Diagnostic Accuracy of Limited MRI Protocols for Detecting Radiographically Occult Hip Fractures: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

OBJECTIVE. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of limited MRI protocols for detecting radiographically occult proximal femoral fractures. MATERIALS AND METHODS. A systematic review of MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, the Cochrane Library, and the gray literature through November 15, 2019, was performed. Original articles with 10 or more patients evaluating limited MRI protocols for the diagnosis of radiographically occult proximal femoral fractures compared with multiparametric MRI with or without clinical outcome as the reference standard were included in the analysis. Patient, clinical, MRI, and performance parameters were independently acquired by two reviewers. Meta-analysis was performed using a bivariate mixed-effects regression model. RESULTS. Eleven studies with 938 patients and 247 proximal femoral fractures met inclusion criteria, and five of these studies were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled and weighted summary sensitivity and specificity and the area under the summary ROC curve for limited MRI protocols in detecting radiographically occult hip fractures were 99% (95% CI, 91-100%), 99% (95% CI, 97-100%), and 1 (95% CI, 0.99-1), respectively. The aggregate sensitivity and specificity values for a single-plane T1-weighted sequence only, STIR sequence only, T1-weighted and STIR sequences, and T2-weighted sequence only were as follows: 97% (89/92) and 100% (76/76), 99% (126/127) and 99% (865/873), 100% (118/118) and 99% (867/874), and 86% (51/59) and 97% (137/141), respectively. Sensitivity was 100% (58/58) when images were acquired on 3-T scanners only and 99% (284/288) when interpreted only by certified radiologists. The mean scanning time for the limited MRI protocols was less than 5 minutes. CONCLUSION. Limited MRI protocols can be used as the standard of care in patients with a suspected but radiographically occult hip fracture. A protocol composed of coronal T1-weighted and STIR sequences is 100% sensitive.

Geometric analysis of the talus and development of a generic talar prosthetic.

BACKGROUND: Trauma to the talus can result in fracture, avascular necrosis and structural collapse. Treatment has been limited to surgical fusion and total ankle arthroplasty. Total ankle arthroplasty may not be an appropriate treatment for avascular necrosis while surgical fusion of the joint limits mobility. Custom-made implants have recently been used to address these limitations but have lengthy delays between injury and surgery and higher associated costs. A generic talar prosthesis available in various sizes may serve as a suitable alternative. METHODS: The geometric variation between shapes of individual tali was determined using 3D geometric models of 91 tali created from CT-scan data. Comparisons were done to determine if tali are one shape. The best shape was determined for each sex, and was compared to determine if a unisex implant would be possible. A geometric template for the implant in multiple sizes was created and compared to the models. RESULTS: The average of the average deviation between tali after volume scaling was found to be less than 1mm on the main articulating surfaces. One shape group was found for the talus. The female and male tali were found to be similar and a unisex implant template was created. CONCLUSIONS: Ten generic talar implant sizes were determined to be sufficient to match the size and shape of the 91 tali examined in this study.

Using Dual-Orthogonal Fluoroscopy and CT to Assess the Relationship Between Knee Morphology and Patellar Kinematics in Patients With Patellofemoral Pain.

INTRODUCTION: Patellofemoral pain (PFP) is one of the most common knee overuse injuries, with studies suggesting PFP as a precursor for early knee osteoarthritis. The etiology of PFP is multi-factorial; however, patellar mal-tracking has been regarded as a primary mechanism. Details of this multi-factorial mechanism have been unclear because of the limitations in evaluating in-vivo, three-dimensional (3D) patellofemoral joint movement during dynamic activities accurately. Alternatively, studies have demonstrated the high accuracy and repeatability of dual fluoroscopy and CT/MRI for measuring knee joint motion. OBJECTIVE: This study uses dual fluoroscopy and CT to investigate the associations between joint morphology and patellar kinematics in healthy controls and subjects with PFP. METHODS: Eight PFP females (29.7±10.6 years) and 10 healthy females (25.0±7.7 years) were recruited and screened by a sports medicine physician. CT imaging was performed on participants in a supine with the knee extended, and ankle and hip in neutral alignment. Dual-orthogonal fluoroscopy measured patellar movement while participants performed a lunge task. A calibration algorithm was used to register the 3D CT model to 2D fluoroscopy image to calculate the relative position and angles of the patella based on the clinical definition of patellar motion. Measures of patellar and trochlear morphology were generated and correlated to kinematic data. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: There was a significant difference in the patellar-to-trochlear width ratio; however, no other significant differences in CT morphology measurements were present between groups. For PFP patients in the weight-bearing extended position, there was a moderate positive correlation between the patellar-to-trochlear width ratio and medial-lateral patellar shift (τ = 0.643, p = 0.026). Healthy controls in this position demonstrated a moderate positive correlation between the lateral-trochlear inclination angle and medial-lateral patellar shift (τ = 0.600, p = 0.016) and moderate negative correlation between medial trochlear inclination angle and medial-lateral patellar shift (τ = -0.511, p = 0.040). The findings suggest that, for this cohort, there is correlation between morphology and patellar kinematics. Passive and active stabilizers likely have a role in mal-tracking.

Spinal landmark depth in relation to body mass index.

Identifying spinal landmarks by palpation is a prerequisite to many manual therapy procedures. Understanding if landmark depth changes with a subject's body mass index (BMI) may help clinicians attribute importance to their palpation findings. In this study, 105 consecutive subjects were referred for lumbar magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in a hospital setting. Four blinded examiners measured T1-weighted MRI images to quantify the depth of spinous and transverse processes in the lumbar spine. For each process, a linear mixed-effects model was carried out by gender with depth as the outcome and BMI as a covariate. The average BMI for males (n = 57) was 27.52 kg/m(2) and 27.02 kg/m(2) for females. The mean landmark depth was 22.77 mm, 23.00 mm, 27.40 mm, 33.40 mm, 36.65 mm for spinous processes L1-L5 respectively and 69.35 mm and 69.41 mm for the left and right L4 transverse processes. The inter-evaluator, intra-class correlation coefficient averaged 0.98 for all depth measurements. The linear relationship between depth and BMI was statistically significant for all landmarks in females and only for spinous processes in males. In conclusion, the strength of the correlations observed suggests that although landmark depth increases with subject BMI, other factors may influence this correlation.