Unusual insidious spinal accessory nerve palsy: a case report.

INTRODUCTION: Isolated spinal accessory nerve dysfunction has a major detrimental impact on the functional performance of the shoulder girdle, and is a well-documented complication of surgical procedures in the posterior triangle of the neck. To the best of our knowledge, the natural course and the most effective way of handling spontaneous spinal accessory nerve palsy has been described in only a few instances in the literature. CASE PRESENTATION: We report the case of a 36-year-old Caucasian, Greek man with spontaneous unilateral trapezius palsy with an insidious course. To the best of our knowledge, few such cases have been documented in the literature. The unusual clinical presentation and functional performance mismatch with the imaging findings were also observed. Our patient showed a deterioration that was different from the usual course of this pathology, with an early onset of irreversible trapezius muscle dysfunction two months after the first clinical signs started to manifest. A surgical reconstruction was proposed as the most efficient treatment, but our patient declined this. Although he failed to recover fully after conservative treatment for eight months, he regained moderate function and is currently virtually pain-free. CONCLUSION: Clinicians have to be aware that due to anatomical variation and the potential for compensation by the levator scapulae, the clinical consequences of any injury to the spinal accessory nerve may vary.

Maisonneuve fracture without deltoid ligament disruption: a rare pattern of injury.

The Maisonneuve fracture is considered by many to be one of the most unstable ankle injuries. We report a rare injury involving fracture of the proximal fibula in association with a posterior malleolar fracture and disruption of the anterior-inferior tibiofibular ligament, without disruption of the deltoid ligament or fracture of the medial malleolus. This report of a diagnostically challenging case highlights the importance of timely clinical and radiographic reassessment of a patient who fails to improve with initial therapy, and describes the clinical and diagnostic imaging findings of an unusual ankle injury.

Correlation of pQCT bone strength index with mechanical testing in distraction osteogenesis.

Distraction osteogenesis is an established method of treatment of non-unions and limb length discrepancies. Despite improvements in surgical techniques and fixation devices there is still a considerable possibility of failure of the regenerate bone after frame removal. The hypothesis of the present experimental study was that a noninvasive bone strength marker, the strength-strain index (SSI) measured by peripheral quantitative computerized tomography (pQCT), could be significantly correlated with a biomechanical bone strength index, the maximum load at bone failure (F(max)), assessed in a three-point bending test. The right tibias of fifteen male New Zealand White rabbits were subjected to gradual lengthening using an external fixator. At the end of the consolidation phase (55th day) the animals were sacrificed and the lengthened tibiae were collected free of soft tissue, after removal of the lengthener, for immediate scanning and mechanical testing. The values of cortical bone mineral density, cortical bone area, and the corresponding SSIy, as measured by pQCT, were assessed for statistically significant correlation relative to the values of the F(max) and stiffness as evaluated by the three-point bending test were assessed. SSIy showed a statistically significant positive correlation with the maximum load (F(max)) with a correlation value R=0.846 (p<0.001), and it was a good predictor of F(max) since it was able to describe the 71.6% of variability of F(max)(R2=0.716). Furthermore, cortical bone area appeared to be highly correlated with F(max) (p<0.005), but it was a less efficient predictor of F(max) (R2=0.471). There was, also, a statistically significant correlation between SSIy and bone stiffness as assessed in the 3-point bending test (p<0.005). In conclusion, the present study reveals that the SSI can be used as a sensitive index of adequate consolidation of the regenerate bone, possibly able to reduce mechanical failure due to premature frame removal. In clinical relevance, the aforementioned hypothesis should be applied in studies of human populations and possible confirmation of its validity would establish pQCT as a valuable diagnostic tool not only in distraction osteogenesis but also in other techniques of bone healing.