Is there a benefit to a routine preoperative screening of infectivity for HIV, hepatitis B and C virus before elective orthopaedic operations?

Purpose: Before elective operations, particularly orthopaedic surgery, national guidelines in Germany recommend testing for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV) to reduce the risk of transmission of the virus through a needlestick or cutting injury. Such testing is expensive. The number of new and unknown diagnoses of viral infections that can be detected by routine screening has not yet been evaluated.

Cartilage regeneration by bone marrow cells-seeded scaffolds.

Different approaches exist for the treatment of small articular cartilage defects. Several studies show comparable results for autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) and microfracture. Unfortunately, the fibrocartilage resulting from microfracture has neither the structure nor the mechanical properties of hyaline cartilage, even though the adult mesenchymal stem cells, which immigrate into the defect, are supposed to differentiate into chondrocytes.

Matrix-guided cartilage regeneration in chondral defects.

Small cartilage defects treated with microfracture show comparable clinical results to those treated with ACI (autologous chondrocyte implantation). Unfortunately, the regenerative tissue generated by microfracture treatment does not exhibit the structure and function of hyaline articular cartilage. Adult mesenchymal stem cells are supposed to be capable of differentiating according to mechanical stimuli, e.

Proximal loading of the femur leads to low subsidence rates: first clinical results of the CR-stem.

Introduction: A new femoral stem was developed with a design that leads to compression of cancellous bone in the calcar region which results in proximal loading. The cross-sectional design of the implant provides rotational stability.

Materials And Methods: In the first clinical investigation ten patients underwent uncemented total hip arthroplasty between January 1999 and May 1999 using the CR-stem((R)) (Implantcast GmbH, Buxtehude, Germany).

Repair of osteochondral defects in the knee by resorbable bioimplants in a rabbit model.

Background: The intrinsic healing capacity of articular cartilage remains poor, despite various attempts that have been undertaken to treat cartilage defects. This study describes the experimental use of a double-layer bioimplant consisting of a bone-substitute layer and a cartilage-substitute layer.

Animals And Methods: In group A, 12 implants were placed into osteochondral defects of the load-bearing area of rabbit femoral condyles.