The Impact of Exercise Training and Supplemental Oxygen on Peripheral Muscles in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: Exercise training is a cornerstone of the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, whereas the related interindividual heterogeneity in skeletal muscle dysfunction and adaptations are not yet fully understood. We set out to investigate the effects of exercise training and supplemental oxygen on functional and structural peripheral muscle adaptation.

Methods: In this prospective, randomized, controlled, double-blind study, 28 patients with nonhypoxemic chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (forced expiratory volume in 1 second, 45.

Fate of the lateral femoral notch following early anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

Background: The goal of this longitudinal study was to investigate the fate of the lateral femoral notch (LFN), which is frequently seen as an impaction fracture of the lateral femoral condyle in patients with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears.

Methods: Patients who underwent early ACL reconstruction between 2006 and 2010 were reviewed. If post-injury magnetic resonance images showed an LFN greater than 1.

Cartilage Morphological and Histological Findings After Reconstruction of the Glenoid With an Iliac Crest Bone Graft.

Background: The J-bone graft is presumably representative of iliac crest bone grafts in general and allows anatomic glenoid reconstruction in cases of bone defects due to recurrent traumatic anterior shoulder dislocations. As a side effect, these grafts have been observed to be covered by some soft, cartilage-like tissue when arthroscopy has been indicated after such procedures.

Purpose: To evaluate the soft tissue covering of J-bone grafts by use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and histological analysis.

Segmentation of the lateral femoral notch sign with MRI using a new measurement technique.

Background: The goal of this present study was to precisely determine the dimension and location of the impaction fracture on the lateral femoral condyle in patients with an ACL rupture.

Methods: All patients with post-injury bi-plane radiographs and MRI images after sustaining a tear to the anterior cruciate ligament were included. Lateral radiographs of the affected knee were inspected for a lateral femoral notch sign.

Longitudinal change in femorotibial cartilage thickness and subchondral bone plate area in male and female adolescent vs. mature athletes.

Little is known about changes in human cartilage thickness and subchondral bone plate area (tAB) during growth. The objective of this study was to explore longitudinal change in femorotibial cartilage thickness and tAB in adolescent athletes, and to compare these data with those of mature former athletes. Twenty young (baseline age 16.

Meniscus body position, size, and shape in persons with and persons without radiographic knee osteoarthritis: quantitative analyses of knee magnetic resonance images from the osteoarthritis initiative.

Objective: To quantitatively evaluate the position, size, and shape of the menisci in subjects with radiographic knee osteoarthritis (OA) compared to subjects without OA, using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Methods: We studied the right knees of 39 Osteoarthritis Initiative participants (24 women and 15 men with a mean age of 59.6 ± 8.

Bilateral loss of neural function after interscalene plexus blockade may be caused by epidural spread of local anesthetics: a cadaveric study.

Background And Objectives: Interscalene brachial plexus blockade is widely used in surgical procedures of the upper limb. Recently, we experienced the complication of a contralateral blockade after ultrasound-guided interscalene block. The clinical appearance was a blockade of both the ipsilateral and the contralateral cervical segments 6 to 8.

Quantitative MRI measures of cartilage predict knee replacement: a case-control study from the Osteoarthritis Initiative.

Objective: Knee osteoarthritis commonly requires joint replacement, substantially reduces quality of life and increases healthcare utilisation and costs. This study aimed to identify whether quantitative measures of articular cartilage structure predict knee replacement, and to establish their utility as outcomes in clinical trials of disease-modifying therapy.

Methods: A nested case-control study was performed in Osteoarthritis Initiative participants, a multicentre observational cohort of 4796 participants with or at risk of knee osteoarthritis.

Comparison between different implementations of the 3D FLASH sequence for knee cartilage quantification.

Objective: To compare several sequence implementations of the 3D FLASH sequence in the context of quantitative cartilage imaging.

Materials And Methods: Test-retest coronal fast low angle shot (FLASH) sequences with water excitation were acquired in knees of 12 healthy participants, using two 1.5 T scanners from the same manufacturer.

Interobserver reproducibility of quantitative meniscus analysis using coronal multiplanar DESS and IWTSE MR imaging.

The objective of this study was to determine the interobserver reproducibility of quantitative measures of meniscus size and position, and to compare the interobserver reproducibility and agreement between a double echo steady state water excitation and an intermediately-weighted turbo spin-echo sequence. Eight knees (four healthy, four with radiographic knee osteoarthritis) from the Osteoarthritis Initiative cohort were studied. Manual segmentation of the menisci was performed by three observers and quantitative measures of meniscus size and position (i.

Revision 1 size and position of the healthy meniscus, and its correlation with sex, height, weight, and bone area- a cross-sectional study.

Background: Meniscus extrusion or hypertrophy may occur in knee osteoarthritis (OA). However, currently no data are available on the position and size of the meniscus in asymptomatic men and women with normal meniscus integrity.

Methods: Three-dimensional coronal DESSwe MRIs were used to segment and quantitatively measure the size and position of the medial and lateral menisci, and their correlation with sex, height, weight, and tibial plateau area.

Relationship of 3D meniscal morphology and position with knee pain in subjects with knee osteoarthritis: a pilot study.

Objectives: To explore whether quantitative, three-dimensional measurements of meniscal position and size are associated with knee pain using a within-person, between-knee study design.

Methods: We studied 53 subjects (19 men, 34 women) from the Osteoarthritis Initiative, with identical radiographic OA grades in both knees, but frequent pain in one and no pain in the other knee. The tibial plateau and menisci were analyzed using coronally reconstructed double echo steady-state sequence with water excitation (DESSwe) MRI.

Rates of change and sensitivity to change in cartilage morphology in healthy knees and in knees with mild, moderate, and end-stage radiographic osteoarthritis: results from 831 participants from the Osteoarthritis Initiative.

Objective: To study the longitudinal rate of (and sensitivity to) change of knee cartilage thickness across defined stages of radiographic osteoarthritis (OA), specifically healthy knees and knees with end-stage radiographic OA.

Methods: One knee of 831 Osteoarthritis Initiative participants was examined: 112 healthy knees, without radiographic OA or risk factors for knee OA, and 719 radiographic OA knees (310 calculated Kellgren/Lawrence [K/L] grade 2, 300 calculated K/L grade 3, and 109 calculated K/L grade 4). Subregional change in thickness was assessed after segmentation of weight-bearing femorotibial cartilage at baseline and 1 year from coronal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Effect of exercise intervention on thigh muscle volume and anatomical cross-sectional areas--quantitative assessment using MRI.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the location-specific magnitudes of an exercise intervention on thigh muscle volume and anatomical cross-sectional area, using MRI. Forty one untrained women participated in strength, endurance, or autogenic training for 12 weeks. Axial MR images of the thigh were acquired before and after the intervention, using a T1-weighted turbo-spin-echo sequence (10 mm sections, 0.

Femorotibial subchondral bone area and regional cartilage thickness: a cross-sectional description in healthy reference cases and various radiographic stages of osteoarthritis in 1,003 knees from the Osteoarthritis Initiative.

Objective: To identify structural differences in total subchondral bone area (tAB) and cartilage thickness between healthy reference knees and knees with radiographic osteoarthritis (OA).

Methods: Baseline magnetic resonance images from 1 knee of 1,003 Osteoarthritis Initiative participants were studied: 112 healthy reference knees without radiographic OA, symptoms, or risk factors; 70 preradiographic OA knees (calculated Kellgren/Lawrence [K/L] grade 0/1); and 821 radiographic OA knees (calculated K/L grade ≥2). Means and standard (Z) scores (SD unit differences compared with normal subjects) of the tAB and regional cartilage thickness were assessed in the weight-bearing femorotibial joint and compared between groups.

Denuded subchondral bone and knee pain in persons with knee osteoarthritis.

Objective: It is unclear how articular cartilage loss contributes to pain in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Full-thickness cartilage defects expose the subchondral bone plate. The relationship between denuded bone and pain has not been examined.

Magnetic resonance imaging-based cartilage loss in painful contralateral knees with and without radiographic joint space narrowing: Data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative.

Objective: To determine by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), whether knees with advanced radiographic disease (medial joint space narrowing [mJSN]) encounter greater longitudinal cartilage loss than contralateral knees with earlier disease (no or less mJSN).

Methods: Participants were selected from 2,678 cases in the Osteoarthritis Initiative, based on exhibition of bilateral pain, body mass index >25 (kg/m(2)), mJSN in 1 knee, no or less mJSN in the contralateral knee, and no lateral JSN in both knees. Eighty participants (mean +/- SD age 60.

Does the use of ordered values of subregional change in cartilage thickness improve the detection of disease progression in longitudinal studies of osteoarthritis?

Objective: To propose a novel strategy for more efficiently measuring changes in cartilage thickness in osteoarthritis (OA) using magnetic resonance imaging, and to hypothesize that determining the magnitude of thickness change independent of the anatomic location provides improved discrimination between healthy subjects and OA participants longitudinally.

Methods: A total of 148 women were imaged; 90 were Kellgren/Lawrence (K/L) grade 0, 30 were K/L grade 2, and 28 were K/L grade 3. Magnetic resonance images (3T) were acquired at baseline and at 24 months.

Relationship of compartment-specific structural knee status at baseline with change in cartilage morphology: a prospective observational study using data from the osteoarthritis initiative.

Introduction: The aim was to investigate the relationship of cartilage loss (change in medial femorotibial cartilage thickness measured with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)) with compartment-specific baseline radiographic findings and MRI cartilage morphometry features, and to identify which baseline features can be used for stratification of fast progressors.

Methods: An age and gender stratified subsample of the osteoarthritis (OA) initiative progression subcohort (79 women; 77 men; age 60.9 +/- 9.

Longitudinal quantitative MR imaging of cartilage morphology in the presence of gadopentetate dimeglumine (Gd-DTPA).

MRI-based cartilage morphometry can monitor cartilage loss in osteoarthritis. Intravenous Gd-DTPA injection is needed for compositional (proteoglycan) cartilage imaging with delayed gadolinium enhanced MRI (dGEMRIC). However, longitudinal changes of cartilage morphology have not been compared in the presence and absence of Gd-DTPA.

Medial-to-lateral ratio of tibiofemoral subchondral bone area is adapted to alignment and mechanical load.

Malalignment is known to affect the medial-to-lateral load distribution in the tibiofemoral joint. In this longitudinal study, we test the hypothesis that subchondral bone surface areas functionally adapt to the load distribution in malaligned knees. Alignment (hip-knee-ankle angle) was measured from full limb films in 174 participants with knee osteoarthritis.

Patterns of femorotibial cartilage loss in knees with neutral, varus, and valgus alignment.

Objective: Malalignment is known to alter medial-to-lateral femorotibial load distribution and to affect osteoarthritis (OA) progression in the mechanically stressed compartment. We investigated the pattern of cartilage loss in neutral, varus, and valgus knees.

Methods: Alignment was measured from full-limb radiographs in 174 participants with symptomatic knee OA.

Relationship of meniscal damage, meniscal extrusion, malalignment, and joint laxity to subsequent cartilage loss in osteoarthritic knees.

Objective: Progressive knee osteoarthritis (OA) is believed to result from local factors acting in a systemic environment. Previous studies have not examined these factors concomitantly or compared quantitative and qualitative cartilage loss outcomes. The aim of this study was to test whether meniscal damage, meniscal extrusion, malalignment, and laxity each predicted tibiofemoral cartilage loss after controlling for the other factors.

Cervical anterior transpedicular screw fixation (ATPS)--Part II. Accuracy of manual insertion and pull-out strength of ATPS.

Reconstruction after multilevel decompression of the cervical spine, especially in the weakened osteoporotic, neoplastic or infectious spine often requires circumferential stabilization and fusion. To avoid the additional posterior surgery in these cases while increasing rigidity of anterior-only screw-plate constructs, the authors introduce the concept of anterior transpedicular screw (ATPS) fixation. We demonstrated its morphological feasibility as well as its indications in a previous study in Part I of our project.

Quantitative imaging of cartilage morphology at 3.0 Tesla in the presence of gadopentate dimeglumine (Gd-DTPA).

MRI-based cartilage morphometry was previously validated in the absence of gadopentate dimeglumine (Gd-DTPA). However, Gd-DTPA is required for compositional (proteoglycan) imaging using delayed gadolinium-enhanced MRI of cartilage (dGEMRIC). Therefore, the effect of Gd-DTPA on cartilage morphometry was studied.