Closed humeral shaft fractures treated by elastic intramedullary retrograde nail.

25 humeral shaft fractures operated on at our institute with the intramedullary elastic Marchetti-Vicenzi nail were reviewed. Three were pathologic fractures. Patients mean age was 48 ranging from 13 to 95 years.

Complications of prosthetic surgery in the dysplastic hip.

The complications of prosthetic surgery in the dysplastic hip have specific features that are related to the conditions that make the realization of an implant technically complex; the altered primary acetabular and femoral morphology, the sequelae of previous non-substitutive surgery, and the consequent possible upsetting of joint biomechanics. It is possible to distinguish between complications relative to the skeleton, joint biomechanics, and soft tissues. Prosthetization of the acetabular skeletal aspect may encounter frequent errors in reconstruction (incongruous reaming-too much or too little-the improper use of bone grafts), errors in orientation of the acetabular component (excessive verticalization and anteversion) that are considered early complications.

Spondylosis and lumbar instability: pathologic changes.

The degenerative processes of the lumbar spine generally initiate from the intervertebral disc, at the level of which progressive biochemical and structural changes take place leading to a modification in its physical properties of elasticity and mechanical resistance. Disc lesions cause pathological changes in the vertebral bodies, where osteophytes appear, and in the posterior joints. In more severe forms of the process the severe deformation of joint shape may lead to a condition of spondylolisthesis.

Degenerative arthritis of the adjacent spinal joints following anterior cervical spinal fusion: clinicoradiologic and statistical correlations.

On the premise that cervical intersomatic spinal fusion in the treatment of traumatic or spondylolytic myelopathy and post-traumatic instability provokes degenerative arthritis due to functional overloading of the spaces adjacent to the fusion, 37 patients (average age 57, range 25-80) who had undergone spinal fusion by Cloward's technique were subjected to radiographic study and clinical evaluation. The average follow-up was 11.5 years (range 7-16 years).