Clinical interest of quantitative bone SPECT-CT in the preoperative assessment of knee osteoarthritis.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the interest of quantitative bone SPECT-CT in the preoperative assessment of knee osteoarthritis (OA) before unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA).Patients eligible for UKA were prospectively included in 2 centers and underwent a preoperative SPECT-CT. Images were reconstructed with an OSEM, an OSCGM (allowing SUV quantification) and an enhanced OSCGM (containing uptakes to bones) algorithms. Visual analysis and quantification (SUVmax) were performed for each compartment (medial compartment [MC], lateral compartment [LC], and patellofemoral compartment [PFC]). Clinical data were preoperatively assessed. The gold standard was the per-operative OA staging (International Cartilage Repair Society [ICRS] scale). Spearman's correlation coefficient was used for correlations. Sensitivity (Se), specificity (Sp), positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and accuracy of SPECT-CT were assessed.One hundred three patients (50 women, 53 men, mean age = 64.5 ±â€Š10.3 y/o, 120 preoperative knees) were analyzed. There was no correlation between SUVmax and clinical data. There was a correlation between ICRS staging and SUVmax with both OSCGM (MC [rs = 0.25], LC [rs = 0.51], and PFC [rs = 0.27]), and enhanced OSCGM, except in the PFC (MC [rs = 0.22], LC [rs = 0.62], and PFC [rs = 0.03]). The Se, Sp, PPV, NPV, and accuracy of SPECT-CT were, respectively, 0.99, 0.67, 0.98, 0.80, 0.97 for the MC; 0.50, 0.85, 0.42, 0.89, 0.79 for the LC; and 0.23, 0.86, 0.50, 0.64, 0.62 for the PFC.Bone SPECT-CT SUVmax is correlated with per-operative OA staging. Despite the low sensitivity of SPECT-CT in the LC, its high specificity in the LC should prompt the surgeon to be vigilant before UKA surgery.

Understanding the fate of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons at a forest fire site using a conceptual model based on field monitoring.

Forest fires are a well-known source of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). After forest fires, residual ash above a soil layer can be highly contaminated with PAHs. However, little is known about the fate of these contaminants, particularly about their susceptibility to be transferred deeper into underlying soil or downstream during rainfall events. In this study, meteorological conditions, organic carbon (OC) content, and the 16 US-EPA priority PAHs in unburnt control soil, burnt soil, and ash were monitored for 16 months after a forest fire. Whereas the ash was significantly contaminated with PAHs, the levels of PAHs in the underlying burnt soil were similar to those of the control soil. In the ash bed, the levels of PAHs normalized by OC also decreased. Neither PAHs nor OC lost from the ash bed was substantially transferred to the underlying soil. Instead, significant amounts of PAHs in the ash bed were likely removed by surface runoff. Light PAHs were dominantly emitted from the forest fire, but they showed higher decreasing rates with total precipitation. These findings were explained by a conceptual model for the fate of PAHs, involving four distinct processes related to precipitation and two states of the ash bed.

Correlation between plasma Flt3-ligand concentration and hematopoiesis during G-CSF-induced CD34+ cell mobilization.

This study aimed to correlate blood Flt3-ligand (FL) concentration with CD34(+) cell number in blood and bone marrow (BM) during granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) mobilization. Nonhuman primates were injected with 10 microg/kg of G-CSF (Lenograstim) daily over a period of 5 days. Daily blood sampling and repeated BM sampling showed that FL concentration before mobilization was negatively correlated to the absolute number of BM CD34(+) cells, but also to the number of G-CSF-mobilized CD34(+) cells on days 3-5 of treatment. This showed that FL concentration in the blood reflected BM status before mobilization, and suggested that this parameter could be used as a predictive indicator of G-CSF-induced CD34(+) cell mobilization.