Percutaneous Cementoplasty to Treat Sternal Instability After Cardiac Surgery.

Introduction: Although rare, sternal pseudarthrosis is encountered after cardiac surgery and impacts the quality of life by triggering motion-dependent chest pain. We thought to describe its treatment by percutaneous cementoplasty and report the clinical follow-up of patients treated in our institution.

Methods: This case series is a retrospective study based on five patients who benefited from a sternal cementoplasty as a treatment for symptomatic pseudarthrosis after cardiac surgery.

Improved estimates of strength and stiffness in pathologic vertebrae with bone metastases using CT-derived bone density compared with radiographic bone lesion quality classification.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the ability of 1) CT-derived bone lesion quality (classification of vertebral bone metastases [BM]) and 2) computed CT-measured volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD) for evaluating the strength and stiffness of cadaver vertebrae from donors with metastatic spinal disease.

Methods: Forty-five thoracic and lumbar vertebrae were obtained from cadaver spines of 11 donors with breast, esophageal, kidney, lung, or prostate cancer. Each vertebra was imaged using microCT (21.

Percutaneous discectomy under CT and fluoroscopy guidance: an international multicentric study.

Purpose: To evaluate the technical efficacy, safety, and reproducibility of automated percutaneous lumbar discectomy (APLD) under CT and fluoroscopic guidance, for treating radiculopathy caused by lumbar disc herniation in patients impervious to conservative treatment.

Methods: A total of 77 patients with symptomatic lumbar disc herniation were treated with APLD in a prospective multicentric study performed in four centers across three countries. Magnetic resonance imaging and/or computed tomography was used to evaluate the disc herniation before and after the procedure.

Conventional finite element models estimate the strength of metastatic human vertebrae despite alterations of the bone's tissue and structure.

Introduction: Pathologic vertebral fractures are a major clinical concern in the management of cancer patients with metastatic spine disease. These fractures are a direct consequence of the effect of bone metastases on the anatomy and structure of the vertebral bone. The goals of this study were twofold.

A prospective, international, randomized, noninferiority study comparing an implantable titanium vertebral augmentation device versus balloon kyphoplasty in the reduction of vertebral compression fractures (SAKOS study).

Background Context: Balloon kyphoplasty (BKP) is a commonly performed vertebral augmentation procedure for painful osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures (OVCFs).

Objective: This study aimed to support a non-inferiority finding for the use of a titanium implantable vertebral augmentation device (TIVAD) compared to BKP.

Study Design: Prospective, parallel group, controlled comparative randomized study.

Symptomatic Schmorl's nodes: role of percutaneous vertebroplasty. Open study on 52 patients.

Purpose: To assess the feasibility and clinical outcome of combined CT and fluoroscopy-guided percutaneous vertebroplasty in the management of painful Schmorl's nodes (SN).

Methods: A prospective study was carried out from January 2014 to January 2016 in 52 consecutive patients. Thirty-two men and 30 women aged between 42 and 88 years old were consecutively included.

Contained Herniated Lumbar Disc: CT- and Fluoroscopy-Guided Automated Percutaneous Discectomy-A Revival.

The combination of a new device and dual guidance (computed tomography [CT] and fluoroscopy) is similar to other percutaneous devices in achieving a mechanical decompression of the disc. The difference, however, is that the target of the decompression with the current technique is the herniated disc itself. The goal of this combined technique is to create a space, an "olive" around the probe, allowing a decrease in pressure inside the hernia.

[Adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder : Update 2017].

A century and a half after its first description, adhesive capsulitis (frozen shoulder) has revealed only part of its secrets. Its definition remains clinical since the imaging technology we have at our dis-posal is insufficiently sensitive and specific. Next to its idiopathic form, the most frequent and the most characteristic, there are numerous situations inducing a functional limitation of the glenohumeral joint and of its environment.

Clinical Performance and Safety of 108 SpineJack Implantations: 1-Year Results of a Prospective Multicentre Single-Arm Registry Study.

This prospective, consecutive, multicentre observational registry aimed to confirm the safety and clinical performance of the SpineJack system for the treatment of vertebral compression fractures (VCF) of traumatic origin. We enrolled 103 patients (median age: 61.6 years) with 108 VCF due to trauma, or traumatic VCF with associated osteoporosis.

Soft tissue artifact distribution on lower limbs during treadmill gait: Influence of skin markers' location on cluster design.

Segment poses and joint kinematics estimated from skin markers are highly affected by soft tissue artifact (STA) and its rigid motion component (STARM). While four marker-clusters could decrease the STA non-rigid motion during gait activity, other data, such as marker location or STARM patterns, would be crucial to compensate for STA in clinical gait analysis. The present study proposed 1) to devise a comprehensive average map illustrating the spatial distribution of STA for the lower limb during treadmill gait and 2) to analyze STARM from four marker-clusters assigned to areas extracted from spatial distribution.

Pioglitazone improves fat distribution, the adipokine profile and hepatic insulin sensitivity in non-diabetic end-stage renal disease subjects on maintenance dialysis: a randomized cross-over pilot study.

Background: Fat redistribution, increased inflammation and insulin resistance are prevalent in non-diabetic subjects treated with maintenance dialysis. The aim of this study was to test whether pioglitazone, a powerful insulin sensitizer, alters body fat distribution and adipokine secretion in these subjects and whether it is associated with improved insulin sensitivity.

Trial Design: This was a double blind cross-over study with 16 weeks of pioglitazone 45 mg vs placebo involving 12 subjects.

Soft tissue artifact assessment during treadmill walking in subjects with total knee arthroplasty.

Accurate measurement of knee kinematics during functional activities suffers mainly from soft tissue artifact (STA): the combination of local surface deformations and rigid movement of markers relative to the underlying bone (also called rigid STA movement: RSTAM). This study proposes to assess RSTAM on the thigh, shank, and knee joint and to observe possible features between subjects. Nineteen subjects with knee arthroplasty were asked to walk on a treadmill while a biplane fluoroscopic system (X-rays) and a stereophotogrammetric system (skin markers) recorded their knee movement.

3-T direct MR arthrography of the wrist: value of finger trap distraction to assess intrinsic ligament and triangular fibrocartilage complex tears.

Purpose: To determine the value of applying finger trap distraction during direct MR arthrography of the wrist to assess intrinsic ligament and triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFCC) tears.

Materials And Methods: Twenty consecutive patients were prospectively investigated by three-compartment wrist MR arthrography. Imaging was performed with 3-T scanners using a three-dimensional isotropic (0.

Dorsal fractures of the triquetrum: MRI findings with an emphasis on dorsal carpal ligament injuries.

Objective: The objective of our study was to report the MRI findings in dorsal fractures of the triquetrum, with an emphasis on dorsal carpal ligament injuries.

Materials And Methods: A total of 21 patients (16 men, five women; mean age, 41.9 years) with acute or subacute (≤ 6 weeks) dorsal triquetral fractures on radiography and MRI were included in this two-center retrospective study.

Magnetization transfer-based 3D visualization of foot peripheral nerves.

Purpose: To investigate magnetization transfer (MT) effects as a new source of contrast for imaging and tracking of peripheral foot nerves.

Materials And Methods: Two sets of 3D spoiled gradient-echo images acquired with and without a saturation pulse were used to generate MT ratio (MTR) maps of 260 μm in-plane resolution for eight volunteers at 3T. Scan parameters were adjusted to minimize signal loss due to T2 dephasing, and a dedicated coil was used to improve the inherently low signal-to-noise ratio of small voxels.

Direct MR arthrography of the shoulder under axial traction: feasibility study to evaluate the superior labrum-biceps tendon complex and articular cartilage.

Purpose: To assess the value of adding axial traction to direct MR arthrography of the shoulder, in terms of subacromial and glenohumeral joint space widths, and coverage of the superior labrum-biceps tendon complex and articular cartilage by contrast material.

Materials And Methods: Twenty-one patients investigated by direct MR arthrography of the shoulder were prospectively included. Studies were performed with a 3 Tesla (T) unit and included a three-dimensional isotropic fat-suppressed T1-weighted gradient-recalled echo sequence, without and with axial traction (4 kg).

[Trends in the treatment of spinal osteoporic fractures: vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty].

Vertebral osteoporotic fracture (VOF) is a major problem of public health. Surgical treatments such as vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty are interesting adjuvant treatments for the management of osteoporosis. A consensus proposed by the principal contributors of this management is important.

Usefulness of intra-articular bupivacain and lidocain adjunction in MR or CT arthrography: a prospective study in 148 patients.

Purpose: To evaluate the influence of shorter- and longer-acting intra-articular anaesthetics on post-arthrographic pain.

Materials And Methods: 154 consecutive patients investigated by MR or CT arthrographies were randomly assigned to one of the following groups: 1--intra-articular contrast injection only; 2--lidocain 1% adjunction; or 3--bupivacain 0.25% adjunction.

[Non-traumatic fractures at the end of a pregnancy: are there always of osteoporotic origin].

Pregnancy-associated osteoporosis usually appears during the first pregnancy and does not affect the followings. We report two cases where non-traumatic fractures have been diagnosed shortly after delivery of second pregnancies. Wide investigations could not find a cause of secondary osteoporosis.

[Imaging in osteoarthritis].

Plain radiography remains useful for the diagnosis of osteoarthritis, even if it is not always essential. It is moreover poorly correlated with symptoms, as it reflects rather the accumulation of damage then active processes. Similarly, it is a poor indicator of the progression of osteoarthritis.

Magnetic resonance imaging of peripheral nerves: differences in magnetization transfer.

Introduction: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an excellent imaging modality for soft tissues. Magnetization transfer (MT) imaging is an MRI technique that is sensitive to the bound protons of macromolecules and therefore can aid in the assessment of nerve damage.

Methods: Measurements of the MT ratio (MTR), which provides an index of the MT effects in tissues, were performed in the wrist and foot of 5 volunteers.

Premature epiphyseal closure in an adolescent treated by retinoids for acne: an unusual cause of anterior knee pain.

Retinoids are effective and widely prescribed in the treatment of severe acne. However their use can be associated with numerous side effects. Some rare cases of premature epiphyseal closure were reported.

Percutaneous CT-guided treatment of osteochondritis dissecans of the sacroiliac joint.

Osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) is a joint disorder that affects the articular cartilage and subchondral bone, most commonly at the knee. OCD of the sacroiliac joint is extremely rare. Management of OCD remains controversial, and surgery is often needed, especially when conservative treatment fails.