Prediction of Long Bone Fractures in Multiple Myeloma Patients in an Advanced Imaging World.

Background: Multiple myeloma (MM) affects the long bones in 25% of patients. The advent of positron-emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scanners offers the possibility of both metabolic and radiographic information and may help determine fracture risk. To the best of our knowledge, no published study correlates these two factors with long bone fractures.

Altered Tissue Composition, Microarchitecture, and Mechanical Performance in Cancellous Bone From Men With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

People with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have normal-to-high BMDs, but, counterintuitively, have greater fracture risks than people without T2DM, even after accounting for potential confounders like BMI and falls. Therefore, T2DM may alter aspects of bone quality, including material properties or microarchitecture, that increase fragility independently of bone mass. Our objective was to elucidate the factors that influence fragility in T2DM by comparing the material properties, microarchitecture, and mechanical performance of cancellous bone in a clinical population of men with and without T2DM.

Atypical fracture with long-term bisphosphonate therapy is associated with altered cortical composition and reduced fracture resistance.

Bisphosphonates are the most widely prescribed pharmacologic treatment for osteoporosis and reduce fracture risk in postmenopausal women by up to 50%. However, in the past decade these drugs have been associated with atypical femoral fractures (AFFs), rare fractures with a transverse, brittle morphology. The unusual fracture morphology suggests that bisphosphonate treatment may impair toughening mechanisms in cortical bone.

Does adolescent obesity affect surgical presentation and radiographic outcome for patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis?

The purpose of this study was to test a hypothesis that overweight patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis present with larger curves and achieve less surgical correction than do healthy weight counterparts. A total of 251 individuals were grouped by BMI into overweight (BMI% ≥85) and healthy weight (BMI% <85) groups. Overweight patients demonstrated significantly larger intraoperative blood loss (P=0.

Congenital central hypoventilation syndrome (CCHS): Circadian temperature variation.

Background: Congenital central hypoventilation syndrome (CCHS) is a rare neurocristopathy, which includes a control of breathing deficit and features of autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysregulation. In recognition of the fundamental role of the ANS in temperature regulation and rhythm and the lack of any prior characterization of circadian temperature rhythms in CCHS, we sought to explore peripheral and core temperatures and circadian patterning. We hypothesized that CCHS patients would exhibit lower peripheral skin temperatures (PST), variability, and circadian rhythmicity (vs.

Imaging flow cytometry for automated detection of hypoxia-induced erythrocyte shape change in sickle cell disease.

In preclinical and early phase pharmacologic trials in sickle cell disease, the percentage of sickled erythrocytes after deoxygenation, an ex vivo functional sickling assay, has been used as a measure of a patient's disease outcome. We developed a new sickle imaging flow cytometry assay (SIFCA) and investigated its application. To perform the SIFCA, peripheral blood was diluted, deoxygenated (2% oxygen) for 2 hr, fixed, and analyzed using imaging flow cytometry.