Giant cell tumor of the distal fibula: fifteen-year result after en bloc resection and fibula reconstruction.

Introduction: Giant cell tumor of the distal fibula is a very rare condition. The treatment of advanced tumors at this location can be challenging and has been described in the literature only in single cases.

Materials And Methods: We report on a patient with a stage III giant cell tumor, according to the classification of Campanacci, of the distal fibula after en bloc resection and distal fibula reconstruction with a long bone graft from the iliac crest in a second procedure.

Quantification of expression levels of cellular differentiation markers does not support a general shift in the cellular phenotype of osteoarthritic chondrocytes.

Many studies have shown increased anabolic activity in osteoarthritic cartilage and have suggested changes in the cellular phenotypes of articular chondrocytes. Most of these studies relied on non-quantitative technologies, which did not allow the estimation of the relative importance of the different differentiation phenomena. In the present study, we developed and used quantitative PCR assays for collagen types I, II(total), IIA, III, and X as marker genes indicating cellular synthetic activity (collagen type II) as well as differentiation pattern of chondrocytes (collagen types I, IIA, III, and X) and quantified these genes in normal, early degenerative, and late stage osteoarthritic cartilage in parallel.

Human knee and ankle cartilage explants: catabolic differences.

The prevalence of osteoarthritis (OA) is lower in some joints, i.e., the ankle, than in the knee.