Anesthesiology
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Most studies examining the prognostic value of preoperative coagulation testing are too small to examine the predictive value of routine preoperative coagulation testing in patients having noncardiac surgery. ⋯ Platelet count abnormalities found in the course of routine preoperative screening are associated with a higher risk of blood transfusion and death.
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Anatomical validation studies of cervical ultrasound images are sparse. Validation is crucial to ensure accurate interpretation of cervical ultrasound images and to develop standardized reliable ultrasound procedures to identify cervical anatomical structures. The aim of this study was to acquire validated ultrasound images of cervical bony structures and to develop a reliable method to detect and count the cervical segmental levels. ⋯ Ultrasound bony images of the cervical vertebrae were validated with an in vitro model. Anatomical bony landmarks are the mastoid process, the transverse process of C1, the tubercles of C6 and C7, and the cervical laminae. Especially, the cervical dorsal laminae serve best as anatomical bony landmarks to reliably detect the cervical segmental levels in vivo.