Morphological abnormalities of the femur in the dysplastic hip. Relation between femur en acetabulum.

AIMS: To apply cutting edge geometry processing techniques and statistical shape modelling to perform a quali-tative and quantitive evaluation of femoral deformity in developmental hip dysplasia and to describe its relation to the amount of acetabular coverage in full 3D. An observational case-control study consisting of 40 right dysplastic cases compared to 43 normal hips, was designed. All subjects were Asian females with an average age of 53.9 years. The right femurs were scanned using computed tomography, followed by 3D reconstruction for statistical shape modelling. Inter- shape correspondences of the femoral shape were used to portray changes in femoral morphology to the amount of acetabular coverage. Partial least-squares regression was applied to establish a direct connection between acetabular coverage and the geometry of the femoral shape. Acetabular coverage accounted for 7.1% of variation in the overal femur shape (p<0.05). Significant changes in femoral morphology (p<0.05) were observed with decreasing acetabular coverage. The regression model demonstrated progressive shortening of the femur neck, as well as increasing attening of the femur head. Further, analysis of curvature and normal displacement demonstrated significant (p<0.05) flat- tening of the femur head especially in the area of the head-neck junction with increasing severity of acetabular dysplasia. Anatomic abnormalities inherent to the dysplastic hip are limited to the very proximal part of the femur and significantly increase when the acetabular coverage decreases. Flattening of the femur head is most pronounced at the peripheral part of the head, in specific the femoral head-neck region.

Extensor tendon and fascia sectioning of extensors at the musculotendinous unit in lateral epicondylitis.

Different surgical techniques exist to treat lateral epicondylitis. In most techniques, release of the common extensor origin is performed adjacent to the humeral epicondyle. The purpose of the present study was to assess the outcome of transverse sectioning of the intermuscular septum and the aponeuroses of the extensor carpi radialis brevis and extensor digitorum communis, 3 to 5 cm distally to the radial epicondyle. Forty-nine elbows were operated on in 44 patients. Subjective results were obtained after a mean followup of 33 months. Mean age of patients was 44 years. Mean disabilities of arm, shoulder and hand score was 6, mean visual analogue scale score for pain was 1 and for satisfaction 9. The result was excellent in 26, good in 15 and poor in 8 elbows following Spencer and Herndon. Mean absence from work was 40 days. We conclude that tendon release in the musculotendinous unit can be used to treat lateral epicondylitis.

Three-dimensional assessment of cam engagement in femoroacetabular impingement.

PURPOSE: The purpose of our study was to 3-dimensionally assess cam engagement in male patients with symptomatic femoroacetabular impingement during motion. METHODS: A total of 13 hips with cam-type impingement were investigated. Patient anatomy and clinical range of motion were determined. After 3-dimensional segmentation and reconstruction, the dynamic behavior of the cam lesion was investigated for the previously analyzed motions. RESULTS: Important differences in the pattern of cam engagement were noticed. Abutment of the cam lesion and the acetabular cartilage was observed in flexion in 7 hips (54%) and in abduction in 11 hips (84%). Internal rotation with the hip in 90° of flexion caused intrusion of the cam lesion into the joint in 10 of the investigated cases (77%). Neutral rotation did not cause any conflict between the cam lesion and acetabulum for the measured range of motion. A similar area in the anterosuperior quadrant of the acetabulum appeared to be involved in the different motions that were analyzed. CONCLUSIONS: Typically, during internal rotation in 90° of flexion, the centromedial portion of the cam lesion was found to abut against the anterosuperior quadrant of the acetabular cartilage. During abduction and flexion, this appeared to be the lateral and medial portions of the cam lesion, respectively. All motions causing cam intrusion appeared to focus on the same cartilage area of the acetabulum in its anterosuperior quadrant.

Reliability of a semi-automated 3D-CT measuring method for tunnel diameters after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: A comparison between soft-tissue single-bundle allograft vs. autograft.

BACKGROUND: Post-operative widening of tibial and/or femoral bone tunnels is a common observation after ACL reconstruction, especially with soft-tissue grafts. There are no studies comparing tunnel widening in hamstring autografts versus tibialis anterior allografts. The goal of this study was to observe the difference in tunnel widening after the use of allograft vs. autograft for ACL reconstruction, by measuring it with a novel 3-D computed tomography based method. METHODS: Thirty-five ACL-deficient subjects were included, underwent anatomic single-bundle ACL reconstruction and were evaluated at one year after surgery with the use of 3-D CT imaging. Three independent observers semi-automatically delineated femoral and tibial tunnel outlines, after which a best-fit cylinder was derived and the tunnel diameter was determined. Finally, intra- and inter-observer reliability of this novel measurement protocol was defined. RESULTS: In femoral tunnels, the intra-observer ICC was 0.973 (95% CI: 0.922-0.991) and the inter-observer ICC was 0.992 (95% CI: 0.982-0.996). In tibial tunnels, the intra-observer ICC was 0.955 (95% CI: 0.875-0.985). The combined inter-observer ICC was 0.970 (95% CI: 0.987-0.917). Tunnel widening was significantly higher in allografts compared to autografts, in the tibial tunnels (p=0.013) as well as in the femoral tunnels (p=0.007). CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this novel, semi-automated 3D-computed tomography image processing method has shown to yield highly reproducible results for the measurement of bone tunnel diameter and area. This series showed a significantly higher amount of tunnel widening observed in the allograft group at one-year follow-up. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level II, Prospective comparative study.

Evaluation and economic impact analysis of different treatment options for ankle distortions in occupational accidents.

RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: Appropriate use of diagnostic and treatment modalities are essential for rational use of resources. The aim of this study is to evaluate the use of diagnostic modalities and different treatment options and their economic impacts following an acute ankle distortion resulting from an occupational accident. We evaluated the type-of-treatment impact on the victims' course of recovery as well as its impact on the associated accident costs. Research was carried out in Belgium. METHODS: An ankle distortion victims' database consisting of 200 cases of (Belgian) occupational accidents during the period 2005-2007 was analysed. RESULTS: Patients who were prescribed immobilization or the use of adjuvant support or physical therapy (118 cases) were not employed during a period of 37 days on average, with a mean total cost of 3140.14 Euros caused by the ankle sprain. Patients without any adjuvant therapy (82 cases) were characterized by an unemployment rate of 15 days on average, and a total cost of 1077.86 Euros. Cast immobilization, although its application is not supported by evidence-based literature, was still applied in 36% of the population studied and resulted in the longest average absence of work of 42 days with an obvious significant increase in medical and total costs. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show a high rate of inappropriate use of cast immobilizations for ankle distortions. From an economic point of view and for the same clinical endpoint (being full resumption of the occupational activities), simple conventional treatment, consisting of rest, ice, compression and elevation at diagnosis with allowance of early weight bearing in the further clinical course, leads to the quickest full resumption of activities in combination with the lowest medical costs, if compared with any other kind of treatment.