Avulsion Fracture of the Calcaneus Treated With a Soft Anchor Bridge and Lag Screw Technique: A Report of Two Cases.

The displaced extra-articular avulsion fracture of the calcaneus has been classified as a Böhler type 1c calcaneal fracture, and most cases will require surgical repair. In the present report, we describe 2 patients in whom we performed the soft anchor bridge technique using single loaded suture anchors with lag screws for the repair of Böhler type 1c avulsion fractures of the calcaneus. In one of these patients, clinically relevant osteoporosis complicated the injury. In both cases, bone union was achieved, and by 1.5 months after surgery satisfactory recovery was observed. To our knowledge, the soft anchor bridge technique was first used for the treatment of rotator cuff tears, and the greatest merit of this technique is the ability to generate vertical compression force to the pulled out rotator cuff through the use of knotting sutures. In recent years, the soft anchor bridge technique using 4 suture anchors has also been used for fractures of the greater tuberosity of the humerus, an injury that poses operative difficulties similar to those encountered with an avulsion fracture of the calcaneus owing to the traction force of the rotator cuff and relative weakness of adjacent bone. The outcomes of our patients suggest that the soft anchor bridge technique combined with adjunct lag screws is useful in the fixation of avulsion fractures of the calcaneus. In addition, the result in the elderly patient indicates the possibility of using this technique for patients with osteoporosis.

Myositis ossificans occupying the thenar region: a case report.

INTRODUCTION: Myositis ossificans is a benign, self-limiting, tumor-like lesion that usually affects the elbow and thigh; occurrence in the hand is uncommon. We report a rare case of a patient with myositis ossificans in the thenar region. CASE PRESENTATION: A 15-year-old Japanese girl presented to our hospital with a 2-month history of a painful mass in the right thenar region without previous trauma. The clinical and radiological examination findings suggested an osteoblastic malignancy. A diagnosis of myositis ossificans was made on the basis of an incisional biopsy. Despite the location of the lesion in the thenar region, a normal functional outcome was achieved after marginal resection of the mature lesion. CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians should consider myositis ossificans as a possible diagnosis for a soft tissue mass in the hand, thereby avoiding unnecessarily aggressive therapy.

Giant cell tumor of the tendon sheath extending around the patellar tendon and invading the knee joint and tibia: A case report.

The current report presents the case of a 41-year-old male exhibiting a giant cell tumor of the tendon sheath (GCT-TS) arising from the patellar tendon sheath. Plain radiography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed a well-localized mass that wrapped around the patellar tendon, and extended from the subcutis into the infrapatellar fat pad and tibia. Following histopathological determination of the diagnosis, a piecemeal resection was performed. Nodular-type GCT-TS occurs less frequently in large joints compared with the small joints of the fingers and toes. The current report presents the unique features of a case of GCT-TS extending around the patellar tendon, and invading into the knee joint and proximal tibia bone.

Various types of LRP5 mutations in four patients with osteoporosis-pseudoglioma syndrome: identification of a 7.2-kb microdeletion using oligonucleotide tiling microarray.

Osteoporosis-pseudoglioma syndrome (OPS; OMIM 259770) is an autosomal-recessive genetic disorder characterized by severe osteoporosis and visual disturbance from childhood. Biallelic mutations in the low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 5 gene (LRP5) have been frequently detected, while a subset of patients had only one or no detectable mutation. We report on the clinical and molecular findings of four unrelated Japanese patients with the syndrome. The four patients had typical skeletal and ocular phenotypes of OPS, namely severe juvenile osteoporosis and early-onset visual disturbance, with or without mental retardation. We undertook standard PCR-based sequencing for LRP5 and found four missense mutations (p.L145F, p.T244M, p.P382L, and p.T552M), one nonsense mutation (p.R1534X), and one splice site mutation (c.1584+1G>A) among four OPS patients. Although three patients had two heterozygous mutations, one had only one heterozygous splice site mutation. In this patient, RT-PCR from lymphocytic RNA demonstrated splice error resulting in 63-bp insertion between exons 7 and 8. Furthermore, the patient was found to have only mutated RT-PCR fragment, implying that a seemingly normal allele did not express LRP5 mRNA. We then conducted custom- designed oligonucleotide tiling microarray analyses targeted to a 600-kb genome region harboring LRP5 and discovered a 7.2-kb microdeletion encompassing exons 22 and 23 of LRP5. We found various types of LRP5 mutations, including an exon-level deletion that is undetectable by standard PCR-based mutation screening. Oligonucleotide tiling microarray seems to be a powerful tool in identifying cryptic structural mutations.

Serum soluble interleukin-2 receptor levels in patients with malignant lymphoma of bone.

BACKGROUND: The reliability of selected serum markers and radiological features for distinguishing malignant lymphoma of the bone from other osteolytic bone lesions was examined in an effort to improve the differential diagnosis. METHODS: A total of 23 patients with histologically verified malignant lymphoma of the bone, 57 patients with other osteolytic malignancies (35 males, 22 females; mean age 62.8 years, range 13-89 years), and 13 patients with benign bone lesions that resemble malignant tumor radiographically (6 men, 7 women; mean age 48.1 years, range 20-73 years) were retrospectively reviewed. We evaluated the serum levels of soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R), lactate dehydrogenase, and C-reactive protein in addition to radiographic examination and gallium-67 scanning. RESULTS: Although every clinical feature examined was found to show significant differences between lymphoma and the other two groups, the feature most highly suggestive of malignant lymphoma is a high serum sIL-2R level (sensitivity 0.95, specificity 0.70, accuracy 0.81). CONCLUSIONS: The serum sIL-2R level can be a valuable marker for diagnosing malignant lymphoma of the bone.

Dedifferentiated chondrosarcoma arising in a solitary osteochondroma with leiomyosarcomatous component: a case report.

BACKGROUND: A rare variant of dedifferentiated chondrosarcoma with leiomyosarcomatous component in a 63-year-old male is reported. CASE REPORT: He had a life-long osteochondroma adjacent to the left knee and recently developed swollen and pain. We initially suspected an intermediate grade chondrosarcoma arising in a solitary osteochondroma, but a biopsy specimen revealed a dedifferentiated component that histologically was classified as leiomyosarcoma. Multiple lung metastases were also present. The patient underwent amputation above knee and lung operation following adjuvant chemotherapy, but he died because of pulmonary metastasis 2 years after first admission. DISCUSSION: The differentiated component usually shows the histological features of osteosarcoma, malignant fibrous histiocytoma, and fibrosarcoma. Among the rare dedifferentiation with leiomyosarcomatous component, case arising in a solitary osteochondroma is not reported yet.

Evaluation of postoperative general quality of life for patients with osteosarcoma around the knee joint.

We evaluated the medium and long-term outcomes on the basis of patients' function and general quality of life after three different surgical procedures for osteosarcoma around the knee joints, that is, amputation, prosthetic reconstruction and rotationplasty. Twenty-six procedures in 22 patients who survived for at least 1 year after surgery were assessed for functional analysis (scores of the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society), and health-related quality of life assessment (SF-36) was applied to 17 patients who are alive without the disease. The patients treated with rotationplasty showed significantly high functional scores in two of six categories as compared with those undergoing the other two procedures. The scores of SF-36 also showed higher values for seven of eight subscales, however, no significant differences were observed for any subscale. We demonstrated that despite no statistical difference in patient self-assessment of outcome between the treatment modalities, there were functional benefits of rotationplasty over prosthetic reconstruction and amputation.

[A patient with advanced recurrent breast cancer who firmly resisted hair loss and was then treated by combination therapy with high-dose toremifene and capecitabine].

The patient was a 36-year-old woman, who found a mass in her right breast around April 2002, visited a physician in June, and was referred to our department because of suspected right breast cancer. It was confirmed that the cancer had metastasized to the right axillary lymph nodes and the skin of the right breast. After undergoing an operation on July 11 (Bt+Ax), the patient was placed on tamoxifen (TAM). Then, the course was followed while the patient was treated with CEF and 5'-DFUR. In April 2004, she had a recurrence manifesting itself as bone metastasis, partly because of poor compliance with the hospital-visit and dosing schedules. After chemotherapy with paclitaxel, etc., combination therapy with docetaxel (DOC), capecitabine, and high-dose (120 mg/day) toremifene (TOR) was started on October 15, 2004. Subsequently, because the patient firmly resisted hair loss, chemotherapy was continued with a double-drug regimen with capecitabine and high-dose TOR. Treatment was temporarily discontinued because the patient developed hand-foot syndrome, which was probably attributable to capecitabine, but the symptoms improved after administration of vitamin B(6). Thereafter,the patient complied well with the dosing schedule, and no new metastatic focus has been detected by any examination as of October 2005. These findings suggest that the double-drug regimen with capecitabine and high-dose TOR is an effective treatment for patients who can not be treated with anthracyclines or taxanes.

Recurrent granulomatous tenosynovitis of the wrist and finger caused by Mycobacterium intracellulare: a case report.

We report a 65-year-old man with tenosynovitis of the wrist and finger caused by Mycobacterium intracellulare. The diagnosis was made after subsequent recurrence, when a specimen of synovial fluid was subjected to specific polymerase chain reaction and mycobacterial culture. Synovectomy and susceptibility-guided antituberculous therapy permitted complete healing of tenosynovitis.

A transepiphyseal fracture of the proximal femur combined with a fracture of the mid-shaft of ipsilateral femur in a child: a case report and literature review.

The paper describes a rare fracture of proximal femur, classified by Delbet (Am J Surg 6:793-797, 1929) as type I (transepiphyseal type) combined with a fracture of the midshaft of ipsilateral femur in a 2-year-old child. Immediate operation with open reduction and internal fixation was successful. During the postoperative course, avascular necrosis (AVN) of capital femoral epiphysis was seen by bone scan. Applying an abduction orthosis used for the treatment of Legg-Calvè-Perthes disease, collapse of capital epiphysis was prevented. Although, a minimal area of AVN and coxa vara remained, no clinical complaints were recorded at the midterm follow-up. While reviewing the relevant literature, the type-I fractures need to be subclassified into two types for appropriate treatment and/or prediction of outcomes based on their anatomic location of the separated femoral capital epiphysis. In type Ia, femoral capital epiphysis is minimally displaced and within the acetabulum and in type Ib it is widely displaced and lying outside the capsule. Our case is a first case of a type Ib fracture of the proximal femur combined with a fracture of the midshaft of ipsilateral femur. Since the complication rate and the prognosis differed between two subclasses, type-Ib fractures need immediate surgical intervention, our case was prevented from massive AVN. And to prevent the collapse of femoral head following AVN, a major complication of the fracture of proximal femur in child, abduction orthosis is recommended as a choice of treatment.

Serum total acid phosphatase for monitoring the clinical course of giant cell tumors of bone--26 patients with 5 local recurrences.

BACKGROUND: Giant cell tumor of bone (GCT) is a bone-destroying tumor that sometimes recurs locally after treatment. A recent study showed increased levels of serum total acid phosphatase (TACP). METHODS: We assessed TACP in the serum of 26 patients with primary GCT, and in 5 of them who developed a local recurrence. RESULTS: We found a correlation between TACP level in serum and tumor size. TACP levels that were elevated preoperatively in patients with GCT became normalized after surgery, but increased in 3 of the 5 patients with local recurrence. INTERPRETATION: TACP could be used as a tumor marker for monitoring response to treatment of GCT.

Recurrence potential of diffuse-type giant cell tumor in the foot: radiologic and pathologic features.

BACKGROUND: Aggressive musculoskeletal tumors in the foot, such as diffuse-type giant cell tumors or extra-abdominal desmoid tumors, are difficult to treat because the foot does not have enough soft tissue to allow wide tumor resection. We reviewed the clinical behavior of diffuse-type giant cell tumor in the foot and evaluated the recurrence potential of these tumors from radiologic and pathologic perspectives. METHODS: Six patients with a mean age of 37.6 years were included in this study. Radiologic studies, including sonography, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and bone and gallium citrate scintigraphy, were obtained followed by surgical treatment and histologic evaluation of the tumor. RESULTS: Recurrence occurred in three patients. Although CT and MRI findings were similar in the recurrent and nonrecurrent tumors, marked differences were found between the two by scintigraphy; positive radiotracer uptake to the affected foot with gallium citrate scintigraphy was noted only in recurrent tumors, although positive accumulation was seen in all patients with bone scintigraphy. Histologically, the necrotic area and mitotic activity were more apparent in recurrent than in the nonrecurrent tumors, and tumor cell dyscohesion was noted in the former, (the intercellular space was increased). CONCLUSIONS: Repeated recurrence with tumor invasion into tarsal bone resulted in breakage of the tarsal arch that supports the body's weight. Amputation would be necessary for patients in whom the disease had progressed to obtain local cure and relief of pain. In the present study, we found two features of the recurrence potential of diffuse-type giant cell tumors: sparse cell to cell contact on pathologic examination and positive accumulation in the tumor on gallium citrate scintigraphy. We concluded that giant cell tumors with these two features have a strong potential for local recurrence, and thus require intensive followup.

Imaging of ancient schwannoma.

OBJECTIVE: We surveyed the clinical symptoms and radiologic features of ancient schwannoma, a rare variant of schwannoma characterized by degenerative changes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We present the clinical, radiologic, and pathologic features in seven patients with ancient schwannoma (mean age, 62 years; range, 45-80 years) treated at our department between 1998 and 2003. RESULTS: The most characteristic clinical features were a sign like Tinel's sign and a long interval between the onset of symptoms and surgery (mean interval, 8.3 years). Ancient schwannomas can grow large; the biggest tumor seen in our study was 14 cm long. The highly accurate radiologic assessment made possible with contrast-enhanced MRI and CT scanning showed enhancement at a peridegenerative area and sometimes at a capsule. These findings differ from those of the typical schwannoma and neurofibroma patterns reported to date. Furthermore, bone scintigraphy showed uptake in the tumor, but no accumulation was seen on gallium-67 citrate scintigraphy. CONCLUSION: The characteristic clinical and radiologic findings of ancient schwannoma should make it possible to differentiate it from malignant tumors.

Bilateral solid parameniscal masses in the knees.

Parameniscal cysts of the knee joint are usually considered to be minor asymptomatic lesions associated with meniscal injury. We report on a rare case of bilateral knee masses in the medial soft tissues that resembled parameniscal cysts in terms of location and structure. The patient was an 80-year-old woman with severe osteoarthritis. Arthroscopy detected no meniscal tears in either knee. Arthrotomy with regional excision of the masses was required. The solid masses showed a capsular outer layer that contained fibrin deposits, granulation tissue, and fibrous cartilage fragments from the meniscus. We hypothesize that these unusual masses represent senescent or "ancient" meniscal cysts, the result of long-term fibrous degeneration of previous parameniscal cysts, and may co-occur with severe osteoarthritis and meniscal degeneration.