Acromioclavicular joint dislocation: a comparative biomechanical study of the palmaris-longus tendon graft reconstruction with other augmentative methods in cadaveric models

Background  

Acromioclavicular injuries are common in sports medicine. Surgical intervention is generally advocated for chronic instability of Rockwood grade III and more severe injuries. Various methods of coracoclavicular ligament reconstruction and augmentation have been described. The objective of this study is to compare the biomechanical properties of a novel palmaris-longus tendon reconstruction with those of the native AC+CC ligaments, the modified Weaver-Dunn reconstruction, the ACJ capsuloligamentous complex repair, screw and clavicle hook plate augmentation.     

Oropalatal band (maxillo-mandibular band). off.

A rare case of a maxillo-mandibular band in a 21 year female patient is reported. Possibility of its being a remnant of buccaphary geal membrane is discussed in the light of clinical and histological findings.     

Diagnostic significance of estimation of serum apolipoprotein A along with alpha-fetoprotein in alcoholic cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma patients

The serum apolipoprotein A (Apo A) and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) were evaluated in histologically verified 30 cases of alcoholic cirrhosis and 18 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The latter were also divided into subgroups depending on the presence or absence of associated cirrhosis. Serum Apo A levels were found to be significantly decreased in cirrhotics (p less than 0.001) compared to controls and non-cirrhotic HCC patients. In 22 cases of alcoholic cirrhosis (AFP less than 10 ng/ml) and 12 cases of HCC (AFP greater than 600 ng/ml), the AFP levels itself were diagnostic, but in the remaining cases, AFP levels (100-600 ng/ml) were not able to differentiate between cirrhosis and malignancy. In this later group of patients with low pathological range of AFP, serum Apo A levels found to be significantly decreased in alcoholic cirrhotic patients (p less than 0.001) compared to HCC patients. Thus, estimation of Apo A levels may be helpful to interpret the AFP values at lower pathological range due to suspected liver pathology.