruction, the correct level of obstruction was described by both interpreters in 12 (86%) of 14 scans. The causes of obstruction were correctly identified in 14 (47%) of 30 scans., Conclusion: CT is both sensitive and specific for use in diagnosing small-bowel obstruction in children, especially in children older than 2 years.