Mechanical properties of prosthetic limbs: adapting to the patient.

Lower-limb amputees have identified comfort and mobility as the two most important characteristics of a prosthesis. While these in turn depend on a multitude of factors, they are strongly influenced by the biomechanical performance of the prosthesis and the loading it imparts to the residual limb. Recent years have seen improvements in several prosthetic components that are designed to improve patient comfort and mobility.

Congenital left ventricular aneurysm: clinical, imaging, pathologic, and surgical findings in seven new cases.

Background: Congenital left ventricular aneurysm is a poorly understood and potentially lethal entity. Methods and Results In a clinicopathologic study of 7 new cases, the major presenting features in 6 patients were congestive heart failure in 4, ventricular arrhythmias in a 32-week fetus, and multiple congenital anomalies in a fetus with trisomy 13. Accurate diagnosis was achieved in all 3 living patients by echocardiography, angiocardiography, and magnetic resonance imaging.

Bone mineral and geometric changes through the femur with immobilization due to spinal cord injury.

This cross-sectional study describes bone mineral and geometric properties of the midshaft and distal femur in a control population and examines effects of immobilization due to spinal cord injury (SCI) at these skeletal sites. The subject populations were comprised of 118 ambulatory adults (59 men and 59 women) and 246 individuals with SCI (239 men and 7 women); 30 of these were considered to have acute injury (SCI duration <1 year). Bone mineral density (BMD) was assessed at the femoral neck, and midshaft and distal femur by dual energy absorptiometry.