Squamous cell carcinoma arising in a giant epidermal cyst: a case report.

Epidermal cysts are commonly encountered in surgical practice. Malignant degeneration of epidermal sebaceous cyst is uncommon. The authors report the case of a 38-year Filipino woman presenting with a voluminous sebaceous cyst of the left buttock. Ultrasonography and computer tomography were made preoperatively without any hint of eventual malignant degeneration. Marginal excision was performed with direct closure of the skin. The histological examination revealed epidermal sebaceous cyst with squamous cell carcinoma in situ, which is a quite rare, but well known complication occurring in sebaceous cysts.

Costs induced by hip fractures: a prospective controlled study in Belgium. Belgian Hip Fracture Study Group.

The economic burden of hip fractures is thought to be important, but the excess medical costs they induce remain largely unknown. We assessed the direct medical costs induced by hip fractures during and after hospitalization. Hospital costs of 170 consecutive Belgian women with hip fracture were gathered. During the year following discharge, all medical costs were collected for the 159 hip fracture women who survived the acute hospitalization stay. A similar collection of data was performed on a comparison group of 159 age-and residence-matched women without a history of hip fracture. The mean cost of the acute hospital stay was 8,667 Belgian francs and the mean 1-year hip-fracture-related extra costs after hospitalization was 6,636 Belgian francs. During the year following the acute hospital stay, 19% of the hip fracture women and 4% of the comparison women were newly admitted to nursing homes (p<0.001). Although health care costs increased with age, hip-fracture-related extra costs after hospitalization seemed similar in those below or above 81 years old. These extra costs amounted to 7,710 Belgian francs in women not living in nursing homes at the time of fracture, and to 3,479 Belgian francs in women who lived in nursing homes. Health or mental status before hip fracture seemed not to affect extra costs. Taking into account the higher mortality of women with hip fracture, the extra costs during the acute hospital stay and during the 1-year follow-up amounted to a mean 15,151 Belgian francs. In conclusion, both acute hospital stays and subsequent medical care contribute significantly to medical costs induced by hip fractures.

[Pathologic fracture of the tibia associated with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease]. / Fracture pathologique du tibia compliquant une maladie de Charcot-Marie-Tooth.

The authors report a case of pathologic fracture of the distal tibia associated with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. Pathologic fracture was visible four weeks after initial pain. Treatment consisted in a short leg walking cast for six weeks. Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease is a slowly progressive neurogenic muscular atrophy affecting the distal parts of the lower limbs. The muscular atrophy is responsible for radiographic bony changes including narrowing of the shaft with thinning of the cortex, rarefaction at the end of the long bones and relative widening of the medullary cavity. Pathologic fractures in neuromuscular disease are rare; a few cases have been reported following application of very small forces. The authors draw attention to the increased risk of pathologic fractures in patients with neuromuscular disease. Ambulatory treatment of fractures should be used whenever possible; prolonged immobilization could result in further loss of function.

Cranio-facial and humeral melorrheostosis.

First described by LERY and JOANNY in 1992, melorrheostosis is an uncommon linear hyperostosis of unknown aetiology, which may be associated with soft tissures changes. Although all bones may be affected, cranio-facial involvement is very rare. Only six such cases have been found in the literature. This report describes a case of cranio-facial and left humeral melorrheostosis with symptomatic radial nerve involvement. Resection of the melorrheostotic bone was performed because of involvement of the radial nerve.

[Tennis elbow: surgical findings in 17 cases and etiopathogenetic hypothesis]. / Les epicondylites: découvertes opératoires dans 17 cas et hypothèses etio-pathogéniques.

Lateral epicondylitis is the most common source of elbow pain. Surgical treatment is easy but precise etiology remains uncertain. We reviewed 17 medical files of surgically treated lateral epicondylitis. Chondral lesions of the radial head were systematically looked for. Out of those 17 elbows, 11 showed extension limitation before surgical treatment. From this sub-group, 9 presented chondral lesions. None of the 6 elbows without extension limitation showed chondral lesions. Increased tension of the extensor carpi radialis brevis associated with the eccentric movement of the radial head, seems to be an important factor in the pathogenesis of those lesions. We believe that chondropathy of the radial head is a consequence of lateral epicondylitis.