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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Arch Orthop Trauma Surg · Jan 1990
Fracture incidence and bone mineral density of the distal radius in Japanese children.
The incidence of fractures of the distal radius in Japanese persons under 20 years of age was determined, and the bone mineral density of the radius was measured in 236 healthy Japanese children. The peak incidence of fractures occurred at 13 years of age (807 per 100,000) in boys and at 11 (300 per 100,000) in girls. ⋯ The age at the peak incidence of fractures thus coincided with the age at which the metaphyseal/diaphyseal density ratio was lowest. Thus, it is suggested that low bone mineral density at the metaphysis may be the cause of the high incidence of these fractures in adolescence.
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Arch Orthop Trauma Surg · Jan 1990
Case ReportsBizarre parosteal osteochondromatous proliferation of a phalanx.
A rare proliferative osteochondromatous malformation of a proximal phalanx is described. This malformation may mimic the appearance of a sessile osteochondroma or parosteal osteosarcoma on X-rays and may be mistaken for a low-grade osteosarcoma on histology, with disastrous therapeutic consequences. We found that cryotherapy followed by local excision was adequate to remove the tumour.
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Arch Orthop Trauma Surg · Jan 1990
Comparative StudyThe APS knee joint prosthesis. A review of 32 patients.
First clinical and radiographic results with a new knee joint prosthesis, implanted without cement, are reported and the characteristics of the implant (dowel fixation and special instrumentation) presented. The first series of 35 joints with a follow-up period of 1-3 years shows excellent results. ⋯ If these two conditions are met, there is every probability of successful implantation. No problems specific to the implant have been encountered.
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Trauma centers treat more and more patients who have sustained multiple injuries during high energy accidents. The techniques of internal fixation of such fractures may be dictated by the concomitant soft tissue trauma, rather than by the bony injury. ⋯ In stage III, the soft tissues about the fracture site are destroyed and need early, specific soft tissue reconstruction. Indirect reduction without further devascularization of bone, aiming at perfect alignment rather than anatomical reduction of extraarticular fractures, optimal rather than maximal internal fixation as well as the inclusion of soft tissue reconstructive procedures into the armamentarium of the orthopaedic surgeon, require an intellectual and technical reorientation but can be shown to improve the results of the treatment of fractures with concomitant soft tissue injury.