[Stress fractures of the tarsal navicular. Apropos of 20 cases].

Twenty cases of tarsal navicular stress fractures were observed in 17 patients. These fractures are rare, often go unrecognized, and are reputed to unite with difficulty. A clue to diagnosis was given by the description (young athletic person in sports involving sudden starts and stops).

[Blood saving in pediatric orthopedics. A study of 145 posterior vertebral arthrodesis].

The authors review 145 operations utilizing the Cotrel-Dubousset technique for scoliosis and/or cyphosis over a period of 4 years. From 1985 to 1989, the number of patients who received no homologous blood rose from 0% to 85% for the totality of cases. Inversely, the average quantity per patient of homologous blood used for transfusion decreased from 3,564 ml to 194 ml, ie.

[Coral substituted for bone grafting in posterior vertebral arthrodesis in children. Initial results].

The authors used natural coral as a substitutive element to bone supply in children in need of posterior vertebral graft. The use of natural coral was part of a protocol aiming at diminishing peroperative bleeding, and as far as possible, at doing away with resorting to homotransfusion. After reviewing the biological, experimental and clinical bases, the authors studied 49 cases of posterior vertebral fusion instrumented with the Cotrel-Dubousset device and with natural coral grafts.