Evaluation of microembolic signals on carotid ultrasound during pulmonary vein isolation with high-power short-duration and cryoballoon ablations: When and where do bubble and solid emboli arise?

Introduction: The underlying risks of asymptomatic embolization during high-power short-duration (HPSD) ablation for atrial fibrillation remain unclear. We aimed to evaluate microembolic signals (MESs) during HPSD ablation with power settings of 50 and 90 W in comparison with those during cryoballoon (CB) ablation using a novel carotid ultrasound-Doppler system that classifies solid and air bubble signals using real-time monitoring.

Methods And Results: Forty-seven patients underwent HPSD ablation using radiofrequency (RF), and 13 underwent CB ablation.

Medical services at the 2017 Sapporo Asian winter games: injury and illness epidemiology at a 34-nation multisport event.

Objectives: We describe the medical services provided and report the injuries and illnesses that occurred at the eighth Asian Winter Games 2017.

Methods: A total of 2010 athletes and team officials from 32 National Olympic Committees and 2 guest countries attended this event; medical services were provided for 16 days. Medical data (medical care and physiotherapy) were collected for the same period by the organising committee for athletes and non-athletes (team officials, workforce, media and spectators) and recorded on the electronic medical record system at the medical rooms in the venues and the team residences.

Spontaneous Recurrent Hemarthrosis of the Knee: A Report of Two Cases with a Source of Bleeding Detected during Arthroscopic Surgery of the Knee Joint.

We report two cases of the spontaneous recurrent hemarthrosis of the knee. In these cases lateral meniscus was severely torn and a small tubular soft tissue with pulsation was identified on the synovium in the posterolateral corner during arthroscopic surgery of the knee joint. Gentle grasping of this tissue by forceps led to pulsating bleeding, which stopped by electrocoagulation.

Topographic anatomy of the posterior ramus of thoracic spinal nerve and surrounding structures.

Study Design: Cadaver dissection.

Objective: To examine the potential points of spinal nerve entrapment and the articular branches in the thoracic spine.

Summary Of Background Data: Despite many cadaver studies focused on the cervical and lumbar spinal nerves, detailed anatomy of the thoracic nerve branches is missing from the viewpoint of painful neuropathy on the thoracic region.

Metastatic prostate cancer in ossification of the ligamentum flavum--a case report.

Background Context: No previous reports have described a metastatic tumor located in the ossification of the ligamentum flavum (OLF).

Purpose: To report an extremely rare case of metastatic tumor located in the OLF.

Study Design: Case report.

Gravity-assisted pivot-shift test can predict the function of the reconstructed anterior cruciate ligament.

Purpose: The gravity-assisted pivot-shift (GAPS) test is a newly advocated test for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. We retrospectively investigated the relationships between the result of preoperative GAPS test and the function of the reconstructed ACL using autogenous hamstring tendon grafts.

Methods: Seventy-eight patients with unilateral ACL injury and a minimum of 1-year follow-up were enrolled in this study.

Comparison of enlargement of the spinal canal after cervical laminoplasty: open-door type and double-door type.

The purpose of this study was to compare the degree of enlargement of the spinal canal between two methods of cervical laminoplasty (open-door laminoplasty and double-door laminoplasty) and to determine their appropriate surgical indications based on the results. Tension-band laminoplasty (TBL, one method of open-door type) was performed in 33 patients and double-door laminoplasty (DDL) in 20 patients. The operation level ranged from C2 to C7 in all patients.

Occipitocervical fusion using a hook and rod system between cervical levels C2 and C3.

We aimed to evaluate the clinical utility and safety of the hook and rod method for occipitocervical fusion. Eleven consecutive patients (3 males, 8 females; 50-78 years old, average 63.8 years; 16-77 months follow-up, average 33.

Contributory factors to the results of gravity-assisted pivot-shift test for anterior cruciate ligament injury: the significance of muscle torque around the knee.

Gravity-assisted pivot-shift (GAPS) test is a newly advocated test for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. It induces anterolateral rotatory instability with valgus stress to the knee applied by gravitational force during patient's active knee motion. We investigated prospectively the relationships between the results of the GAPS test and the possible contributory factors and sought to clarify the determinant factors of the GAPS test.

Posterior atlantoaxial subluxation due to os odontoideum combined with cervical spondylotic myelopathy: a case report.

In patients with os odontoideum and posterior atlantoaxial subluxation are extremely rare. No reports have described posterior atlantoaxial subluxation associated with os odontoideum combined with cervical spondylotic canal stenosis, both of which require surgical treatment. We report one case of a 75-year-old female who underwent arthrodesis between the occiput and C3 using a hook-and-rod system and also a double-door laminoplasty from levels C3 to C7.

Hemoglobin levels and athletic performance in elite speed skaters during the olympic season 2006.

Objective: To test the hypotheses that the hemoglobin (Hb) distribution curve in elite male and female long track speed skaters is not normally distributed and that there is a positive relationship between competitive success and Hb concentration.

Design: A venous blood sample was taken before the events from all skaters. The Hb concentration distribution curves of all ranked from 1 to 30 were tested for normality.

Intra-articular fibrous tissue formation following ankle fracture: the significance of arthroscopic debridement of fibrous tissue.

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to understand the clinical consequences of arthrofibrosis following surgical reduction of ankle fractures and to examine the effectiveness of arthroscopic debridement.

Methods: Subjects included 33 patients (26 males, 7 females) aged 14 to 78 years (mean, 40.2 years) who had undergone open reduction and internal fixation of ankle fractures between May 2000 and May 2003.

Effects of hyperbaric oxygen on gene expressions of procollagen, matrix metalloproteinase and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase in injured medial collateral ligament and anterior cruciate ligament.

Animal experiments were performed to investigate whether and how the administration of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) affects gene expressions of procollagens, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) in injured medial collateral ligament (MCL) and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). In 64 Sprague-Dawley rats, the MCL of the left knee was lacerated at the midsubstance, and the ACL of the left knee was lacerated adjacent to the tibial insertion in another 64 rats. Of these, 32 rats with lacerated MCL and 32 rats with lacerated ACL were housed in individual cages at normal atmospheric pressure (Groups MC and AC, respectively), while the remaining 64 rats were exposed to 100% oxygen at 2.

Traumatic anterior lumbosacral dislocation caused by hyperextension mechanism in preexisting L5 spondylolysis: a case report and a review of literature.

Of many reports referring to injury mechanism in anterior lumbosacral dislocation, there were none concerning hyperextension mechanism. We report a case of a 46-year-old man with preexisting L5 spondylolysis sustaining traumatic complete anterior lumbosacral dislocation. The operative findings, together with the radiologic findings, strongly suggested that the dislocation occurred by hyperextension mechanism.

Effectiveness of multiple-level decompression in laminoplasty and simultaneous C1 laminectomy for patients with cervical myelopathy.

A retrospective study to investigate the relationship between the surgical levels and decompression effects was performed in patients with cervical myelopathy who had undergone Tension-band laminoplasty (TBL) with/without simultaneous C1 laminectomy. One hundred and sixty-eight patients (115 males, 53 females; age: 31-80 years, average 58.9 years; follow-up period: 12-120 months, average 20 months) were divided into three groups according to the range of the surgical levels: seventy-two patients in group A underwent TBL at the C2-C7 levels with C1 laminectomy; 60 patients in group B underwent TBL at the C2-C7 levels; 36 patients in group C underwent TBL at the C3-C7 levels.

Nontraumatic aneurysm of a branch of the posterior tibial artery mimicking a schwannoma.

Aneurysms involving the infrapopliteal arteries are unusual and in most cases result from trauma. Nontraumatic aneurysms of the infrapopliteal arteries are very rare. We report a case of an aneurysm of a branch of the posterior tibial artery.

Gravity-assisted pivot-shift test for anterior cruciate ligament injury: a new procedure to detect anterolateral rotatory instability of the knee joint.

The denominated gravity-assisted pivot-shift test was introduced as a new procedure to detect anterolateral rotatory instability of the knee joint. The patient lies in the supine position or slightly rotated onto the affected side. The affected knee flexed approximately 60 degrees and the ipsilateral hip flexed, abducted and externally rotated so that the plane of the knee motion runs parallel to the floor.

Occipitocervicothoracic fixation using a hook and rod system for patients with rheumatoid cervical spine.

Abstract We retrospectively examined the outcomes of occipitocervicothoracic fixation using a hook and rod system for rheumatoid patients with cervical myelopathy in which decompression of the spinal cord and spinal fusion were performed simultaneously at multiple levels. There were 10 female patients with rheumatoid arthritis (ages 51-77 years, average 62.8 years; follow-up period 6 months to 3 years and 9 months, average 2 years and 8 months).

Effect of hyperbaric oxygen on the ligament healing process in rats.

Animal experiments were done to investigate whether administration of hyperbaric oxygen promotes scar tissue formation, increases expression of the Type I procollagen gene, and improves the tensile properties of healing ligament. In 76 Sprague-Dawley rats, a 2-mm segment of the medial collateral ligament was removed. Thirty-eight rats were exposed to hyperbaric oxygen at 2.

Synovial response to intraarticular injections of hyaluronate in frozen shoulder: a quantitative assessment with dynamic magnetic resonance imaging.

To clarify the response of frozen shoulder (FS) to intraarticular injections of high-molecular-weight sodium hyaluronate (HA), a mixture of 2.5 ml of HA and 1.5 ml of 1% lidocaine was injected into the glenohumeral joint of 11 patients with FS, 8 of whom received five weekly injections.

The influence of tibial fixation on tunnel enlargement after hamstring tendon anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

The retrospective study was designed to evaluate tibial-tunnel enlargement after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with hamstring autograft. Forty-three patients (43 knees) were enrolled, among whom a spiked washer was used for the tibial side fixation in 20 knees (Group SW) and the WasherLoc was used in 23 knees (Group WL). After an average 16 (range 12-32) months' follow-up, the distance between the sclerotic margins of the tibial tunnel was measured at the joint level, and 1 and 2 cm distal to the joint level on the lateral view radiographs, from which the tibial-tunnel enlargement at each point (E1, E2, and E3 respectively) was determined.

Enlarging intramuscular hematoma and fibrinolytic parameters.

We describe eight patients with enlarging intramuscular hematoma who had no history of a bleeding tendency or trauma, other than for trivial incidental events of daily life. The hematoma gradually enlarged over 5-42 days and then diminished or disappeared within 3-5 months. This type of hematoma differs from both typical acute and chronic hematomas which were previously reported as a pseudotumor or a chronic expanding hematoma.