Archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery
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Arch Orthop Trauma Surg · Jan 1990
Comparative StudyCurrent evaluation of sonography of the meniscus. Results of a comparative study of sonographic and arthroscopic findings.
Sonography of the knee has gained in significance in the diagnosis of the meniscus; experimental and clinical studies have demonstrated that the normal and pathological anatomy of the meniscus can be visualized on a sonogram. The aim of this comparative investigation is to evaluate sonographic lesion diagnosis in comparison with arthroscopic findings, using a standardized examination method. Two hundred and six knee joints were first scanned sonographically using a 7.5 MHz sector transducer. ⋯ The patients were of varying ages and had varying anamneses. The results show that sonography of the meniscus is a valuable diagnostic help when the knee-joint symptoms are not clear, given that the correct technical equipment and sufficient experience with this form of examination are at hand. The advantage of sonography is that, in contrast to arthroscopy, it is noninvasive and easily available.
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A transverse fracture of the proximal part of the fifth metatarsal is rarely caused by direct trauma but is usually secondary to overload. These fractures, when treated conservatively, have a high recurrence rate and give rise to prolonged sporting inactivity. The clinical and radiographical difference between an acute versus a stress fracture will decide on further treatment. A reversed graft, by an asymmetrical trapezoid autograft, offers a simple and effective surgical solution for nonunion and delayed union of Jones fractures in sportsmen.
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The present authors analyzed the pathological alterations of 1966 tendons examined in the National Institute of Traumatology, Budapest, during the past 18 years. The majority of cases proved to be tendinopathies (hypoxic-degenerative tendinopathy or calcific tendinitis, tendolipomatosis and mucoid degeneration) leading to tendon rupture. The incidence of tendon tumors, foreign bodies, infectious tendon diseases, and other pathological conditions was clearly lower. ⋯ In degenerative tendinopathies and alterations due to hereditary disease, electron microscopy was necessary. Polarization microscopy had a key role in examination of collagen structure and architecture, and identification of foreign bodies in the tendons. Enzyme histochemical and immunohistochemical examination were reliable but not absolutely necessary in the diagnosis of tendon pathology.
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Arch Orthop Trauma Surg · Jan 1990
New aspects of lumbar disc disease. MR imaging and histological findings.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and plain X-ray and CT studies were performed in patients with a history of lumbar back pain due to spinal disc disease. Spin-echo pulse sequences (SE), phase-contrast techniques (partial saturation sequences with delayed readout, PS), and fat-suppressing inversion recovery sequences (STIR) were employed. In 74 of 325 patients, PS and STIR images displayed vertebral marrow changes adjacent to the end-plates of the affected segments. ⋯ In six patients histological diagnosis showed substitution of hematopoietic marrow by fatty tissue, cartilaginous particles, degeneration of fat cells, and an increase in extracellular fluid with different components. The etiology is still unclear, but a correlation with lumbar disc disease is demonstrated. These vertebral marrow changes were best displayed with STIR and phase-contrast MR sequences, both providing contrast changes superior to T2-weighted SE techniques.
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Twenty cases of aneurysmal bone cyst were reviewed, with an average follow-up of 10.3 years. Twelve patients still had open growth plates at diagnosis, but all of them were fully grown at follow-up. The treatments performed were: resection of the cyst or of the whole affected bone, curettage, and curettage and bone grafting. ⋯ Two patients relapsed, one that had been treated by curettage alone and one by curettage and bone grafting. Five patients showed skeletal deformities at follow-up. Two had lesions of the growth plate, most likely caused by radiation therapy, whereas in the other three growth had probably been impaired by surgical trauma.