Approach-based techniques of CT-guided percutaneous vertebral biopsy.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) plays an important role in the characterization of vertebral lesions. Even if latest improvements in MRI permit to understand and suspect the nature of vertebral lesions and positron emission tomography computed tomography (PET-CT) gives information about lesion metabolism, biopsy is still needed in most cases. CT-guided percutaneous vertebral biopsy is a minimally invasive, safe and accurate procedure for definitive tissue diagnosis of a vertebral lesion. CT-guided vertebral biopsy is often the best alternative to a surgical biopsy. The purpose of this technical note is to discuss the approach-based techniques for CT-guided percutaneous vertebral biopsy.

Multiple intrahepatic pancreatic pseudocyst (MIHPPs): an overlooked and misdiagnosed entity.

Pancreatitis and pseudo-pancreatic cysts are frequently encountered entities; however, intrahepatic pseudocysts presenting as large number of liver cysts with absence of overt signs of pancreatitis has never been reported in literature. Here, we report an interesting case of multiple intrahepatic pancreatic pseudocysts (MIHPPs), a challenging diagnosis to be kept in mind while dealing with complex cystic lesions of liver. Pseudocysts are common complication of pancreatitis, often these are located within the vicinity of the pancreas in the lesser sac and the retroperitoneum. Extra pancreatic location of these cysts within the liver is a diagnosis often missed, with only 50 odd cases reported in literature till date. Most of these reported cases are either subcapsular in location or limited in number to one or two lesions. Although rare, possibility of MIHPPs is an important diagnosis that should be kept in mind while considering list of differentials for complex cystic lesions of the liver even in the absence of overt signs of pancreatitis.

Treatment of pediatric femoral shaft fractures by stainless steel and titanium elastic nail system: A randomized comparative trial / 中华创伤杂志(英文版)

<p><b>PURPOSE</b>Literature suggests that the lower modulus of elasticity of titanium makes it ideal for use in children compared with stainless steel. Better fracture stability was observed in association with titanium nails on torsional and axial compression testing. However, stainless steel nails are stiffer than titanium counterparts, which may provide a rigid construct when fixing paediatric femoral shaft fractures. Complications have been observed more frequently by various researchers when titanium nails are used for fracture fixation in patients with increasing age or weight. The concept of this study was to compare the functional outcome after internal fixation with titanium elastic nail system and stainless steel elastic nail system in paediatric femoral shaft fractures.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The study was conducted on 34 patients admitted in the department of orthopaedics, LLRM Medical College & SVBP Hospital, Meerut, India from January 2013 to August 2014. We included patients aged 5-12 years with fracture of the femoral shaft, excluding compound fractures, pathological fractures and other lower limb fractures. Patients were treated by titanium (n=17) or stainless steel (n=17) elastic nail system and followed up for one year. The clinical parameters like range of motion at hip and knee joints, time to full weight bearing on the operated limb and radiological parameters like time to union were compared between two groups. A special note was made of intra- and post-operative complications. Functional outcomes were analysed according to Flynn criteria.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Based on the Flynn criteria, 59% of patients had excellent results, 41% had satisfactory results, and no one showed poor results. There was no clinically significant difference between the two groups with respect to time to union and full weight bearing. But the incidence of puncture of the opposite cortex while inserting the nail and trying to advance it through the diaphysis during operation is greatly different. Only one such case was observed in titanium group but five in stainless steel group.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Majority of paediatric femoral shaft fractures are now treated operatively by elastic stable intramedullary nails. Operative intervention results in a shorter hospital stay and has economic and social benefits over conservative treatment. The cost of stainless steel nail is one third the cost of titanium nail. However, the clinico-radiological results are not significantly different between titanium and stainless steel nails at one year follow-up as observed by our study.</p>