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Zwitterionic microvesicles formed by catanionic system, based on sodium dodecyl sulfate and hexadecyltrimethyl ammonium bromide, have been investigated for sustained urea release using UV–visible absorption spectroscopy. The change in variables such as temperature, sonication time and initial urea concentration was related to urea entrapment efficiency and release from microvesicles. Korsmeyer–Peppas model was applied to highlight release mechanism and kinetics. Both diffusion and erosion were responsible for urea release and rate constant varied with change in conditions. The quantification of association between urea and catanionic vesicles in terms of binding constant (Kbin) and binding free energy showed that urea binding was thermodynamically favored. Our results indicate that biocompatible pseudo-zwitterionic vesicles have enormous potential to act as sustained release system for nitrogenous fertilizers such as urea.

Aim: To describe imaging findings of cerebral hydatid cysts on computed tomography of brain., Material and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed CT scans of brain in 5 patients with pathologically confirmed hydatid cysts in cerebral hemispheres. The patients were scanned either on a spiral (single slice) CT or on multidetector-row CT before and after intravenous injection of iodinated contrast material., Results: All the patients were children aged 8 to 13 years with 3 boys and 2 girls. Features of raised intracranial tension were present in all the cases at presentation. CT findings of a large intracerebral cystic lesion with significant mass effect and without any calcification or enhancement were common in all 5 cases. Perilesional edema was present in 1 case. Cerebral hydatid was seen as either a homogenous fluid attenuation unilocular cyst (3 cases) or a unilocular cyst with few peripheral daughter cysts (1 case) or cyst filled by multiple daughter cysts inside (1 case). All the cases were operated and cyst was removed completely after craniotomy., Conclusion: Accurate preoperative diagnosis of cerebral hydatid by CT followed by surgery with care to avoid cyst rupture can result in favorable outcome.

Background: Arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) of the uterus are extremely rare and occur either in congenital or acquired form. The most common clinical presentation is abnormal uterine bleeding, which may be aggravated by therapeutic curettage., Case: A case of uterine AVM diagnosed by means of multislice computed tomography (CT). The 37-year-old woman was admitted to the emergency department complaining of hypermenorrhea that had been occurring for the last 5 years. She had undergone multiple currettages for incomplete abortions in the past. Transabdominal ultrasonography demonstrated thickening of the wall of the uterine corpus with numerous cystic lesions. Dynamic CT and CT angiography were useful for detecting and characterizing the pathology in this case. Numerous anomalous blood vessels communicating with the right and left uterine arteries were found in the wall of the uterus and in the parametrium. Uterine and ovarian arteries were enlarged, with early filling of veins on CT angiography. Whole extent of the vascular abnormality was very well depicted by the CT images and CT angiography. The diagnosis of uterine AVMs was thus made noninvasively., Conclusion: This noninvasive technique elegantly demonstrates the uterine AVMs and should be performed to diagnose and to determine the true extent of the malformation, particularly when Doppler ultrasound is inconclusive.