Radiographic analysis of the proximal femoral anatomy in the Croatian population.

PURPOSE: The goal of total hip endoprosthesis is to achieve painless and functional hip for long term. Accurate reconstruction of hip anatomy largely depends on the implant design. In order to select an implant in correspondence with the native hip, the proximal femoral morphology has been in focus of many studies in the past years. The purpose of this study is to analyze proximal femoral geometry in the Croatian population by radiographic evaluation. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study analyzing conventional radiographies of the hip, obtained within the last four years from the database of Clinic for Orthopaedic Surgery Lovran. The number of studied patients was 300,168 women and 132 men. The proximal femoral geometric parameters assessed were as follows: femoral head diameter, femoral neck length, neck-shaft angle, angle of femoral neck anteversion, and lateral femoral offset. The results obtained were compared between genders and with results of other studies. RESULTS: Proximal femoral anatomy differed in femoral head diameter and lateral femoral offset between males and females in our group of patients, while femoral neck length, femoral neck shaft angle, and femoral neck anteversion have shown similar values in both genders. Our study also showed specificity of the Croatian population in almost all parameters of proximal femoral anatomy, in comparison with other ethnic groups. CONCLUSION: Our results support the observation on high diversity in the morphology of the proximal femur and the specificity of the proximal femoral anatomy of the Croatian population.

Frequency and perforin expression of different lymphocyte subpopulations in patients with lower limb fracture and thoracic injury.

INTRODUCTION: Trauma with multiple injuries is associated with a high risk of complications, which may be related to excessive stimulation of inflammatory and anti-inflammatory responses. Although the effects of polytrauma on the immune response have been well established at the cellular and molecular levels, there is little information about the changes in the cytolytic potential of immunocompetent cells, including expression of cytotoxic molecules such as perforin. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to analyse and compare differences in the frequency and perforin expression of leukocyte subpopulations in the peripheral blood of patients with lower limb fracture, thoracic injury, and simultaneous lower limb fracture and thoracic injury. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Forty-five patients with trauma injury (15 patients with lower limb injury, 15 patients with thoracic injury, and 15 patients with simultaneous lower limb and thoracic injury) were included in the study. Peripheral blood of 15 sex- and age-matched healthy volunteers served as the control group. Peripheral blood samples were taken from all subjects included in the study and peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated by gradient centrifugation. The frequency of T lymphocytes, natural killer (NK) and NK T cells, and their subsets, as well as their perforin expression levels were simultaneously detected and analysed by flow cytometry. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant decrease in the frequency of T lymphocytes, NK and NK T cells as well as perforin expression in the patients with simultaneous lower limb and thoracic injury compared with the other two groups, with a predominantly marked decrease in NK and NK T cells. CONCLUSION: The decrease in the frequency and cytotoxic potential of peripheral blood lymphocytes is related to the severity of trauma injury, which can explain the underlying mechanism contributing to complication occurrence.