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Purpose: The purpose of this study was to record the incidence and management of periprosthetic humeral fractures (PHF) using reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (RTSA) in our institution., Methods: We performed a retrospective study of 203 RTSA implanted in 200 patients between 2003 and 2014. The mean follow-up was 78.82 months (range, 12-141). Mean age of the study cohort was 75.87 years (range, 44-88). There were only 25 male patients (12.5 %). We assessed the presence of periprosthetic humeral fractures studying the medical files and X-rays of all patients., Results: We identified seven periprosthetic humeral fractures in 203 RTSA (3.4 %): three intra-operative (1.47 %) and four post-operative (1.97 %). The average age at the time of the fracture was 75.14 years (59-83). All patients were women (100 %). Three patients with post-operative fractures type B were treated by osteosynthesis, and one patient with post-operative fracture type A was treated conservatively. All intra-operative fractures needed cerclage wire and in one case long cemented stem. All our periprosthetic fractures healed., Conclusions: Surgical treatment with osteosynthesis in type B post-operative fractures with a stable stem is recommended. Conservative treatment is sufficient in non-displaced type A post-operative fracture. Special attention should be paid to bone quality patients using non-cemented stems in primary surgery but especially in revision shoulder surgery.

Unlabelled: In this study we validated intraoperatively the analysis of polymorphonuclear leucocyte frozen sections for diagnosis of infection in hip and knee revisions. Between 1996 and 2002 we examined sections and cultured periprosthetic tissues in prosthetic revision in 170 cases, including 146 cases (83 hips and 63 knees). We assessed sensitivity (SE), specificity (SP), positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), Youden index, positive likelihood ratio (PLR) and negative likelihood ratio (NLR). We compared intraoperative findings and paraffin-embedded samples. The results in the knee group were SE=66.7%, SP=89.7% [95% confidence interval (CI)], PPV=81% (95% CI), NPV=81.4% (95% CI), Youden index=0.56, PLR=6.5 (95% CI) and NLR=0.4 (95% CI). In the paraffin-embedded samples the results were SE=91%, SP=87% (95% CI), PPV=81% (95% CI), NPV=94% (95% CI), PLR=7 (95% CI) and NLR=8.7 (95% CI). We found a significant difference. The results in the hip group were SE=50%, SP=100% (95% CI), PPV=100% (95% CI), NPV=94.9% (95% CI), Youden index=0.5 and PLR=0.5 (95% CI). In hip and knee prosthetic revision surgery the presence of polymorphonuclear cells correlates with infection, but their absence does not exclude it. It is a quick and inexpensive test that should be included in the diagnostic protocol in revision surgery., Level of Evidence: diagnostic Study (investigating a diagnostic test), level I. See instructions to authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.