LARS Artificial Ligament Versus ABC Purely Polyester Ligament for Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction.

Background: Graft choice for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction is of critical importance. Various grafts have been used so far, with autografts long considered the optimal solution for the treatment of ACL-deficient knees. Limited data are available on the long-term survivorship of synthetic grafts.

From the Classroom to Facebook: A Fresh Approach for Youth Tobacco Prevention.

Purpose: The explosive rise in Internet use calls for effective ways to utilize new forms of social media to enhance school smoking prevention programs. We attempted to design and test an educational intervention for youth tobacco prevention.

Design: Intervention design and posttest pilot implementation.

Association of antiviral therapy with reduced disease progression in chronic Hepatitis B patients: Results from a nation-wide cohort study.

Background And Aims: Although effective treatment in terms of inducing virological and biochemical response for chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is available, its effect on the clinical course of the disease has not yet been accurately estimated. Objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of antiviral therapy and its type [interferon +/- nucleos(t)ide analogs (NAs) vs. NAs] on the occurrence of a clinical event (liver decompensation, liver transplant, hepatocellular carcinoma and death from a liver-related cause) in CHB patients.

Time trends in pediatric Herpes zoster hospitalization rate after Varicella immunization.

Herpes zoster (HZ) is an emerging concern for public health officials. The aim of this study was to determine whether universal Varicella immunization implemented in 2004 had an impact on HZ hospitalization in immunocompetent children in Greece. All HZ hospitalizations were recorded during the period 1999-2011.

Predictive Factors of Postoperative Pain and Postoperative Anxiety in Children Undergoing Elective Circumcision: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Background: Although circumcision for phimosis in children is a minor surgical procedure, it is followed by pain and carries the risk of increased postoperative anxiety. This study examined predictive factors of postoperative pain and anxiety in children undergoing circumcision.

Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study of children scheduled for elective circumcision.

Combination of Calcium Hydroxyapatite Antibiotic Carrier with Cement Spacers in Peri-Prosthetic Knee Infections.

Background: Forty-six patients (38 females and 8 males) with infected knee arthroplasties were included in this study. In 31 patients (group A) an antibiotic-impregnated articulating spacer was used, whereas in 15 patients (group B) a combination of spacer and antibiotic carrier was used.

Methods: All patients were reviewed weekly with laboratory examinations (white blood cell count [WBC], erythrocyte sedimentation rate [ESR], C-reactive protein [CRP]) prior to re-implantation.

Two-Stage Revision Protocol in Multidrug Resistant Periprosthetic Infection Following Total Hip Arthroplasty Using a Long Interval Between Stages.

We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 31 patients with periprosthetic hip infections attempting to evaluate the outcome of a two-stage revision protocol characterized by prolonged interim period (mean=9.2 months, range 8-12 months) prior to the final re-implantation. In 3 cases (9.

Positron emission tomography in spinal infections.

Magnetic resonance imaging is the imaging method of choice for diagnosing infection of the spine in unoperated cases. 2-[(18)F]-fluoro-2deoxy-d-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography study is recommended to distinguish between spinal infection and common Modic change in patients with metallic implants and prosthetic replacements and for differentiating tuberculous from pyogenic spondylitis in ambiguous cases, reflecting the activity of the infection. Also, it seems to have a strong clinical impact in more than half of patients with infectious spondylitis, while it is superior to other imaging techniques in revealing residual disease after treatment and early response to therapy.

Laparoscopic treatment of 1522 adnexal masses: an 8-year experience.

Objective. To reevaluate the long-term effectiveness and safety of laparoscopy in benign ovarian pathology. Materials and Methods.

Impact on bone and muscle area after spinal cord injury.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) causes inactivation and consequent unloading of affected skeletal muscle and bone. This cross-sectional study investigated correlations of muscle and bone in spinal cord-injured subjects compared with able-bodied subjects. Thirty-one complete SCI paraplegics were divided according to the neurological level of injury (NLoI) into group A (n=16, above thoracic 7 NLoI, age: 33±16 years, duration of paralysis (DoP): 6±6 years) and group B (n=15, thoracic 8-12, age: 39±14 years, DoP: 5.

Considerations on the current universal vaccination policy against hepatitis A in Greece after recent outbreaks.

Greece is the only European Union member state that in 2008 included hepatitis A (HAV) vaccine in the routine national childhood immunization program (NCIP). Given that the resources allocated to public health have dramatically decreased since 2008 and that Greece is a low endemicity country for the disease, the benefit from universal vaccination has been questioned. The aim of this paper is to summarize the available epidemiological data of the disease for 1982-2013, and discuss the effects of universal vaccination on disease morbidity.

Inflammatory bowel disease-the role of cross-sectional imaging techniques in the investigation of the small bowel.

Background: The diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in children and adolescents is based on the integration of clinical, biological, endoscopic, histological and radiological data.

Methods: The most important part of the diagnosis is the histology, which is acquired by endoscopy. Imaging of the small bowel has changed in recent years, but the imaging goals are primarily to determine the extent of small bowel involvement, assess complications and define candidates for surgery.

Reduction of motion, truncation and flow artifacts using BLADE sequences in cervical spine MR imaging.

Purpose: To assess the efficacy of the BLADE technique (MR imaging with 'rotating blade-like k-space covering') to significantly reduce motion, truncation, flow and other artifacts in cervical spine compared to the conventional technique.

Materials And Methods: In eighty consecutive subjects, who had been routinely scanned for cervical spine examination, the following pairs of sequences were compared: a) T2 TSE SAG vs. T2 TSE SAG BLADE and b) T2 TIRM SAG vs.

Use of external fixation for perilunate dislocations and fracture dislocations.

The purpose of this study was to review clinical and radiographic outcomes of perilunate dislocations and fracture dislocations treated with external fixation and K-wire fixation. Twenty patients (18 males and two females) with a mean age of 38 years (range 18-59) who had an acute dorsal perilunate dislocation or fracture dislocation were treated with the use of wrist external fixator and K-wires. The injuries included 12 perilunate dislocations, seven trans-scaphoid perilunate fracture dislocations, and one trans-styloid perilunate fracture dislocation.

Genotype 4 HCV infection is difficult to cure with pegylated interferon and ribavirin. Results from a Greek Nationwide Cohort Study.

Background And Aim: Patients with genotype 4 (G4) chronic hepatitis C (CHC) are considered a difficult to treat population, although current data on G4 treatment responsiveness and duration are controversial. Greece represents a country with an intermediate prevalence of G4 infections, offering an opportunity to compare treatment outcomes by genotype and to identify potential prognostic factors for sustained virologic response (SVR).

Methods: All CHC patients from the HepNet.

Modern rehabilitation in osteoporosis, falls, and fractures.

In prevention and management of osteoporosis, modern rehabilitation should focus on how to increase muscular and bone strength. Resistance exercises are beneficial for muscle and bone strength, and weight-bearing exercises help maintain fitness and bone mass. In subjects at higher risk for osteoporotic fractures, particular attention should be paid to improving balance - the most important element in falls prevention.

Successes and challenges in varicella vaccine.

Varicella is a highly contagious disease caused by primary infection with varicella zoster virus (VZV). VZV infection, as well as varicella vaccination, induces VZV-specific antibody and T-cell-mediated immunity, essential for recovery. The immune responses developed contribute to protection following re-exposure to VZV.

Non-resolving Findings in a Long-term Radiographic Follow-up of an Infant with Acute Paraffin Oil Aspiration.

Acute lipoid pneumonia (LP) in children is a rare disorder caused by the aspiration of oil-based substances and is difficult to diagnose due to non-specific clinical symptoms and radiological findings. We report the case of a 5-month-old male infant with acute LP caused by accidental aspiration of a large amount of mineral oil. We present the imaging findings in the computed tomography scans performed during his hospitalization and focus on the residual abnormalities seen on a scan performed 7-years after the incident.

Is fever a predictive factor in the autism spectrum disorders?

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) display such a marked increase in recent decades that researchers speak of "epidemic outbreak" of the disease. Although the diagnostic framework has been expanded and thus more disorders now fall within the autistic spectrum, no one disputes the increased incidence of autism in modern societies, making it a major public health problem. On the other hand, heterogeneity is a major feature of the disorder, both in terms of the etiopathogenesis as well as to the phenotypic expression, natural history and evolution.

Alterations in the cellular component of the maternal immune system in a murine preterm delivery model.

Objective: Investigate changes in the cellular component of maternal immune system in a murine preterm delivery (PTD) model.

Methods: C57BL/6 J mice were mated and on day 14.5 after plugging either whole blood was harvested or Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was intraperitoneally injected.

Investigative MRI cholangiopancreatography for primary sclerosing cholangitis-type lesions in children with IBD.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to estimate the frequency of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC)-type lesions in children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) by means of magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP), and to investigate the association between a series of easily applicable data on the one hand and the presentation of such lesions at MRCP on the other hand.

Methods: Collected demographic, laboratory, and magnetic resonance enterography data from the records of 73 children with IBD were cross-sectionally related to the MRCP-based diagnosis.

Results: Around the time of MRCP, the distribution of IBD subtypes was 64.

High complication rate in reconstruction of Paprosky type IIIa acetabular defects using an oblong implant with modular side plates and a hook.

We report the results of 62 hips in 62 patients (17 males, 45 females) with mean age of 62.4 years (37 to 81), who underwent revision of the acetabular component of a total hip replacement due to aseptic loosening between May 2003 and November 2007. All hips had a Paprosky type IIIa acetabular defect.

Paracondylar process, a rare normal variant: the value of MRI in the diagnosis.

The paracondylar process is a rare osseous process arising at the cervicooccipital region that belongs to a large and heterogenic group of developmental abnormalities of the craniovertebral junction. We present a rare case of a paracondylar process in an 11-year-old girl, in which the diagnosis was made with the use of MRI, thereby skipping X-ray and CT scan, thus avoiding exposure of the young patient to radiation. To our knowledge, the use of MRI has not previously been reported in the investigation and diagnosis of such an abnormality.

Patient radiation doses in cardiac computed tomography: comparison of published results with prospective and retrospective acquisition.

Prospective ECG triggering has the potential of reducing radiation exposure while maintaining diagnostic accuracy of cardiac computed tomography (CT). The aim of this study is to review patient radiation doses associated with coronary artery calcium scoring (CACS) and CT coronary angiography (CTCA) and to compare results between prospective and retrospective acquisition schemes. Patient radiation doses from CACS and CTCA were extracted from 67 relevant studies.