The young patient and the medial unicompartmental knee replacement.

Purpose: Younger patients with unicompartmental degenerative knee joint diseases present a therapeutic dilemma. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the long-term results of the Oxford phase III unicompartmental knee replacement through a minimally invasive approach in the young patient.

Methods: We have studied a total of 51 patients (59 interventions) who underwent the Oxford Phase III Unicompartmental Knee Replacement.

[Clinical pathway for hip fracture patients].

Introduction: Hip fracture in the elderly often occurs in patients with high co-morbidity. Effective management requires a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach.

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of a quality improvement intervention in the detection and treatment of complications in elderly patients admitted for hip fracture.

Rhizarthrosis fourth grade of eaton with hyperextension of the metacarpophalangeal joint.

Introduction: Restoration of thumb function with a painfree, stable, and mobile joint with preserved strength are the main goals of treatment of painful arthritis of the thumb. We present our clinical experience in surgical treatment of this disease, in its highest degree of affectation.

Presentation Of Case: A 57-year-old woman presents with a 2-year history of worsening pain at the base of her right, dominant, trapezial-metacarpal (TM) joint.

Long-term results of the retrocapital metatarsal percutaneous osteotomy for hallux valgus.

Purpose: The current trend in hallux valgus surgery is directed toward percutaneous procedures. However, no evidence that any of these methods of treatment are superior to the others has been described, excepting studies in the long term. The aim of this study was to analyse a series of patients who had undergone a percutaneous distal retrocapital osteotomy of the first metatarsal, and had been followed up for ten years.

Long-term effects of preserving or splitting the carpal ligament in carpal tunnel operation.

Carpal tunnel syndrome is treated very successfully by surgical release of the flexor retinaculum. However, in some patients, all symptoms are not resolved. Weakness in grip strength and pain in the thenar and hypothenar areas corresponding to the end of the transverse ligament after its complete section have been described as common complications of classical neurolysis of the median nerve.

Oxford phase 3 unicondylar knee arthroplasty through a minimally invasive approach: long-term results.

Purpose: Surgical treatment options for medial compartment osteoarthritis of the knee include high tibial osteotomy, total knee arthroplasty or unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA), depending on the patient's age, level of physical activity and the degree of deformity.

Methods: In this study, we evaluated the long-term results of patients who underwent the Oxford cemented meniscal-bearing unicondylar knee prosthesis through a minimally invasive approach including a clinical, functional and radiographic assessment.

Results: Favourable clinical and radiological outcomes were registered overall at ten years after surgery.

[Neurolysis of the median nerve in the elderly: a long term evaluation].

Purpose: Carpal tunnel release by opening the flexor retinaculum is considered a satisfactory treatment. However, several factors, like ageing, may influence postoperative results. We present the long term outcomes in elderly patients.

Low serum levels of DHEAS in untreated polymyalgia rheumatica/giant cell arteritis.

Objective: To address a controversy regarding the existence of a relative adrenal hypofunction in patients with untreated polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) and giant cell arteritis (GCA) we evaluated baseline serum levels of ACTH, cortisol, and DHEAS in a cohort of patients with recent onset PMR/GCA not previously treated with glucocorticoids, in comparison with healthy controls. Possible correlations between baseline DHEAS levels and laboratory measures of disease activity were also explored.

Methods: Basal serum levels of these hormones were prospectively investigated in 25 patients with active untreated disease and compared with those of 25 age- and sex-matched control subjects.

Lack of association of fibromyalgia with hepatitis C virus infection.

Objective: An association between chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and fibromyalgia (FM) remains controversial, mainly because previous studies were based on prevalent case series or comparisons with less than optimal control groups. We investigated whether there might be an association between chronic HCV infection and FM.

Methods: We prospectively investigated the prevalence of HCV infection in a series of 115 patients with FM and compared it with the prevalence in the general population of our community reported in the same period.

Sex differences in temporal arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatica.

Objective: Sex-specific differences in treatment outcomes have been observed in polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) and temporal arteritis (TA), with a significantly longer course of treatment in women than in men. We analyzed whether these sex differences are related to differences in disease presentation and severity of the inflammatory response.

Methods: The records of 163 cases of PMR and/or TA diagnosed over a 15 year period were reviewed.