Non-unions treated with bone morphogenic protein 7: introducing the quantitative measurement of human serum cytokine levels as promising tool in evaluation of adjunct non-union therapy.

Background: In this study we sought to determine if application of bone morphogenic protein 7 (BMP-7) promotes physiological bone healing of non-unions and to investigate if serum cytokine analysis may serve as a promising tool in the analysis of adjunct non-union therapy. Therefore we analyzed the influence of BMP-7 application on the serum cytokine expression patterns on patients with impaired bone healing compared to patients that showed proper bone healing.

Methods: Our study involved analyzing blood samples from 208 patients with long bone fractures together with patients that subsequently developed non-unions.

Mimicry in older patients: tophaceous pseudogout as a tumorlike lesion: a case report.

Pseudogout is frequently seen in painful arthritis of larger joints, especially the knees and shoulders. This case report describes a rare clinical entity of soft-tissue calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate crystal deposition disease surrounding the second metatarsal bone of an 81-year-old man with moderate painful swelling of the right forefoot for 2 years. Diagnostic imaging demonstrated a calcified soft-tissue tumor adjacent to the second metatarsal bone by considering a neoplastic process in the differential diagnosis.

Autologous bone cylinder transplantation with cannulated screw re-stabilisation: a new treatment option for delayed fracture healing of the femoral neck.

Aim: Delayed fracture healing and non-unions of the femoral neck after lag screw osteosynthesis occur particularly in multiply injured young patients, and then surgical revision is often required. Currently no evidence-based treatment guidelines exist and therapeutic options include both hip arthroplasties and femoral head-maintaining operations. Here we report on young patients with delayed fracture healing of the femoral neck.

Intraoperative subcutaneous wound closing culture sample: a predicting factor for periprosthetic infection after hip- and knee-replacement?

Introduction: It is unknown whether intraoperative subcutaneous wound closing culture samples (WCCS) are useful to predict periprosthetic joint infection (PJI).

Method: Here we prospectively followed 167 out of a total of 175 consecutive patients with primary total hip (THR) or knee replacement (TKR) between 01/2002 and 12/2002 for a mean follow-up period of 5 years; of those patients, n = 159 (96.8%) underwent WCCS.