Thoracic Spine Fracture in the Panscan Era.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: In the current era of frequent chest computed tomography (CT) for adult blunt trauma evaluation, many minor injuries are diagnosed, potentially rendering traditional teachings obsolete. We seek to update teachings in regard to thoracic spine fracture by determining how often such fractures are observed on CT only (ie, not visualized on preceding trauma chest radiograph), the admission rate, mortality, and hospital length of stay of thoracic spine fracture patients, and how often thoracic spine fractures are clinically significant. METHODS: This was a preplanned analysis of prospectively collected data from the NEXUS Chest CT study conducted from 2011 to 2014 at 9 Level I trauma centers. The inclusion criteria were older than 14 years, blunt trauma occurring within 6 hours of emergency department (ED) presentation, and chest imaging (radiography, CT, or both) during ED evaluation. RESULTS: Of 11,477 enrolled subjects, 217 (1.9%) had a thoracic spine fracture; 181 of the 198 thoracic spine fracture patients (91.4%) who had both chest radiograph and CT had their thoracic spine fracture observed on CT only. Half of patients (49.8%) had more than 1 level of thoracic spine fracture, with a mean of 2.1 levels (SD 1.6 levels) of thoracic spine involved. Most patients (62%) had associated thoracic injuries. Compared with patients without thoracic spine fracture, those with it had higher admission rates (88.5% versus 47.2%; difference 41.3%; 95% confidence interval 36.3% to 45%), higher mortality (6.3% versus 4.0%; difference 2.3%; 95% confidence interval 0 to 6.7%), and longer length of stay (median 9 versus 6 days; difference 3 days; P<.001). However, thoracic spine fracture patients without other thoracic injury had mortality similar to that of patients without thoracic spine fracture (4.6% versus 4%; difference 0.6%; 95% confidence interval -2.5% to 8.6%). Less than half of thoracic spine fractures (47.4%) were clinically significant: 40.8% of patients received thoracolumbosacral orthosis bracing, 10.9% had surgery, and 3.8% had an associated neurologic deficit. CONCLUSION: Thoracic spine fracture is uncommon. Most thoracic spine fractures are associated with other thoracic injuries, and mortality is more closely related to these other injuries than to the thoracic spine fracture itself. More than half of thoracic spine fractures are clinically insignificant; surgical intervention is uncommon and neurologic injury is rare.

In vivo toxicity evaluation of gold-dendrimer composite nanodevices with different surface charges.

Composite nanodevices (CNDs) are multifunctional nanomaterials with potential uses in cancer imaging and therapy. Poly(amidoamine) dendrimer-based composite nanodevices are important members of this group and consist of an organic dendrimer component and an incorporated inorganic component, in this case, gold. This study addresses the short- (14 days) and long-term (78 days) in vivo toxicity of generation-5 (G5; 5 nm) PAMAM dendrimer-based gold-CNDs (Au-CNDs) with varying surface charges (positive, negative and neutral) in C57BL/6J male mice. Detailed toxicological analyses of (1) body weight changes, (2) serum chemistry and (3) histopathological examination of 22 organs showed no evidence of organ injury or organ function compromise. Zeta potential of Au-CNDs showed significant change from their parent dendrimers upon gold incorporation, making the normally lethal positive surface dendrimer biologically safe. Also homeostatic mechanisms in vivo may compensate/repair toxic effects, something not seen with in vitro assays.

Objective outcomes following semi-constrained total distal radioulnar joint arthroplasty.

A dysfunctional distal radioulnar joint (DRUJ) can significantly compromise an individual's forearm rotation, grip, and weight bearing at the hand and wrist. This retrospective study reports surgeon- and therapist-collected objective wrist function and subjective pain scores of 10 patients who received the Scheker total DRUJ prosthesis. A review of these patients' medical records was performed to collect preoperative measurements of wrist range of motion (ROM), grip strength, and pain scores (0-10 scale). The degree of pronation, supination, flexion, extension, radial deviation, and ulnar deviation were the outcome measures used to evaluate wrist ROM. Postoperative measurements were collected at a follow up of 5 ± 1.1 years in our clinic (minimum follow-up of 2yrs). Mean final wrist flexion and extension were 32.1 ± 22.8° and 44.8 ± 13.9°, respectively. Mean final supination and pronation were 72.5 ± 14.4° and 69.5 ± 14.6°, respectively. Average grip strength was 54.9 ± 23.7 lbs. The mean pain score was 3.6 ± 3.1. Although there were no statistically significant changes in any of these outcome measures, the Scheker prosthesis improved wrist ROM (with the exception of wrist flexion) and decreased pain. Grip strength decreased by less than 1 lb but was still higher than the postoperative grip strength measurements in the literature for this prosthesis. Because of the self-stabilizing nature of this prosthesis and the satisfactory functional outcomes from this study and other studies, the Scheker prosthesis is still a viable option for DRUJ pathology that is refractory to nonimplant arthroplasties. This is a therapeutic level IV study.