Fascia lata allograft bridging of a rotator cuff tear in a rabbit animal model.

Purpose: Despite advances in surgical treatment options, large rotator cuff (r-c) tears still represent a challenge for orthopedic surgeons. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the temporary and spatial histological incorporation of fascia lata allografts, used for bridging artificially created defects of the r-c.

Materials And Methods: Seventy-two rabbits were divided into two groups and a supraspinatus tendinous defect was created.

Coexistence of tumor-induced osteomalacia and primary hyperparathyroidism.

Objective: To present an unusual case of coexisting tumor-induced osteomalacia (TIO) and primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT).

Methods: We report the clinical features, imaging studies, and the results of laboratory investigations before and after surgical resection of both a soft-tissue tumor and a parathyroid adenoma.

Results: A 44-year-old woman was referred to the endocrinology department with a diagnosis of PHPT accompanied by unusually severe hypophosphatemia, despite having received treatment with cinacalcet.

Evaluation of non-culture diagnosis of invasive meningococcal disease by polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Antibiotic treatment prior to transport or admission to hospital has reduced the proportion of cases of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) from which Neisseria meningitidis can be isolated by standard microbiological techniques. Identification of meningococci by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was assessed in relation to microbiological diagnosis for cases over a 4-year period between 1998 and 2001. A screening assay for the IS1106 gene was used to detect meningococcal DNA and five additional assays for siaD and orf-2 genes were performed to determine the serogroup.