ECG effects of aerobic dance: a study of five exercise-conditioned young women.

Monitoring of the heart rate of five healthy well-conditioned women during an aerobic dance routine showed that maximum rates were within acceptable limits for exercise tachycardia except in one subject, who had paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia that subsequently converted to sinus tachycardia. Thus, although aerobic dance seems a benign form of exercise, it can be intense enough to trigger dysrhythmias. Before recommending or approving it for any patient, the physician should take into consideration the person's age, health, and physical fitness level.

Evolution of arthritis of the wrist.

Degenerative arthritis of the wrist follows very specific patterns from onset to terminal severe bone and joint destruction. About 95% of them occur as periscaphoid area problems: SLAC (scapholunate advanced collapse pattern) wrist (55%), triscaphe arthritis (26%), and a combination of the two (14%). In SLAC wrist, the repeating sequence of degenerative change is based on and caused by articular alignment problems between the scaphoid and the radius. Changes then progress between the capitate and the lunate that are secondary to carpal collapse. In triscaphe arthritis, the degenerative change is limited to between the trapezium, trapezoid, and distal scaphoid. SLAC procedure (fusion of the capitate, lunate, hamate, and triquetrum along with silastic scaphoid implant) for SLAC wrists and triscaphe arthrodesis (fusion of the scaphoid, trapezium, and trapezoid) for triscaphe arthritis, are designed to make maximum use of undamaged structures and to maintain full-power, painless, mobile human wrists.

An approach to Kienböck's disease: triscaphe arthrodesis.

Sixteen patients with Kienböck's disease were treated with triscaphe arthrodesis (fusion of the scaphoid, trapezium, and trapezoid) with or without silicone rubber lunate arthroplasty. This approach removes compressive stress from the diseased lunate and treats the accompanying rotary subluxation of the scaphoid. Five patients were treated with triscaphe arthrodesis together with silicone rubber lunate arthroplasty. Three patients, who were symptomatic, after receiving silicone rubber lunate arthroplasty elsewhere, were treated with triscaphe arthrodesis. Eight patients were treated with triscaphe arthrodesis alone, without silicone rubber lunate arthroplasty. Two of these eight patients later required silicone rubber lunate arthroplasty. Radial styloidectomy and small lunate fragment excision were performed later on one patient. After an average follow-up of 20.5 months, relief of pain was satisfactory in all 16 patients. There was neither nonunion nor surgical infection. We believe that triscaphe arthrodesis with a silicone rubber lunate provides a means for load transference and heavy stress use capability of the hand. Triscaphe arthrodesis alone may suffice to bear the wrist load and can be used in an effort to preserve the diseased lunate. A silicone rubber lunate can easily be added at a later date if necessary.