Patellofemoral joint arthroplasty: patient selection,surgical technique and outcomes

Isolated patellofemoral arthritis is an increasingly recognized entity, and is usually associated with previous patellofemoral dysplasia or instability. Patellofemoral arthroplasty (PFA) has evolved significantly in recent years, both in terms of implant design and importantly in the understanding of appropriate patient selection. This review outlines the indications and investigations for PFA, provides a brief history of the development of contemporary implants, and presents the clinical outcomes for the prostheses most commonly used in the UK. In addition, it provides a detailed surgical technique for implantation of an onlay implant, with tips on how to optimize patellofemoral biomechanics and thus achieve a consistently good outcome.     

Straßenverkehrsrecht und Rettungsdienst

Legal uncertainties for emergency vehicle drivers can be avoided when fundamental rules are established. In particular, differentiation of special rights and rights of way is essential. Inherent in both is the urgency necessary to save human lives. The right of way signaled by flashing blue lights and siren does not however justify traffic violations but signifies rather a request to other traffic participants. In contrast, special rights require no announcement and constitute a justifiable reason for traffic violations. Even so they do not allow that other traffic participants be endangered or harmed. Adherence to these basic principles can prevent legal misinterpretations as well as rigid adoption of inflexible standards of behavior.     

Das neue österreichische Patientenverfügungsrecht

Austria’s new Living Wills Act (Patientenverfügungsgesetz, or PatVG) that came into effect on 1st of June 2006, is the first law in Austria to regulate the controversial issue of living wills. The PatVG provides for a right to refuse future medical treatment by making an advance directive in the form of a living will that is either binding or “to be taken into consideration”. However, the establishment of a binding living will is governed by strict criteria as regards form and content, and both a medical doctor and a legal expert must be involved. Compliance with a living will is not allowed where there is a legal obligation to give medical treatment. There is also a legal obligation to give medical treatment in emergency situations where the time involved in looking for a living will could seriously endanger the health or the life of a patient.     

Die Aufklärungspflicht bei endoskopischen Operationen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist therapy for hirsutism is as effective as high dose cyproterone acetate but results in a longer remission

Both cyproterone acetate (CPA) and the gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) have been shown to be effective for the treatment of hirsutism. We wished to compare the effectiveness of CPA in two standard doses with GnRHa and add-back therapy and to compare the length of remission after these treatments. A total of 60 hirsute hyperandrogenic women was assigned to the following treatment groups: CPA 2 mg with 35 microg of ethinylestradiol for 21 days each month (Diane group), CPA 50 mg, days 5-15, and ethinylestradiol 50 microg, days 5-25, each month (CPA group) or Decapeptyl 3.75 mg i.m. every 28 days with the addition of conjugated oestrogen 0.625 mg, days 1-21, and medroxyprogesterone acetate 10 mg, days 12-21 (GnRHa group). Hirsutism was graded by the Ferriman-Gallwey-Lorenzo (FGL) index and anagen hair shaft diameters and serum luteinizing hormone (LH) and testosterone were assessed before and every 3 months during and after treatment. All women were treated for 1 year with 1 year follow-up. At baseline hirsutism and endocrine patterns were similar in all groups. After one year of treatment, hirsutism decreased in all groups but the changes were greater (P <0.05) in the CPA and GnRHa groups than in the Diane group. Serum LH and testosterone were lowest in the GnRHa group. After withdrawal, hirsutism increased rapidly in the Diane and CPA groups and after 6 months, FGL scores and hair shaft diameters were similar to pretreatment values. In the GnRHa group, hirsutism increased more gradually and after 1 year of withdrawal, FGL scores and hair diameters were significantly (P <0.05) less than pretreatment values. Serum LH and testosterone increased rapidly in all three groups reaching pretreatment values by 6 months. These data suggest equal efficacy of the GnRHa and the high dose CPA regimen for the treatment of hirsutism in hyperandrogenic women. GnRHa with add-back treatment appears to result in a longer remission of hirsutism in comparison with CPA.      

Pulmonary clearance of UICC amosite fibres inhaled by rats during chronic exposure at low concentration.

Clearance of UICC amosite asbestos from the lungs during chronic--that is, repeated--exposure was investigated by using the scanning electron microscope to measure lung burdens from rats which had inhaled amosite asbestos at an approximately constant concentration of 0.1 mg/m3 or, equivalently, 20 fibres/ml for seven hours a day, five days a week for up to 18 months. The lung burdens were compared with previous results for higher exposure concentrations of 1 and 10 mg/m3. Those previous lung burdens had been measured using other analytical methods (infrared spectrophotometry) that were not suitable for the new lower lung burdens. Taken together, these results showed lung burdens rising pro rata with exposure concentration and exposure time. This accumulation of lung burden has been described by a kinetic model that takes account of the sequestration of material at locations in the lung from where it cannot be cleared. Unlike some earlier models in which lung burdens eventually reach a plateau with equilibrium between deposition and clearance during chronic exposure, this sequestration model shows lung burdens continuing to rise with exposure time. The latest results reported here support the application of such a model to lower exposure concentrations closer to those of asbestos in workplaces.     

Maxillary sinusitis in adults: an evaluation of placebo-controlled double-blind trials

BACKGROUND: In general practice, acute sinusitis is frequently diagnosed and treated with antibiotics. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the evidence for the effectiveness of antibiotic treatment in acute maxillary sinusitis in adults by assessing the methodological quality of placebo-controlled double-blind randomized trials. METHOD: An evaluation by four raters through a 35-item scoring-scale for internal and external validity of all placebo-controlled double-blind randomized trials on acute sinusitis found between January 1966 and July 1996. RESULTS: Eighty-five trials were excluded because they were not placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized, or were carried out in patients with chronic sinusitis or in children. The three remaining trials were performed in different populations (one in general practice) between 1973 and 1978. Only one study claimed superiority of antibiotic treatment. Different inclusion criteria and major outcome measures were used by the authors. The reliability of major outcome events was reported poorly or not at all and in two studies outcome measures were clinically inappropriate. The studies scored 30-62% of the maximum attainable score for internal validity and 10-20% for external validity. CONCLUSION: The effectiveness of antibiotic treatment in acute maxillary sinusitis in a general practice population is not based sufficiently on evidence.      

Endometrial carcinoma: Does the addition of intracavitary vault caesium to external beam therapy postoperatively result in improved control or increased morbidity?

A retrospective analysis of treatment for endometrial carcinoma is reported here. From 1987 to 1989, 138 patients were referred to the oncology department following total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy for endometrial cancer. Forty-seven patients were not prescribed postoperative radiotherapy; 31 had Stage I well differentiated adenocarcinoma with minimal myometrial invasion, while the remaining 16 patients were considered unfit for postoperative radiotherapy. There were no instances of local relapse amongst the 31 patients with minimal myometrial invasion.The remaining 91 patients all received external beam irradiation to the pelvis and, according to the preference of the individual therapist, 51 were prescribed additional intracavitary vault caesium-137. Patients receiving postoperative radiotherapy were analysed according to whether or not they received additional intracavitary vault caesium. The two groups were also analysed for incidence of vaginal vault recurrence and treatment related morbidity.In the group receiving additional intracavitary treatment more patients had Stage II or III disease (P<0.05), and had greater depth of myometrial invasion (P<0.05). Vaginal vault recurrence was not observed in patients receiving intracavitary therapy in addition to external beam therapy. Four patients (10%) receiving external beam therapy alone developed vaginal vault recurrence.The incidence of Kottmeier-Perez grade 2 or 3 bowel toxicity following treatment was significantly higher in those patients receiving combined treatment (18% vs. 2.5%; P<0.03). There was also a higher incidence of vaginal stenosis in the group receiving both external beam and intracavitary therapy (21% vs. 3%; P<0.05). There was only one instance of grade 2 bladder toxicity in the external beam and intracavitary treatment group and none in the external beam therapy alone group.In conclusion, postoperative radiotherapy for Stages I-III endometrial carcinoma was carried out in a non-randomized manner by two regimens; either external beam therapy alone or external beam therapy with additional intracavitary vaginal caesium. The combined therapy gave significantly better local control but resulted in significantly more late bowel and vaginal morbidity.