C-reactive Protein Levels After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction.

Introduction Understanding standard changes in C-reactive protein (CRP) after Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) is important for early detection of septic arthritis. Methods We conducted a prospective two-center comparative study to clarify changes in postoperative CRP levels after ACLR, as well as factors that influence the changes, in a large sample of Asian patients. A total of 439 ACLR cases were included in this study.

Significantly smaller lateral extrusion was observed within 24 weeks after all-inside suture repairs of radial tear in the middle segment of lateral meniscus compared to inside-out repairs.

Purpose: To evaluate the postoperative meniscal extrusion between all-inside suture (AIS) and trans-capsular suture (TCS) repair techniques.

Methods: Thirteen patients (mean age, 19.4 years) underwent AIS repairs using only sutures (AIS group) for radial tears in the middle segment of the lateral meniscus (RTMLM), and seven patients (mean age, 20.

Association of Stability and Size of Unhealed Area With Failure After Internal Fixation for Osteochondritis Dissecans Lesions of the Knee: Radiological Evaluation Using Computed Tomography.

Background: Open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) has been widely performed because the osteochondral component of the osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) lesion is the most suitable for reconstructing the joint structure.

Purpose: To evaluate radiological healing in terms of reconstructed bony structure after ORIF with bone graft by computed tomography (CT), to identify preoperative prognostic factors for failure, and to determine the cutoff value of radiological healing for risk of failure.

Study Design: Case-control study; Level of evidence, 3.

Glenoid rim morphology in young athletes with unstable painful shoulders: primarily painful vs. frankly unstable.

Background: To investigate the characteristics of glenoid rim morphology in young athletes (<40 yr) with unstable painful shoulder.

Methods: This was a retrospective case series. The inclusion criteria were as follows: (1) shoulder pain during sports activity, (2) traumatic onset, (3) no complaint of shoulder instability, and (4) soft tissue or bony lesions confirmed on imaging examinations (computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging).

Clinical outcomes after repair of an isolated radial tear in the middle segment of the lateral meniscus - All-inside suture repair vs trans-capsular suture repair.

Background/objective: For radial tears, all-inside suture (AIS) repair was clearly biomechanically superior, compared to conventional trans-capsular suture (TCS) repairs. However, clinical comparative studies of these two repairs techniques have not to be performed. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the clinical outcomes after AIS repair and TCS repairs for isolated radial tear at middle segment of lateral meniscus (RTMLM) in stable knees of young athletes.

The Wound Dressing Influenced Effectiveness of Cryotherapy After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: Case-Control Study Comparing Gauze Versus Film Dressing.

Purpose: To compare the clinical effectiveness of cryotherapy after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction using 2 different wound dressings, conventional postoperative gauze dressings and polyurethane semipermeable transparent film dressings.

Methods: In total, 60 patients who had undergone arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with an autogenous patellar tendon were assigned to 2 groups. The surgical wound was covered with 5 sheets of gauze with an elastic bandage (control group) in 30 patients and film dressing was used (film group) in the remaining 30 patients.

Rectangular bone-patellar tendon bone grafts reduce early graft failure in chronic ACL-Deficient knees.

Background: The aim of this study was to assess early graft failure after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction according to chronicity of ACL deficiency (ACLD) and clarify predisposing factors.

Methods: A total of 731 patients who underwent anatomic ACL reconstruction were divided into 3 groups based on chronicity of ACLD: <6 months (Group 1), 6 months to 2 years (Group 2), and >2 years (Group 3). Types of ACL grafts used included single-bundle hamstring tendon (HT), multiple-bundle HT, and rectangular bone-patellar tendon-bone (BTB) grafts.

Changes in patellar height after anatomical ACL reconstruction with BTB autograft with a focus on patellar tendon removal volume.

Background: Although anatomical anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) can provide satisfactory outcomes, little is known about how this procedure impacts patellar height. Since harvesting bone-patellar tendon-bone (BTB) autografts is a potential risk factor for decreased patellar height, we examined changes in patellar height after anatomical ACLR with BTB autograft with a focus on the size of the harvested graft.

Methods: Subjects were 84 patients (49 males, 35 females; mean age, 23 years) who underwent primary anatomical ACLR with central third BTB autograft.

Isolated peripheral longitudinal tears in the anterior-middle segment of medial meniscus among young soccer players: A case series.

Introduction: There was little information about the isolated medial meniscal tears in the anterior-middle segment. This study aimed to report the infrequent cases of the isolated medial meniscal tears in the anterior-middle segment related to kicking motion among young soccer players with a short-term postoperative outcome.

Presentation Of Case: In the retrospective review of the surgical records from 2000 to 2018, there were 15 cases with the corresponding tear.

Posterior Ankle Impingement Caused by Hyaline-Like Cartilage Generation in Ballet Dancers-A Report of 2 Cases.

Posterior ankle impingement syndrome is mainly seen in ballet dancers and frequently associated with specific movements in ballet such as pointe and demi pointe in which the whole-body weight is applied to the maximally plantar flexed ankle. We performed arthroscopic debridement for 2 dedicated ballet dancers on the intervening soft tissue causing posterior ankle impingement syndrome (PAIS). In both cases, T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed low-signal intensity of meniscus-like soft tissue without abnormal osseous findings, connecting from the posterior side of the talus to Kager's fat pad.

Second-look arthroscopy after double-bundle posterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: Effect of patient age.

Purpose: Second-look arthroscopy is invasive but still one of the most useful postoperative evaluation methods since graft morphology including graft tension, graft tear, and synovial coverage can be directly evaluated. However, only a few studies have evaluated transplanted posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) grafts. This study aimed to clarify the PCL graft morphology and chondral damages at second-look arthroscopy after double-bundle PCL reconstruction (PCLR) and to investigate the effects of patient age on these arthroscopic findings.

Sequential Changes in Posterior Tibial Translation After Posterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: Risk Factors for Residual Posterior Sagging.

Background: Residual posterior sagging may occur after posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) reconstruction (PCLR), yet when it mainly occurs is not fully understood.

Purpose: To elucidate sequential changes in radiographic posterior tibial translation (PTT) after PCLR.

Study Design: Case-control study; Level of evidence, 3.

Tunnel Enlargement Correlates With Postoperative Posterior Laxity After Double-Bundle Posterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction.

Background: There exists little information in the relevant literature regarding tunnel enlargement after posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) reconstruction (PCLR).

Purpose: To sequentially evaluate tunnel enlargement and radiographic posterior laxity through double-bundle PCLR using autologous hamstring tendon grafts.

Study Design: Case series; Level of evidence, 4.

Chronological changes in cross-sectional area of the bone-patellar tendon-bone autograft after anatomic rectangular tunnel ACL reconstruction.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the change in cross-sectional area (CSA) of bone-patellar tendon-bone (BTB) autografts up to 5 years after the anatomic rectangular tunnel (ART) anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). The changing pattern in CSA might be a potential indicator of the graft remodeling process.

Methods: Ninety-six (62 males, 34 females, mean age 27.

Comprehensive study of insecticides in atmospheric particulate matter in Hanoi, Vietnam: Occurrences and human risk assessment.

Air pollution is the most serious environmental issue in Vietnam, particularly in big cities. Air pollutants that are set as environmental standards are regularly monitored by the public institutions. Whereas, environmental data on organic micro-pollutants in atmospheric particulate matters (APMs) is limited, including PAHs and POPs.

Preoperative quadriceps strength as a predictor of return to sports after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction in competitive athletes.

Objectives: To determine whether preoperative quadriceps strength predicts the likelihood of return to sports (RTS) following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) in competitive athletes.

Design: Case-control study.

Setting: Single-center.

A 3-Species Aquatic Community Model for Ecological Risk Assessment Using Basic Ecotoxicity Data.

A simplified ecosystem model, the Aquatic Tritrophic Ecological Risk Assessment Model (A-TERAM), for the ecological risk assessment of chemicals is presented. The A-TERAM comprises a linear grazer food chain with 3 trophic levels (the algae-Daphnia-fish system). The model simulates the seasonal patterns of abundance at each level observed in the field, and it translates the direct toxic effects of chemicals on algae or Daphnia to implications for fish via ecological interactions; thus, the A-TERAM evaluates ecological risk in terms of the annual population growth rate of fish.

Importance of functional performance and psychological readiness for return to preinjury level of sports 1 year after ACL reconstruction in competitive athletes.

Purpose: This study aimed to identify independent predictive factors for return to sports (RTS) after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction in competitive-level athletes and to determine optimal cut-off values for these factors at 6 months after surgery.

Methods: A total of 124 competitive athletes (50 males and 74 females; mean age, 17.0 years; preinjury Tegner activity scale > 7) who underwent primary ACL reconstruction were enrolled.

Autologous Osteochondral Transplantation in Full-thickness Patella Chondral Lesion: A Case Series.

Purpose: Autologous osteochondral transplantation (AOT) in the focal cartilage lesion of the patella has been reported with less successful results compared with other sites. The purposes were to investigate the clinical outcomes of AOT for focal patellar chondral lesion without patellofemoral instability.

Methods: Between 2001 and 2007, six patients (five males and one female) with a focal patellar cartilage lesion without patellofemoral malalignment and instability were treated with AOT.

Broad-scale effect of herbicides on functional properties in benthic invertebrate communities of rivers: An integrated analysis of biomonitoring and exposure evaluations.

We conducted a broad-scale ecological effect assessment of agricultural chemicals where we combined biomonitoring databases of riverine invertebrate communities with predictions of environmental concentrations of chemicals, based on an exposure evaluation model for Japanese rivers. One of the difficulties of broad-scale assessment arises from the use of biomonitoring databases for which the monitoring sites are often spread across different geographic regions, with varying species compositions and heterogeneous environmental factors. This problem was circumvented using a trait-based approach, which extracts patterns of ecological properties of species response to changes in either chemical concentration or environmental factors.

Relative robustness of NOEC and ECx against large uncertainties in data.

The relative ability of the NOEC (no-observed-effect concentration) and ECx (the effect concentration corresponding to x-percent response) to determine benchmark toxicant concentrations, which are expected to ensure environmental safety, when there are large uncertainties in data was investigated with Monte Carlo simulations. We assumed a hypothetical true concentration-response function, and examined how random fluctuations of responses around the true responses affected the NOEC and ECx values. For assessment of the relative performances of these endpoints, we adopted two criteria: how large uncertainties were allowed for the minimum requirement for safety to be met, and the probability with which the estimated endpoints exceeded the minimum requirement for safety.

Relationship between bone plug position and morphological changes of tunnel aperture in anatomic rectangular tunnel ACL reconstruction.

Purpose: In animal studies after ACL reconstruction (ACL-R) using the bone-patellar tendon-bone (BTB), the graft-healing pattern was found to depend on the relationship between bone plug and the tunnel wall. This difference of graft-healing pattern could influence the postoperative morphological changes of the tunnel. However, no study has assessed the relationship between bone plug position and the change of tunnel morphology.

Osteochondritis Dissecans of the Knee: Short-Term Outcomes of a Hybrid Technique to Restore a Partially Salvageable Progeny Fragment.

Objective: This retrospective case series describes a hybrid fixation technique and determines the clinical outcomes, knee function, and activity level of patients at short-term follow-up.

Design: Seventeen patients (18 knees) with unstable osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) lesions involving the knee were treated with a hybrid fixation technique in which the salvageable fragment was fixed and osteochondral autograft transplantation system (OATS) was used for the unsalvageable fragment. Thirteen lesions involved the medial femoral condyle, 4 involved the lateral femoral condyle, and 1 involved the patella.

Significant anterior enlargement of femoral tunnel aperture after hamstring ACL reconstruction, compared to bone-patellar tendon-bone graft.

Purpose: This study aimed to retrospectively compare the enlargement and migration of the femoral tunnel aperture after anatomic rectangular tunnel anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction with a bone-patella tendon-bone (BTB) or hamstring tendon (HT) graft using three-dimensional (3-D) computer models.

Methods: Thirty-two patients who underwent ACL reconstruction and postoperative computed tomography (CT) at 3 weeks and 6 months were included in this study. Of these, 20 patients underwent ACL reconstruction with a BTB graft (BTBR group), and the remaining 12 with an HT graft (HTR group).

Estimation of population-level effect of the endocrine disruptor pyriproxyfen in Daphnia magna by using changes in sex ratio and reproductive output.

Here we developed an analytical means of estimating population-level effects of endocrine disruptors on Daphnia magna. Our approach was based on the fact that the endocrine-disrupting juvenile hormone analogs induce the production of male neonates if they are exposed to the analogs during a particular period in their prenatal development; the method also assumed that the abnormal production of male neonates in the sake of production of female neonates reduces population growth. We constructed a linear toxicodynamics model to elucidate the period in which D.