Area of the plateau depression and higher age predict post-operative subsidence in split-depression lateral tibial fracture.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to determine factors that affect post-operative subsidence in split-depression lateral plateau tibial fracture (OTA/AO 41B3.1) which was treated with raft construct through a locking plate. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The retrospective study evaluated all split-depression lateral plateau tibial fracture cases treated with raft construct through a locking plate between 01/2015 and 04/2020 with a minimum of 12-month follow-up. Data on the patients' age, sex, time from injury to surgery, type of plate, and use of subchondral bone defect filler were retrieved from the hospital database. The measurements of total plateau area (TPA), depressed lateral plateau area (DPA), and maximal plateau depression (MPD) were performed on the patients' pre-operative CT scans. The percentage of DPA to TPA (%DPA) was calculated. Post-operative radiographs were used for the evaluation of plateau subsidence. A subsidence greater than 2 mm was considered a failure. RESULTS: There were 41 consecutive cases of split-depression lateral plateau tibial fracture in the reviewed period. Five cases were excluded, three of them were lost to follow up, 1 patient had no pre-operative CT scan and 1 had a history of cancer. A failure was identified in 11 (31%) cases. Patients in the failure group were older (61.0 vs 50.7 years, p = 0.01), and had a higher incidence of fractures extending into intercondylar eminence (100% vs 56%, p = 0.02). Multiple logistic regression identified DPA (OR = 3.6; 95%CI 1.4-9.5, p < 0.01) and age (OR = 1.2; 95% CI 1.0-1.4, p = 0.02) as predictive factors for plateau subsidence. DPA cut-off value for predicting subsidence greater than 2 mm was 5.8 cm2 [Area Under the ROC Curve 0.89 (95% CI 0.74-0.97), sensitivity 91%, specificity 80%, p < 0.01)]. CONCLUSION: Age and depressed lateral plateau area (DPA) in split-depression lateral plateau tibial fracture treated with raft construct through a locking plate are risk factors for post-operative subsidence greater than 2 mm.

Mesenchymal Stem Cells in the Treatment of Human Spinal Cord Injury: The Effect on Individual Values of pNF-H, GFAP, S100 Proteins and Selected Growth Factors, Cytokines and Chemokines.

At present, there is no effective way to treat the consequences of spinal cord injury (SCI). SCI leads to the death of neural and glial cells and widespread neuroinflammation with persisting for several weeks after the injury. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) therapy is one of the most promising approaches in the treatment of this injury. The aim of this study was to characterize the expression profile of multiple cytokines, chemokines, growth factors, and so-called neuromarkers in the serum of an SCI patient treated with autologous bone marrow-derived MSCs (BM-MSCs). SCI resulted in a significant increase in the levels of neuromarkers and proteins involved in the inflammatory process. BM-MSCs administration resulted in significant changes in the levels of neuromarkers (S100, GFAP, and pNF-H) as well as changes in the expression of proteins and growth factors involved in the inflammatory response following SCI in the serum of a patient with traumatic SCI. Our preliminary results encouraged that BM-MSCs with their neuroprotective and immunomodulatory effects could affect the repair process after injury.

Factors influencing femoral neck fracture healing after internal fixation with dynamic locking plate.

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to determine factors that affect the early failure of femoral neck fracture healing after internal fixation with a dynamic locking plate implant. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Retrospective analysis of all cases of femoral neck fracture (FNF) primarily treated with dynamic locking plate implant from 04/2014 to 04/2017 with a minimum of 6 month follow-up. For the purpose of the study age, sex and time from admission to surgery were retrieved from the hospital medical database. Patient's pre- and postoperative hip radiographs were reviewed by the authors. Radiographically detected fracture healing failure (non-union and screw cut-out) was recorded. RESULTS: For the period of the study, there were 77 consecutive FNF (76 patients) treated with the dynamic locking plate implant. Eight (10%) patients were lost to follow-up, 13 (17%) patients died within 6 months after surgery. Healing failure was identified in 23 (41%) of remaining 56 cases. Three of four (75% failure rate) failures were observed in cases with fair-quality reduction and two of two (100% failure rate) failures were noticed in the case of none telescoping screw located within subchondral bone. Multiple logistic regression showed an increased risk of fracture failure in cases with at least one completely collapsed telescoping screw (OR = 73.2; 95% CI 9.4-568.5, p < 0.01), while telescoping screws' location around centre of the femoral head reduces the risk of failure (OR = 14.7; 95% CI 1.6-135.1, p = 0.02). CONCLUSION: In our group of patients, fracture healing failure of the FNF treated with dynamic locking plate reached 41%. This high failure rate was associated with poor fracture reduction, not subchondrally and centrally placed telescoping screws and in the case of complete collapse on at least one of the telescoping screws.

Local transcutaneous cooling of the spinal cord in the rat: effects on long-term outcomes after compression spinal cord injury.

This study tested efficiency of a novel thermoelectric cooler for local transcutaneous spinal cord cooling. Spinal cord compression was made by epidural balloon inflation at T8-T9 level of the spinal cord. Experimental animals (n=20) were divided into two groups. In the hypothermic group, local cooling started 25 min after spinal cord injury and lasted for 1 h with paravertebral temperature maintained at 28.5 degrees C (+/-0.3). Normothermic group underwent identical procedures, but their temperature was maintained normothermic. The assessment of neurologic recovery was performed once a week during a 4 weeks survival period. After 4 weeks animals were sacrificed and the extent of the spinal cord lesion morphometrically evaluated. There were no statistically significant intergroup differences in BBB scores and preserved volumes of the spinal cord tissue. In consecutive cross-sectional areas, hypothermic animals had significantly more preserved white matter at the cranial periphery of the lesion. It was concluded that mild posttraumatic hypothermia (31.8 degrees C) had some protective effect on tissue loss after spinal cord injury but this effect was not associated with functional improvement.