Minimally invasive approach for the treatment of non-isolated congenital vertical talus.

Background: Traditional extensive soft-tissue release for the treatment of congenital vertical talus is associated with a myriad of complications. A minimally invasive approach has recently been introduced with good short-term results in patients with isolated vertical talus. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of this approach for the treatment of rigid vertical talus associated with neuromuscular and/or genetic syndromes.

Clinical research and patient-rated outcome measures in hand surgery.

High-quality clinical research incorporating standardized outcome assessments is necessary to advance the field of hand surgery. Although such research can be conducted with little direct cost, effectively answering clinical questions requires thoughtful study design. Relevant concepts to consider include sample size determination, study end points, data management, and choice of outcome measures.

Joint leveling for advanced Kienböck's disease.

Purpose: The use of joint leveling procedures to treat Kienböck's disease have been limited by the degree of disease advancement. This study was designed to compare clinical and radiographic outcomes of wrists with more advanced (stage IIIB) Kienböck's disease with those of wrists with less advanced (stage II/IIIA) disease following radius-shortening osteotomy.

Methods: This retrospective study enrolled 31 adult wrists (30 patients; mean age, 39 y), treated with radius-shortening osteotomy at 2 institutions for either stage IIIB (n = 14) or stage II/IIIA (n = 17) disease.

Arthroscopic findings in gout of the wrist.

Purpose: We have recently treated several patients with gout of the wrist and scapholunate ligament pathology. The purpose of this investigation was to report the arthroscopic findings of 7 such patients.

Methods: We searched our medical records for patients with a diagnosis of gout and nontraumatic wrist pathology.

Evolution of an intronic microsatellite polymorphism in Toll-like receptor 2 among primates.

Nonhuman primates express varying responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis: New World monkeys appear to be resistant to tuberculosis (TB) while Old World monkeys seem to be particularly susceptible. The aim of this study was to elucidate the presence of the regulatory guanine-thymine (GT) repeat polymorphisms in intron 2 of Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) associated with the development of TB in humans and to determine any variations in these microsatellite polymorphisms in primates. We sequenced the region encompassing the regulatory GT repeat microsatellites in intron 2 of TLR2 in 12 different nonhuman primates using polymerase chain reaction amplification, TA cloning, and automatic sequencing.