LEFT HAND RADIOGRAPHS 12/11/05 at 19:25 hrs:

PATIENT: davyr
HISTORY: 36 y/o m with h/o ocd and hankering for fountain pens
INDICATION: r/o anything





TECHNIQUE: AP, lateral, and oblique views of the left hand submitted.

FINDINGS: The phalanges are held in partial contraction, grasping what appears to be a radioopaque cylindrical foreign body, portions of which appear metallic. Clinical correlation is advised. This is suggestive of an artifact commonly known as a fountain pen, given that one end is metallic and shaped like a nib. Of note, these are charmingly inefficient writing tools not often seen these days.

Incidental note is made that the hand itself is held in partial flexion and abduction with respect to the carpus. Judging by this study, it would seem an inelegant way to hold such a device/relic.

IMPRESSION: 1) Findings may be compatible with the given history of obsessive-compulsive disorder, in light that the patient was reportedly unwilling to remove his writing instrument for this study, and given that the patient has an interest in fountain pens in the first place. Other differential diagnoses to consider would include too much time on their hands, extreme nerdiness, and sleep deprivation. Further psychiatric consultation may be of value. 2) Incidental note made of Southpaw Overwriter Syndrome. Further evaluation and correlation with barium enema may be helpful.

Electronically Signed: by davyr 12/12/05 at 14:46 hrs.

That's diagnostic of: can't let go of my Doctors' pen.

Regards,
J

Excellent!

good giggle of the day (GGotD?)

Wow!

LOL!!! Good one!

Second opinion. I think we need to surgically remove the "foreign objects". It is the ONLY way to cure this problem.... of course, the same problem can develope on the other hand over time, but we'll deal with it then.

Kev

Hi,

Is that a Conway Stewart? Looks like one.

Dillon

yep, jeen was right, it's the cs doctor's pen. hmm, i'm betting it'd be fun to identify pens by their plain film appearance. ok, more x-rays to come...but don't hold your breath.

Don't overdose... or are you using that pen as a shield ?

The presence of your ring reminded me of that famous radiograph :

Are you are doctor dav? How else do you get xrays of your own hand? That is so cool!

If a cure is really wanted, only some brain surgery can achieve the goal.

Awesome!

AZ


PS> I hope to be able to show you "similar" pictures (no hand thought) soon - I have a surprise coming in Winter - stick around

Umm, I may be the only one not to know this, but why is that radiograph famous, please?

Michael

Hi,

It was one of the first and was made by the discoverer.

Dillon

If I am not mistaken about this old pic, it shows a ring on the finger of Ms. Roentgen herself, the first X-Ray 'model' and wife of the inventor

Absolutely correct.

http://nobelprize.org/physics/laureates/19...ontgen-bio.html

Quote...

On the evening of November 8, 1895, he found that, if the discharge tube is enclosed in a sealed, thick black carton to exclude all light, and if he worked in a dark room, a paper plate covered on one side with barium platinocyanide placed in the path of the rays became fluorescent even when it was as far as two metres from the discharge tube. During subsequent experiments he found that objects of different thicknesses interposed in the path of the rays showed variable transparency to them when recorded on a photographic plate. When he immobilised for some moments the hand of his wife in the path of the rays over a photographic plate, he observed after development of the plate an image of his wife's hand which showed the shadows thrown by the bones of her hand and that of a ring she was wearing, surrounded by the penumbra of the flesh, which was more permeable to the rays and therefore threw a fainter shadow. This was the first "röntgenogram" ever taken. In further experiments, Röntgen showed that the new rays are produced by the impact of cathode rays on a material object. Because their nature was then unknown, he gave them the name X-rays. Later, Max von Laue and his pupils showed that they are of the same electromagnetic nature as light, but differ from it only in the higher frequency of their vibration.

...

Gerry

Dave (davyr):

Those x-rays and the write-up are hee-lar-ious!

Thanks very much for a really good laugh,
~Maja

Hi Dave,
Wow!Man that looks cool and interesting -leftie here-.Funny article read Thanks for posting

thanks for the kind comments, everyone.

wilhelm conrad roentgen (1845-1923), discovered what he coined x-rays (x=unknown) in his wurtzburg lab in 1895. so he's the grandpappy of radiology. apparently a humble man, he didn't like his photograph to be taken, refused to apply for patents or proprietary rights on x-rays, and "even eschew(ed) eponymous descriptions of his discovery and its applications". quote and pics of roentgen taken from the dept of radiology, penn state u. college of medicine website, A CENTURY OF RADIOLOGY. fascinating stuff there. he was the first recipient of the nobel prize in physics in 1901.


radiologists (and patients) owe a lot to roentgen and the numerous men and women physicists and physicians who have developed the field to what it is today.

some old x-ray cathode tubes



here's some pages of a fun text from one of my former attendings, mike mulligan, md, classic radiologic signs, an atlas and history...

this one's for our admin emeritus.

this one's for our many dog lovers here on fpn.

and one for winedoc...

Very cool!! Have the same pen in my pocket today. Didn't know Napoleon has spondylolisthesis. Thanks for sharing.

Kev

that's me. :bunny1:

Without hardcore sciences (physics, chemistry, biochemistry, etc.), engineering, and mathematics, pictures like the one below are what would have continued defining the face of medicine:



See definition of trepanation.

no, i don't think napoleon had spondylolithesis/spondyloptysis (not that i know of, anyway). it's when you have greater than grade iv spondylolithesis that an ap view of the lumbar spine will look like an upside-down napoleon's hat.

Well... does not look that different from today's surgical practice, does it ?

About Napoleon, I had the same split second hesitation than Kevin, before I realized that Napoleon died more than half a century too early to have his innard-picture taken. I saw that hat in person, btw, and--if I recall correctly--a full uniform is close by, as well as one of his horses, preserved (a white horse). In the cript of the same building is the huge pink marble sarcophagus that contains his remains.

Roentgen was also the first man to see if his wife was as pretty inside than outside, without having to open it

Ah, I see. Re-read the small text and yes, it did states "Napoleon's Hat" sign. Thanks for clarification.

Kev

Couple years ago when we were in Paris, did visit Napoleon's resting place. Impressive structure and had a blast at the Musee de Armee (sp?). There were like no tourists and I had a great time... of course my wife was bored to tears. I am like "Hey, that's Marshall Ney's portrait", and she is like "Marshall who?" and I had to make it up to her by taking her shoppping. It was my turn to say "Louis Vuitton, who?"

Kev

At least, Vuitton's main stores are by the Arc de Triomphe

here's some pics from about a year ago of napoleon's resting place. yeah, that army museum was da bomb! but my wife was bored out of her mind.



and just like kev, later that day, the s.o. went, what else, shopping. she bagged the bag she's wearing (one of many, many bags). and later that night, berthillon ice cream on the st. louis quay, yum!

OK Dave,

Your wife and my wife should never, and I mean NEVER, meet.... We will go broke with the bag thing, and no more pen money.... what horror!!

Funny that you two Dave and Kevin rave about the Musée de l'Armée : the building, l'Hotel des Invalides (litteraly "hotel of the disabled") was built on Napoleon's order as a hospital for the veterans of his campaigns. Your Doctor's Pens would have felt right at home