Via Flibby, I bring you the delights of two rooms, a fun and increasingly complex visual puzzle. Don’t start playing unless you can afford to waste some time! (My score was 977, but I wasn’t attempting to minimize time.)
Feb 042009
Feb 022009
Jan 282009
Once again, here is the original image:
Here is a magnified view of the abnormality, at the front of the knee just below the patella (kneecap):
The patellar tendon is torn. It should be a smooth black stripe, as in the normal image:
The patellar tendon is normally very strong. In fact, you can feel how stout your own patellar tendon is by placing your finger just below your kneecap while your knee is extended, then gently bending your knee back and forth a few degrees (i.e., 2-3 inches).
Hence, patellar tendon ruptures are fairly rare sports injuries. Here’s more information.
Some of the other guesses were reasonable. However, I only gave one image (out of over 100), so many of the other structures of the knee were not included. For instance, the cruciate ligaments were not fully included on this one image and they happenened to be intact. But one would have required seeing the full data set to know one way or another. There probably was also some hemorrhage in the skin and fat just anterior to (in front of) the patellar tendon tear.
If you enjoy these semi-regular radiology case presentations, please let me know. My practice is very busy, so it’s easy for me to find and post interesting case examples to NoodleFood.
Jan 272009
Today’s radiology case is another MRI study that came through my regular practice. I’ll post the ansewr tomorrow.
The patient is a 29-year old man who hurt his knee playing basketball, while jumping for a rebound. Here is the relevant MRI image. What’s wrong with this picture?
For comparison, here is an MRI image of a normal knee (from a different patient) and an anatomy diagram:
What’s your diagnosis? The answer will be posted tomorrow!
Jan 192009
This is a cute logic quiz, provided that you understand it’s a test of whether you can accurately assess the validity of an argument form within a purely deductive (as opposed to inductive) reasoning context.
Hence, it is a bit artificial, given that regular everyday thinking requires a constant interplay between deductive and inductive reasoning.
(Via BBspot.)
Jan 062009
Today’s x-ray case was one I read a few days ago at our Invision offices. The patient is a 59-year old man who complained of chest pain after he fell while horseback riding.
(The weather in Colorado has been pretty mild lately, so people are still doing horseback riding despite the fact that it’s January. I went for a 4-mile run outside on New Year’s Day in shorts and a t-shirt.)
Here is the patient’s initial chest x-ray:
As usual, the patient’s left side is on the right side of the image (marked with a “L” in the upper corner) and his right side on on the image left — exactly as if he were facing the viewer in real life. The lungs are black. The heart is the white area in the middle.
So what’s the abnormality? (Hint: The abnormality is on the patient’s left side.) Keep scrolling down for the answer.
Here is a normal chest x-ray on a different 50-year old man for comparison:
Finally, we got a CT scan of the chest to better delineate the problem. Here is a matching reconstructed image lined up to correspond with the chest x-ray:
Based on this (and the other CT images), we made the diagnosis of a ruptured diaphragm on the left side.
The diaphragm normally separates the chest from the abdomen. Because his left hemi-diaphragm was torn, it allowed his stomach and a large part of his colon to slide upward into the chest cavity. This compressed most of his left lung and pushed his heart far out of position to the right side, in turn causing additional partial compression of the normal right lung.
Fortunately, the patient was still breathing well with just his partially functioning right lung. A small portion of his left lung was still inflated. But because the left hemi-diaphragm wasn’t working, very little air was moving in and out of the left lung.
The family practice doctor seeing this patient was just as surprised as we were. But she got him plugged in with a trauma surgeon right away, and the last I heard the patient was doing well.
Jan 022009
Woo Hoo! NFL Playoffs begin tomorrow!
I decided not to do any regular season fantasy football this year, but I can’t resist a very bit at the end, so Paul and I will both be doing the NFL’s Playoff Challenge 2008. Here’s how it works, in brief:
- It’s free and easy to play
- Create a team of 8 NFL players
- Collect the most Fantasy Points throughout the postseason
- Pick players whose teams will continue playing all the way to the Super Bowl
You pick your eight players (without any kind of draft) before the first game, then you you can make eight roster changes throughout the rest of the playoffs.
I’ve set up the “John Galt League.” If you’d like to join it, try this link. If that doesn’t work, send me an e-mail.
Also, if you want to know why Peyton Manning became the MVP of the league — and why his Colts had such a rocky start and then a spectacular finish — don’t miss Peter King’s write up. It begins about halfway down that first page, then goes on to the next page. It’s mind-blowing.
Dec 252008
Merry Christmas!
Here are two questions for you:
1. What do you like most about your Christmas this year?
2. What will you do differently next year to have an even better Christmas?
Personally, I’m most looking forward to our traditional Christmas dinner with some friends from 1FROG at the always-fantastic Opus Restaurant in Littleton.
Unfortunately, I won’t be doing much else with my day. Paul left bright and early this morning to go to work; he’ll be done around 3 pm. I’m slated to do a full measure of dissertation writing today, as chapter seven has taken me a bit longer than I supposed, albeit for the very good reason that I’ve had develop some major new ideas in it.
Next year, I plan to enjoy Christmas by having more of a Christmas. I’d like to put up some decorations, as well as do some holiday-inspired cooking. That will be possible because I’ll be a doctor of philosophy, rather than a mere dissertating grunt of a graduate student!
Oh, and I almost forgot: Here’s a truly delightful tale — no kidding this time — that I read for the first time just a few weeks ago: “Merry Gravmas” by James P. Hogan. It’s a short short story, but quite memorable: I’ve found myself mulling over the prospect of such a rational future more than a few times since I first read it.
Hence, Merry Gravmas!
Dec 082008
Here’s some cool fun to around play with — but probably not at the office except with headphones on, as sound is definitely integral to the program. (Via David Rehm.)
Objectivist graphic designer John Powers has created these terrific “alternate Christmas cards”:
From the website:
Isaac Newton Christmas CardsCelebrate reason and science on December 25th, instead of the same old bearded mystic!
I like to send Christmas cards, but as an atheist, I have had to limit myself to the hundreds of bland cards that neutrally say “Happy Holidays.” I decided that if it’s okay for (almost) everyone else to stamp, seal, and deliver their philosophy to me every Christmas, I’ll do just the same.
Sir Isaac Newton’s ideas helped to rescue mankind from drudgery and propel it into the space age. I am a lover of reason, and I love it unashamedly, and I want my friends to know it too. They will this Christmas. Yours can, too.
Details
Outside: “On December 25th, a Savior was born. He revealed eternal Truth, bringing Joy to millions. He astonished the world with His command over Nature. He changed history forever.”
Inside: “Happy Birthday, Sir Isaac Newton. December 25, 1642 – March 20, 1726″.
Web site and greeting card designs are copyright © 2008 John Powers.
(John also did free web design for the FIRM site.)
