Paucity of viral infection symptoms in patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases.

Objectives: Although patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMID) are thought to be more susceptible to viral infections, it is unclear whether their presentation differs between patients with IMID and healthy controls. This study aimed to investigate the symptom pattern of common viral infections in patients with IMID and compare it with controls without IMIDs.

Design: A cross-sectional study conducted between 1 February and 30 April 2020, using a questionnaire.

Bispecific T cell engager therapy for refractory rheumatoid arthritis.

Bispecific T cell engagers (BiTEs) kill B cells by engaging T cells. BiTEs are highly effective in acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Here we treated six patients with multidrug-resistant rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with the CD19xCD3 BiTE blinatumomab under compassionate use.

Imaging in inflammatory arthritis: progress towards precision medicine.

Imaging techniques such as ultrasonography and MRI have gained ground in the diagnosis and management of inflammatory arthritis, as these imaging modalities allow a sensitive assessment of musculoskeletal inflammation and damage. However, these techniques cannot discriminate between disease subsets and are currently unable to deliver an accurate prediction of disease progression and therapeutic response in individual patients. This major shortcoming of today's technology hinders a targeted and personalized patient management approach.

Cinematic rendering in rheumatic diseases-Photorealistic depiction of pathologies improves disease understanding for patients.

Background: Patient education is crucial for successful chronic disease management. Current education material for rheumatic patients however rarely includes images of disease pathologies, limiting patients' disease understanding. Cinematic rendering (CR) is a new tool that allows segmentation of standard medical images (DICOMs) into pictures that illustrate disease pathologies in a photorealistic way.

Semi-quantitative magnetic resonance imaging scoring of the knee detects previous injuries in professional soccer players.

Purpose: The medical examination ("medical") is an important procedure in professional soccer since it has high economic relevance. In addition to clinical tests, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is used to assess joint health. In the present study, the reliability of semiquantitative knee MRI during the "medical" in professional soccer was tested, and its relationship with clinical data and days missed due to knee injury was observed.

Impact of Cytokine Inhibitor Therapy on the Prevalence, Seroconversion Rate, and Longevity of the Humoral Immune Response Against SARS-CoV-2 in an Unvaccinated Cohort.

Objective: To investigate the impact of biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (bDMARD) treatment on the prevalence, seroconversion rate, and longevity of the humoral immune response against SARS-CoV-2 in patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs).

Methods: Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies were measured in a prospective cohort of health care professional controls and non-health care controls and IMID patients receiving no treatment or receiving treatment with conventional or biologic DMARDs during the first and second COVID-19 waves. Regression models adjusting for age, sex, sampling time, and exposure risk behavior were used to calculate relative risks (RRs) of seropositivity.

gagCEST imaging at 3 T MRI in patients with articular cartilage lesions of the knee and intraoperative validation.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare glycosaminoglycan chemical exchange saturation transfer (gagCEST) of knee cartilage with intraoperative results for the assessment of early osteoarthritis (OA) and to define gagCEST values for the differentiation between healthy and degenerated cartilage.

Design: Twenty-one patients with cartilage lesions or moderate OA were examined using 3 T Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). In this prospective study, regions of interest (ROIs) were examined by a sagittal gagCEST analysis and a morphological high-resolution three-dimensional, fat-saturated proton-density space sequence.

Patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases receiving cytokine inhibitors have low prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 seroconversion.

Immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) of the joints, gut and skin are treated with inhibitors of inflammatory cytokines. These cytokines are involved in the pathogenesis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Investigating anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody responses in IMIDs we observe a reduced incidence of SARS-CoV-2 seroconversion in IMID patients treated with cytokine inhibitors compared to patients receiving no such inhibitors and two healthy control populations, despite similar social exposure.

Regions at Risk in the Knee Joint of Young Professional Soccer Players: Longitudinal Evaluation of Early Cartilage Degeneration by Quantitative T2 Mapping in 3 T MRI.

Purpose: The study aims to detect regions at risk for (pre-)osteoarthritis in the tibiofemoral joint of young professional soccer players by evaluating cartilage composition by T2 mapping in a 3 T magnetic resonance imaging setting.

Methods: In this longitudinal study, 20 professional adolescent soccer players were included. Tibiofemoral cartilage was assessed by quantitative T2 mapping and T2 values were evaluated by regions of interest analysis.

T2 Mapping as a New Method for Quantitative Assessment of Cartilage Damage in Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Objective: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with damage of the articular cartilage and the periarticular bone. While imaging of bone damage has substantially improved in recent years, direct imaging of the articular cartilage of the hand joints in patients with RA is still challenging. The study used T2 mapping of the finger joints to assess cartilage damage in RA.

Locally renewing resident synovial macrophages provide a protective barrier for the joint.

Macrophages are considered to contribute to chronic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. However, both the exact origin and the role of macrophages in inflammatory joint disease remain unclear. Here we use fate-mapping approaches in conjunction with three-dimensional light-sheet fluorescence microscopy and single-cell RNA sequencing to perform a comprehensive spatiotemporal analysis of the composition, origin and differentiation of subsets of macrophages within healthy and inflamed joints, and study the roles of these macrophages during arthritis.

Modular Lattice Constructs for Biological Joint Resurfacing.

The repair of large articular cartilage lesions is still a major challenge. In particular, the fixation of the grafts to the subchondral bone plate represents an unresolved problem. In this work, we present a completely novel concept based on a modular lattice, combining building blocks of different ceramic materials, anchoring pins and space for cell-loaded hydrogels or other scaffold materials.

Acoustic radiation force impulse tissue characterization of the anterior talofibular ligament: a promising noninvasive approach in ankle imaging.

Objectives: The anterior talofibular ligament (ATFL) is the most frequently injured ligament during inversion strains of the ankle. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) elastography and to determine the in vivo mechanical properties of the ATFL in healthy athletes.

Methods: Sixty healthy athletes (32 female, 28 male; 28.

Quantitative T2 Mapping Shows Increased Degeneration in Adjacent Intervertebral Discs Following Kyphoplasty.

Objective: A minimally invasive treatment of osteoporotic and nonosteoporotic thoracic and lumbar spine fractures is cement augmentation (kyphoplasty). Little is known about the impact on adjacent intervertebral discs. A quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) approach in addition to morphological MRI is desirable to evaluate changes in the intervertebral disc.

Using Cartilage MRI T2-Mapping to Analyze Early Cartilage Degeneration in the Knee Joint of Young Professional Soccer Players.

Objective: To evaluate and characterize the appearance of articular cartilage in the tibiofemoral joint of young professional soccer players using T2-relaxation time evaluation on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Design: In this study, we included 57 male adolescents from the youth academy of a professional soccer team. The MRI scans were acquired of the knee joint of the supporting leg.

Reduced invasive and muscle-sparing operative approaches to the posterolateral chest wall provide an excellent accessibility for the operative stabilization! : Minimized approaches to the posterolateral chest wall.

Purpose: Stabilizing techniques for flail chest injuries are described through wide surgical approaches to the chest wall, especially in the most affected posterior and lateral regions. Severe morbidity due to these invasive approaches needs to be considered due to dissection of the scapular guiding muscles and the risk of injuries to neurovascular bundles. This study discusses possibilities for minimized approaches to the posterior and lateral regions.

Intraoperative validation of quantitative T2 mapping in patients with articular cartilage lesions of the knee.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare T2 relaxation times of knee cartilage with intraoperative results for the assessment of early osteoarthritis (OA) and to define T2 values for the differentiation between healthy and degenerated cartilage.

Design: Twenty-one patients with cartilage lesions or moderate OA were examined using 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In this prospective study, a total of 882 regions of interest (ROIs) were examined by a sagittal, multi-echo, spin-echo T2 sequence and a morphological high-resolution three-dimensional, fat-saturated proton-density space sequence.

Transplantation of Chemically Processed Decellularized Meniscal Allografts.

Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the chondroprotective effect of chemically decellularized meniscal allografts transplanted into the knee joints of adult merino sheep. Methods Lateral sheep meniscal allografts were chemically processed by a multistep method to yield acellular, sterile grafts. The grafts were transplanted into the knee joints of sheep that were treated by lateral meniscectomy.

Stabilization of flail chest injuries: minimized approach techniques to treat the core of instability.

Purpose: Stabilizing techniques of flail chest injuries usually need wide approaches to the chest wall. Three main regions need to be considered when stabilizing the rib cage: median-anterior with dissection of pectoral muscle; lateral-axillary with dissection of musculi (mm) serratus, externus abdominis; posterior inter spinoscapular with division of mm rhomboidei, trapezius and latissimus dorsi. Severe morbidity due to these invasive approaches needs to be considered.

First clinical study of a novel complete metal-free ceramic total knee replacement system.

Background: The aim of the study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a novel metal-free ceramic total knee replacement system.

Methods: Thirty-eight primary total knee arthroplasties (TKAs) were performed on 34 patients using the metal-free BPK-S ceramic total knee replacement system with both the femoral and tibial components of an alumina/zirconia ceramic composite. The clinical outcome was evaluated pre- and postoperatively at 3 (n = 32 TKA) and 12 months (n = 32 TKA) using the Knee Society Score (KSS), the Oxford Knee Score and the EQ-5D.