Precision of navigated and conventional open-wedge high tibial osteotomy in a cadaver study.

High tibial osteotomy (HTO) is an established treatment option for isolated medial osteoarthritis in young and active patients. One important factor for success of this procedure is the degree of correction of the weight-bearing line. Computer-assisted navigation systems are believed to improve the precision of axis correction through intraoperative real-time monitoring. This study investigates the precision of correction of the weight-bearing line in open-wedge HTO with and without a navigation system. Nineteen legs of well-preserved human cadaver were randomly assigned to navigated (n = 10) or conventional (n = 9) HTO. In order to achieve a sufficient amount of correction in all legs the weight-bearing line was aimed at 80 percent of the width of the tibial plateau. The mean deviation of the weight-bearing line from the desired 80 percent was 1 percent in the navigated and 8.6 percent in the conventional operated legs (p = 0.002). The weight-bearing line of all navigated but only 5 of the 9 conventional operated legs was within a +/- 5 percent tolerance level (p = 0.33). Navigated open-wedge HTO achieved better correction of the weight-bearing line than the conventional method in human cadaver legs. Future studies have to prove this advantage in a clinical setting and it's effect on patient outcome.

Reliability of limb alignment measurement for high tibial osteotomy with a navigation system.

OBJECTIVE: High tibial osteotomy (HTO) is one treatment option for young and active patients with unicompartmental osteoarthritis. The success of this procedure substantially depends on the degree of correction of the mechanical axis. Computer-assisted navigation systems are believed to improve the precision of axis correction through intraoperative real-time monitoring. This study investigates the accuracy of limb alignment measurements with a navigation system on a cadaver specimen. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The measurements were performed on a well-preserved cadaver specimen with a mechanical leg axis of 4 degrees varus. Data was collected during the HTO workflow. Repeated serial measurements were undertaken by four different surgeons. After these measurements, different landmarks were deliberately set at the wrong place to examine the influence of mistakes during registration. RESULTS: There was a high intra- and interobserver reliability with a mean mechanical leg axis of 3.9 degrees +/- 0.7 degrees and a mean error of 0.6 degrees. The grossly incorrect placement of landmarks for knee and ankle center resulted in an incorrect mechanical leg axis of 1 degrees valgus up to 10 degrees varus. CONCLUSION: The computer-assisted navigation system provided precise information about the mechanical leg axis, irrespective of the observer's experience.

[Obesity and arthritis]. / Ubergewicht und Arthrose.

An increasing prevalence and incidence of osteoarthritis especially in aging populations results in different socioeconomic problems. Recent studies have shown an association between osteoarthritis and overweight especially for knee and hip joints. The mechanisms responsible for the destruction of joints are still unknown, however. Obesity and overweight can lead to higher force transmission on joints at least in lower extremities, but mechanical factors hardly explain the association between overweight and hand osteoarthritis shown in different studies. There may be additional metabolic effects responsible for cartilage destruction, but distinct mechanisms have not been demonstrated up to now. They would, however, support preventive measures as well as therapeutic approaches.

Determination of cis, cis-methylene interrupted polyunsaturated fatty acids in fats and oils by capillary gas chromatography.

A capillary gas chromatographic (CGC) method is described for the determination of cis,cis-methylene interrupted polyunsaturated fatty acids (cis-PUFA) in fats and oils. The sample is saponified and the liberated fatty acids are esterified to the corresponding methyl esters. The latter are analyzed by CGC using a 60 M. SP2340 capillary column. Area percent values for 9,12-cis,cis-C18:2 and 9,12,15-cis,cis,cis-C18:3 fatty acid methyl esters are summed to give the total cis-PUFA content. Gas chromatographic results agreed well with those obtained by an enzymatic lipoxygenase method at the 31-48% cis-PUFA levels with a correlation coefficient of 0.98. The method has a precision (relative standard deviation) of 0.33% at a 44.4% cis-PUFA level in margarine oil.

Automated method for the determination of niacin and niacinamide in cereal products: collaborative study.

In a collaborative study, an automated method for the determination of niacin and niacinamide in cereal products was compared with the official final action microbiological (43.121-43.125) and chemical (43.044-43.046) methods. Ten samples of cereal products, including enriched flour, yeast-leavened baked products, fortified breakfast cereals, and baked pet food products, were submitted to 14 laboratories. Nine laboratories reported values by the automated method, 6 reported values by the microbiological method, and 7 reported values by the chemical method. The results from the microbiological method were not subjected to analysis of variance because of the unusually large between-laboratory variation. The between-laboratory coefficients of variation for the automated and chemical methods were 10.90 and 10.18%, on the basis of results from 7 and 4 laboratories, respectively. There was no significant (p greater than 0.05) difference between methods when results from the 4 laboratories who used both methods were compared. The automated chemical method has been adopted as official first action.