Radiographic Features of the Metacarpal in Blauth Type III Thumb Hypoplasia.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether radiographs can be used to aid in the determination of Blauth IIIA and IIIB thumbs. METHODS: Six pediatric hand surgeons were asked to evaluate the radiographs of 77 thumbs and classify the thumb as IIIA or IIIB and indicate which morphologic features influenced their decision. Quantitative measurements and ratios of radiographs were obtained and compared between IIIA and IIIB thumbs. RESULTS: The radiographic features selected for type IIIA thumbs include near-normal length and near-normal width and for type IIIB thumbs, abnormally short, tapered proximal end, and round proximal end. The six surveyed surgeons reached consensus in 82% (63/77) of thumbs, and this matched the enrolling surgeon's classification in 77% (59/77) cases. The ratio of the length of the thumb metacarpal compared with the length of the index metacarpal was different between IIIA and IIIB thumbs (66% ± 0.08% and 46% ± 0.18%, respectively). The ratio of the width of the thumb metacarpal shaft at its narrowest aspect to the width of the thumb metacarpal base was notably different between IIIA and IIIB (68% ± 0.13% and 95% ± 0.28%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Near-normal length and near-normal width of the metacarpal were used to predict IIIA and abnormally short, abnormally narrow, and a round or tapered base of the metacarpal were used to predict IIIB classification. The length of the thumb metacarpal relative to the index metacarpal is on average 66% of the length of the index metacarpal in IIIA thumbs compared with 46% in IIIB thumbs. The width of the shaft of the thumb metacarpal at its narrowest is 68% of the width of the thumb metacarpal base in IIIA thumbs, indicating a flared base. In IIIB thumbs, the shaft width was on average 95% of the base width, indicating a tapered base. TYPE OF STUDY/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Diagnostic level III.

Intramedullary Screw Fixation of Olecranon Fractures Reduces the Risk of Early Unplanned Reoperation: A Retrospective Review of 556 Patients.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the effect of intramedullary screw-based fixation on early postoperative complications after olecranon fractures. We hypothesized that intramedullary screw-based fixation results in decreased need for reoperation compared with plate and screw-based and tension band-based fixation. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort. SETTING: Two academic Level-1 trauma centers. PATIENTS/PARTICIPANTS: Five hundred fifty-six patients treated with a tension band-based, plate and screw-based, or intramedullary screw-based construct for an olecranon fracture over a 10-year period. INTERVENTION: Open reduction and internal fixation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENT: Unplanned reoperation. Demographic, injury type and severity, supplemental fixation, and length of follow-up data were viewed as potential confounders and analyzed as such. RESULTS: We identified 556 relevant patients. One hundred ninety-nine patients were treated with an intramedullary screw-based construct, 229 with a plate and screw-based construct, and 128 with a tension band-based construct. We observed significant differences in the age, fracture type, percentage of open fractures, use of supplemental fixation, and treating institution between the treatment groups. Ninety-five patients (17.1%) had an unplanned reoperation. When we adjusted for confounders, intramedullary screw-based fixation reduced the odds of an unplanned reoperation by 54% compared with plate and screw-based treatment. In the adjusted analysis, we did not observe a difference between plate and screw-based treatment and tension band-based fixation. CONCLUSIONS: Intramedullary screw-based fixation of olecranon fractures results in decreased need for early reoperation compared with more common olecranon fixation strategies. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

TP53 missense mutation is associated with increased tumor-infiltrating T cells in primary prostate cancer.

The makeup of the tumor immune microenvironment may be associated with tumor somatic genomic alterations and plays a key role in tumor progression and response to immunotherapy. We examined the association of tumor-infiltrating T-cell density with TP53 status in surgically treated primary prostate cancer using 3 independent tissue microarray sets, including one set of tumors from grade-matched patients of European American or African American ancestry (n = 391), a retrospective case-cohort of intermediate- and high-risk patients enriched for adverse outcomes (n = 267), and a set of tumors with primary Gleason pattern 5 (n = 77). The presence of TP53 missense mutation, indicated by p53 nuclear accumulation using a genetically validated assay, was significantly associated with increased CD3+ T-cell density (median, 341 versus 231 CD3+ T cells/mm2; P = .004) in the matched European American and African American ancestry patient sets. The same association was present in patients of both ancestries when analyzed separately, despite the fact that p53 nuclear accumulation was less frequent among African American compared with European American tumors (7% versus 3%, P = .2). The validation cohorts of intermediate/high-risk and primary Gleason pattern 5 patients corroborated the association of increased CD3+ T-cell density with presence of p53 nuclear accumulation. In a pooled analysis of all sets, adjusting for clinicopathological variables, CD3+ and CD8+, but not FOXP3+, T-cell densities remained significantly higher in tumors with p53 nuclear accumulation compared with those without. TP53 mutation is associated with higher tumor-infiltrating T-cell density, which may be relevant in future clinical trials of immunotherapy in prostate cancer.

Association of tumor-infiltrating T-cell density with molecular subtype, racial ancestry and clinical outcomes in prostate cancer.

The inflammatory microenvironment plays an important role in the pathogenesis and progression of tumors and may be associated with somatic genomic alterations. We examined the association of tumor-infiltrating T-cell density with clinical-pathologic variables, tumor molecular subtype, and oncologic outcomes in surgically treated primary prostate cancer occurring in patients of European-American or African-American ancestry. We evaluated 312 primary prostate tumors, enriched for patients with African-American ancestry and high grade disease. Tissue microarrays were immunostained for CD3, CD8, and FOXP3 and were previously immunostained for ERG and PTEN using genetically validated protocols. Image analysis for quantification of T-cell density in tissue microarray tumor spots was performed. Automated quantification of T-cell densities in tumor-containing regions of tissue microarray spots and standard histologic sections were correlated (r = 0.73, p < 0.00001) and there was good agreement between visual and automated T-cell density counts on tissue microarray spots (r = 0.93, p < 0.00001). There was a significant correlation between CD3+, CD8+, and FOXP3+ T-cell densities (p < 0.00001), but these were not associated with most clinical or pathologic variables. Increased T-cell density was significantly associated with ERG positivity (median 309 vs. 188 CD3+ T cells/mm2; p = 0.0004) and also with PTEN loss (median 317 vs. 192 CD3+ T cells/mm2; p = 0.001) in the combined cohort of matched European-American and African-American ancestry patients. The same association or a similar trend was present in patients of both ancestries when analyzed separately. When the African-American patients from the matched race set were combined with a separate high grade set of African-American cases, there was a weak association of increased FOXP3+ T-cell densities with increased risk of metastasis in multivariable analysis. Though high T-cell density is associated with specific molecular subclasses of prostate cancer, we did not find an association of T-cell density with racial ancestry.