Archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery
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Arch Orthop Trauma Surg · Nov 2001
Case ReportsNatural history of paediatric intervertebral disc calcification.
This case report concerns a 5-year-old boy who had intervertebral disc calcification with involvement of two disc spaces and herniation of nucleus pulposus in one. The patient's symptoms resolved completely in a week with conservative measures. At the 4-year follow-up, the child was symptom-free and in full health, the herniation of nucleus pulposus had resolved completely, and calcification had disappeared in one of the disc spaces. Although the cause of this disorder is uncertain, the course is benign and self-limiting, it seldom requires surgical intervention, and the natural history is one of resolution and complete resorption of the calcification.
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Arch Orthop Trauma Surg · Nov 2001
Comparative StudyIntramedullary nailing in humeral shaft fractures. Mechanical behavior in vitro after osteosynthesis with three different intramedullary nails.
The aim of this in vitro study was to compare the mechanical behavior of fixation by the Russell-Taylor nail with the more recent Polarus nail. Fixation with an experimental nail made from polyacetal polymer was also included in the study. Thirty humeri were fractured and randomized to receive one of the three nail types. ⋯ The Polarus nail gave higher rigidity of the nail/bone construct than the two other types. The Russell-Taylor nailing exhibited a high degree of 'play' (uncontrolled rotation). The polyacetal nails allowed a large elastic deformation before failure.
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Arch Orthop Trauma Surg · Nov 2001
Case ReportsSoft-tissue haemangioma and periosteal new bone formation on the neighbouring bone.
Deeply situated soft-tissue haemangioma sometimes causes periosteal new bone formation on the neighbouring bone. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the aetiological factors for this phenomenon. We studied 25 patients with soft-tissue haemangioma on whom plain radiographs and computed tomography (CT) and/or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations were performed. ⋯ Pain in the former group was stronger than that in the latter group, the difference being statistically significant. There was no statistically significant difference in size of haemangioma between the two groups. Therefore, the main factor that induces periosteal new bone formation on the neighbouring bone was not the size of haemangioma, but the distance between the haemangioma and the bone.
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Arch Orthop Trauma Surg · Nov 2001
Case ReportsDeep soft-tissue leiomyoma of the popliteal fossa in a 14-year-old girl.
This is the first case report of a deep soft-tissue leiomyoma with intraarticular localization within the knee joint. A 14-year-old girl presented with a painless mass in the dorsal aspect of her knee which she had noticed some 9 months earlier. ⋯ The final diagnosis was established immunohistologically. Although this is a very rare tumor, it has to be considered in the differential diagnosis for soft-tissue swellings of the popliteal fossa.
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Arch Orthop Trauma Surg · Nov 2001
The association of HLA-DR4 antigen with juvenile chronic arthritis and slipped capital femoral epiphysis.
Seventeen children who met the criteria for juvenile chronic arthritis (JCA) were reviewed. Throughout the study, the clinical examination, HLA phenotyping, and radiological assessment of the hips were performed by separate authors who were blinded to other data. At the end of the study, the results were also compared with 25 healthy, age- and sex-matched children. ⋯ The difference was not significant when the patients without SCFE were compared with the control group (p = 1.0). The relative risk of cases with DR4 antigen for SCFE was 57.5, while it was below I for the other antigens. These results suggest that although DR4 is not specific for JCA, it is the common HLA antigen for those who have SCFE, and patients with JCA and HLA-DR4 antigen should be examined for evidence of SCFE, which was not reported before to exist with JCA.