Migration of a Kirschner wire from the greater trochanter to the popliteal fossa: a case report

Migration of Kirschner (K) wires from the upper extremity joints has often been reported, but it is less common from the lower extremities. In this report, we describe an 85-year-old man treated, during a hip replacement procedure, with a K-wire because of a trochanteric fracture; after one year, the K-wire was found in the popliteal fossa. This report illustrates the first case of K-wire migration in the popliteal area of the knee and suggests avoiding the use of free K-wires without any tension banding.     

Islet Xenotransplantation: Are We Really Ready for Clinical Trials?

Four clinical trials of porcine islet transplantation have been reported, and there are verbal reports that clinical trials on much larger scales are continuing in centers in China and Russia. The four reported trials are briefly reviewed and, in the light of the present status of experimental islet xenotransplantation, consideration is given to whether such trials are currently justified. The Ethics Committee of the International Xenotransplantation Association has (1) emphasized the need for encouraging studies in non-human primates before clinical trials should be undertaken, (2) mandatory monitoring for the transfer of porcine microorganisms, and (3) careful regulation and oversight by recognized bodies. Other aspects of the topic, such as the need for informed consent, are briefly discussed. We conclude that, at the present time, more data documenting convincing efficacy, focused on clinically applicable immunosuppressive regimens, are needed to justify the initiation of closely monitored clinical trials. A clinical trial may then be justified even though the potential risk to the patients, and possibly for society, will not be zero.     

Development of the New Lung Allocation System in the United States

This article reviews the development of the new U.S. lung allocation system that took effect in spring 2005. In 1998, the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services published the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) Final Rule. Under the rule, which became effective in 2000, the OPTN had to demonstrate that existing allocation policies met certain conditions or change the policies to meet a range of criteria, including broader geographic sharing of organs, reducing the use of waiting time as an allocation criterion and creating equitable organ allocation systems using objective medical criteria and medical urgency to allocate donor organs for transplant. This mandate resulted in reviews of all organ allocation policies, and led to the creation of the Lung Allocation Subcommittee of the OPTN Thoracic Organ Transplantation Committee. This paper reviews the deliberations of the Subcommittee in identifying priorities for a new lung allocation system, the analyses undertaken by the OPTN and the Scientific Registry for Transplant Recipients and the evolution of a new lung allocation system that ranks candidates for lungs based on a Lung Allocation Score, incorporating waiting list and posttransplant survival probabilities.     

Coccidioidomycosis After Renal Transplantation in an Endemic Area

Coccidioidomycosis is an endemic fungal infection of the desert southwestern United States of particular concern for immunosuppressed renal transplant recipients. The clinical course of coccidioidomycosis can be severe in immunosuppressed patients, with high rates of dissemination and mortality, and antifungal prophylaxis is routinely administered to high-risk patients. We sought to determine the impact of coccidioidomycosis on patients who received their renal transplant at our hospital in Phoenix, Arizona. A retrospective records review of the first 205 patients who received a renal transplant between June 1999 and December 2003 identified 6 patients (3%) who had contracted coccidioidomycosis after transplantation. All six cases occurred more than 6 months after transplantation. Two of these six patients had disseminated coccidioidomycosis. Two patients, one with pulmonary infection and one with disseminated infection, died. None of the six patients with coccidioidomycosis after transplantation had identified risk factors before transplantation. No high-risk patient who received targeted antifungal prophylaxis had a reactivation of coccidioidomycosis after transplantation. Treatment for acute rejection and induction with antithymocyte globulin did not appear to increase the risk of subsequent coccidioidomycosis.     

Pathological structure of the kidney from adult mice with mosaic mutation

Summary: The mosaic (Atp7a ^mo-ms ) is an X-linked, lethal mutation in mice. In mosaic mutant males, many clinical features characteristic of defective copper metabolism have been observed and they die at the age of 15 days, exhibiting strongsimilarities to the brindled and macular mutants. About 4% of the mutant males live to sexual maturity and some of them are fertile. In this paper, alterationsin the structure of the kidney from adult mutants are described. Owing to an inherited defect of efflux, copper is accumulated in the kidney of the mutants up to a toxic level and this leads to severe damage of the renal cortex. Pathological changes in the kidney mostly affected the structure of the renal corpuscle and renaltubules.     

人工骨椎体成形术治疗胸腰椎爆裂骨折

目的:探讨经椎弓根人工骨植入椎体成形术治疗胸腰椎爆裂性骨折的方法和效果。方法:胸腰椎爆裂骨折12例,男8例,女4例;年龄28～61岁,平均47.5岁;受伤时间4～12d;术前Frankel分级:C级1例,D级3例,E级8例;受伤椎体:T112例,T122例,L15例,L23例;术前后突角11°～35°,平均24°;术前椎管占位率39%～85%,平均64.5%;术前伤椎椎体前缘高度平均为正常的47%。行后路切开复位短节段椎弓根钉内固定后,人工骨经伤椎椎弓根植入椎体成形术。结果:所有患者均获随访,时间3～19个月,平均13个月。脊柱后突角平均恢复20°,椎体高度平均恢复96%,椎管占位率平均恢复至7%。2例人工骨椎体内充填不足;无内固定松动、断裂、椎体高度变低及生理弧度丢失。神经功能恢复:1例术前Frankel分级C级及2例D级患者术后均恢复至E级。结论:经椎弓根人工骨植入椎体成形术重建了椎体高度,增加了脊椎前柱的抗压稳定性,使患者能早期活动,减少内固定物因应力过大造成的断钉、松动、椎体再压缩等并发症。     

高龄股骨颈骨折人工关节置换的围手术期处理

目的:对行人工关节置换手术的高龄股骨颈骨折患者进行围手术期综合处理,探讨其围手术期治疗的必要性与重要性。方法:68例股骨颈骨折的高龄患者,男28例,女40例;年龄70～88岁,平均76.4岁。所有患者于关节置换术前采用有效的降糖,降压,营养心肌,保肝,纠正贫血、低蛋白血症等综合处理,控制合并症。患者全身情况、脏器功能状况可耐受手术后行人工关节置换手术。结果:所有患者均安全渡过手术期,切口Ⅰ期愈合。1例术后早期出现腹泻并发症,经应用制霉菌素及金双岐调节肠道菌群,腹泻控制。按Harris标准评价疗效,优39例,良24例,可5例,优良率92.6%。结论:严格有效的围手术期综合治疗是处理高龄股骨颈骨折患者行人工关节置换手术的安全保障。     

Notification of rheumatic fever in South Africa -- evidence for underreporting by health care professionals and administrators.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether under-reporting of rheumatic fever occurs at hospital, municipal, provincial and national levels of the South African health system. BACKGROUND: Information on the incidence of rheumatic fever (RF) and the prevalence of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is required for the prevention of valvular heart disease in developing countries. In South Africa, RF was made a notifiable condition in 1989. It has recently been suggested that the reporting of RF cases may be incomplete, possibly because of underreporting by health care professionals and deficient administration of the disease notification system in South Africa. METHOD AND RESULTS: We assessed whether underreporting of RF cases occurs by comparing the numbers of RF cases reported per year at hospital, municipal, provincial and national levels from 1990 to 2004. There was a fall in the number of RF cases reported per year at national and provincial level over the 15 years of observation. A detailed analysis of the number of RF cases reported at hospital, municipal and provincial level for a 5-year period showed that more cases were diagnosed in one hospital (serving a smaller population) than were captured at municipal and provincial level (serving a larger population), suggesting underreporting by health care professionals. There were discrepancies in the number of cases reported at municipal, provincial and national level, suggesting poor administration of the notification system. CONCLUSION: There appears to be underreporting of RF cases by health care professionals, and poor administration of the RF notification system. Health care professionals need to be educated about the statutory requirement to notify all RF cases in South Africa. An effective national disease notification system is required.