Long term survivorship following Scorpio Total Knee Replacement.

BACKGROUND: The Scorpio Total Knee Replacement (TKR) is one of the most commonly used prosthesis in the United Kingdom. Concerns arose at our institution that there was a high revision rate for this prosthesis. No study has assessed survivorship of this prosthesis over 10 years. METHODS: Four hundred and fifty-six consecutive patients, who underwent a primary Scorpio TKR, were clinically and radiologically evaluated. WOMAC, Oxford Knee Score and all complications including the reason for revision surgery were recorded. The Knee Society Roentgenographic Evaluation and Scoring System was used to evaluate all radiographs for prosthesis alignment and degree of subsequent lucency. Survival analysis for the prosthesis was calculated using Kaplan-Meier curves, with revision as an end-point. Patient reported outcome measures were compared against radiographic evaluation. RESULTS: At a mean of 12.5 years (range 10-14 years), 196 (43.0%) patients were available for review; 124 (27.2%) were lost to follow-up and 136 (29.8%) patients had died of unrelated causes. Seven (3.6%) patients required revision surgery at a mean of 5.4 years; five because of aseptic loosening and two because of septic loosening. Cumulative survival for the prosthesis was 99.5% for any cause at five years and 97.4% at 14 years. The mean OKS and WOMAC score at final follow-up was 30.64 (range 12-48) and 74 (18.9-100) respectively. CONCLUSION: The Scorpio TKR has good long term survivorship and functional outcomes. There is no apparent increased revision rate for this prosthesis in our study. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV case series.

Intralobular differences in antioxidant enzyme expression and activity reflect the pattern of maternal arterial bloodflow within the human placenta.

The aim was to determine whether the activities and mRNA concentrations of antioxidant enzymes in human placental tissues reflect the prevailing oxygen tension or developmental maturity of the villi. Advantage was taken of contrasting gradients within lobules of the mature placenta. The central region is well-oxygenated compared to the periphery, owing to the direction of maternal blood flow. However, central villi are morphologically and enzymatically immature compared to peripheral villi. Activity of catalase (t=8.72, P< 0.001) and glutathione peroxidase (t=2.17,P< 0.05) was higher in central than peripheral villi, but no difference was detected for total superoxide dismutase (t=1.08, P> 0.05). The degree of change in catalase activity across the lobule correlated closely with the radius (r=-0.70, P< 0.01). The mRNA concentration was higher in the centre for catalase (t=2.81, P< 0.05) and for glutathione peroxidase (t=3.33, P< 0.05), but no differences were found for copper/zinc or manganese superoxide dismutase. In separate experiments, first trimester villi cultured under 10 per cent oxygen contained higher concentrations of catalase mRNA than controls maintained under 2.5 per cent oxygen. We conclude that the activities of catalase and glutathione peroxidase reflect gradients established by the pattern of maternal intralobular bloodflow, and that oxygen tension is one regulatory factor in vitro.

The influence of the choice of closing wedge angle on leg length discrepancy after proximal femoral varus osteotomy.

Proximal femoral varus osteotomy improves the biomechanics of the hip and can stimulate normal acetabular development in a dysplastic hip. Medial closing wedge osteotomy remains the most popular technique, but is associated with shortening of the ipsilateral femur. We produced a trigonometric formula which may be used pre-operatively to predict the resultant leg length discrepancy (LLD). We retrospectively examined the influence of the choice of angle in a closing wedge femoral osteotomy on LLD in 120 patients (135 osteotomies, 53% male, mean age six years, (3 to 21), 96% caucasian) over a 15-year period (1998 to 2013). A total of 16 of these patients were excluded due to under or over varus correction. The patients were divided into three age groups: paediatric (< 10 years), adolescent (10 to 16 years) and adult (> 16 years). When using the same saw blades as in this series, the results indicated that for each 10° of angle of resection the resultant LLD equates approximately to multiples of 4 mm, 8 mm and 12 mm in the three age groups, respectively. Statistical testing of the 59 patients who had a complete set of pre- and post-operative standing long leg radiographs, revealed a Pearson's correlation coefficient for predicted versus radiologically observed shortening when using a wedge of either 10° or 20° of 0.93 (p < 0.001). The 95% limits of agreement from the Bland-Altman analysis for this subgroup were -3.5 mm to +3.3 mm. It has been accepted that a 10 mm discrepancy is clinically acceptable. This study identified a geometric model that provided satisfactory accuracy when using specific saw blades of known thicknesses for this formula to be used in clinical practice.

Analysis of the optimal cut-point for HIV-p24 antigen testing to diagnose HIV infection in HIV-exposed children from resource-constrained settings.

BACKGROUND: Nucleic-acid-testing (NAT) to diagnose HIV infection in children under age 18 months provides a barrier to HIV-testing in exposed children from resource-constrained settings. The ultrasensitive HIV-p24-antigen (Up24) assay is cheaper and easier to perform and is sensitive (84-98%) and specific (98-100%). The cut-point optical density (OD) selected for discriminating between positive and negative samples may need assessment due to regional differences in mother-to-child HIV-transmission rates. OBJECTIVES: We used receiver operator characteristics (ROC) curves and logistic regression analyses to assess the effect of various cut-points on the diagnostic performance of Up24 for HIV-infection status among HIV-exposed children. Positive and negative predictive values at different rates of disease prevalence were also estimated. STUDY DESIGN: A study of Up24 testing on dried blood spot (DBS) samples collected from 278 HIV-exposed Haitian children, 3-24-months of age, in whom HIV-infection status was determined by NAT on the same DBS card. RESULTS: The sensitivity and specificity of Up24 varied by the cut-point-OD value selected. At a cut-point-OD of 8-fold the standard deviation of the negative control (NCSD), sensitivity and specificity of Up24 were maximized [87.8% (95% CI, 83.9-91.6) and 92% (95% CI, 88.8-95.2), respectively]. In lower prevalence settings (5%), positive and negative predictive values of Up24 were maximal (75.9% and 98.8%, respectively) at a cut-point-OD that was 15-fold the NCSD. CONCLUSIONS: In low prevalence settings, a high degree of specificity can be achieved with Up24 testing of HIV-exposed children when a higher cut-point OD is used; a feature that may facilitate more frequent use of Up24 antigen testing for HIV-exposed children.