Contact Tracing Activities during the Ebola Virus Disease Epidemic in Kindia and Faranah, Guinea, 2014.

The largest recorded Ebola virus disease epidemic began in March 2014; as of July 2015, it continued in 3 principally affected countries: Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Control efforts include contact tracing to expedite identification of the virus in suspect case-patients. We examined contact tracing activities during September 20-December 31, 2014, in 2 prefectures of Guinea using national and local data about case-patients and their contacts.

Computer-Navigated Total Knee Arthroplasty Utilization.

Computer-navigated total knee arthroplasty (CN-TKA) has been used to improve component alignment, though the evidence is currently mixed on whether there are clinically significant differences in long-term outcomes. Given the established increased costs and operative time, we hypothesized that the utilization rate of CN-TKA would be decreasing relative to standard TKA in the Medicare population given the current health care economic environment. We queried 1,914,514 primary TKAs performed in the entire Medicare database from 2005 to 2012.

Patient Factors and Cost Associated with 90-Day Readmission Following Total Hip Arthroplasty.

This study sought to identify specific costs for 90-day readmissions following total hip arthroplasty in a bundled payment system. Hospital billing records revealed 139 readmissions (8.93%) in 1781 patients.

Obesity has no effect on outcomes following unicompartmental knee arthroplasty.

Purpose: Although obesity has historically been described as a contraindication to UKA, improved outcomes with modern UKA implant designs have challenged this perception. The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of obesity on the outcomes of UKA with a robotic-assisted system at a minimum follow-up of 24 months with the hypothesis that obesity has no effect on robotic-assisted UKA outcomes.

Methods: There were 746 medial robotic-assisted UKAs (672 patients) with a mean age of 64 years (SD 11) and a mean follow-up time of 34.

Effects of patellofemoral overstuffing on knee flexion and patellar kinematics following total knee arthroplasty: a cadaveric study.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that overstuffing the patellofemoral joint during total knee arthroplasty (TKA) would decrease passive knee flexion and alter patellar kinematics during knee flexion.

Methods: Ten cadaveric knees were implanted with cruciate-retaining TKAs, and the patellofemoral joint was overstuffed in 2-mm increments with custom-augmented patellar prostheses (+2 mm through +8 mm). Changes to knee flexion, patellar shift, tilt and rotation were measured with an imageless optical-tracking computer navigation system.

An unusually long-lasting outbreak of community-acquired Legionnaires' disease, 2005-2008, Italy.

An unusually long-lasting community-acquired outbreak of Legionnaires' disease (LD) occurred in the inhabitants of a town in northern Italy from 2005 to 2008. Overall, 43 cases were diagnosed including five deaths. Hundreds of water samples were collected for Legionella isolation but only two clinical samples were obtained.

A comparison of acetate and digital templating for hip resurfacing.

This study sought to determine whether templating for metal-on-metal hip resurfacing is more accurate with digital or acetate methodology. The medical records of 102 consecutive patients who underwent hip resurfacing at our institution were retrospectively reviewed. Records lacking preoperative radiographs that included a magnification-establishing marker were excluded, leaving 78 records for study.

Effect of cyclic strain on tensile properties of a naturally derived, decellularized tendon scaffold seeded with allogeneic tenocytes and associated messenger RNA expression.

Naturally derived tendon scaffolds have the potential to improve the treatment of flexor tendon injuries. Seeded and unseeded tendon scaffolds were maintained in the presence or absence of physiologic strain for 7 days. After 7 days, the tensile properties and associated messenger RNA expression were compared.

Age-related changes affect rat rotator cuff muscle function.

Background: The influence of age on rotator cuff function and muscle structure remains poorly understood. We hypothesize that normal aging influences rotator cuff function, muscle structure, and regulatory protein expression in an established rat model of aging.

Methods: Seventeen rats were obtained from the National Institute on Aging.

Does surgical approach in total hip arthroplasty affect rehabilitation, discharge disposition, and readmission rate?

There is a substantial preoccupation with different surgical approaches and minimally invasive techniques that may improve clinical outcomes for patients who undergo total hip arthroplasty. This study assessed the impact on hospital-related outcomes of the direct anterior approach (DAA) compared with the posterior approach (PA) performed by a single surgeon in 100 consecutive patients in each cohort. Patient age was similar in the DAA (61 ± 1.

Quantitation of urinary volatile nitrosamines from exposure to tobacco smoke.

A sensitive and selective method was developed and validated to detect six volatile nitrosamines (N-nitrosodimethylamine, N-nitrosomethylethylamine, N-nitrosodiethylamine, N-nitrosopiperidine, N-nitrosopyrrolidine and N-nitrosomorpholine) in human urine. This method uses a liquid-liquid extraction cartridge followed by analysis with gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS-MS) and quantification based on isotopic dilution. This is the first GC-MS-MS method reported for measuring volatile nitrosamines in human urine.

Non-anatomical capsular closure of a standard parapatellar knee arthrotomy leads to patellar maltracking and decreased range of motion: a cadaver study.

Purpose: A parapatellar approach disrupts the medial soft tissue stabilizers of the patella. We hypothesized that soft tissue realignment during arthrotomy closure of native cadaveric knees influences patellar kinematics leading to decreased range of motion.

Methods: Parapatellar arthrotomy was performed in seven native human cadaveric knees that did not contain arthroplasty components.

Risk of dislocation using large- vs. small-diameter femoral heads in total hip arthroplasty.

Background: Dislocation remains a difficult problem in total hip arthroplasty. Large-diameter femoral heads may lower the incidence of dislocation by enhancing the jump distance and decreasing impingement, but their performance against small-diameter heads has not been assessed. This study compared the mid-term radiographic and functional outcomes of two matched cohorts of patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty who had a high pre-operative risk for dislocation and who received either small-diameter (26- or 28-millimeters) or large-diameter (≥36-millimeters) femoral heads.

The science of rotator cuff tears: translating animal models to clinical recommendations using simulation analysis.

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to review basic science studies using various animal models for rotator cuff research and to describe structural, biomechanical, and functional changes to muscle following rotator cuff tears. The use of computational simulations to translate the findings from animal models to human scale is further detailed.

Methods: A comprehensive review was performed of the basic science literature describing the use of animal models and simulation analysis to examine muscle function following rotator cuff injury and repair in the ageing population.

A novel process for optimizing musculoskeletal allograft tissue to improve safety, ultrastructural properties, and cell infiltration.

Background: This study evaluated the properties of scaffold derived from freeze-dried human Achilles tendon allograft for use in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. Our hypothesis was that such an allograft could be processed using a method to remove cellular and infectious material, producing a cytocompatible, architecturally modified scaffold possessing tensile properties suitable for ACL reconstruction.

Methods: Fifty-two allografts were provided by a tissue bank.

A chikungunya outbreak in the metropolis of Chennai, India, 2006.

In 2006, several southern states in India reported outbreaks of chikungunya. In the metropolis of Chennai, the first laboratory-confirmed chikungunya cases had an onset of symptoms at the end of May 2006. The authors reviewed surveillance data in which a suspected case of chikungunya was defined as a patient presenting with fever and arthralgia at a medical camp in Chennai on and after June 20, 2006.

Assessment of static progressive stretch for the treatment of shoulder stiffness: a prospective case series.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of a patient-directed static progressive stretch orthosis for the treatment of shoulder stiffness.

Methods: Twenty-three patients who had limitations in range of motion of the shoulder and who had failed conventional physical therapy methods were studied. This cohort included 15 women and 8 men with a mean age of 53 years.

I-MOVE multi-centre case control study 2010-11: overall and stratified estimates of influenza vaccine effectiveness in Europe.

Background: In the third season of I-MOVE (Influenza Monitoring Vaccine Effectiveness in Europe), we undertook a multicentre case-control study based on sentinel practitioner surveillance networks in eight European Union (EU) member states to estimate 2010/11 influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) against medically-attended influenza-like illness (ILI) laboratory-confirmed as influenza.

Methods: Using systematic sampling, practitioners swabbed ILI/ARI patients within seven days of symptom onset. We compared influenza-positive to influenza laboratory-negative patients among those meeting the EU ILI case definition.

Estimating pandemic vaccine effectiveness in two Italian regions using the screening method, 2009-2010.

The objective of this study, conducted within the I-MOVE project, was to estimate pandemic VE against laboratory confirmed cases in two Italian regions using the screening method. We calculated vaccine coverage using the number of first doses of pandemic vaccine administered and demographic data. A case was defined as a patient who was swabbed from week 44 of 2009 to week 3 of 2010 and who tested positive for A/H1N1v using RT-PCR.

Hip resurfacing with retention of existing hardware - case report.

Despite operative reduction and internal fixation (ORIF), many patients who sustain proximal femur fractures develop posttraumatic arthritis. Conventional total hip arthroplasty (THA)in the setting of altered femoral morphology and retained hardware can be quite challenging. Hip resurfacing can provide a favorable option.

Robotic systems in orthopaedic surgery.

Robots have been used in surgery since the late 1980s. Orthopaedic surgery began to incorporate robotic technology in 1992, with the introduction of ROBODOC, for the planning and performance of total hip replacement. The use of robotic systems has subsequently increased, with promising short-term radiological outcomes when compared with traditional orthopaedic procedures.

Evaluation of in vivo rotator cuff muscle function after acute and chronic detachment of the supraspinatus tendon: an experimental study in an animal model.

Background: Surgical repair of large chronic rotator cuff tears can be technically demanding because it requires manipulation of a muscle-tendon unit that is scarred, retracted, and stiffer than normal, all of which contribute to increased tension at the repair site. The purpose of the present study was to characterize the in vivo rotator cuff muscle-tendon unit function after acute and chronic injury at surgically relevant preload tensions.

Methods: Sixty-two Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into a healthy, uninjured (control) group (n = 22), an acute injury group (n = 20), and a chronic injury group (n = 20) and underwent in vivo muscle force testing and electromyographic testing of the supraspinatus muscle-tendon unit at various preload tensions.

Analysis of 4-aminobiphenyl in smoker's and nonsmoker's urine by tandem mass spectrometry.

The aromatic amine 4-aminobiphenyl (4-ABP) is present in tobacco smoke. In humans, it is also a known bladder carcinogen. We describe here a method for the quantification of total 4-ABP in urine using capillary gas chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry, with an effective detection limit in urine samples of approximately 0.