Retrograde calcaneo-talo-tibial nail, subtalar arthrodesis and fibula transposition in the treatment of traumatic bone and articulatory defect of the distal tibia and talocrural joint: A case report.

High-energy trauma of the lower leg can cause conditions such as bone defects, loss of the articular surface or a complex soft tissue injury. Given the type of the injury, as well as the often poor general status of the patient, the initial treatment usually consists of debridement and external fixation. The role of the retrograde calcaneo-talo-tibial nail is acknowledged in the treatment of post-traumatic arthritis of the talocrural joint, rheumatic arthritis, the neuropathic joint as well as some other conditions. We present a case of a thirty-five-year-old man with a lower leg fracture and significant bone defect associated with the loss of the articular surface of the distal tibia which was treated with a retrograde calcaneo-talo-tibial nail. Due to the lack of an adequate implant on the market, an inversely introduced tibial nail was used. Following the nailing of the fracture and the recovery of the soft tissue, transposition of the ipsilateral fibula was performed. Nowadays, different methods for bone defect reconstruction are available such as distraction osteogenesis, bone transport, and the Masquelet technique. However, the calcaneo-talo-tibial nail and transposition of the fibula is another feasible and effective option, especially for unreconstructable joint surfaces.

Chondromyxoid fibroma of the second metacarpal bone--a case report.

This report describes a chondromyxoid fibroma of the second metacarpal bone in a 32-year-old female patient. Chondromyxoid fibroma is a rare, benign, slow-growing bone tumor of cartilaginous origin. Tumor has a high recurrance rate. Our aim was to show successful treatment of a metacarpal chondromyxoid fibroma with wide resection and implantation of finger join endoprosthesis.

Advantages of intramedullar fixation in treatment of congenital tibial pseudoarthrosis--a case report.

This report describes a case of a 29-year old patient with congenital pseudoarthrosis of the distal tibia previously treated unsuccessfully by a conventional surgical method. Tibial congenital pseudoarthrosis is a rare disease characterized by segmental osseous weakness resulting in deformation of the bone and spontaneous fractures which progresses to a tibial nonunion. In our case we used intramedullary stabilization with bone grafting and six month after operation congenital pseudarthrosis of the tibia healed.

The advantages of humeral anteromedial plate osteosynthesis in the middle third shaft fractures.

BACKGROUND: Humeral shaft fractures account for 1.2% of all fractures and occur in a slightly younger population. Their causes include a fall from standing or from height, motor vehicle accident, but can be also pathological. In order to clarify which of both surgeries we performed in our Department for treating humeral shaft fractures had more advantages (anterolateral or anteromedial plating through anterolateral approach) we analyzed incidence of postoperative iatrogenic radial palsies and mean operation time required to complete each surgery. METHODS: During January 1992 to December 2009 on Department of Surgery, Division for Traumatology of Clinical Hospital Center Rijeka, 420 patients (340 males and 80 females with mean age of 38.11 ± 9.29 years) were treated for middle third humeral shaft fracture by anterolateral approach and internal fixation using AO/DCP or LCP plates that was positioned on anteromedial humeral surface in 141 patients (33.57%) and on anterolateral humeral surface in 279 patients (66.43%). RESULTS: None of the patients who had osteosynthesis by using plate on anteromedial humeral sufrace had lesions of the radial nerve. Therefore, χ(2) test revealed significantly higher frequency of postsurgical radial nerve injuries in patients who were treated by anterolateral plating than in patients where anteromedial plating was performed (χ(2) = 17.51; p< 0.05). Anterolateral plating required longer mean operation time than anteromedial plating and the difference in its duration determined by t-test for independent samples showed statistically significant difference (t= 14.57; p< 0.05). CONCLUSION: An anteromedial plating of humeral shaft fractures through anterolateral approach was determinated to be a simple, safe, effective and also fast surgical treatment and we highly recommend it as operative technique for treating humeral shaft fractures.

Real-time expression of hTERT in primary melanoma biopsies.

Skin melanoma is by far the most lethal skin cancer, it is unpredictable by nature and presents a severe diagnostic problem. One of the major issues in melanoma diagnostics is to differentiate it with confidence from a dysplastic nevus. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate hTERT expression on a spectrum of dermal lesions (from normal skin toprimary melanoma) in order to examine its possible role as a diagnostic marker in melanoma diagnostics. In this study we analyzed the expression of hTERT by real-time PCR on 58 freshly obtained biopsy samples (4 samples of normal skin, 12 dermal nevi, 23 dysplastic nevi, 19 primary melanomas). Our results showed slightly greater hTERT expression in dysplastic nevi than melanomas with major data overlap. Considering the given results, hTERT does not seem to be a reliable diagnostic marker for melanoma.

Carotid endarterectomy unexpectedly resulted in optimal blood pressure control.

Resistant hypertension is defined as hypertension that remains above 140/90 mmHg despite the provision of three or more antihypertensive drugs in a rational combination at full doses and including a diuretic. It is associated with adverse clinical outcome and therefore requires aggressive medical treatment. We present a case of 70-year-old woman who was treated for resistant hypertension with a diuretic, ACE-inhibitor, calcium channel blocker, and with centrally acting antihypertensive, moxonodine. Despite of aggressive medical treatment her blood pressure remained above 160/90 mmHg continuously. Large diagnostic workup excluded common causes of secondary hypertension, but revealed significant carotid stenosis present on left internal carotid artery. Carotid endarterectomy was performed in order to improve cerebrovascular prognosis, but unexpectedly resulted in optimal control of her blood pressure. Two months after operation patient was on only one antihypertensive drug, having blood pressure below 130/85 mmHg. We suggest that in selected patients resistant hypertension could be associated with carotid stenosis and carotid sinus baroreceptor dysfunction. For definite conclusions further studies are warranted.

The right atrial thrombus: the sword of Damocles with real risk of massive pulmonary embolism.

Cases of 6 patients admitted at the intensive care unit for massive pulmonary embolism are reported. All patients presented with dyspnea, tachypnea, and tachycardia, and 4 were hypotensive and had syncope. Lung ventilation/ perfusion scans revealed perfusion defects in 4 patients. Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) demonstrated acute cor pulmonale. It also revealed mobile right atrial thrombi in 5 patients, adherent thrombus in the right atrium in 1 patient and patent foramen ovale in 4 patients. Thrombolytic therapy was initiated in 4 patients, and 2 patients received heparin infusion only. Effects of thrombolysis were monitored using bedside TTE during the first 24 hours and in follow-up. The outcome of 4 patients who received thrombolytic therapy was good whereas other 2 patients, who received only heparin, died. Thrombotic mass disappeared 8 to 12 hours after initiation of therapy, and 10 weeks after discharge TTE showed normalized right ventricle dimensions and function in all 4 patients.

The role of telomerase activity in psoriatic skin lesions.

Psoriasis is a benign, chronic skin disease characterized by keratinocyte hyperproliferation and abnormal differentiation. Telomerase is an enzyme-reverse transcriptase that protects chromosomes from degradation by stabilizing telomere length. Recent studies suggest that telomerase activity (TA) may be responsible in part for some of nonmalignant proliferative skin diseases. There is evidence that telomerase has an active anti-apoptotic role. TA in general is associated with cellular proliferation. We hypothesize a relationship between TA, keratinocyte proliferation and apoptosis in psoriatic skin lesions. The TA in telomere elongation makes keratinocyte hyperproliferation possible and is at the same time, one of its limiting factors. This hyperproliferation in psoriasis occurs as a result of significant keratinocyte damage caused by self-reactive T-cells through induction of various apoptotic pathways. On the other hand, TA in telomere elongation, together with other factors, has an active anti-apoptotic role, preserving the necessary amount of equilibrium between these two processes (apoptosis and proliferation) therefore being the main reason why conversion of a psoriatic plaque to squamous cell carcinoma is rare. As there is little data on TA in psoriatic lesions, in evaluation of our hypothesis we suggest thorough parallel studies of TA, telomere length, apoptosis and proliferation in psoriatic lesional skin on multiple checkpoints and targets, using more samples so the reliability of the results would be higher. This is important since a better understanding of these factors might provide new possible therapeutic targets.