Common bacteria and treatment options for the acute and chronic infection of the total ankle arthroplasty.

Background: There is little valid data available on managing infected total ankle arthroplasty (TAA).

Methods: A single-center, retrospective evaluation from 20 patients with PJI (periprosthetic joint infection) of the ankle compared the bacteria isolated by preoperative arthrocentesis and intraoperative cultures to the pathogens of knee PJI. Long-term failure rates of irrigation and debridement (I&D) and polyethylene exchange, revision arthroplasty, and arthrodesis were analyzed.

One-year Follow-Up Results with Hydrogel Implant in Therapy of Hallux Rigidus: Case Series with 44 Patients.

Background: The Cartiva implant (CI) is being increasingly used in the surgical therapy of hallux rigidus. Despite a growing number of studies, numerous questions regarding patient selection remain unanswered.

Patients And Methods: As part of a retrospective case series with prospective follow-up (average follow-up period: 12 months), a total of 44 patients (male/female = 16/28; mean age at the time of surgery: 55.

Reintroducing the Sodium-Iodide Symporter to Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma.

Background: Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC), the most aggressive form of thyroid cancer, is unresponsive to radioiodine therapy. The current study aimed to extend the diagnostic and therapeutic application of radioiodine beyond the treatment of differentiated thyroid cancer by targeting the functional sodium-iodide symporter (NIS) to ATC.

Methods: The study employed nanoparticle vectors (polyplexes) based on linear polyethylenimine (LPEI), shielded by polyethylene glycol (PEG) and coupled to the synthetic peptide GE11 as an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-specific ligand in order to target a NIS-expressing plasmid (LPEI-PEG-GE11/NIS) to EGFR overexpressing human thyroid carcinoma cell lines.

A comparative effectiveness study of patient-rated and radiographic outcome after 2 types of decompression with fusion for spondylotic myelopathy: anterior cervical discectomy versus corpectomy.

Object: Both anterior cervical discectomy with fusion (ACDF) and anterior cervical corpectomy with fusion (ACCF) are used to treat cervical spondylotic myelopathy; however, there is currently no evidence for the superiority of one over the other in terms of patient-rated outcomes. This comparative effectiveness study compared the patient-rated and radiographic outcomes of 2-level ACDF versus 1-level ACCF.

Methods: This single-center study was nested within the EuroSpine Spine Tango data acquisition system.

Stromal targeting of sodium iodide symporter using mesenchymal stem cells allows enhanced imaging and therapy of hepatocellular carcinoma.

The tumor-homing property of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) has lead to their use as delivery vehicles for therapeutic genes. The application of the sodium iodide symporter (NIS) as therapy gene allows noninvasive imaging of functional transgene expression by (123)I-scintigraphy or PET-imaging, as well as therapeutic application of (131)I or (188)Re. Based on the critical role of the chemokine RANTES (regulated on activation, normal T-cell expressed and presumably secreted)/CCL5 secreted by MSCs in the course of tumor stroma recruitment, use of the RANTES/CCL5 promoter should allow tumor stroma-targeted expression of NIS after MSC-mediated delivery.