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Many different pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) devises have been clinically used to stimulate healing processes, but many procedures are still without supporting basic research data. The aim of this study was to investigate a new modified pulsed electromagnetic field therapy: electromagnetic transduction therapy (EMTT). EMTT is technically based on high-intensive PEMFs with a magnetic field strength between 80 and 150 mT. The effect of EMTT for a 10-min session three times a week on human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) was evaluated by assessing cell viability, gene expression of bone regenerative factors and VEGF-A (vascular endothelial growth factor) secretion after 7 and 14 days of treatment. No negative or toxic effects of EMTT on MSCs in vitro were observed in the applied test frame. The VEGF-ELISA at day 7 of EMTT treatment with 80 mT showed a significant higher VEGF concentration compared to untreated control group. In conclusion, high-intensive electromagnetic impulses showed no harmful effects on MSC cultures in our study. The enhancement of the proangiogenic factor VEGF in MSCs on day 7 indicates a substantial role in cell-stimulating effect of EMTT. Further in vitro and in vivo studies should differentiate specific stimulating and regenerating effects of EMTT impulses in soft tissue engineering. Specific electromagnetic characteristics have to be determined to optimize electromagnetic treatment options in orthopedic surgery and traumatology and soft tissue treatment options.

Temporal translational signalling cues modulate all forms of tissue morphogenesis. However, if the rules to obtain specific tissues rely upon specific ligands to be active or inactive, does this mean we can engineer any tissue from another? The present study focused on the temporal effect of "multiple" morphogen interactions on muscle tissue to figure out if chondrogenesis could be induced, opening up the way for new tissue models or therapies. Gene expression and histomorphometrical analysis of muscle tissue exposed to rat bone morphogenic protein 2 (rBMP-2), rat transforming growth factor beta 3 (rTGF-β 3) , and/or rBMP-7, including different combinations applied briefly for 48 h or continuously for 30 days, revealed that a continuous rBMP-2 stimulation seems to be critical to initiate a chondrogenesis response that was limited to the first seven days of culture, but only in the absence of rBMP-7 and/or rTGF-β 3 . After day 7, unknown modulatory effects retard rBMP-2s' effect where only through the paired-up addition of rBMP-7 and/or rTGF-β 3 a chondrogenesis-like reaction seemed to be maintained. This new tissue model, whilst still very crude in its design, is a world-first attempt to better understand how multiple morphogens affect tissue morphogenesis with time, with our goal being to one day predict the chronological order of what signals have to be applied, when, for how long, and with which other signals to induce and maintain a desired tissue morphogenesis.

Background: The translation from animal research into the clinical environment remains problematic, as animal systems do not adequately replicate the human in vivo environment. Bioreactors have emerged as a good alternative that can reproduce part of the human in vivo processes at an in vitro level. However, in vitro bone formation platforms primarily utilize stem cells only, with tissue based in vitro systems remaining poorly investigated. As such, the present pilot study explored the tissue behavior and cell survival capability within a new in vitro skeletal muscle tissue-based biomaterial organoid bioreactor system to maximize future bone tissue engineering prospects., Results: Three dimensional printed β-tricalcium phosphate/hydroxyapatite devices were either wrapped in a sheet of rat muscle tissue or first implanted in a heterotopic muscle pouch that was then excised and cultured in vitro for up to 30 days. Devices wrapped in muscle tissue showed cell death by day 15. Contrarily, devices in muscle pouches showed angiogenic and limited osteogenic gene expression tendencies with consistent TGF-ß 1 , COL4A1, VEGF-A, RUNX-2, and BMP-2 up-regulation, respectively. Histologically, muscle tissue degradation and fibrin release was seen being absorbed by devices acting possibly as a support for new tissue formation in the bioceramic scaffold that supports progenitor stem cell osteogenic differentiation., Conclusions: These results therefore demonstrate that the skeletal muscle pouch-based biomaterial culturing system can support tissue survival over a prolonged culture period and represents a novel organoid tissue model that with further adjustments could generate bone tissue for direct clinical transplantations.

Objective: To retrospectively compare the diagnostic performance of isotropic 3D steady-state free precession (3D-SSFP) sequences with 2D turbo spin-echo proton density-weighted fat-saturated (2D-TSE-PD fs) images in hip magnetic resonance arthrography; arthroscopy was a standard of reference., Methods: Eighty-one patients with suspected labral tears who underwent hip MR arthrography (3-T scanner) were included. 2D-TSE-PD fs sequences were acquired in three planes and a singular sagittal 3D-SSFP. Labral tears, cartilage pathology and bone marrow were independently assessed by two blinded radiologists using a 5-point Likert scale. Accuracy was determined in 39 patients using invasive arthroscopy., Results: Diagnostic confidence of labral and cartilaginous pathologies based on image quality was rated higher for 3D-SSFP (4.5 ± 0.8; 4.35 ± 0.7; p < 0.0001), but inferior for bone marrow pathology (3.9 ± 0.7; 4.0 ± 0.7; p < 0.0001). In the arthroscopy patients, similar sensitivity (85.9%) but higher specificity (74.4vs.42.9%) and higher positive and negative predictive values were found in 3D-SSFP of labral and cartilage pathologies., Conclusions: 3D-SSFP in hip magnetic resonance arthrography offers increased accuracy in detecting labral and cartilage pathologies compared with 2D-TSE-PD, while reducing the acquisition time. A drawback of 3D-SSFP was the inferior diagnostic confidence for bone marrow evaluation; thus, 3D-SSFP should be combined with conventional 2D-TSE sequences.

Rotator cuff (RC) tendinopathy is the most common cause of shoulder pain. The effectiveness of electromagnetic transduction therapy (EMTT), a high energetic pulsed electromagnetic field therapy in this field has not been tested yet in combination with extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT). A total of 86 patients with RC tendinopathy were randomized to undergo three sessions of ESWT in combination with 8 sessions of EMTT or sham-EMTT. Both intervention groups experienced significant and clinical relevant decrease of pain at all follow-up visits, and the functionality of the shoulder evaluated by the Constant Murley score increased significantly as well. The combination of EMTT + ESWT produced significantly greater pain reduction in the visual analogue scale compared to ESWT with sham-EMTT after 24 weeks, during which the Constant Murley score improved significantly when the combination of ESWT and EMTT was employed. In patients with RC tendinopathy, electromagnetic transduction therapy combined with extracorporeal shock wave therapy significantly improves pain and function compared to ESWT with sham-EMTT.

Objectives: A prospective randomised controlled trial to investigate the efficacy of electromagnetic transduction therapy (EMTT) for treatment of patients with non-specific low back pain., Design: Two groups with non-specific low back pain were either treated with conventional therapy alone over 6 weeks or in combination with 8 sessions of EMTT., Results: In both intervention groups the low back pain related pain and the degree of disability decreased significantly at follow-up visits. Combination of EMTT and conventional therapy proved significant superior to conventional therapy alone., Conclusion: EMTT is a promising treatment in patients with non-specific low back pain.

Polymethylmethacrylate-based bone cements are widely used for fixation of joint replacements. To improve the long-term outcome, bioactive bone cements are aspired to advance the bone-cement interface. This study evaluated the in vivo properties of a new polymethylmethacrylate-based bioactive bone cement with addition of amphiphilic phosphorylated 2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate. Previous in vitro studies confirmed bioactive properties in cell culture, as well as unchanged mechanical properties are tests according to ISO 5833:2002.Three different variations of the cement (polymethylmethacrylate + phosphorylated 2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate, polymethylmethacrylate + phosphorylated 2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate + CaCl2 and polymethylmethacrylate + phosphorylated 2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate + CaCl2 + Na2CO3) were compared to conventional polymethylmethacrylate cement. To evaluate the properties under load-bearing conditions, a spacer prosthesis was implanted into the femoral diaphysis of 24 rabbits. Additionally, a cement plug was installed into the proximal tibia. After three months, polished sections with Giemsa surface staining were prepared. The bioactivity was determined using the bone affinity index.The sections showed a good osseointegration of the bioactive bone cement without cement cracks under load-bearing conditions. Regarding the bone affinity index, the bioactive bone cement revealed a significantly higher value in the proximal tibia (25.9-37.7%) and around the spacer prosthesis (36.8-58.9%) compared to the conventional polymethylmethacrylate cement (12.8-17.0%).The results confirm the in vivo bioactivity of this bone cement. The absence of cement cracks indicates a sufficient mechanical stability to fix prostheses with this bioactive cement, but for a final assessment long-term tests are necessary., (© The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.)

Background: Nonunion is a common problem in Orthopedic Surgery. In the recent years alternatives to the standard surgical procedures were tested clinically and in vitro. Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) showed promising results in both settings. We hypothesized that in target tissue cells from nonunions like fibroblasts and osteoblasts ESWT increases the release of bone growth factors., Methods: Fibroblasts and osteoblasts were suspended in 3 ml cryotubes and subjected to 250/500 shock waves at 25 kV using an experimental electrohydraulic lithotripter. After ESWT, cell viability was determined and cells were seeded at 1 × 10(5) cells in 12 well plates. After 24, 48, and 72 h cell number was determined and supernatant was frozen. The levels of growth factors FGF-2 and TGF-β(1) were examined using ELISA. A control group was treated equally without receiving ESWT., Results: After 24 h there was a significant increase in FGF-2 levels (p < 0.05) with significant correlation to the number of impulses (p < 0.05) observed. TGF-β(1) showed a time-dependent increase with a peak at 48 h which was not significantly different from the control group., Conclusions: FGF-2, an important growth factor in new bone formation, was shown to be produced by human fibroblasts and osteoblasts after treatment with ESWT. These findings demonstrate that ESWT is able to cause bone healing through a molecular way by inducing growth factor synthesis.

The aim of this study was to determine if extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) in vivo affects the structural integrity of articular cartilage. A single bout of ESWT (1500 shock waves of 0.5 mJ/mm(2)) was applied to femoral heads of 18 adult Sprague-Dawley rats. Two sham-treated animals served as controls. Cartilage of each femoral head was harvested at 1, 4, or 10 weeks after ESWT (n = 6 per treatment group) and scored on safranin-O-stained sections. Expression of tenascin-C and chitinase 3-like protein 1 (Chi3L1) was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to examine collagen (II)alpha(1) (COL2A1) expression and chondrocyte morphology was investigated by transmission electron microscopy no changes in Mankin scores were observed after ESWT. Positive immunostaining for tenascin-C and Chi3L1 was found up to 10 weeks after ESWT in experimental but not in control cartilage. COL2A1 mRNA was increased in samples 1 and 4 weeks after ESWT. Alterations found on the ultrastructural level showed expansion of the rough-surfaced endoplasmatic reticulum, detachment of the cell membrane and necrotic chondrocytes. Extracorporeal shock waves caused alterations of hyaline cartilage on a molecular and ultrastructural level that were distinctly different from control. Similar changes were described before in the very early phase of osteoarthritis (OA). High-energy ESWT might therefore cause degenerative changes in hyaline cartilage as they are found in initial OA., (Copyright 2010 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Suture anchors are increasingly gaining importance in rotator cuff surgery. This means they will be gradually replacing transosseous sutures. The purpose of this study was to compare the stability of transosseous sutures with different suture anchors with regard to their pullout strength depending on bone density. By means of bone densitometry (CT scans), two groups of human humeral head specimens were determined: a healthy and a osteopenic bone group. Following anchor systems were being tested: SPIRALOK 5.0 mm (resorbable, DePuy Mitek), Super Revo 5 mm (titanium, Linvatec), UltraSorb (resorbable, Linvatec) and the double U-sutures with Orthocord USP 2 (partly resorbable, DePuy Mitek) and Ethibond Excel 2 (non-resorbable, Ethicon). The suture anchors/double U-sutures were inserted in the greater tuberosity 12 times. An electromechanical testing machine was used for cyclic loading with power increasing in stages. We recorded the ultimate failure loads, the system displacements and the modes of failure. The suture anchors tended to bring about higher ultimate failure loads than the transosseous double U-sutures. This difference was significant in the comparison of the Ethibond suture and the SPIRALOK 5.0 mm-both in healthy and osteopenic bone. Both the suture materials and the SPIRALOK 5.0 mm showed a significant difference in pullout strength on either healthy or osteopenic bone; the titanium anchor SuperRevo 5 mm and the tilting anchor UltraSorb did not show any significant difference in healthy or osteopenic bone. There was no significant difference concerning system displacement (healthy and osteopenic bone) between the five anchor systems tested. The pullout strength of transosseous sutures is neither on healthy nor on osteopenic bone higher than that of suture anchors. Therefore, even osteopenic bone does not constitute a valid reason for the surgeon to perform open surgery by means of transosseous sutures. The choice of sutures in osteopenic bone is of little consequence anyway since it is mostly the bone itself which is the limiting factor.

Application of extracorporeal shockwaves to the musculoskeletal system can induce long-term analgesia in the treatment of chronic painful diseases such as calcifying tendonitis of the shoulder, tennis elbow and chronic plantar fasciitis. However, the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are largely unknown. Recently it was shown that application of extracorporeal shockwaves to the distal femur of rabbits can lead to reduced concentration of substance P in the shockwaves' focal zone. In the present study we investigated the impact of extracorporeal shockwaves on the production of substance P within dorsal root ganglia in vivo. High-energy shockwaves were applied to the ventral side of the right distal femur of rabbits. After six weeks, the dorsal root ganglia L5 to L7 were investigated with high-precision design-based stereology. The application of extracorporeal shockwaves caused a statistically significant decrease in the mean number of neurons immunoreactive for substance P within the dorsal root ganglion L5 of the treated side compared with the untreated side, without affecting the total number of neurons within this dorsal root ganglion. No effect was observed in the dorsal root ganglia L6 and L7, respectively. These data might further contribute to our understanding of the molecular and cellular mechanisms in the induction of long-term analgesia by extracorporeal shockwave application to the musculoskeletal system.

Instability after shoulder arthroplasty is a common problem, even though complete dislocations are rare. A distinction can be made between vertical and horizontal instabilities. The most common type of vertical instability is superior migration of the humeral head caused by rotator cuff insufficiency; the shoulder prosthesis should be changed for an inverse prosthesis if the patient is symptomatic. Horizontal instabilities can certainly lead to acute dislocation, but it is far more common for them to result in eccentric loading of the glenoid and in turn to increased wear and loosening. When a prosthesis is first implanted it is essential to reproduce the original bony situation before the deformity caused by arthrosis, arthritis or fracture, as this is the only way to prevent instability. This requires careful preoperative planning including evaluation of CT or MRI scans so that during the operation it will be possible, for example, to reorientate an eccentrically torn glenoid using a bone graft or by eccentric reaming and restore the original torsion. At least as much importance attaches to the treatment of the soft tissue, meaning careful release and later closure of the rotator cuff and capsule complex, as to the bony situation. In the authors' own institution 190 prostheses were implanted between 2000 and 2006 and there were three dislocations (1.6%).

Background: The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that shock waves can induce new bone formation even without cortical fractures and periosteal detachment as suggested in the literature., Methods: Extracorporeal shock waves with energy flux densities between 0 mJ/mm(2) (sham treatment) and 1.2 mJ/mm(2) were applied in vivo to the distal femoral region of rabbits (1500 pulses at 1 Hz frequency each). Oxytetracycline was injected on days 5-9 and the animals were sacrificed on day 10. Sections of both femora of all animals were investigated with broadband fluorescence microscopy and contact microradiography for new periosteal and endosteal bone, periosteal detachment, cortical fractures, and trabecular bone with callus., Results: Shock waves with energy flux densities of 0.9 mJ/mm(2) and 1.2 mJ/mm(2) resulted in new periosteal bone formation in the presence of cortical fractures and periosteal detachment. After application of shock waves with energy flux density of 0.5 mJ/mm(2), clearly detectable signs of new periosteal bone formation were observed without cortical fractures or periosteal detachment., Conclusions: The results of this study challenge the current view in the literature that the creation of cortical fractures and periosteal detachment are prerequisites for new bone formation mediated by extracorporeal shock waves.

Catamenial pneumothorax is a recurrent condition, predominantly affecting the right lung, of women of childbearing age, which is closely related to the menstruation cycle. Additional endometriosis and a defect of the right diaphragm is found relatively frequently. The case of a patient with a history of endometriosis, and a surgically confirmed defect of the diaphragm with prolapsed liver tissue, in whom pneumothorax first occurred at the age of 46, is presented.

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of extracorporeal shock wave therapy compared with placebo in the treatment of chronic plantar fasciitis., Design: Randomised, blinded, multicentre trial with parallel group design., Setting: Nine hospitals and one outpatient clinic in Germany., Participants: 272 patients with chronic plantar fasciitis recalcitrant to conservative therapy for at least six months: 135 patients were allocated extracorporeal shock wave therapy and 137 were allocated placebo., Main Outcome Measures: Primary end point was the success rate 12 weeks after intervention based on the Roles and Maudsley score. Secondary end points encompassed subjective pain ratings and walking ability up to a year after the last intervention., Results: The primary end point could be assessed in 94% (n=256) of patients. The success rate 12 weeks after intervention was 34% (n=43) in the extracorporeal shock wave therapy group and 30% (n=39) in the placebo group (95% confidence interval - 8.0% to 15.1%). No difference was found in the secondary end points. Few side effects were reported., Conclusions: Extracorporeal shock wave therapy is ineffective in the treatment of chronic plantar fasciitis.