Indications for and results of arthroscopy in the arthritic knee: a European survey

Purpose

The place of arthroscopic treatment in osteoarthritis of the knee has generated much controversy. A survey was initiated to collect the opinion of experienced surgeons.

Methods

Of the 211 surgeons interviewed, 170 (80.6 %) replied to the electronic questionnaire. Respondents had at least ten years of experience in arthroscopy and currently perform more than 100 arthroscopies per year. Various indications and treatment modalities for arthroscopy in osteoarthritis of the knee had to be evaluated on a scale from “excellent” to “no indication”.

Results

The respondents generally believe that an improvement is more likely in low-grade osteoarthritis (p < 0.001) and in neutral leg axis (p < 0.001). The outcome was rated better if symptoms had persisted for less than six months (p < 0.001) and for patients that were younger than 60 years (p < 0.001). Partial meniscectomy and notchplasty in cases of extension deficit were considered as successful treatment options. Debridement was an accepted indication, with an outcome mainly rated as fair. A majority saw no indication for joint lavage, arthroscopic treatment of arthrofibrosis and removal of osteophytes. The outcome appears to be poor if a bone edema is diagnosed on magnetic resonance imaging prior to arthroscopy. Only 55.9 % of respondents were comfortable with the current definition of osteoarthritis.

Conclusions

Experienced arthroscopic surgeons all over Europe believe arthroscopy in osteoarthritis is appropriate, under certain conditions. The major task for surgeons is to select the right patients who are likely to benefit from this intervention.     

Anatomic predictors of recurrence after cryoablation for atrial fibrillation: a computed tomography based composite score

Journal of Interventional Cardiac Electrophysiology - Effective pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) with cryoablation depends on adequate occlusion of pulmonary veins (PV) by the cryoballoon and is...     

Endoanal Ultrasound in the Staging and Management of Squamous-Cell Carcinoma of the Anal Canal

PURPOSE: This study was performed to determine whether endoanal ultrasound could be used to accurately stage patients with squamous-cell carcinoma of the anal canal and to determine the response of these tumors to multimodality therapy. METHODS: Thirteen consecutive patients with biopsy-proven squamous-cell carcinoma of the anal canal between 1996 and 1999 were included in the study. All patients underwent a pretreatment staging endoanal ultrasound with a B&K 3535 ultrasound machine using the 1850 rotating 360° probe with a 10-MHz transducer. Tumors were staged using our own modification of a 1984 TNM staging system. For our study, a uT1 tumor was confined to the submucosa; a uT2a lesion invaded only the internal anal sphincter; a uT2b lesion penetrated into the external anal sphincter; a uT3 lesion invaded through the sphincter complex into the perianal tissues; and a uT4 lesion invaded adjacent structures. After the initial study, patients decided on a course of treatment, either primary surgery or chemoradiation. For patients choosing chemoradiation, a clinical examination with biopsies and a repeat endoanal ultrasound was performed after completion of therapy. Findings on physical examination and biopsy results were compared with the follow-up endoanal ultrasound. For those choosing surgery, the pathology specimen from the abdominoperineal resection was reviewed and compared with the initial endoanal ultrasound interpretation to determine the accuracy of endoanal ultrasound staging. RESULTS: One patient died of complications from acquired immunodeficiency syndrome before undergoing definitive treatment for his anal cancer. Of the remaining 12 patients who comprised the study, the endoscopic staging was as follows: 1 uT1, 5 uT2a, 3 uT2b, 2 uT3, and 1 uT4. Five of the 12 patients selected surgery as the primary treatment modality for their disease. The other seven patients underwent a full course of chemoradiation. In all five patients who had an abdominoperineal resection, the surgical staging correlated with the endoanal ultrasound staging (2 T2a tumors and 3 T2b tumors). In the remaining seven patients, six to eight weeks after completion of therapy, there was no evidence of residual tumor by clinical examination and biopsies. In one of the seven patients, no abnormalities were detected on endoanal ultrasound, and it was interpreted as normal with no evidence of disease. In the remaining six patients, endoanal ultrasound revealed abnormalities that were judged to represent radiation-induced changes rather than residual disease. A repeat endoanal ultrasound was done in these patients two to four months after the biopsies. Complete resolution of the postradiation changes occurred in all patients, and the scans were interpreted as showing no evidence of disease. CONCLUSIONS: Endoanal ultrasound can accurately determine the depth of penetration of squamous-cell carcinoma into the sphincter complex and can be used to gauge accurately the response of these tumors to chemoradiation therapy. Our newly proposed ultrasound staging system may be more useful in choosing treatment options; future studies should be aimed at using endoanal ultrasound in identifying early lesions that may be amenable to less aggressive therapy as well as determining the utility of ultrasound in the surveillance of patients after successful treatment of their initial tumors.     

The clustering of other chronic inflammatory diseases in inflammatory bowel disease: a population-based study

BACKGROUND & AIMS: We aimed to discern the relative risk for several chronic inflammatory conditions in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease. METHODS: We used the population-based University of Manitoba IBD Database that includes longitudinal files on all patients from all health system contacts identified by International Classification of Diseases, 9th revision, Clinical Modification codes for visit diagnosis. From the provincial database we extracted a control cohort matching the IBD patients 10:1 by age, sex, and geography. We considered a potential comorbid disease to be present if the patient had 5 or more health system contacts for that diagnosis. The comorbid disease period prevalence was analyzed separately for patients with UC and Crohn's disease and a prevalence ratio was calculated comparing the IBD populations with the matched cohort. RESULTS: There were 8072 cases of IBD from 1984 to 2003, including UC (n = 3879) and Crohn's disease (n = 4193). There was a mean of approximately 16 person-years of coverage for both patients and control patients. Both UC and Crohn's disease patients had a significantly greater likelihood of having arthritis, asthma, bronchitis, psoriasis, and pericarditis than population controls. An increased risk for chronic renal disease and multiple sclerosis was noted in UC but not Crohn's disease patients. The most common nonintestinal comorbidities identified were arthritis and asthma. CONCLUSIONS: The finding of asthma as the most common comorbidity increased in Crohn's disease patients compared with the general population is novel. These may be diseases with common causes or complications of one disease that lead to the presentation with another. Studies such as this should encourage further research into the common triggers in the organ systems that lead to autoimmune diseases.