Conservative treatment of 3-part and 4-part proximal humeral fractures: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Although there are numerous publications about surgical treatment of proximal humeral fractures (PHFs), few assess conservative treatment, which is the most common approach. The aim of this systematic literature review was to assess criteria for indications, treatment protocols, and outcomes obtained with the conservative treatment of 3-part and 4-part PHF. METHODS: We searched the PubMed and Cochrane databases for clinical studies published between 2000 and 2019 on conservative treatment for 3-part and 4-part PHF that included patients older than 18 years, a minimum follow-up of 1 year, fracture classification, and description of outcomes with assessment scales. RESULTS: The search yielded 26,660 records. We reviewed 44 of them in full, and finally 6 studies were included. We obtained a population of 133 patients (79% women), with a mean age of 74.3 years (range 25 to 98) and mean follow-up of 32 months (range 12 to 68.8). According to the Neer classification system, there were 41% (55) three-part fractures and 59% (78) four-part fractures; 5.81% of the patients were lost to follow-up. The mean Constant score was 64.5 for three-part fractures and 54.9 patients with four-part fractures. Consolidation was achieved in 95% of the three-part fractures and 91% of the four-part fractures. Loss of mobility varied according to the type of fracture. Regarding complications, the most frequent was malunion (21%), followed by avascular necrosis (9%). CONCLUSIONS: Our data show that most three-part PHFs treated conservatively achieve fracture consolidation even noting a negligible rate of malunion got fair-good functional results with few complications, while the orthopedic four-part PHF treatment presents high rate of consolidation with less rate of malunion than the three-part PHF but achieve poor functional results with few complications. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV, Systematic Review.

Droplet Digital PCR Detects Low-Density Infection in a Significant Proportion of Helicobacter Pylori-Negative Gastric Biopsies of Dyspeptic Patients.

INTRODUCTION: Helicobacter pylori-infected individuals may present low-density infection, undetectable by conventional tests such as histology, rapid urease test, or urea breath test. Droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR) is more sensitive than other polymerase chain reaction methods. We aimed to evaluate the ability of ddPCR to detect H. pylori infection in patients diagnosed as negative by conventional tests. METHODS: Dyspeptic patients (n = 236) were tested for H. pylori by histology, urea breath test, and rapid urease test. Patients were classified as having 3 positive (n = 25, control group), 2 positive (n = 12), one positive (n = 41), or zero positive (n = 158) diagnostic tests. DNA was extracted from gastric biopsies. Triplicate ddPCR testing for each of the 16S rDNA, ureA, and vacA(s) genes was performed using a QX200 ddPCR system (Bio-Rad). A gene was considered positive when detected by at least 2 of 3 repeated ddPCRs. H. pylori positivity was defined as having 2 or more positive genes. RESULTS: All the biopsies of the control patients were positive for all 3 16S rDNA, ureA, and vacA(s) genes. H. pylori infection was detected in 57 (36%), 22 (54%), and 9 (75%) patients with zero, 1, and 2 positive diagnostic tests, respectively. The density of infection was 5, 121, 599, and 3,133 copies of H. pylori genome equivalents for patients with zero, 1, and 2 of 3 positive test results and for the control group, respectively. DISCUSSION: ddPCR detected low-density "occult" H. pylori infection in a significant proportion (36%) of patients diagnosed as negative by conventional methods. The number of conventional positive tests was related to the density of infection.

Expression profile of circulating microRNAs in the Correa pathway of progression to gastric cancer.

BACKGROUND: Helicobacter pylori infection causes long-term chronic active gastritis, a risk factor for the intestinal and diffuse forms of gastric cancer. Most gastric cancers develop in a stepwise progression from chronic active gastritis to precursor lesions of gastric cancer. The early detection of gastric cancer improves survival. Studies with recent evidence have proposed circulating-microRNAs as biomarkers of cancer. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to explore the circulating-microRNA profile from H. pylori infection to gastric adenocarcinoma. METHODS: One hundred and twenty-three patients were enrolled and assigned to the discovery or the validation sets. In the discovery phase, circulating-microRNAs were measured by dye-based quantitative polymerase chain reaction and a selection of circulating-microRNAs was validated by probe-based quantitative polymerase chain reaction. A quality control protocol was used. RESULTS: One hundred and sixty-seven circulating-microRNAs were detected. Precursor lesions of gastric cancer and gastric cancer patients showed the downregulation of eight and five circulating-microRNAs, respectively. We further validated the deregulation of miR-196a-5p in precursor lesions of gastric cancer and the deregulation of miR-134-5p, miR-144-3p and miR-451a in gastric cancer. However, circulating-microRNAs exhibited moderate diagnostic performance due to the overlap of circulating-microRNA expression between non-cancer and cancer patients. miR-144-3p/miR-451a expression levels were correlated. Interestingly, these microRNAs are in 17q11.2, a site of rearrangements associated with gastric cancer. CONCLUSION: Circulating-microRNAs are deregulated in precancerous and gastric cancer patients but efforts are needed to improve their diagnostic accuracy.