MRI study of medial meniscus degeneration of osteoarthritic knees with or without posterior root tear.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the medial meniscus (MM) degeneration, meniscus extrusion, and tibial joint inclination by using MRI to consider the pathogenesis of posterior root tear (PRT) in medial-type knee osteoarthritis (KOA) both with and without medial meniscus posterior root tear (MMPRT).

Methods: This study used open MRI with flexion sagittal view and included 324 medial-type osteoarthritic knees with a Kellegren-Lawrence grade of 2 or less. Following the exclusion process, 151 knees were selected for MRI analysis.

The kinematic analysis of female subjects after double-bundle anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction during single-leg squatting.

Background: The kinematic characteristics of female anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)-injured subjects were recognized in our previous study using an electromagnetic device comparing both female control groups and male ACL-injured subjects during single-leg squatting.

Objective: To assess the kinematic characteristics of female subjects after double-bundle ACL reconstruction during single-leg squatting.

Methods: Three-dimensional motion analysis was performed for single-leg squatting in female subjects after ACL reconstruction.

High-flex posterior cruciate-retaining vs posterior cruciate-substituting designs in simultaneous bilateral total knee arthroplasty: a prospective, randomized study.

The superiority between the posterior cruciate-retaining and the posterior cruciate-substituting designs still remains controversial. We performed a prospective, randomized control study for evaluation of the superiority of these designs. This study investigated 58 knees in 29 patients with simultaneous bilateral total knee arthroplasty, in which the high-flex CR design was randomly implanted in one knee and the high-flex PS design was implanted in the other knee.

[Articular cartilage regeneration with synovial mesenchymal stem cells].

Cell transplantation has shown to be a promising strategy to repair cartilage defects. Mesenchymal stem cells derived from synovium have been shown to be a superior cell source for cartilage regeneration to those from other mesenchymal tissues due to their higher rates of colony formation, proliferation potential with autologous serum, and in vitro/vivo chondrogenic potentials. We have found that approximately 60% of synovial mesenchymal stem cells placed on cartilage defects adhered to the defect within 10 min, and the addition of magnesium enhanced this percentage further, which resulted in better cartilage regeneration.

Hip acetabular dysplasia and joint laxity of female anterior cruciate ligament-injured patients.

Background: It has been noted that some female anterior cruciate ligament-injured patients have complaints of both coxalgia and joint laxity.

Hypothesis: Female anterior cruciate ligament-injured patients tend to have both acetabular dysplasia and generalized joint laxity.

Study Design: Cohort study (prevalence); Level of evidence, 2.

Radiographic description of femoral tunnel placement expressed as intercondylar clock time in double-bundle anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to propose an objective description of femoral tunnel position expressed as time of the intercondylar clock in ACL reconstruction using a simple radiograph for the sake of objective discussion and technical improvement. The reproducibility of the method was evaluated in double-bundle (DB) reconstructions.

Methods: The first series of 54 knees in 54 patients who underwent primary "isometric" DB ACL reconstructions from 1995 to 2002 were randomly picked up.

Revision anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction by double-bundle technique using multi-strand semitendinosus tendon.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to compare the outcome of revision anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction by the double-bundle (DB) technique using multi-strand semitendinosus tendon with that of primary reconstruction by use of the same technique.

Methods: The study included 21 patients who underwent revision ACL reconstruction (mean follow-up, 40 months) with the semitendinosus tendon DB technique between 1995 and 2006 and 86 unilateral primary DB ACL reconstructions (mean follow-up, 33 months) between 2000 and 2004. The outcome of both groups was compared based on differences between operated and unoperated limbs and modified International Knee Documentation Committee grades.

Discrimination of types of venous emboli using Doppler ultrasound.

Background: Many studies have identified features of the emboli traveling in the arterial system by Doppler ultrasound, and estimated their composition and size for anticipation of cerebral infarct. Another concern is features of the emboli in the venous system for anticipation of pulmonary embolism (PE). The objective is to prove that the emboli in the venous system can be discriminated by Doppler ultrasound in animal study and to assess whether PE can be predicted by using this technique in clinical case.

Ketoprofen absorption by muscle and tendon after topical or oral administration in patients undergoing anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

Topical ketoprofen patches are widely used in the treatment of musculoskeletal pain, but the pharmacokinetics of ketoprofen following topical application remain unclear. This open-label, single-dose pharmacokinetic study was designed to determine the concentrations of ketoprofen in the semitendinosus muscle/tendon and plasma after topical application or oral administration to patients scheduled for anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Two ketoprofen patches (20 mg each) were applied over the semitendinosus muscle/tendon for 1, 6, 14, or 20 h before surgery in 21 patients, while one sustained-release 150 mg ketoprofen capsule was administered to six patients 14 h before surgery.

Periodic knee injections of BMP-7 delay cartilage degeneration induced by excessive running in rats.

Strenuous running of rats enhances mechanical stress on the knee, thereby inducing degeneration of articular cartilage. Bone morphogenetic protein-7 (BMP-7) has an inhibitory effect on cartilage degeneration, suggesting its usefulness for human osteoarthritis patients. However, its mode of administration should be investigated.

Human sclera maintains common characteristics with cartilage throughout evolution.

Background: The sclera maintains and protects the eye ball, which receives visual inputs. Although the sclera does not contribute significantly to visual perception, scleral diseases such as refractory scleritis, scleral perforation and pathological myopia are considered incurable or difficult to cure. The aim of this study is to identify characteristics of the human sclera as one of the connective tissues derived from the neural crest and mesoderm.

Local adherent technique for transplanting mesenchymal stem cells as a potential treatment of cartilage defect.

Introduction: Current cell therapy for cartilage regeneration requires invasive procedures, periosteal coverage and scaffold use. We have developed a novel transplantation method with synovial mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to adhere to the cartilage defect.

Methods: For ex vivo analysis in rabbits, the cartilage defect was faced upward, filled with synovial MSC suspension, and held stationary for 2.

Analysis of the chondrogenic potential of human synovial stem cells according to harvest site and culture parameters in knees with medial compartment osteoarthritis.

Objective: Synovial mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are an attractive cell source for cartilage regeneration because of their high chondrogenic ability. In this study, we examined the synovium of patients with medial compartment knee osteoarthritis (OA) to determine the proportion of MSCs in relation to cellular compartmentalization, and to identify the culture parameters that could affect the chondrogenic potential of synovial MSCs.

Methods: Human synovium was collected from 4 different harvest sites in the knees of patients with medial compartment OA.

Autologous synovial fluid enhances migration of mesenchymal stem cells from synovium of osteoarthritis patients in tissue culture system.

Synovial fluid from osteoarthritic knee contains mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). One of the possible reservoirs of MSCs in synovial fluid is synovial tissue, and synovial fluid may induce mobilization of MSCs into synovial fluid in osteoarthritis patients. Here, we investigated whether synovial fluid expanded synovial MSCs in a tissue culture system.

Exogenous synovial stem cells adhere to defect of meniscus and differentiate into cartilage cells.

The meniscus is semilunar fibrocartilage, and its injury causes dysfunction of the knee. We previously reported a high chondrogenic potential of synovial mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Here, we examined whether intra-articular injected synovial MSCs adhered to the defect of the meniscus, survived there, and differentiated into cartilage cells.

A retrospective study of the midterm outcome of two-bundle anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction using quadrupled semitendinosus tendon in comparison with one-bundle reconstruction.

Purpose: The objective of the study was to retrospectively compare the outcome of the first series of a 2-bundle anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction technique using quadrupled semitendinosus tendon with that of a 1-bundle reconstruction technique from 1992 through 1996.

Type Of Study: Case-control study.

Methods: The 1-bundle group consisted of 56 patients with a follow-up period of 24 months or more (average, 46.