[Ultrasound imaging of the anterior cruciate ligament. Possibilities and limits]. / Sonographie des vorderen Kreuzbands: Möglichkeiten und Grenzen.

We carried out sonography of the femoral origin of the anterior cruciate ligament in the dorsal cross section with a 7.5-MHz linear scanner in 25 test subjects with healthy knee joints. A physiological difference between the sides in the size of the hypoechoic region of the origin could be defined on the basis of the measurements obtained in both knee joints. Values outside a reference range which could be evaluated from this difference were rated as pathological in terms of an anterior cruciate ligament rupture. The reliability of this method in definitively diagnosing an anterior cruciate ligament rupture was analysed statistically as compared to the golden standard of arthroscopy on 65 patients by means of the two-by-two frequency table test. The femoral origin of the cruciate ligament in 25 test subjects had a median width of 3.1 mm (range 1.7-5.8 mm) on the right and 3.4 mm (range 1.7-4.4 mm) on the left. The median difference between the sides is 0.4 mm (range 0-1.8 mm). If the 3rd to the 97th percentile is selected as the reference range, our data show a physiological difference between the sides of 0-1.5 mm. The median age of the 65 patients was 31 years (range 14-74 years). Two thirds of all patients were men. A rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament was diagnosed sonographically in 19 patients. The result was confirmed arthroscopically in 15 patients. In 4 patients, there was a false positive sonographic finding. Forty-six patients did not fulfil the sonographic criteria of a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament. Of these, 38 showed an intact anterior cruciate ligament on arthroscopy. Eight patients had a false-negative sonographic finding. The corresponding statistical analysis showed sensitivity of 65%, specificity of 90% and precision of 79%. Accordingly, the diagnostic reliability of knee joint sonography in diagnosing a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament appears to be unsatisfactory, since old ruptures, above all, cannot be imaged with certainty (sensitivity 65%). On the other hand, a positive sonographic finding points with relative certainty to a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament even before the operation (precision 79%). Histological analysis of the cruciate ligament preparations obtained intraoperatively showed that in particular the fresh anterior cruciate ligament rupture can be imaged sonographically. Retrospectively, knowledge of the history is thus crucial for interpretation of the sonographic image. After acute trauma to the knee, a side difference in the femoral region of origin of the anterior cruciate ligament of more than 1.5 mm, as revealed sonographically, is a certain indication that the anterior cruciate ligament is ruptured. When there is a positive sonographic finding, ligament strain, synovial bleeding and partial ruptures of the anterior cruciate ligament as well as plica ruptures must be considered as possible diagnoses.

Decreased haematopoietic colony growth in long-term bone marrow cultures of HIV-positive patients.

Deficiencies in bone marrow stromal cells, i.e. fibroblasts, macrophages, endothelial cells and adipocytes, are considered to play a pathophysiological role in HIV-associated haematopoietic failure. Long-term bone marrow cultures (LTBMC) enable the longitudinal investigation of haematopoietic progenitor cell and bone marrow stromal growth. Therefore, in this study, the haematopoietic colony growth of bone marrow from patients with severe HIV infection was compared to that from healthy controls in LTBMC. The total cumulated number of colony-forming units/granulocyte-macrophage (CFU-GM) was 6.7-fold higher (293.6% vs. 44.0%, p < 0.01), that of colony-forming units/granulocyte-erythrocyte-macrophage-megakaryocyte (CFU-GEMM) was 3.5-fold higher (28.7% vs 8.3%), and that of burst-forming units/erythrocyte (BFU-E) was 31.1-fold higher (68.4% vs 2.2%) than that from HIV-positive patients, respectively (colony number before LTBMC = 100%). In contrast, the cumulated cell number at the end of LTBMC from HIV-positive patients was not reduced (cell numbers in percent of initially seeded cells: HIV-positive 418.4%, HIV-negative 397.1%). The significantly reduced colony-forming capacity over a significantly shorter time span, without reduction in the absolute cell number, in LTBMC from patients with severe HIV-infection as compared to healthy controls, suggests that uncoupling between cell proliferation and differentiation is a pathophysiological mechanism in HIV-dependent haematopoietic failure.

[Thrombolytic therapy of antithrombin III-deficiency-induced mesenteric vein thrombosis in a newly operated patient]. / Lysetherapie einer durch Antithrombin-III-Mangel verursachten Mesenterialvenenthrombose bei einem Frischoperierten.

A 21-year-old patient presented with extensive thrombosis of the mesenteric veins. He was in a serious condition after laparatomy in another hospital. The cause of the thrombotic event was found to be an inherited antithrombin III-deficiency. As a sole therapeutic possibility a systemic lysis with streptokinase was performed and was followed by a favourable immediate result. Unfortunately the subsequent course was complicated by a histologically confirmed necrotizing arteritis which was responsible for the lethal outcome 57 days after admission.