Illustrative review of knee meniscal tear patterns, repair and replacement options, and imaging evaluation.

This review article aims to reinforce anatomical concepts about meniscal tears while linking associated treatment options. The main teaching points start with the basic meniscal anatomy and key differences between the medial and lateral menisci. Subsequently, various meniscal tear patterns along with their associated history and physical exam findings will be discussed with corresponding illustrations and MR images. Additional discussion will involve the different surgical repair techniques (with arthroscopic correlates), their indications with pertinent imaging findings, imaging related to previous meniscal tear repairs, and novel surgical techniques. Lastly, keys to evaluating for retear with an emphasis on MRI arthrogram findings will be reviewed. While each of these topics is not discussed in totality, the key points of the review article will enforce key concepts and help radiologists evaluate the menisci on imaging.

Effect of surgeon experience and bony pelvic dimensions on surgical performance and patient outcomes in robot-assisted radical prostatectomy.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effects of surgeon experience, body habitus, and bony pelvic dimensions on surgeon performance and patient outcomes after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP). PATIENTS, SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The pelvic dimensions of 78 RARP patients were measured on preoperative magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography by three radiologists. Surgeon automated performance metrics (APMs [instrument motion tracking and system events data, i.e., camera movement, third-arm swap, energy use]) were obtained by a systems data recorder (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, CA, USA) during RARP. Two analyses were performed: Analysis 1, examined effects of patient characteristics, pelvic dimensions and prior surgeon RARP caseload on APMs using linear regression; Analysis 2, the effects of patient body habitus, bony pelvic measurement, and surgeon experience on short- and long-term outcomes were analysed by multivariable regression. RESULTS: Analysis 1 showed that while surgeon experience affected the greatest number of APMs (P < 0.044), the patient's body mass index, bony pelvic dimensions, and prostate size also affected APMs during each surgical step (P < 0.043, P < 0.046, P < 0.034, respectively). Analysis 2 showed that RARP duration was significantly affected by pelvic depth (ß = 13.7, P = 0.039) and prostate volume (ß = 0.5, P = 0.024). A wider and shallower pelvis was less likely to result in a positive margin (odds ratio 0.25, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.09-0.72). On multivariate analysis, urinary continence recovery was associated with surgeon's prior RARP experience (hazard ratio [HR] 2.38, 95% CI 1.18-4.81; P = 0.015), but not on pelvic dimensions (HR 1.44, 95% CI 0.95-2.17). CONCLUSION: Limited surgical workspace, due to a narrower and deeper pelvis, does affect surgeon performance and patient outcomes, most notably in longer surgery time and an increased positive margin rate.

Calcified pelvic masses on radiographs: a case report and discussion.

Calcified pelvic masses are frequently detected on plain radiographs in the field of emergency radiology, particularly after trauma. While many of these findings are benign, a subset may be life-threatening if not accurately identified. The differential diagnosis depends on the location of the tumor and the patient's gender and history of trauma. Diagnostic possibilities include aneurysms, musculoskeletal and female pelvic malignancies and more benign entities, such as heterotopic ossification or phleboliths. Considering the possibility of these lesions will help to accurately identify relevant findings on radiographs and effectively select the appropriate treatment plan for patients presenting to the emergency room with pain.

Variability in timing of spontaneous calcium release in the intact rat heart is determined by the time course of sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium load.

BACKGROUND: Abnormalities in intracellular calcium (Ca) cycling during Ca overload can cause triggered activity because spontaneous calcium release (SCR) activates sufficient Ca-sensitive inward currents to induce delayed afterdepolarizations (DADs). However, little is known about the mechanisms relating SCR and triggered activity on the tissue scale. METHODS AND RESULTS: Laser scanning confocal microscopy was used to measure the spatiotemporal properties of SCR within large myocyte populations in intact rat heart. Computer simulations were used to predict how these properties of SCR determine DAD magnitude. We measured the average and standard deviation of the latency distribution of SCR within a large population of myocytes in intact tissue. We found that as external [Ca] is increased, and with faster pacing rates, the average and SD of the latency distribution decreases substantially. This result demonstrates that the timing of SCR occurs with less variability as the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca load is increased, causing more sites to release Ca within each cell. We then applied a mathematical model of subcellular Ca cycling to show that a decrease in SCR variability leads to a higher DAD amplitude and is dictated by the rate of SR Ca refilling following an action potential. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that the variability of the timing of SCR in a population of cells in tissue decreases with SR load and is dictated by the time course of the SR Ca content.