Facial bones show signs of aging with CT imaging

Wrinkled skin isn't the only way our faces show we age: our bone structure changes, too. And a new study used computed tomography scans to reveal the deeper signs of aging.

Researchers with the University of Rochester Medical Center analyzed CT scans of patients in three groups: the young age, 20 to 40; middle age, 41 to 64; and the old age, 65 and up.
The 3-D reconstructions of the facial bones showed extensive changes and decreases in volume as we age, the researchers wrote in the January issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

In both men and women, eye sockets widened and lengthened, the lower jaw shrunk and cheekbones flattened. There were also reductions in upper jaw, brow and nose angles, the researchers said.

These changes could significantly affect someone's appearance, the researchers noted, by reducing support and projections for soft tissue. Decreased volume in the lower jaw, for instance, could make the chin appear to recede and contribute to the appearance of aging of the neck.

While the changes occurred in both sexes, many seemed to strike women earlier, between youth and middle age groups, rather than, as with men, between the middle age and elderly ones.

NYC X-ray tech accused of assaulting sleeping woman fights back

A New York City X-ray technician is accused of sexually assaulting a 59-year-old woman on Sunday while she slept during an exam, NBC New York and the Associated Press report.

But his lawyers claim the woman's charges are baseless, and noted that the woman was drunk when she entered the hospital, the New York Post said.

According to court documents, police accuse Sylvester Chase, a 41-year-old tech from New Jersey, of fondling a sleeping patient during a morning exam at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan, NBC said.

Chase's defense lawyer, John Russo, denied the allegations. He said the X-ray was taken in a busy radiology area, NBC said. According to a report on DNAinfo, Russo said there were no witnesses and no forensic evidence.

The lawyer also questioned the validity of the woman's account as the events allegedly happened while she slept, NBC said. Prosecutors didn't comment on their evidence in the case.

Chase is due back in court Friday.

Referral letters found in the rubbish

For at least a handful of residents of a suburban New Zealand town, Christmas Eve brought an uncomfortable surprise.

Copies of 10 faxed doctors' referral letters to radiologists were found among garbage awaiting collection near a bridge in the eastern suburb of Hamilton, Radio New Zealand reports.

Officials with Waikato Hospital said they were making sure the referrals were acted upon, and were also calling on the public to notify them if more letters turn up.

The letters contain potentially confidentiality-breaching information, such as names, addresses and medical conditions.

Local health officials suspect a doctor might have left the letters in the trash near her apartment, according to the report. Officials said they were investigating the matter and would talk with the doctor once she returned from leave.

The referrals were found in trash heaps in Hamilton East, a town about 70 miles south of Auckland.

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