Archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery
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Arch Orthop Trauma Surg · Jan 1990
"Physiological osteoporosis" and "osteoblast insufficiency" in old age. Comparative radiological-morphometric and statistical studies on the spongy bone of lumbar and cervical vertebral bodies.
To investigate the expectation of general insufficiency of osteoblasts with increasing age, we studied autotopsy material from 105 deceased persons of both sexes who had died between 16 and 91 years and in whom clinically manifest diseases of the bone had been excluded. Quantitative morphometric examination of the structure of the spongy bone of the 3rd-5th lumbar vertebral bodies (LVBs) and of the 5th-7th cervical vertebral bodies (CVBs) was carried out in frontal and sagittal planes, the parameters analysed being volumetric density (Vv), surface density (Sv) and specific surface area (S/V), and the results were subjected to statistical evaluation. The results showed that in the three LVBs, Vv, Sv and S/V behave in a similar manner, Vv and Sv decreasing after the age of 50 years by more than one-third while S/V remains constant throughout life. ⋯ This differing behavior of the spongy bone in the two regions of the spinal column is an expression of the different characteristic loading forces in each regions: LVB loading is predominantly static, CVB loading mainly dynamic. Thus, from the functional point of view, what is known as "physiological osteoporosis due to ageing" is nothing more than adaptation by an ageing bone to physical activity, reflecting--like the bone of the young adult--the current loading of the cancellous bone by the actions of the musculoskeletal system. Since such physical activity is often age-related, the performance of the osteoblasts does not depend upon age per se, but merely on the remaining functional adaptive capacities of the ageing organism as whole.
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A case is reported of spontaneous rupture of the biceps femoris muscle, a hitherto undescribed condition. A characteristic history is discussed and a new clinical sign described.
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Arch Orthop Trauma Surg · Jan 1990
Diagnosis of bone and joint infection by leucocyte scintigraphy. A comparative study with 99mTc-HMPAO-labelled leucocytes, 99mTc-labelled antigranulocyte antibodies and 99mTc-labelled nanocolloid.
Fifty-five patients with 60 suspected infections of bones or joints were studied with 99mTc-hexamethylpropyleneaminooxine- (HMPAO-) labelled leucocytes and 99mTc-labelled antigranulocyte antibodies, in part supplemented with 99mTc-labelled nanocolloid. The findings using the different procedures were in good agreement. ⋯ Spondylitis usually shows as non-specific cold lesions. A subtraction technique with computer assisted analysis of HMPAO and nanocolloid scans provides a more precise diagnosis of this condition.
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Arch Orthop Trauma Surg · Jan 1990
Case ReportsIncomplete avulsion of the femoral attachment of the posterior cruciate ligament with an osteochondral fragment in a twelve-year-old boy.
Isolated avulsion of the posterior cruciate ligament from the femoral attachment of the knee as a hyperextension injury is rare. We saw a young child with an incomplete avulsion of the posterior cruciate ligament that occurred after a blow to the anterior tibial surface of a flexed knee; the child revealed a lack of knee extension due to a pinch of the osteochondral fragment connected to the anterior band of the posterior cruciate ligament in the knee joint. Arthroscopic extirpation of a fragment was undertaken.
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Arch Orthop Trauma Surg · Jan 1990
Case ReportsBilateral congenital pseudarthrosis of the clavicle.
A case of bilateral congenital pseudarthrosis of the clavicle in a baby boy is described. The patient is fully asymptomatic, and no functional impairment is present. This is probably only the seventh case described of this rare congenital anomaly.