Clinical Usefulness of SPECT/CT for Assessing Postoperative Outcomes After Medial Opening-Wedge High Tibial Osteotomy.

Background: Qualitative studies have explored changes in Tc-99m hydroxymethylene diphosphonate (HDP) uptake on single-photon emission computed tomography and computed tomography (SPECT/CT) as a result of offloading after medial opening-wedge high tibial osteotomy (MOWHTO) in patients with medial compartment knee osteoarthritis. However, whether changes in the Tc-99m HDP uptake on SPECT/CT reflect the degree of clinical improvement in postoperative outcomes, especially when using minimal clinically important differences (MCIDs), has not been investigated.

Purpose: To investigate the association between changes in Tc-99m HDP uptake on SPECT/CT and MCID-based improvement on the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) score in patients who underwent MOWHTO.

Intravenous Tranexamic Acid Has Benefit for Reducing Blood Loss after Open-Wedge High Tibial Osteotomy: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

(1) Background: the purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of intravenous (IV) administration of tranexamic acid (TXA) in patients undergoing medial opening wedge high tibial osteotomy (MOWHTO). (2) Methods: a total of 73 patients were randomly allocated into two groups (TXA group and control group). The primary outcome was total perioperative calculated blood loss after MOWHTO.

Efficacy and safety of celecoxib combined with JOINS in the treatment of degenerative knee osteoarthritis: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial.

Background: The aim of this study will be to investigate the therapeutic effect and safety of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) along with symptomatic slow-acting drugs for the treatment of osteoarthritis (SYSADOA), JOINS tablets, for degenerative knee osteoarthritis (OA) treatment and to determine the analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of the combination therapy. In addition, we will investigate whether JOINS treatment alone after NSAID and JOINS combination treatment is effective in relieving and maintaining knee OA symptoms.

Methods: This study will be a prospective, randomized, double-blind endpoint study design.

Preemptive Duloxetine Relieves Postoperative Pain and Lowers Wound Temperature in Centrally Sensitized Patients Undergoing Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial.

(1) Background: The purpose of this study was to determine whether preemptive duloxetine in patients with central sensitization (CS) is effective for acute postoperative pain control and wound healing following total knee arthroplasty (TKA). (2) Methods: CS was defined as a score of 40 points or higher on the Central Sensitization Inventory (CSI) survey. Thirty-nine patients with CS were randomly assigned to either the duloxetine group ( = 19) or the placebo group ( = 20).

Alignment adjustment using the Valgus stress technique can increase the surgical accuracy of novice surgeons during medial opening-wedge high Tibial osteotomy.

Background: The purpose of this study was to compare the degree of accuracy of coronal alignment correction with use of the "alignment adjustment under valgus stress technique" between expert and novice surgeons during medial opening-wedge high tibial osteotomy (MOWHTO).

Methods: Forty-eight patients who underwent MOWHTO performed by an expert surgeon (expert group) and 29 by a novice surgeon (novice group) were enrolled in analysis. During surgery, lower-extremity alignment was corrected using the "alignment adjustment under valgus stress technique".

The Minimal Clinically Important Difference (MCID) for the WOMAC and Factors Related to Achievement of the MCID After Medial Opening Wedge High Tibial Osteotomy for Knee Osteoarthritis.

Background: Many approaches have been used to determine the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty, but the MCID for outcome measures after medial opening wedge high tibial osteotomy (MOWHTO) for the treatment of medial compartment knee osteoarthritis (OA) has not been reported.

Purpose: To define the MCID for the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC) after MOWHTO and to identify risk factors for not achieving the MCID.

Study Design: Case-control study; Level of evidence, 3.

2-Octyl Cyanoacrylate Topical Adhesive as an Alternative to Subcuticular Suture for Skin Closure After Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Randomized Controlled Trial in the Same Patient.

Background: The 2-octyl cyanoacrylate topical adhesive with flexible self-adhesive polyester mesh (Dermabond Prineo) is becoming widely used in many surgical fields. However, no prior studies have tested the efficacy and safety of this topical adhesive compared with subcuticular suture in the same patient. The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety between Dermabond Prineo and subcuticular suture for skin closure in patients undergoing same-day bilateral total knee arthroplasties (TKAs).

Influence of increased pain sensitivity on patient-reported outcomes following total knee arthroplasty.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to discover whether increased pain sensitivity was associated with postoperative pain and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) after total knee arthroplasty (TKA).

Methods: Pain sensitivity was evaluated preoperatively using a pain sensitivity questionnaire (PSQ). Resting, walking, nighttime, and average pain visual analog scale (VAS) were measured before surgery and 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year after surgery.

Serotype Distribution and Antimicrobial Resistance of Invasive and Noninvasive Isolates in Korea between 2014 and 2016.

Background: Several factors contribute to differences in serotype distribution. We investigated the serotype distribution and antimicrobial resistance of isolated between 2014 and 2016 in Korea.

Methods: We collected a total of 1,855 isolates from 44 hospitals between May 2014 and May 2016, and analyzed the serotypes by sequential multiplex PCR.

Surgical accuracy, function, and quality of life of simultaneous versus staged bilateral Total hip Arthroplasty in patients with Osteonecrosis of the femoral head.

Background: The optimal surgical option for patients requiring bilateral hip replacement remains controversial. The purpose of this study was to compare surgical accuracy; functional outcome and health-related quality of life; and prosthetic-related complications and revision surgery of a simultaneous bilateral total hip arthroplasty (THA) with those of a staged bilateral THA with an interval between procedures <12 months.

Methods: A total of 123 unselected consecutive patients (mean age, 43.

Clinical Relevance of the SRS-Schwab Classification for Degenerative Lumbar Scoliosis.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical relevance of the SRS-Schwab classification for degenerative lumbar scoliosis (DLS).

Summary Of Background Data: The SRS-Schwab classification has been presented and validated as a useful tool for adult spinal deformity (ASD).

The Patient's Perception Does Not Differ Following Subvastus and Medial Parapatellar Approaches in Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Simultaneous Bilateral Randomized Study.

This simultaneous bilateral randomized study investigated whether patients would perceive the difference between the subvastus approach (SVA) and the medial parapatellar approach (MPA) after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). In 50 patients scheduled to undergo same-day bilateral TKA, one knee was randomly assigned to SVA and the other to MPA. Patient-reported measures (pain, Western Ontario McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index score, and side preference) and physician-assessed measures (isokinetic muscle strength, range of motion, and Knee Society score) were compared.

Centroid neural network with a divergence measure for GPDF data clustering.

An unsupervised competitive neural network for efficient clustering of Gaussian probability density function (GPDF) data of continuous density hidden Markov models (CDHMMs) is proposed in this paper. The proposed unsupervised competitive neural network, called the divergence-based centroid neural network (DCNN), employs the divergence measure as its distance measure and utilizes the statistical characteristics of observation densities in the HMM for speech recognition problems. While the conventional clustering algorithms used for the vector quantization (VQ) codebook design utilize only the mean values of the observation densities in the HMM, the proposed DCNN utilizes both the mean and the covariance values.

Complex-bilinear recurrent neural network for equalization of a digital satellite channel.

Equalization of satellite communication using complex-bilinear recurrent neural network (C-BLRNN) is proposed. Since the BLRNN is based on the bilinear polynomial, it can be used in modeling highly nonlinear systems with time-series characteristics more effectively than multilayer perceptron type neural networks (MLPNN). The BLRNN is first expanded to its complex value version (C-BLRNN) for dealing with the complex input values in the paper.

Recovery of image blocks using the method of alternating projections.

A technique for block-loss restoration in block-based image and video coding, dubbed recovery of image blocks using the method of alternating projections (RIBMAP), is developed. The algorithm is based on orthogonal projections onto constraint sets in a Hilbert space. For the recovery of a linear dimension N size block, a total of 8N vectors are extracted from the surrounding area of an N x N missing block.

Content-based adaptive spatio-temporal methods for MPEG repair.

Block loss and propagation error due to cell loss or missing packet information during the transmission over lossy networks can cause severe degradation of block and predictive-based video coding. Herein, new fast spatial and temporal methods are presented for block loss recovery. In the spatial algorithm, missing block recovery and edge extention are performed by pixel replacement based on range constraints imposed by surrounding neighborhood edge information and structure.