[Acupuncture treatment of knee arthrosis. A long-term study]. / Akupunkturbehandling til knaeartrose. Et langtidsstudie.

The purpose of this study was to examine acupuncture treatment of patients with osteoarthrosis of the knee. Twenty-nine patients with a total of 42 osteoarthritic knees were randomized to two groups. Group A was treated while group B served as a no treatment control group for nine weeks. Analgesic consumption, pain and objective measurements were registered. In the second part of the study 17 patients (26 knees) continued with treatments once a months. Registrations were continued for a total study period of 49 weeks. Comparing group A with B, there was a significant reduction in pain, analgesic consumption and in most objective measures. In group A + B combined there was an 80% subjective improvement, and a significantly increased range of movement of the knee. Results were significantly better in those who had not been ill for a long time. The second part of the study showed that it was possible to maintain the improvements.

Acupuncture treatment of severe knee osteoarthrosis. A long-term study.

PURPOSE: Acupuncture treatment of patients waiting for arthroplasty surgery. METHODS: 29 patients with a total of 42 osteoarthritic knees were randomized to two groups. Group A was treated while Group B served as a no-treatment control group. After 9 weeks Group B was treated too. Analgesic consumption, pain and objective measurements were registered. All objective measures were done by investigators who were "blinded" as to Group A & B. In the second part of the study 17 patients (26 knees) continued with treatments once a month. Registration of analgesic consumption, pain and objective measurements continued. Total study period 49 weeks. RESULTS: Comparing Group A to B there was a significant reduction in pain, analgesic consumption and in most objective measures. In Group A + B combined there was an 80% subjective improvement, and a significantly increased knee range movement - an increase mainly in the worst knees. Results were significantly better in those who had not been ill for a long time. In the second part of the study, it was shown that it was possible to maintain the improvements. CONCLUSIONS: Acupuncture can ease the discomfort while waiting for an operation and perhaps even serve as an alternative to surgery. Seven patients have responded so well that at present they do not want an operation. (USD 9000 saved per operation).

Predictive value of subjective and objective evaluation before acupuncture treatment.

To evaluate if it is possible to predict the outcome of acupuncture treatment in patients with knee osteoarthrosis, six treatments were given during a 3 week period. Follow-up time was 9-17 weeks. Seven parameters were evaluated to examine if they had any influence on the outcome of treatment: Age, duration of disease, pain, range of knee movement, analgesic consumption, knee score (an objective and subjective evaluation of the knees) and x-ray changes. Twenty-nine patients were included with a total of 42 osteoarthritic knees waiting for a total knee replacement. The median age was 69.2 years, and median duration of disease was 4.2 years. 85% of the participants reported a subjective effect, and in 88% an objective effect was found. Although there were some significant differences when you looked at the 7 parameters above, the pattern was not a consistent one. Follow up results also indicated that those with the best immediate results, not necessarily were the ones with the best long-term effect. It is not possible to predict the outcome of acupuncture treatment of osteoarthritic knees. Immediate results are not a guide-line for long-term results, which indicate that acupuncture research must include a follow-up period.

C-type particles are inducible in Se-Ax, a continuous T-cell line from a patient with Sézary's syndrome.

Se-Ax is a continuous mature T-cell line that we have established from a patient with Sézary's syndrome. An important finding was that the Se-Ax cell line required human serum for initial growth. Here we show that transfer of the permanent cell line to a medium deficient of human serum induces production of C-type retroviral-like particles with a unique morphology. Ultrastructurally, these particles are 120 nm in diameter with hexagonal shape, and show a small, centrally located round core of 30 nm. They are observed only extra-cellularly; typical budding, however, is not found. Both by serological testing and molecular analysis we substantiate the morphological conclusion that these particles do not represent common human or animal retroviruses. The inducibility of the particles may be a hint as to a possible endogenous origin.

A continuous T-cell line from a patient with Sézary syndrome.

A continuous cell line, Se-Ax, from a patient with Sézary syndrome has been established. The Se-Ax cell line is IL-2 dependent, requires human serum for permanent growth, and has the following phenotype: CD1-, CD2+, CD3+, CD4-, CD5-, CD8-, CD20-, CD25+; it expresses the T9, T10, and HLA-DR antigens. This cell line reveals multiple chromosome aberrations as seen in the most abundant abnormal clone in peripheral blood. Therefore, it is not unlikely that it derives from tumor cells. A putative cytotoxic cell line derived from the same patient has only weak killer-cell activity against the autologous permanent cell line: this CD8+ cytotoxic cell line has a 14q+ chromosomal marker. The fact that the patient demonstrated no natural killer-cell or activated killer-cell activity against the Se-Ax cell line may in part explain the successful establishment of the continuous cell line from bulk culture.