Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction and determination of tunnel size and graft obliquity.

OBJECTIVE: Increase in ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) reconstructions has led to a higher prevalence of patients with postoperative symptoms which require investigation. We aimed to investigate the utility of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computer tomography (CT) in determining tunnel size and graft obliquity after single bundle ACL reconstruction. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective comparison was made on 29 symptomatic knees after anatomic single bundle (trans AM) and transtibial ACL reconstructions which had both MRI and CT scans at an average of 1.3 years postoperatively (2 months-5.7 years). We compared CT and MRI (T2 sequence) tunnel size and graft obliquity estimates using Pearson correlation and t-test. We also compared MRI's of ACL reconstructed knees with hamstrings or patellar autografts, which were confirmed by operative protocol as either antero-medial (AM) technique (n=21) or trans-tibial (TT) technique (n=19). The surgeries were performed for an average of 6.29 (4-10) years for the TT group and 1.3 (0-3) years for the AM group, respectively. The graft inclination was measured relative to the tibial plateau using DICOM software. Statistical analysis used the mean value for each case and the data were processed using the non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test to determine the difference in graft obliquity and tunnel placement. RESULTS: Tunnel size estimates correlate well between CT and MRI on axial scans: R2=0.795 and 0.630 for femur and tibia respectively. The position of the tunnels and graft obliquity were found to differ on MRI images in both coronal and sagittal planes. Coronal graft obliquity averaged 72.38° (ranging from 69° to 76°) using the AM technique and 75.47° (ranging from 72° to 78°) with TT technique. Sagittal graft inclination angle was 54.5 (51-58.5) and 63.68 (59-69.5) respectively. MRI proves to be the most useful imaging method in determining outcome after ACL reconstruction. However, for a better revision of the ACL reconstructions, CT can offer a clearer image of tunnels and bone stock. A more anatomical graft positioning increases obliquity in coronal and sagittal planes and, thus, becomes difficult to assess both tunnels in a single slice. CONCLUSIONS: The anatomic single bundle reconstruction technique has been found to more accurately reproduce the femoral footprint and the orientation of the graft compared to the TT technique where the appropriate tibial tunnel placement resulted in a more vertical graft.

Neurobehavioral studies, in transgenic F3/CONTACTIN (C57BL/6J × CBA) mice, on cognitive and anxiety aspects during late-adolescential period.

OBJECTIVE: Besides than in the control of developmental events, axonal adhesive glycoproteins may be also involved in functions requiring fine organization and connectivity of the nervous tissue. We previously demonstrated morphological alterations and functional cerebellar deficits in transgenic mice (TAG/F3 mice) ectopically expressing the F3/Contactin axonal glycoprotein under the control of a selected regulatory region from the Transient Axonal Glycoprotein (TAG-1) gene. In the present study, the hippocampal function was explored by evaluating the ability of TAG/F3 mice to encode spatial and non-spatial relationships between discrete stimuli and to analyze an anxiety-related behavior. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To the first end, mice were placed in an "open-Field" containing five objects and, after three sessions of habituation (S2-S4), their reactivity to objects displacement (S5-S4) and object substitution (S7-S6) was examined.To the second end, mice were placed in the "elevated zero maze", a standard test to explore the anxiety-related behavior, in order to study, in transgenic mice, the effects of F3 misexpression on emotional reactivity by measuring the avoidance of the unsheltered open sectors. RESULTS: Statistical evaluations of reactivity to object novelty, TAG-F3 mice showed a lower DO exploration with respect to wild-type mice and, regarding DOs, TAG/F3 mice interacted less than wild-type mice, showing an impaired spatial change response. Furthermore, the number of HDIPS in transgenic TAG/F3 mice resulted significantly lower with respect to the controls (wild type). CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that the coordinated expression of axonal adhesive glycoproteins may be relevant for the functional maturation of the hippocampus.

Musculo-skeletal tumors incidence and surgical treatment - A single center 5-year retrospective.

OBJECTIVE: Muscle-skeletal tumors represent a challenging pathology for orthopedic surgeons worldwide. The extremely invasive character, the local destruction, the high recurrence rate, the high incidence in young patients and the unfavorable prognosis are all very well known. For these patients it is very important to produce an accelerated functional, social and psychological postoperative rehabilitation. We studied 121 cases of muscle-skeletal tumors which were treated in our hospital over a 5 years period. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We noticed a high prevalence in males and mainly between the 2nd-3rd and 5th-7th decades of their life. At our observation, most patients were suffering in advanced stages of malignant lesions. RESULTS: We try to manage amputations below 5%, with a significant reduction in introducing reconstructive surgical methods as a choice of treatment (10 prostheses and 12 cases of filling with acrylic cement or bone substituent increased with internal fixation). In this way we could observe an unusual ratio between benign and malignant tumors, probably caused by the patient's lack of concern for minimal symptoms. The rural citizen's addressability towards the medical system is alarmingly low, due to the big gap existing from diagnosis to treatment. CONCLUSIONS: There is still an hard effort to develop better reconstructive techniques for the treatment of muscle-skeletal tumors and more studies must be made in order to achieve this goal.

Orthopaedic and surgical features in the management of patients with haemophilia.

Haemophilia is a hereditary disease due to a defect of the X chromosome, which determines a faulty production of coagulation factor VIII in haemophilia A (85% of cases) and factor IX in haemophilia B. Three degrees of severity can be distinguished: low, with a deficient factor concentration greater than 5% of normal values, medium, with a concentration between 1 and 5%, and severe, comprising more than half of haemophilia cases, with a concentration of factor VIII or factor IX under 1% of normal. The evolution of haemophilic arthropathy is almost always from haemarthrosis to chronic synovitis and extended erosions of the articular surface, culminating in the final stage of articular destruction-chronic haemophilic arthropathy. This paper analyses the results of the treatment applied to a lot of one hundred and ten patients operated inside the our country's sole Compartment of Osteo-Articular Surgery of haemophiliac patients within the Clinic No. 2 of Orthopaedics and Traumatology between 2001 and 2013. This compartment was founded in 2001, being included in the Romanian Health Ministry's programme for financing the treatment for haemophilia. Within the aforementioned time period, a total of 158 patients from the entire country were consulted. From these, 110 patients underwent a series of surgical procedures, 112 in total. The age interval of the studied lot was between 9 and 45 years, with a maximum between 11 and 20 years. With replacement therapy and correct surgical indication, osteoarticular surgery in haemophiliacs, performed in a specialized centre by a multidisciplinary team, can give good results with acceptable risks.

Repair of a post-traumatic cartilage defect with a cell-free polymer-based cartilage implant: a follow-up at two years by MRI and histological review.

Microfracture is frequently used as the first line of treatment for the repair of traumatic cartilage defects. We present the clinical and histological results 18 months to two-years after treatment in a 26-year-old male with a post-traumatic chondral defect of the medial femoral condyle managed by microfracture covered with chondrotissue, a cell-free cartilage implant made of a resorbable polyglycolic acid felt and hyaluronic acid.