Relative Telomere Length in Blood Leukocytes of Patients with Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury: A Pilot Study

@#Introduction: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear is the most common knee ligament injury, especially in athletes. The objective of this study was to investigate relative telomere length (RTL) in blood leukocytes of patients with ACL injury compared with that of controls. Materials and Methods: A total of 187 subjects were invited to participate in this study. Ninety-two patients with clinically diagnosed ACL rupture were enrolled. Ninety-five age and gender-matched healthy controls were also recruited. Blood leukocyte RTL were analysed using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results:Patients with ACL rupture had significantly longer relative telomere length than healthy controls (P=0.002). The patients with ACL rupture were classified into two groups according to the sport history of patients which are contact sports and non-contact sports. RTL in patients with non-contact sports was significantly greater than those with contact sports (P=0.006). Moreover, RTL was inversely correlated with body mass index of patients with ACL injury (r=-0.34, P=0.001). Logistic regression analysis indicated that long RTL was associated with a higher risk of ACL rupture. Conclusion: The present study showed that subjects with ACL rupture had significantly greater telomere length compared with their age and gender-matched controls. This finding may result from the increases in physical activity and overexpression of telomerase which acts as a protective mechanism against ACL injury. RTL in blood leukocytes is associated with a risk of ACL rupture.

Magnetic resonance imaging in the evaluation of meniscal tear

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been recognized as the imaging method for non-invasive evaluation of knee pathology, particular meniscus and ligaments. Objective: Compare the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of MRI in the detection of meniscal tears with arthroscopy. Material and methods: Twenty-seven patients who were diagnosed as meniscal tear on arthroscopy with preoperative MRI were included in this study between January 2003 and June 2008. MRI was performed with a 1.5 Tesla Signa Horizon Echospeed MRI for eight patients between January 2003 and June 2005 and a 1.5 Tesla Signa Excited HD MRI for nineteen patients between July 2005 and June 2008. The location of meniscal tear was evaluated by studying three areas: anterior horn, body and posterior horn. Sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of the anterior horn, body, posterior horn and overall meniscus were calculated. Results: The sensitivity of MRI for detecting meniscal tears at the anterior horn, body, posterior horn, and overall medial meniscus was 42.9%, 87.5%, 94.1%, and 81.3%, respectively. The specificity was 95.0%, 84.2%, 81.8%, and 88.0%, respectively. The accuracy was 81.5%, 85.2%, 89.3%, and 85.4%, respectively. The PPV was 75.0%, 70.0%, 88.9%, and 81.2%, respectively. The NPV was 82.6%, 94.1%, 90.0%, and 88.0%, respectively. The sensitivity of MRI for detecting meniscal tears at the anterior horn, body, posterior horn and overall lateral meniscus was 0%, 100%, 85.7%, and 80.0%, respectively. The specificity was 100%, 100%, 90.5% and 97.2%, respectively. The accuracy was 96.0%, 100%, 90.5%, and 97.2%, respectively. The PPV was 100%, 75% and 80%, respectively. The NPV was 96.3%, 100%, 95.0%, and 97.2%, respectively. Conclusion: MRI is a helpful technique to detect meniscal tear with different sensitivity and accuracy on the meniscal location

Surgical epicondylar axis vs anatomical epicondylar axis for rotational alignment of the femoral component in total knee arthroplasty.

The anatomical epicondylar (AEpi) axis and the surgical epicondylar (SEpi) axis have been widely used as the epicondylar axis, one of the most commonly used axes for rotational alignment of the femoral component in total knee arthroplasty. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the differences and reliability between these two axes. Computerized tomography scan of the distal femur was done in 55 osteoarthritic knees. Thirty-two knees were varus and 23 knees were neutral in alignment. Axes for rotational alignment of the femoral component were lined including posterior condylar (PC), anteroposterior (AP), AEpi, and SEpi axes. Angles between each pair of axes were measured including PC-AEpi, PC-SEpi, AP-AEpi, AP-SEpi and AP-PC. The average PC-AEpi angle was 5.7 degrees +/- 1.7 degrees. The average PC-SEpi angle was 1.5 degrees +/- 2.1 degrees. The average AP-AEpi angle was 90.2 degrees +/- 1.0 degrees. The average AP-SEpi angle was 94.5 degrees +/- 1.3 degrees and the average AP-PC angle was 95.9 degrees +/- 2.0 degrees. Twenty-nine per cent of knees had prominent medial epicondyle (a landmark for AEpi axis) and 5 per cent had prominent medial sulcus (a landmark for SEpi axis). The lateral epicondyle was prominent in all knees. There were no significant differences of all angles of referencing axes between men and women (p>0.05). There were no significant differences between varus and neutral knees in terms of PC-AEpi angle and PC-SEpi angle (p>0.05). The AEpi axis was more perpendicular to the AP axis and more external rotated to the PC axis than the SEpi axis. Because the perpendicular line to the AEpi axis was closer to the AP axis than that of the SEpi axis and the AEpi axis provided appropriate external rotated to the PC axis, the AEpi axis was more reliable for rotational alignment of the femoral component than the SEpi axis. On the other hand, SEpi axis, providing less external rotated to the PC axis, may be difficult to define and could cause patellofemoral tracking problems in total knee arthroplasty.

Consequences of hip fracture among Thai women aged 50 years and over: a prospective study.

OBJECTIVES: To compare post-discharge outcomes of hip-fractured Thai women aged 50 and over with age and sex-matched controls. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: From 1995 to 1997, 60 Thai women aged 50 years and over with hip fracture who had been admitted to the King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital and their age and sex-matched controls (n = 60) were recruited in a case-control study. These 120 patients were followed for at least 1 year after discharge from the hospital by telephone and/or mailed questionnaire to obtain information about outcomes including death, dependency status and new fracture. Relatives of missing subjects were contacted and interviewed about the outcome status of the patients. RESULTS: The mean age (SD) of those with and without hip fracture was 71.7 (7.6) and 71.2 (8) years, respectively. Of these 120 subjects, 3 cases and 3 controls could not be contacted. The longest follow-up period was 32 months. Means periods (SD) of follow-up among cases and controls were 18.8 (6.7) and 18.1 (6.6) months, respectively. Eleven cases and 5 controls died during the follow-up period. Seven cases and 3 controls died within 1 year after hospitalisation. The survival rate of the cases clearly separated from that of the controls after 1 year. There was a statistical significance of survival between the cases and controls (p < 0.05). The mean (SD) BAI and CAI scores one year after discharge of hip fractured subjects (n = 50) were 17.3 (3.4) and 5.5 (2.3), respectively. The mean (SD) BAI and CAI scores one year after discharge of the control subjects (n = 54) were 16.9 (5) and 5.3 (2.5), respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between dependency status among the two groups. Three (5.2%) cases and one (1.8%) control had new fractures during the follow-up period (no statistical significance). CONCLUSION: This study showed that appropriate management of hip fracture could maintain the dependency status of hip-fractured women for one year. However, Thai women aged 50 years and over with hip fracture had a higher mortality rate than those without hip fracture which suggests that hip fracture might be a sign of poor health status among these elderly women.