Repairing Complete Radial Tears of the Lateral Meniscus: Arthroscopic All-Inside Double Vertical Cross-Suture Technique Is Effective and Safe With 2-Year Minimum Follow-Up.

PURPOSE: To assess the failure rate and clinical outcomes of the all-inside, double-vertical, cross-suture technique in repairing complete radial tears of the lateral meniscus. METHOD: We retrospectively reviewed records of patients with this injury on whom the present technique was employed at our institution between 2011 and 2018, with at least 24 months of follow-up. Six months postoperatively, the meniscus healing and extrusion status were evaluated through magnetic resonance imaging. Preoperative and postoperative knee function, measured through IKDC, Lysholm knee, and Tegner activity scale scores, were compared. RESULTS: In total, 27 patients underwent the procedure. The preoperative mean (standard deviation) IKDC score, Lysholm knee score, and Tegner activity scale scores were 53.4 ± 5.3, 63.2 ± 9.3, and 4 ± .7, respectively. At the last follow-up (≥24 months postoperatively), these scores increased to 92.1 ± 2.6, 90.8 ± 4.2, and 6.1 ± 1.3, respectively (all P < .05). Complete healing of the meniscus was observed in 23 patients, and 4 patients had meniscus retear or nonhealing. The overall retear or nonhealing rate was 14.8%. Healing rates between those with isolated radial tears (87.5%) and those with combined anterior cruciate ligament rupture (84.2%; P = .826) were comparable. No difference was observed in the progression of coronal and sagittal meniscus extrusion (P = .133 and .797, respectively). CONCLUSION: In patients with complete radial tears of the lateral meniscus, the arthroscopic all-inside double vertical cross-suture repair technique resulted in an 85.2% healing rate, improvements in functional outcomes and activity levels, and no identifiable progression of meniscus extrusion. The all-inside double vertical cross-suture technique is effective and safe for the repair of radial tears of the meniscus. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV, retrospective case series.

The Morphological Changes in Adjacent Segments Amongst Patients Receiving Anterior and Oblique Lumbar Interbody Fusion: A Retrospective Study.

Adjacent segment disease (ASD) is troublesome condition that has proved to be highly related to spinal malalignment after spinal surgery. Hence, we aimed to evaluate the morphological changes after anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF) and oblique LIF (OLIF) to establish the differences between the two surgical methods in terms of possible ASD avoidance. Fifty patients, half of whom received ALIF while the other half received OLIF, were analyzed with image studies and functional outcomes during the pre-operative and post-operative periods, and 2 years after surgery. Image measurements obtained included spinal-pelvic parameters, index lordosis (IL), segmental lordosis (SL), anterior disc height (ADH), posterior disc height (PDH) and adjacent segment disc angle (ASDA). The ADH and PDH in the adjacent segment decreased in the two groups while OLIF showed greater decrease without radiological ASD noted at 2-year follow-up. Both groups showed an increase in IL after surgery while ALIF showed greater improvement. No statistical difference was identified in functional outcomes between LIFs. We suggest that both ALIF and OLIF can restore adequate lordosis and prevent ASD after surgery. However, it should be noted that patient selection remains crucial when making any decision involving which of the two methods to use.

The radiological outcome in lumbar interbody fusion among rheumatoid arthritis patients: a 20-year retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Clinical outcomes amongst Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) patients have shown satisfactory results being reported after lumbar surgery. The increased adoption of the interbody fusion technique has been due to a high fusion rate and less invasive procedures. However, the radiographic outcome for RA patients after receiving interbody fusion has scarcely been addressed in the available literature. METHODS: Patients receiving interbody fusion including ALIF, OLIF, and TLIF were examined for implant cage motion and fusion status at two-year follow-up. Parameters for the index correction level including ADH, PDH, WI, SL, FW, and FH were measured and compared at pre-OP, post-OP, and two-year follow-up. RESULTS: We enrolled 64 RA patients at 104 levels (mean 64.0 years old, 85.9% female) received lumbar interbody fusion. There were substantial improvement in ADH, PDH, WI, SL, FW, and FH after surgery, with both ADH and PDH having significantly dropped at two-year follow up. The OLIF group suffered from a higher subsidence rate with no significant difference in fusion rate when compared to TLIF. The fusion rate and subsidence rate for all RA patients was 90.4 and 28.8%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: We revealed the radiographic outcomes of lumbar interbody fusions towards symptomatic lumbar disease in RA patients with good fusion outcome despite the relative high subsidence rate amongst the OLIF group. Those responsible for intra-operative endplate management should be more cautious to avoid post-OP cage subsidence.

Executive functions in agenesis of the corpus callosum: Working memory and sustained attention in the BTBR inbred mouse strain.

INTRODUCTION: Agenesis of the corpus callosum (AgCC) is characterized by the congenital partial or complete absence of the corpus callosum. Several strains of mice have been reported to carry AgCC, with the BTBR T+ Itpr3tf /J (BTBR) inbred mouse strain consistently showing a complete absence of the corpus callosum, as well as a variable reduction in the size of the hippocampal commissure. While much research has focused on the social deficits of the BTBR strain, little research on its cognitive behavior has been conducted. The goal of our study was to compare two facets of executive functioning, spatial working memory, and sustained attention between the BTBR and C57BL/6J (B6) strains. METHODS: Spatial working memory was measured utilizing a delayed matching-to-position (DMTP) task and sustained attention was measured utilizing an operant task in which mice were trained to distinguish signal and nonsignal events. RESULTS: Both the BTBR and B6 mice demonstrated a predictable decline in performance on the DMTP task as the delay interval increased and predictable increase in performance on the sustained attention task as the duration of the signal event increased. Although no significant differences were found between strains on the performance of these tasks, there was a significant difference in learning the association between lever pressing and food reward. Histological investigation confirmed the complete absence of commissural fibers from the corpus callosum, but also the hippocampal commissure, counter to a previous study. CONCLUSION: The results suggest spatial working memory and sustained attention are unaffected by the absence of these commissural fibers alone.

Risk factors for refracture after plate removal for midshaft clavicle fracture after bone union.

BACKGROUND: Open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) with plates and screws is one of the treatment options for clavicle fractures. However, an additional operation for implant removal after union of the fracture is commonly performed due to a high incidence of hardware irritation. Despite union of the fracture, a subsequent refracture might occur after removal of the implant which requires additional surgeries for fixation. This study aims to determine the risk factors associated with refracture of the clavicle after hardware removal. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 278 patients that were diagnosed with a midshaft clavicle fracture (male 190; female 88) that had (1) undergone ORIF of the clavicle with plates and (2) received a second operation for removal of hardware after solid union of the fracture between 2010 and 2017. Their mean age was 40.1 ± 15.1 years, and mean interval from fixation to plate removal was 12.5 ± 7.5 months. The patients were then divided into two groups based on the presence of refracture (n = 20) or without refracture (n = 258). We analyzed patient demographics, interval between fixation and implant removal, fracture classification (AO/OTA, Robinson), fixation device, whether wires or interfragmentary screws were used, clavicular length, and bone diameter at the fracture site. RESULTS: The overall refracture rate was 7.2%, and the mean interval between plate removal and refracture was 23.9 days. A multivariate analysis showed that female (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 4.74; 95% CI 1.6-14.1) and body mass index [BMI] (for every 1-unit decrease, aOR 1.25; 95% CI 1.06-1.48) were risk factors for refracture. In women, BMI was the only risk factor. The optimal BMI cutoff value was 22.73. In a female patient with a lower BMI, the refracture rate was 29.8%. CONCLUSIONS: There are no significant radiographic parameters associated with refracture. Routine plate removal in a female patient with a low BMI after bony union of a midshaft clavicle fracture is not recommended because of a high refracture rate.

Accurate extraction of optical properties and top layer thickness of two-layered mucosal tissue phantoms from spatially resolved reflectance spectra.

We are reporting on an experimental investigation of a movable diffuse reflectance spectroscopy system to extract diagnostically relevant optical properties of two-layered tissue phantoms simulating mucosae that are covered with stratified squamous epithelium. The reflectance spectra were measured at multiple sourcedetector separations using two imaging fiber bundles in contact with the phantoms, one with its optical axis perpendicular to the sample surface (perpendicular probe) and the other with its distal end beveled and optical axis tilted at 45 deg (oblique probe). Polystyrene microspheres and purified human hemoglobin were used to make tissue phantoms whose scattering and absorption properties could be well controlled and theoretically predicted. Monte Carlo simulations were used to predict the reflectance spectra for system calibration and an iterative curve fitting that simultaneously extracted the top layer reduced scattering coefficient, thickness, bottom layer reduced scattering coefficient, and hemoglobin concentration of the phantoms. The errors of the recovered parameters ranged from 7% to 20%. The oblique probe showed higher accuracy in the extracted top layer reduced scattering coefficient and thickness than the perpendicular probe. The developed system and data analysis methods provide a feasible tool to quantify the optical properties in vivo.