Does field hockey increase morphofunctional asymmetry? A pilot study.

Common practice in field hockey requires athletes to adopt a semi-crouched posture, so players have a greater risk of musculoskeletal disorders than non-athletes. The aim of the present study was to assess how field hockey determines asymmetry in morphological and functional characteristics of the body by comparing athletes to control participants. The sample consisted of 15 male field hockey players from the Polish Youth National Team and 14 male university students. Antimeric differences in the chosen variables between body sub-regions were assessed. All morphological characteristics (bone mineral density, fat mass, and lean mass) were estimated using a dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. Additionally, the range of motion in transverse and frontal planes of the cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine was measured by using an electrogoniometric system. The results showed that the values of all morphological characteristics were higher in the left body segments, both in athletes and controls. However, the differences between sides were much more pronounced in the field hockey players. With regard to functional traits, higher values were obtained for the right body side in athletes but for the left side of the body among the controls. The difference between right and left side bending increased from the cervical spine (2.7%) through thoracic spine (7.8%) to lumbar spine (16.5%) in athletes. Rotational asymmetry in the thoracic spine was the largest in both groups. These findings indicate that it is important to monitor all athletes to prevent injury and health problems connected with strong morphological asymmetry.

[Tympanoplasty after radical operation]. / Tympanoplastyka w uchu po operacji doszczetnej.

Surgical results of the middle ear reconstruction after radical operation in 35 patients were presented. The surgery included myringo- and ossiculoplasty as well as rebuilding of the posterior canal wall and obliteration of the mastoid cavity. Most frequently posterior canal wall was reconstructed with the piece of cortical bone, rarely with the cartilage. Mastoid cavity was obliterated with a musculo-periosteal flap and bone chips. Early postoperative results, both anatomical and functional, were satisfactory. The hearing gain was from 5 to 35 dB, mean 17 dB. After a few years' observation, moderate postoperative cavitation of the ear canal was shown in all patients. The mean volume of the ear canal was 1.8 ml (1.4 to 2.8 ml). All ears were dry, however with good, smooth epidermal lining. Social hearing was reached in 42% of cases.

[Isotopic studies on the regeneration of stapedial bone in otosclerosis]. / Izotopowe badania aktywnosci przebudowy kosci strzemiaczka w otosklerozie.

The aim of the study was determining the bone rebuilding activity in stapes and otosclerotic focus and comparison the relation between bone rebuilding activity with some clinical features such as the patient's sex and age, duration of the disease and the degree of hearing impairment. The study covered 98 patients aged from 18 to 68 years (X = 37 years) in whom, due to otosclerosis, stapedectomy was performed at the Clinic of Otolaryngology--PAM in Szczecin. The rebuilding activity was estimated in bone fragments having been removed during the operation, i.e. in 98 specimens of canal wall bone, 97 specimens of stapedial crura, 88 fragments from posterior and 18 fragments from anterior parts of footplate as well as in 15 otosclerotic foci, using isotopic method implementing a complex of pyrophosphate labelled with technetium Tc-99m. The degree of bone rebuilding activity was defined by the amount of absorbed isotopic index. The "control group" was made up of 9 cases, in which stapedectomy was carried out for therapeutical purpose in consequence of other ailments, namely: in 3 cases of congenital stapedial ankylosis, 5 cases of stapedial tympanosclerosis, and 1 case of Menier's disease. It has been disclosed that otosclerosis is an active pathological process, involving the bone of the entire stapes with the strongest manifestation in the disease focus. An essential fact was linked with the very low bone rebuilding activity in the stapedial footplate and crura in the "control group". The bone rebuilding activity in otosclerotic foci and footplate of stapes was somewhat higher in males than in females. It was the highest in patients whose disease duration was the longest. In general the bone rebuilding activity didn't influence the degree of hearing impairment.

[Content of fluoride and calcium in stapedial bone in otosclerosis]. / Zawartosc fluorków i wapnia w kosci strzemiaczka w otosklerozie.

The study dealing with the content of fluoride and calcium in stapedial bone and canal wall bone in otosclerosis was performed in 69 subjects (48 females and 21 males) out of the patients, in whom bone rebuilding activity had earlier been studied isotopically. The control group comprised 20 normal stapedies taken during autopsies. Fluoride content was determined by means of fluoride ions meter, the content of calcium was assessed by resorting to atomic absorptiometer. The content of studied elements was compared with the bone rebuilding activity and some clinical features such as the patient's age and duration of the disease. High fluoride content in otosclerotic stapes was revealed, being several times greater than in the bone of normal stapes. Concurrently the stapedial bone in otosclerosis contained less calcium as compared with the bone of normal stapes. In principle, that referred to otosclerotic focus and next to stapedial crura. The bones of stapedial footplates and otosclerotic foci with rebuilding activity lover han the means value had statistically significant, higher content of fluoride and calcium than the bones with greater rebuilding activity. Fluoride content in stapedial bone during otosclerosis dramatically increased with the patient's age and the length of the disease duration period, however, the calcium content had the tendency to decrease.

[Condition of the nasal and pharyngeal mucosa in workers exposed to titanium dioxide dust]. / Ocena stanu blony sluzowej nosa i gardla u pracowników narazonych na dzialanie pylu dwutlenku tytanu.

Fifty-eight workers occupationally exposed to titanium dioxide dusts underwent repeated laryngological and cytological examinations of their nasal mucous membrane smears. The clinical examination showed chronic, whether simple or atrophic, rhinitis (77 per cent) and pharyngitis (50 per cent). The cytological test revealed, in all smears, metaplasia of the respiratory epithelium, towards squamous epithelium. Both the rate of catarrhal changes and the degree of epithelial metaplasia have been found to vary with the duration of daily exposure. The changes in epithelium and nasal mucous membrane occurred after six months' exposure.