Clinical and radiological mid- to long-term investigation of anterior lumbar stand-alone fusion: Incidence of reoperation and adjacent segment degeneration.

Introduction: Anterior stand-alone fusion (ASAF) devices have been developed in an attempt to reduce adjacent segment degenerative changes observed with posterior instrumented fusion techniques.

Research Question: The purpose of this study was to assess mid- to long-term clinical and radiological results following ASAF at the lumbosacral junction with special emphasis on the assessment of adjacent level pathologies.Materials & Methods: Clinical outcome scores and radiological data were acquired within an ongoing single-center prospective cohort study.

Do pre-operative radiologic assessment predict postoperative outcomes in patients with insertional Achilles tendinopathy?: a retrospective database study.

Introduction: Diagnosis and treatment of insertional tendinopathy of the Achilles tendon (IAT) remains a challenge. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of pre-operative radiological pathologies on the patient-reported outcomes following open debridement of all pathologies for IAT.

Materials And Methods: In this IRB-approved retrospective correlation and comparative study, patients with pre-operative imaging were identified from the authors' retrospective IAT database comprising of 118 patients.

Treatment of Bone Marrow Edema of the Foot and Ankle With the Prostacyclin Analog Iloprost.

Background: Bone marrow edema (BME) of the foot and ankle is challenging to treat. One approach is intravenous Iloprost treatment, which is a vasoactive prostacyclin analog. The aim of this study was to evaluate the early and intermediate outcome of intravenous Iloprost therapy on BME of the foot and ankle and to analyze the influence of its etiology and Association Research Circulation Osseous (ARCO) stage on the outcome.

Anterior stand-alone fusion revisited: a prospective clinical, X-ray and CT investigation.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the mid-term clinical and radiological results as well as patient safety in terms of complication and reoperation rates in patients treated with a novel anterior stand-alone fusion (ASAF) device (Synfix-LR, DePuy Synthes, West Chester, PA, USA) in a cohort of patients with predominant and intractable low back pain originating from monosegmental degenerative disc disease at the lumbosacral junction.

Methods: Clinical outcome scores visual analog scale (VAS), Oswestry disability index (ODI) and patient satisfaction rates were acquired within the framework of an ongoing single-center prospective clinical trial. Evaluation of radiological data included segmental and global lumbar lordosis, neuroforaminal height and width.

Postmortem 3-D reconstruction of skull gunshot injuries.

Background: In cases of severe decomposition or skeletonization of a corpse after cerebral gun shot injury it is difficult to exactly reconstruct the bullet path in the brain. However, in case of murder or homicide this might become necessary to answer forensic questions such as the ability to move or other actions of the victim.

Materials And Methods: Therefore a method in terms of three dimensional reconstruction technique was developed by fusing computed tomography scans (CT) of the original skull and magnetic resonance images (MRI) of a normal brain of adequate size.

Influence of lumbar intervertebral disc degeneration on the outcome of total lumbar disc replacement: a prospective clinical, histological, X-ray and MRI investigation.

Introduction: The role of fusion of lumbar motion segments for the treatment of axial low back pain (LBP) from lumbar degenerative disc disease (DDD) without any true deformities or instabilities remains controversially debated. In an attempt to avoid previously published and fusion-related negative side effects, motion preserving technologies such as total lumbar disc replacement (TDR) have been introduced. The adequate extent of preoperative DDD for TDR remains unknown, the number of previously published studies is scarce and the limited data available reveal contradictory results.

The fate of facet joint and adjacent level disc degeneration following total lumbar disc replacement: a prospective clinical, X-ray, and magnetic resonance imaging investigation.

Study Design: Prospective clinical, x-ray, and magnetic resonance imaging investigation following total lumbar disc replacement (TDR) with ProDisc II (Synthes, Paoli, PA).

Objective: To examine the progression of adjacent level degeneration (ALD), facet joint degeneration (FJD) as well as associated risk factors following TDR.

Summary Of Background Data: Fusion procedures have been associated with adjacent level morbidities and facet joint pathologies in a considerable number of patients.

Magnetic resonance imaging signs of iliotibial band friction in patients with isolated medial compartment osteoarthritis of the knee.

Background: The purpose of this retrospective study was to assess the frequency of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signs of iliotibial band friction (ITBF) in patients with advanced medial compartment knee osteoarthritis.

Material And Methods: Proton density-weighted (PDw) fat-saturated (fatsat) MR images (1.5 T, slice thickness (SL) 2.

[Macroscopic and endoscopic examinations of the head and neck region in ancient Egyptian mummies].

Introduction: The examination of mummies has mostly been performed by macroscopic investigation after unwrapping. During the last decades, however, several research groups provided clear evidence that the combination of various noninvasive approaches for the examination of mummies offers distinct advantages over the previously used methods of unwrapping and inspection. Particularly, the introduction of endoscopic techniques has been used for a closer examination of mummies without destroying them.

Extraluminal gastrointestinal stromal tumour in the second portion of the duodenum.

The preoperative diagnosis of extraluminal gastrointestinal stromal tumours in the duodenum is difficult to establish due to their rare occurrence and the lack of pathognomonic signs. This report describes the case of a 61-year-old woman who suffered from an immunohistologically confirmed gastrointestinal stromal tumour in the second portion of the duodenum. Preoperative, abdominal, multislice computed tomography showed an extraluminal but intramural tumour located between the head of the pancreas and the duodenum.

Sigmoidorectal intussusception caused by rectal carcinoma: multislice CT findings.

We report a case of an extensive intermittent sigmoidorectal intussusception due to an adenocarcinoma of the rectum in an adult. Abdominal multislice computed tomography with two-dimensional multiplanar reformatted images and three-dimensional volume rendering rapidly established the diagnosis preoperatively. The intussusception was confirmed by surgery.

[[F-18]FDG imaging of head and neck tumors: comparison of hybrid PET, dedicated PET and CT].

Aim: Aim of the study was to evaluate [F-18]FDG imaging of head and neck tumors using a Hybrid-PET device of the 2nd or 3rd generation. Examinations were compared to dedicated PET and Spiral-CT.

Methods: 54 patients suffering from head and neck tumors were examined using dedicated PET and Hybrid-PET after injection of 185-350 MBq [F-18]FDG.

Molecular analysis of skeletal tuberculosis in an ancient Egyptian population.

A paleomicrobiological study was performed on 37 skeletal tissue specimens from cadavers in the necropolis of Thebes-West, Upper Egypt, (2120-500 BC) and four from the necropolis of Abydos (3000 BC). The subjects had typical macromorphological evidence of osseous tuberculosis (n = 3), morphological alterations that were not specific, but probably resulted from tuberculosis (n = 17), or were without morphological osseous changes (n = 21). DNA was extracted from these bone samples and amplified by PCR with a primer pair that recognised the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex insertion sequence IS6110.

[Spiral CT of the abdomen: weight-adjusted dose reduction].

Aim Of The Study: The influence of weight-adjusted current application in spiral CT of the abdomen on noise was investigated in a clinical study.

Patients And Methods: In 77 routine abdominal CT investigations (120 kV, 8 mm, pitch 1.5) the patients were divided into three body-weight groups A (< 60 kg), B (60-80 kg), and C (> 80 kg).

Anthropological and palaeopathological analysis of the human remains from three "Tombs of the Nobles" of the necropolis of Thebes-west, upper Egypt.

During several recent excavation campaigns at the necropolis of Sheikh-Abd-el-Gurna, Thebes-West, Upper Egypt, we investigated the human remains of three "Tombs of the Nobles" totalling at least 273 individuals. The investigation covered the human material (skeletons and mummy residues) from the tombs TT-84, TT-85 and TT-95. These tombs had been built in the New Kingdom (approx.

Molecular evidence for different stages of tuberculosis in ancient bone samples from Hungary.

This paleomicrobiologic study was conducted on osseous tissue specimens from ancient Hungarian skeletal samples from the 7-8th and the 17th centuries AD with typical macromorphologic evidence of osseous tuberculosis (n = 3), morphologic alterations probably due to tuberculosis (n = 6), or with nontypical osseous changes of vertebral bodies suggestive of inflammatory reaction (n = 5). From these bone samples, DNA was extracted and amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) by using various primer pairs recognizing DNA segments of different mycobacterial species. To confirm specificity of the analysis, the amplification products of several samples were subjected to restriction enzyme digestion and/or direct sequencing.

Detection of leprosy in ancient human skeletal remains by molecular identification of Mycobacterium leprae.

We isolated ancient DNA from skeletal remains obtained from a South German ossuary (approximately 1400-1800 AD) and from a 10th century Hungarian cemetery partially indicating macromorphologic evidence of leprosy. In samples taken of 2 skulls from Germany and of 1 hard palate from Hungary, Mycobacterium leprae-specific fragments of RLEP1 and RLEP3 were amplified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), thereby confirming their specificity by sequencing. In another case, PCR with primers targeting IS6110 of Mycobacterium tuberculosis gave positive results only for a mandibular specimen.

Endoluminal repair of peripheral arterial aneurysms: 4-year experience with the cragg endopro system I.

Purpose: To assess the efficiency and long-term patency of the Cragg EndoPro System I in patients with peripheral arterial aneurysms.

Materials And Methods: In 10 patients, 13 stent-grafts were used to treat 15 arterial aneurysms. Aneurysms were located in the common iliac (n = 4), superficial femoral (n = 4), popliteal (n = 3), and subclavian arteries (n = 2), and in a femoropopliteal bypass-graft (n = 2).

Malignant tumors in an ancient Egyptian population.

Since it is still an open debate whether malignant tumors are mainly influenced by environmental factors, the frequency of such malignant tumors in historic populations with different living conditions is of particular interest. In the present study, we investigated the occurrence of malignant tumors affecting bone tissue in a population of mumrnies and skeletons, which had been excavated from the large necropolis of Thebes-West, Upper Egypt. Our study material comprised a series of at least 415 individuals (thereof 325 adults) dating from approx.

Successful exclusion of subclavian aneurysms with covered nitinol stents.

Two cases of percutaneous endoluminal exclusion of a subclavian aneurysm with a Dacron-coated nitinol stent are presented. One subclavian aneurysm followed trauma; the other was due to thoracic outlet stenosis which was caused by a cervical rib. In both patients the aneurysm was excluded successfully.