Acute total hip arthroplasty for acetabular fractures in the elderly: 11 patients followed for 2 years.

We describe the use of cable fixation and acute total hip replacement for acetabular fracture in the elderly. 12 patients with acetabular fractures, having a mean age of 79 (65-93) years, were treated with cable fixation and acute total hip arthroplasty. 8 were T-shaped fractures and 4 associated fractures of the posterior column and posterior wall. 1 patient died 5 months after surgery and the remaining 11 were followed for 2 years. All patients had a good clinical outcome. Radiographic assessment showed healing of the fracture and a satisfactory alignment of the cup without loosening. This surgical technique provides good primary fixation, stabilizes complex acetabular fractures in elderly patients with osteoporotic bone and permits early postoperative mobilization.

Envelhecimento e capacidade para o trabalho dos trabalhadores de higiene e limpeza hospitalar

As mudanças demográficas ocorridas no Brasil mostram um aumento da população que está envelhecendo e em idade produtiva. Estudo com trabalhadores do Serviço de Higiene e Limpeza de um hospital universitário, não terceirizado, teve por objetivo avaliar a capacidade para o trabalho. Foi utilizado o Índice de Capacidade para o Trabalho, instrumento auto-aplicável, desenvolvido por pesquisadores finlandeses. Foram entrevistados 69 trabalhadores: 21,7% tinham ótima capacidade para o trabalho; 31,9% boa; 31,9% moderada e 14,5%, baixa. As doenças com diagnóstico médico mais freqüentes foram as lesões por acidentes, músculo-esqueléticas e cardiovasculares. O grupo etário de 50 a 60 anos obteve menor Índice de Capacidade para o Trabalho e maior número de doenças, afetando, portanto, a capacidade para o trabalho. Sendo assim, há necessidade do desenvolvimento de programas de promoção à saúde, tendo em vista a recuperação e manutenção da capacidade para o trabalho.

Variáveis que influenciam a manutenção do aleitamento materno exclusivo

Pesquisa descritiva, exploratória e retrospectiva, com abordagem quantitativa, realizada em uma comunidade carente de São Paulo com o objetivo de verificar se a manutenção do aleitamento exclusivo (AE) nos primeiros seis meses é influenciada pelas variáveis: contato precoce na primeira hora após o nascimento, permanência em alojamento conjunto, tipo de parto e tipo de hospital. Os dados foram coletados de 75 prontuários e analisados com a metodologia de equações de estimação generalizada. Os resultados mostraram que as variáveis alojamento conjunto, tipo de hospital e tipo de parto interferiram na manutenção do AE, o mesmo não ocorrendo com o contato precoce. Concluiu-se que os índices de AE foram maiores nos casos em que mãe e bebê permaneceram constantemente juntos após o parto, em hospitais amigos da criança e após partos normais. Constatou-se que a assistência recebida pela mulher durante o processo de parto e nascimento influencia de forma direta a amamentação.

Influence of preoperative leg pain and radiculopathy on outcomes in mono-segmental lumbar total disc replacement: results from a nationwide registry.

PURPOSE: Currently, many pre-conditions are regarded as relative or absolute contraindications for lumbar total disc replacement (TDR). Radiculopathy is one among them. In Switzerland it is left to the surgeon's discretion when to operate if he adheres to a list of pre-defined indications. Contraindications, however, are less clearly specified. We hypothesized that, the extent of pre-operative radiculopathy results in different benefits for patients treated with mono-segmental lumbar TDR. We used patient perceived leg pain and its correlation with physician recorded radiculopathy for creating the patient groups to be compared. METHODS: The present study is based on the dataset of SWISSspine, a government mandated health technology assessment registry. Between March 2005 and April 2009, 577 patients underwent either mono- or bi-segmental lumbar TDR, which was documented in a prospective observational multicenter mode. A total of 416 cases with a mono-segmental procedure were included in the study. The data collection consisted of pre-operative and follow-up data (physician based) and clinical outcomes (NASS form, EQ-5D). A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was conducted with patients' self-indicated leg pain and the surgeon-based diagnosis "radiculopathy", as marked on the case report forms. As a result, patients were divided into two groups according to the severity of leg pain. The two groups were compared with regard to the pre-operative patient characteristics and pre- and post-operative pain on Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and quality of life using general linear modeling. RESULTS: The optimal ROC model revealed a leg pain threshold of 40 ≤ VAS > 40 for the absence or the presence of "radiculopathy". Demographics in the resulting two groups were well comparable. Applying this threshold, the mean pre-operative leg pain level was 16.5 points in group 1 and 68.1 points in group 2 (p < 0.001). Back pain levels differed less with 63.6 points in group 1 and 72.6 in group 2 (p < 0.001). Pre-operative quality of life showed considerable differences with an 0.44 EQ-5D score in group 1 and 0.29 in group 2 (p < 0.001, possible score range -0.6 to 1). At a mean follow-up time of 8 months, group 1 showed a mean leg pain improvement of 3.6 points and group 2 of 41.1 points (p < 0.001). Back pain relief was 35.6 and 39.1 points, respectively (p = 0.27). EQ-5D score improvement was 0.27 in group 1 and 0.41 in group 2 (p = 0.11). CONCLUSIONS: Patients labeled as having radiculopathy (group 2) do mostly have pre-operative leg pain levels ≥ 40. Applying this threshold, the patients with pre-operative leg pain do also have more severe back pain and a considerably lower quality of life. Their net benefit from the lumbar TDR is higher and they do have similar post-operative back and leg pain levels as well as the quality of life as patients without pre-operative leg pain. Although randomized controlled trials are required to confirm these findings, they put leg pain and radiculopathy into perspective as absolute contraindications for TDR.

O senso de auto-eficácia na manutenção de comportamentos promotores de saúde de idosos

Esta é uma investigação com abordagem qualitativa, que foi desenvolvida junto a idosos participantes de um centro de lazer em Porto Alegre (Brasil). O objetivo foi compreender a influência do senso de auto-eficácia na manutenção dos comportamentos promotores de saúde dessas pessoas. Foram entrevistados 11 idosos, que alcançaram escores com um desvio-padrão igual ou acima da média do grupo (>85,18), no questionário WHOQOL-bref. Na análise de conteúdo das entrevistas, surgiram quatro categorias: atitudes e atributos pessoais positivos; expectativa de viver melhor; expectativa de viver mais tempo; e priorizar comportamentos promotores de saúde. A investigação evidenciou que esses indivíduos mantêm comportamentos promotores de saúde similares aos recomendados pelos profissionais e pelas organizações de saúde. Além disso, supomos que a manutenção de tais comportamentos foi determinada pelo senso positivo de auto-eficácia desses indivíduos.

Benefit of Cup Medialization in Total Hip Arthroplasty is Associated With Femoral Anatomy.

BACKGROUND: Medialization of the cup with a respective increase in femoral offset has been proposed in THA to increase abductor moment arms. Insofar as there are potential disadvantages to cup medialization, it is important to ascertain whether the purported biomechanical benefits of cup medialization are large enough to warrant the downsides; to date, studies regarding this question have disagreed. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: The purpose of this study was to quantify the effect of cup medialization with a compensatory increase in femoral offset compared with anatomic reconstruction for patients undergoing THA. We tested the hypothesis that there is a (linear) correlation between preoperative anatomic parameters and muscle moment arm increase caused by cup medialization. METHODS: Fifteen patients undergoing THA were selected, covering a typical range of preoperative femoral offsets. For each patient, a finite element model was built based on a preoperative CT scan. The model included the pelvis, femur, gluteus minimus, medius, and maximus. Two reconstructions were compared: (1) anatomic position of the acetabular center of rotation, and (2) cup medialization compensated by an increase in the femoral offset. Passive abduction-adduction and flexion-extension were simulated in the range of normal gait. Muscle moment arms were evaluated and correlated to preoperative femoral offset, acetabular offset, height of the greater trochanter (relative to femoral center of rotation), and femoral antetorsion angle. RESULTS: The increase of muscle moment arms caused by cup medialization varied among patients. Muscle moment arms increase by 10% to 85% of the amount of cup medialization for abduction-adduction and from -35% (decrease) to 50% for flexion-extension. The change in moment arm was inversely correlated (R(2) = 0.588, p = 0.001) to femoral antetorsion (anteversion), such that patients with less femoral antetorsion gained more in terms of hip muscle moments. No linear correlation was observed between changes in moment arm and other preoperative parameters in this series. CONCLUSIONS: The benefit of cup medialization is variable and depends on the individual anatomy. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Cup medialization with compensatory increase of the femoral offset may be particularly effective in patients with less femoral antetorsion. However, cup medialization must be balanced against its tradeoffs, including the additional loss of medial acetabular bone stock, and eventual proprioceptive implications of the nonanatomic center of rotation and perhaps joint reaction forces. Clinical studies should better determine the relevance of small changes of moment arms on function and joint reaction forces.

Comparisons of preoperative three-dimensional planning and surgical reconstruction in primary cementless total hip arthroplasty.

Reconstruction of important parameters such as femoral offset and torsion is inaccurate, when templating is based on plain x-rays. We evaluate intraoperative reproducibility of pre-operative CT-based 3D-templating in a consecutive series of 50 patients undergoing primary cementless THA through an anterior approach. Pre-operative planning was compared to a postoperative CT scan by image fusion. The implant size was correctly predicted in 100% of the stems, 94% of the cups and 88% of the heads (length). The difference between the planned and the postoperative leg length was 0.3 + 2.3 mm. Values for overall offset, femoral anteversion, cup inclination and anteversion were 1.4 mm ± 3.1, 0.6° ± 3.3°, -0.4° ± 5° and 6.9° ± 11.4°, respectively. This planning allows accurate implant size prediction. Stem position and cup inclination are accurately reproducible.

Internação psiquiátrica e a manutenção do tratamento extra-hospitalar

O objetivo desse trabalho foi identificar características comuns entre pessoas que tiveram alta hospitalar de internação psiquiátrica recente. Foi realizado um estudo quantitativo exploratório em um serviço ambulatorial de saúde mental. A amostra foi composta por pacientes egressos de internação. Utilizou-se um questionário e a pesquisa foi aprovada pelo CEP. Estrevistou-se 48 pacientes com idade média de 39 anos. Diagnósticos de Esquizofrenia e Transtornos Esquizotípicos foram prevalentes em 33,3% da amostra. Em média treze pacientes recebem alta de internação psiquiátrica hospitalar ao mês e 62,5% deles tinham internações anteriores. No período, 12,5% da amostra necessitou de reinternação. A internação psiquiátrica demonstrou ser um recurso necessário aos momentos de crise e parte da manutenção do tratamento psiquiátrico, principalmente dos transtornos mentais graves. O que evidencia a necessidade de uma manutenção adequada do tratamento nos serviços de atendimento comunitário para que a necessidade de reinternações seja evitada.

Direct detection of a BRAF mutation in total RNA from melanoma cells using cantilever arrays.

Malignant melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, is characterized by a predominant mutation in the BRAF gene. Drugs that target tumours carrying this mutation have recently entered the clinic. Accordingly, patients are routinely screened for mutations in this gene to determine whether they can benefit from this type of treatment. The current gold standard for mutation screening uses real-time polymerase chain reaction and sequencing methods. Here we show that an assay based on microcantilever arrays can detect the mutation nanomechanically without amplification in total RNA samples isolated from melanoma cells. The assay is based on a BRAF-specific oligonucleotide probe. We detected mutant BRAF at a concentration of 500 pM in a 50-fold excess of the wild-type sequence. The method was able to distinguish melanoma cells carrying the mutation from wild-type cells using as little as 20 ng µl(-1) of RNA material, without prior PCR amplification and use of labels.

Total knee arthroplasty - a clinical and numerical study of the micromovements of the tibial implant

Introduction The importance of the micromovements in the mechanism of aseptic loosening is clinically difficult to evaluate. To complete the analysis of a series of total knee arthroplasties (TKA), we used a tridimensional numerical model to study the micromovements of the tibial implant.Material and Methods Fifty one patients (with 57 cemented Porous Coated Anatomic TKAs) were reviewed (mean follow-up 4.5 year). Radiolucency at the tibial bone-cement interface was sought on the AP radiographs and divided in 7 areas. The distribution of the radiolucency was then correlated with the axis of the lower limb as measured on the orthoradiograms.The tridimensional numerical model is based on the finite element method. It allowed the measurement of the cemented prosthetic tibial implant's displacements and the microvements generated at bone-ciment interface. A total load (2000 Newton) was applied at first vertically and asymetrically on the tibial plateau, thereby simulating an axial deviation of the lower limbs. The vector's posterior inclination then permitted the addition of a tangential component to the axial load. This type of effort is generated by complex biomechanical phenomena such as knee flexion.Results 81 per cent of the 57 knees had a radiolucent line of at least 1 mm, at one or more of the tibial cement-epiphysis jonctional areas. The distribution of these lucent lines showed that they came out more frequently at the periphery of the implant. The lucent lines appeared most often under the unloaded margin of the tibial plateau, when axial deviation of lower limbs was present.Numerical simulations showed that asymetrical loading on the tibial plateau induced a subsidence of the loaded margin (0-100 microns) and lifting off at the opposite border (0-70 microns). The postero-anterior tangential component induced an anterior displacement of the tibial implant (160-220 microns), and horizontal micromovements with non homogenous distribution at the bone-ciment interface (28-54 microns).Discussion Comparison of clinical and numerical results showed a relation between the development of radiolucent lines and the unloading of the tibial implant's margin. The deleterious effect of lower limbs' axial deviation is thereby proven. The irregular distribution of lucent lines under the tibial plateau was similar of the micromovements' repartition at the bone-cement interface when tangential forces were present. A causative relation between the two phenomenaes could not however be established.Numerical simulation is a truly useful method of study; it permits to calculate micromovements which are relative, non homogenous and of very low amplitude. However, comparative clinical studies remain as essential to ensure the credibility of results.

O fotojornalismo depois da fotografia: Modelos de configuração da cadeia produtiva do fotojornalismo em tempos de convergência digital

This research report concerns about the post-doctoral activities, conducted betweenSeptember 2010 and March 2011 at the University Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona. It comes to identify the consequences of the convergence phenomenon on photojournalism.Thus, in a more general approach, the effort is to to recovery the structural elements of the convergence concept in journalism. It aims to map, as well, the current debates about the repositioning of photographic practices linked to the news produced in a widespread adoption of digital devices in contemporary workflow. It is also specified,the analysis of photographic collectives as a result of the convergence frameworkapplied to photojournalism; the debate on ways of funding; alternatives facing thealleged crisis of press photography and, finally, proposes to create qualifying stages ofdevelopment of photojournalism in the digital age as well as the proposition of hypotheses concerning the structure of the productive routines. In addition, we present three cases to be analyzed in order to explore and verify the occurrence ofcharacteristics that may identify the object of research in the state of practice. Finally,we work in a series of conclusions, revisiting the main hypotheses. With this strategy, ispossible to define an sequence of analysis capable of addressing the characteristics present in the studied cases and other ones in future, thus, be able to affirm this stage as a step, in the continuous historical course of photojournalism.

The effect of femoral component rotation on the five-year outcome of cemented mobile bearing total knee arthroplasty.

PURPOSE: Performing total knee replacement, accurate alignment and neutral rotation of the femoral component are widely believed to be crucial for the ultimate success. Contrary to absolute bone referenced alignment, using a ligament balancing technique does not automatically rotate the femoral component parallel to the transepicondylar axis. In this context we established the hypothesis that rotational alignment of the femoral component parallel to the transepicondylar axis (0° ± 3°) results in better outcome than alignment outside of this range. METHODS: We analysed 204 primary cemented mobile bearing total knee replacements five years postoperatively. Femoral component rotation was measured on axial radiographs using the condylar twist angle (CTA). Knee society score, range of motion as well as subjective rating documented outcome. RESULTS: In 96 knees the femoral component rotation was within the range 0 ± 3° (neutral rotation group), and in 108 knees the five-year postoperative rotational alignment of the femoral component was outside of this range (outlier group). Postoperative CTA showed a mean of 2.8° (±3.4°) internal rotation (IR) with a range between 6° external rotation (ER) and 15° IR (CI 95). No difference with regard to subjective and objective outcome could be detected. CONCLUSION: The present work shows that there is a large given natural variability in optimal rotational orientation, in this study between 6° ER and 15° IR, with numerous co-factors determining correct positioning of the femoral component. Further studies substantiating pre- and postoperative determinants are required to complete the understanding of resulting biomechanics in primary TKA.

An intramedullary alignment guide lodging within the femoral canal during total knee arthroplasty: a case report.

The usual complications of total knee arthroplasty include thrombo-embolism, infection, and loosening. We report an unusual and potentially serious complication of an intramedullary guide lodging within the femoral canal during the procedure. Considering the risk of fracture and additional exposure, the guide was not removed and was cut in situ. The rest of the operation was completed successfully and the patient made an uneventfully recovery.