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Background: Articular surface damage commonly associated with rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Large osteochondral defect, which consists of a severe depression fracture and a large cartilage defect, need to be treated due to deformation of the articular surface as it can impact the clinical outcome of ACL reconstruction. Although autologous chondrocyte implantation is one of the useful options in such cases, it can be questioned whether the reconstruction of the ACL and osteochondral defect should be performed in one procedure alone. Case presentation: We report a case of a 38-year-old male with a deep depression fracture extending to the edge of the lateral femoral condyle associated with ACL injury after twisting his right knee while skiing. The patient was successfully treated with tissue-engineered cartilage transplantation covered by the periosteum with an iliac bone graft combined with anatomic double-bundle ACL reconstruction. Histopathological examination of the transplanted cartilage taken at second-look arthroscopy showed a cartilage-like tissue in the middle to deep zone in which the extracellular matrix was largely stained with Safranin O. The patient was able to return to his previous level of skiing activity without any experience of knee pain. Magnetic resonance imaging at 4 years after surgery showed that the graft integrated to the border zone and subchondral bone. The operated knee showed negative Lachman test and had a full range of motion. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first report of anatomic double-bundle ACL reconstruction with tissue-engineered cartilage transplantation and an iliac bone graft to restore the lateral edge of the femoral condyle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Deltoid ligament (DL) rupture is commonly seen in clinical practice; however the need to explore and surgically repair it is still in debate. The objective of the current study is to compare the outcomes of surgical treatment of ankle fracture with or without DL repair.Methods: Between 2009 and 2015, Seventy-four ankle fractures with DL rupture were identified and followed. Twenty patients were treated with surgical repair of the DL, while 54 were not. The pre- and post-operative medial clear space (MCS) were measured and the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) ankle-hindfoot score and visual analogue scale (VAS) were used for functional evaluation. According to the radiological malreduction of MCS, the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for each potential relative factor were calculated.Results: The mean followup time was 53.7 months. The mean MCS preoperatively, postoperatively, and at last followup time were 8.7 ± 2.4 (range, 6.2-14.8) mm, 3.7 ± 0.9 (range, 2.6-6.4) mm, 3.6 ± 1.0 (range, 2.6-6.8) mm, respectively. The mean AOFAS score was 86.4 ± 8.1 (range, 52-100) points, and the mean VAS was 1.4 ± 1.4 (range, 0-7) points. During followup, 14.9% (11/74) cases were found to be malreduced (MCS>5 mm), and 5.4% (4/74) went on to failure. Surgical repair of DL can significantly decrease the postoperative MCS (P<0.05), and can also decrease the malreduction rate (P<0.05). AO/OTA type-C ankle fractures showed a positive correlation with malreduction (OR = 4.38, P = 0.03). In this type of injury, surgical repair of the DL can significantly decrease the malreduction rate (P<0.05). No significant difference was found between the AO/OTA type-B fracture with or without DL repair.Conclusions: Surgical repair of the DL is helpful in decreasing the postoperative MCS and malreduction rate, especially for the AO/OTA type-C ankle fractures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A recent publication on efficacy of Sprifermin for knee osteoarthritis (OA) using quantitatively MRI-defined central medial tibio-femoral compartment cartilage thickness as the structural primary endpoint reported no statistically significant dose response. However, Sprifermin was associated with statistically significant, dose-dependent reductions in loss of total and lateral tibio-femoral cartilage thickness. Based on these preliminary promising data a post-hoc analysis of secondary assessment and endpoints was performed to evaluate potential effects of Sprifermin on semi-quantitatively evaluated structural MRI parameters. Aim of the present analysis was to determine effects of sprifermin on several knee joint tissues over a 12 month period.Methods: 1.5 T or 3 T MRIs were acquired at baseline and 12 months follow-up using a standard protocol. MRIs were read according to the Whole-Organ Magnetic Resonance Imaging Score (WORMS) scoring system (in 14 articular subregions) by four muskuloskeletal radiologists independently. Analyses focused on semiquantitative changes in the 100 μg subgroup and matching placebo of multiple MRI-defined structural alterations. Analyses included a delta-subregional and delta-sum approach for the whole knee and the medial and lateral tibio-femoral (MTFJ, LTFJ), and patello-femoral (PFJ) compartments, taking into account number of subregions showing no change, improvement or worsening and changes in the sum of subregional scores. Mann-Whitney - Wilcoxon tests assessed differences between groups.Results: Fifty-seven and 18 patients were included in the treatment and matched placebo subgroups. Less worsening of cartilage damage was observed from baseline to 12 months in the PFJ (0.02, 95 % confidence interval (CI) (-0.04, 0.08) vs. placebo 0.22, 95 % CI (-0.05, 0.49), p = 0.046). For bone marrow lesions (BMLs), more improvement was observed from 6 to 12 months for whole knee analyses (-0.14, 95 % CI (-0.48, 0.19) vs. placebo 0.44, 95 % CI (-0.15, 1.04), p = 0.042) although no significant effects were seen from the baseline visit, or in Hoffa-synovitis, effusion-synovitis, menisci and osteophytes.Conclusions: In this post-hoc analysis cartilage showed less worsening from baseline to 12 months in the PFJ, and BMLs showed more improvement from 6 to 12 months for the whole knee.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01033994 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Recently, arthroscopic-based treatment for hip-related pain with radiological findings of femoroacetabular impingement and labral lesions has been developed. We aim to present clinical outcome in a single centre patient cohort of patients treated arthroscopically for hip-related pain due to femoroacetabular impingement. Methods A total of 117 consecutive patients operated in 2009-2011 were included in this prospective case series (41% male; mean age 37 years; (range 15-70). The indication for arthroscopic treatment of hip-related pain was mechanical hip symptoms and radiological findings of femoroacetabular impingement. To evaluate hip function and pain level at 1-year and 2-5 years follow up (FU) mHHS (Modified Harris Hip Score), HOS (Hip Outcome Score) and a Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) pain score were used. Results Labral tears were seen in 91% of the hip arthroscopies. Cartilage lesions (ICRS grade 2 and above) were seen at the acetabular and femoral articular surfaces in 79% and 15% of cases, respectively. The therapeutic procedures were in 99% of the arthroscopies osteochondroplasty and/or acetabular rim-trimming. In 77% of procedures labral reattachment was performed. The patient evaluated outcome demonstrated significant increases in mHHS and HOS at 1-year follow up and at final FU compared to preoperatively (1 yr: mHHS: 72.1 to 85.3, HOS: 71.4 to 85.1; final FU: mHHS: 72.1 to 83.8, HOS: 71.4 to 83.7). Pain levels decreased significantly from preoperatively to follow ups. Five patients underwent total hip replacement within the follow up period after hip arthroscopy. Conclusions Arthroscopic treatment of femoroacetabular impingement improves patient evaluated outcomes. Further studies are needed to determine failure rates and risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The knee is an incongruent joint predisposed to developing osteoarthritis, with certain regions being more at risk of cartilage degeneration even in non-osteoarthrosed joints. At present it is unknown if knee regions prone to cartilage degeneration have similar storage and/or loss stiffness, and frequency-dependent trends, to other knee joint cartilage. The aim of this study was to determine the range of frequency-dependent, viscoelastic stiffness of articular cartilage across the bovine knee joint. Such changes were determined at frequencies associated with normal and rapid heel-strike rise times. Methods Cartilage on bone, obtained from bovine knee joints, was tested using dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). DMA was performed at a range of frequencies between 1 and 88 Hz (i.e. relevant to normal and rapid heel-strike rise times). Viscoelastic stiffness of cartilage from the tibial plateau, femoral condyles and patellar groove were compared. Results For all samples the storage stiffness increased, but the loss stiffness remained constant, with frequency. They were also dependent on cartilage thickness. Both the loss stiffness and the storage stiffness decreased with cartilage thickness. Femoral condyles had the thinnest cartilage but had the highest storage and loss stiffness. Tibial plateau cartilage not covered by the meniscus had the thickest cartilage and lowest storage and loss stiffness. Conclusion Differences in regional thickness of knee joint cartilage correspond to altered frequencydependent, viscoelastic stiffness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The overexpression of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α leads to systemic as well as local loss of bone and cartilage and is also an important regulator during fracture healing. In this study, we investigate how TNF-α inhibition using a targeted monoclonal antibody affects fracture healing in a TNF-α driven animal model of human rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and elucidate the question whether enduring the anti TNF-α therapy after trauma is beneficial or not. Methods A standardized femur fracture was applied to wild type and human TNF-α transgenic mice (hTNFtg mice), which develop an RA-like chronic polyarthritis. hTNFtg animals were treated with anti-TNF antibody (Infliximab) during the fracture repair. Untreated animals served as controls. Fracture healing was evaluated after 14 and 28 days of treatment by clinical assessment, biomechanical testing and histomorphometry. Results High levels of TNF-α influence fracture healing negatively, lead to reduced cartilage and more soft tissue in the callus as well as decreased biomechanical bone stability. Blocking TNF-α in hTNFtg mice lead to similar biomechanical and histomorphometrical properties as in wild type. Conclusions High levels of TNF-α during chronic inflammation have a negative impact on fracture healing. Our data suggest that TNF-α inhibition by an anti-TNF antibody does not interfere with fracture healing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]