Identification of the medial femoral safe zone for drilling during dynamic hip screw side plate fixation: A CT angiogram tracing of the profunda femoris artery

Objectives

Iatrogenic injury of the Profunda Femoris Artery (PFA) at time of hip fixation surgery can increase morbidity and mortality and prolong the hospital stay. This is an injury that tends to pass unnoticed as a cause of postoperative deterioration despite being frequently reported in the literature. Our study aims to describe the anatomy of the PFA in relation to the medial femoral cortex with specific emphasis on its orientation relative to the position of a sliding hip screw side plate construct. By doing so we are able to present clear guidance to orthopaedic surgeons on how to avoid iatrogenic PFA injury at the time of hip fracture fixation.

Is the grading of breast carcinomas affected by a delay in fixation?

Summary The effect of delay in fixation on the modified Bloom and Richardson grade of eight breast carcinomas was investigated. Topologically shuffled samples of each tumour were immersed in fixative at times of 0.5, 2, 4, 6, 18 and 24 h after surgical removal. The grade of each tumour was assessed at delays of 0.5 and 6 h. The tubule formation and nuclear pleomorphism components of the grade showed no change with a delay in fixation of 6 h. The number of mitotic figures declined by a mean of 53% over the same period and this resulted in a decrease in the histological grade of one of the tumours. The implications of these findings for the handling of breast specimens in a diagnostic histopathological laboratory are discussed.Some of these data were presented at the 162nd meeting of the Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland at Cambridge, 3 January 1991. Published as an abstract in J Pathol (1991) 163:154A     

鲁格氏棒横突固定法的实验研究和临床应用

取10具新鲜成年雄性家猪的脊柱标本,分两组观察鲁格氏棒经椎管行椎板固定和鲁格氏棒经横突椎板固定时,受破坏性屈曲力的数据,结果显示鲁格氏棒经椎管固定组在达1048.6（±20）N时,所固定的椎板发生骨折,部分钢丝断裂;鲁格氏棒经横突固定组达2058（±20）N时,仅发生棒弯曲,未发现任何部位骨折或钢丝断裂。临床治疗33例不稳定胸腰椎骨折脱位患者,术后X线片示骨折脱位复位满意,两周后患者可离床活动,随访2～2.5年未发现任何并发症。     

Fixation of Kirschner wires: a comparison between hammering and drilling k-wires into ribs of pigs

Kirschner wire (K-wire) fixation is a well-accepted method for stabilization of fractures. However, the rotary drill traditionally used for insertion leads to a considerable amount of complications (33%). Another method for insertion was tested which might possibly reduce these complications—hammering. Forty-four K-wires were inserted into the ribs of pigs using a drilling and a hammering technique. Peak extraction force, peak torque, and insertion time were measured. The mean peak extraction forces for drilling and hammering were 57.4 and 129.0 N, respectively. The mean peak torque for drilling and hammering were 2.4 and 5.7e−02 Nm, respectively. Using the drilling technique, it took 73.6 s to insert the K-wire compared with 18.4 s for hammering. At the exit site, there were splinters of bone in 18 of the 22 hammered K-wires and in 2 of the 22 drilled K-wires. This study showed that hammering K-wires into ribs of pigs gives better initial fixation and results in a shorter insertion time.D.B. van Egmond is deceased.     

寰椎椎弓根螺钉置钉的解剖与临床研究

目的：建立和验证寰椎后路椎弓根螺钉固定的进钉技术。方法：利用40套干燥配套寰枢椎标本测量进钉技术的相关参数，而后临床应用该技术方法置钉并行X线、CT复查其准确性。结果：寰椎椎弓根平均宽度为7．78mm，进钉点在寰椎椎弓根中线外侧2．2m，螺钉进钉点可由经枢椎下关节突中点的纵垂线来确定；手术中该方法不仅能简化操作过程，而且术后检查发现螺钉均准确置入。结论：用枢椎下关节突中点作为术中判定寰椎椎弓根螺钉进钉点的方法准确可靠。     

股骨远端骨折锁定钢板断裂原因分析及处理

目的探讨股骨远端骨折锁定钢板内固定失效的原因及防治措施。方法对2007年5月~2012年6月共14例应用锁定钢板固定失败的股骨远端骨折患者的临床资料进行分析,其中男9例,女5例,年龄27~68岁,平均39.2岁,骨折内固定术后1~8月(平均5.6个月)锁定钢板断裂。钢板断裂者均采用钢板螺钉取出术,5例予交锁髓内钉内固定,9例再次锁定钢板固定,均同时取自体髂骨移植植骨治疗。结果二次术后14例均获得随访,术后随访9~24月,平均14月,13例获得骨性愈合,1例二次锁定钢板固定患者于二次术后8月再次发生钢板断裂,予行钢板螺丝钉取出、交锁髓内钉固定治疗,再次手术后6月获骨性愈合。膝关节功能按Kolment评分标准:优4例,良9例,差1例。断裂原因具有多样性,5例钢板选择过短,9例存在螺钉置入密度过大,8例内侧皮质粉碎、缺失,4例因过早负重,2例因锻炼时摔伤而导致内固定失败。结论锁定钢板内固定失效的原因通常与对锁定钢板的适应证掌握不全,骨折端过度剥离、复位不良或内侧皮质存在缺损及术后功能锻炼不当有关。因此,选择合适的内固定物,注重植骨,加强术后康复指导、避免过早负重可有效预防及治疗股骨远端骨折钢板内固定失败。     

The gap effect and express saccades in the auditory modality

Latencies of eye movements to peripheral targets are reduced when there is a short delay (typically 200 ms) between the offset of a central visual fixation point and the target onset. This has been termed the gap effect. In addition, some subjects, usually with practice, exhibit a separate population of very short latency saccades, called express saccades. Both these phenomena have been attributed to disengagement of visual attention when the fixation point is extinguished. A competing theory of the gap effect attributes it to disengagement of oculomotor fixation during the temporal gap. It is known that auditory targets are effective in eliciting saccadic eye movements, and also that covert attention operates in the auditory modality. If the gap effect and express saccades are due to disengagement of spatial attention, both should persist in the auditory modality. However, fixation of gaze is largely under visual control. If the gap effect results from disengagement of fixation, then at least a reduced effect should be seen in the auditory modality. Human subjects performed the gap task and a control task in the dark, using auditory fixation points and saccadic targets, on five successive days. Despite this practice, express saccades were not observed. There was a reliable gap effect, but the reduction in saccadic latency was only 17 ms, compared with 32 ms for the same subjects in the visual modality. This suggests that about half the gap effect is due to disengagement of visual fixation. The remainder was not due to non-specific warning effects and could be attributed to offset of the auditory fixation stimulus. Received: 1 March 1996 / Accepted: 11 July 1997     

Recommendations for the examination of peripheral nerve biopsies

 Peripheral nerve biopsy is now an established, valuable investigative procedure, but as it can give rise to significant residual symptoms it should only be undertaken after careful consideration of the indications and with informed consent from the patient. Nerve biopsies should only be processed and evaluated in a laboratory with the relevant particular expertise. It is generally recommended that a sural nerve biopsy be performed in combination with a muscle biopsy but not vice versa (muscle biopsies together with a nerve biopsy). Nerve biopsy is not the only means of sampling peripheral nerve tissue to study the peripheral nervous system. Examination of the innervation of the skin may be informative. The same is likely to be true for motor point muscle biopsy. Nerve biopsy is mainly used for morphology although molecular genetic techniques using fresh or archival nerve biopsies are increasingly available. Chemical analysis is undertaken mainly for research purposes. Received: 10 June 1997 / Accepted: 29 October 1997     

The effect of transcranial magnetic stimulation on the latencies of vertical saccades

In this study, we investigated the effect of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over the right posterior parietal cortex (PPC) on the latency of two different types of visually-guided vertical saccades: reflexive saccades triggered by the sudden onset of a target, and saccades towards target locations known in advance. For this reason, we used two oculomotor tasks: a gap and a delay task, respectively. Nine normal subjects performed vertical saccades at ±7.5 and ±15°. TMS was applied at 80 and 100 ms after target onset in the gap task, and after fixation offset in the delay task. Without TMS, we confirmed a latency asymmetry in the gap task favouring upward saccades at the lower eccentricity (7.5°), and a latency symmetry in the delay task. TMS increased the latencies of all saccades in the delay task, when delivered at 100 ms. This effect was mostly pronounced for downward saccades at 7.5°. As a result, saccade latencies showed an asymmetry in this condition, similar to the one observed in the gap task without TMS. The gap task with TMS resulted in a variable latency distribution and no significant overall effect on saccade latency. Our results indicate that the right PPC is involved in the initiation of vertical saccades in the delay task, and that this involvement appears to be enhanced for downward saccades. A conclusion for the involvement of this area in the gap task could not be drawn from this study.     

The dorsomedial frontal cortex of the macaca monkey: fixation and saccade-related activity

Summary The activity of 249 neurons in the dorsomedial frontal cortex was studied in two macaque monkeys. The animals were trained to release a bar when a visual stimulus changed color in order to receive reward. An acoustic cue signaled the start of a series of trials to the animal, which was then free to begin each trial at will. The monkeys tended to fixate the visual stimuli and to make saccades when the stimuli moved. The monkeys were neither rewarded for making proper eye movements nor punished for making extraneous ones. We found neurons whose discharge was related to various movements including those of the eye, neck, and arm. In this report, we describe the properties of neurons that showed activity related to visual fixation and saccadic eye movement. Fixation neurons discharged during active fixation with the eye in a given position in the orbit, but did not discharge when the eye occupied the same orbital positions during nonactive fixation. These neurons showed neither a classic nor a complex visual receptive field, nor a foveal receptive visual field. Electrical stimulation at the site of the fixation neurons often drove the eye to the orbital position associated with maximal activity of the cell. Several different kinds of neurons were found to discharge before saccades: 1) checking-saccade neurons, which discharged when the monkeys made self-generated saccades to extinguish LED's; 2) novelty-detection saccade neurons, which discharged before the first saccade made to a new visual target but whose activity waned with successive presentations of the same target. These results suggest that the dorsomedial frontal cortex is involved in attentive fixation. We hypothesize that the fixation neurons may be involved in codifying the saccade toward a target. We propose that their involvement in arm-eye-head motor-planning rests primarily in targeting the goal of the movement. The fact that saccaderelated neurons discharge when the saccades are self initiated, implies that this area of the cortex may share the control of voluntary saccades with the frontal eye fields and that the activation is involved in intentional motor processes.