Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) provides good results even for severe knee osteoarthritis (OA) patients. However, patients often suffer from post-operative pain and have long rehabilitation periods. In recent years, utilization of unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) has increased in an effort to decrease pain and shorten recovery compared to TKA. Moreover, the long-term results of the UKA have improved. Many surgeons now wonder whether TKA or UKA is better for patients with isolated medial knee OA. In Japan, the government has public insurance system and patients are able to receive the joint replacement surgery inexpensively. This study was conducted to compare the cost the public insurance and the patients co-payment for TKA and UKA.

We investigated a series of thirty TKAs and fifteen UKAs performed in Fussa Hospital (Tokyo, Japan) from July 2012 to April 2013. Data from two TKAs' were excluded since the patients had comorbidities (asthma and severe DM) that extended their hospitalizations. Patients were discharged from the hospital if they were able to go up and down the stairs or were able to conduct routine activities of daily living.

Total payments the hospital received averaged $19600 (S.D. $1600) for a TKA and $15200 (S.D. $1300) for a UKA. Patients paied averaged of $690 (S.D. $370) for a TKA and $470 (S.D. $170) for a UKA (Figure 1). The surgical fee was $3769 for both TKA and UKA, and was uniform thoughout Japan. The implant price averaged $6200 (S.D. $300) for TKA and $3900 (S.D. $200) for UKA, where prices were also determined by the government. Hospitalization averaged 28 days (S.D. 7 days) for TKA and 21 days (S.D. 6 days) for UKA. For both TKA and UKA, the total cost and the number of days in hospital were highly correlated (R = 0.92 and R = 0.96, respectively). A linear cost model suggests the TKA cost was $210 times days of hospitalization plus $13100 and the UKA cost was $220 times days of hospitalization plus $10000. Patients' payments were not correlated to the days of hospitalization (R = 0.22 and R = 0.45, respectively).

TKA and UKA are performed all over the world now and the number of the surgeries increases each year. Althouth each country has a different insurance system, many countries face an increasing and problematic economic burden for both patients and insurance organization (either public or private company). This study showed UKA is less expensive than TKA by $4400, an advantage that might complement the traditional view that UKA is less invasive and often has fewer complications for treating isolating medical compartment OA. For Japanese system, patients pay relatively little out-of pocket despite long hospitalization, and length of stay has a direct and significant effect on total cost for TKA and UKA

Aim

The recent discovery of small non-coding RNAs, so-called micro RNAs (miRNAs), has provided new insights into cancer diagnosis. Several studies have shown that profiles of miRNA expression differ between normal tissue and tumour tissue and vary among tumour types. To exploit this difference, we evaluated the feasibility of using muscle-specific miRNAs (miR-1, 133a, 133b, 206) as biomarkers of rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS).

Introduction

The treatment of osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) in young and active patients remains a challenge. The purpose of this study was to determine and compare the clinical and radiographic results of the two different hip resurfacing systems; hemi-resurfacing and metal-on-metal total hip resurfacing in patients with ONFH.

The position of the acetabular component affects the result of total hip arthroplasty(THA) in terms of postoperative dislocation, impingement, wear etc.

However, as it is much difficult to place the component in the appropriate position for the cases of severe acetabular deformity, we used a Computed tomography(CT)-based navigation for THA in such cases. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to estimate the accuracy of a CT-based navigation in terms of acetabular component positioning in THA for severe acetabular deformities.

13 patients (1 man, 12 women), 14 hips underwent THA using a posterolateral approach with a CT-based navigation. The diagnoses were severe developmental dysplasia (Crowe group III, IV) in 6, ankylosis in 3, destructive arthritis after infection in 2, Charcot joint, and arthrodesed hip. And, we evaluated the differences of component position from the center of the anterior pelvic plane(APP), anteversion angle, and inclination angle relative to APP between the intraoperative data from the navigation system and the data from postoperative CT. Considering the intra-observer error, the measurement was done three times respectively and the mean value was accepted. We also estimated the difference between the component size planned and that implanted.

The mean difference between intraoperative records and actual postoperative results of the component position shows 3.3 mm(range: 0–7.0, SD: 2.2) for the horizontal position, 3.2 mm(range: 0–9.7, SD: 4.5) for the vertical position, 4.4 mm(range: 2.0–7.7, SD: 1.6) for the antero-posterior position from the center of the APP, 1.3 degrees(range: 0–3.0, SD: 0.9) for the inclination and 2.9 degrees(range: 0.3–8.3, SD: 2.2) for the anteversion respectively. All components were placed in the safe zone by Lewinnek. The component size was predicted in 10/14(71.4%) hips. There were no complications related to the use of the navigation.

This study showed the accuracy of cup positioning using a CT-based navigation in THA for the cases of severe acetabular deformity. We concluded that this system was a useful tool for surgeon to identify orientation, implant acetabular component at the precise position and angle, and to reduce the incidence of some complications especially for patients with these severe acetabular deformities.

Good mid-term results of Oxford UKA (OxUNI) for anteromedial osteoarthritis (OA) were reported. The designers of prosthesis reported a 98% 10-year survival rate for a combined series of phase I and II, and these findings were supported by published results from other series, with 10-year survival ranging from 91% to 98%. In order to obtain good results, the designers of this prosthesis mentioned the importance of adhering to strict indication for OxUNI, especially only for OA cases with intact anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). OxUNI combined with ACL reconstruction (ACLR) is a viable treatment option for only young active patients, in whom the ACL has been primarily ruptured. On the other hand, it was not clear whether the result of OxUNI combined with ACLR for OA with secondary ruptured ACL was good. In this study we compare the short-term results of OxUNI combined with ACLR for OA with secondary ruptured ACL with that for usual OA with intact ACL.

382 OxUNI were performed at two hospitals by one surgeon between January 2002 and August 2005. Among those, 367 cases, followed over two years postoperatively (272 patients, women: 283, men: 84) were assessed. Follow up ratio was 96.1%. The mean patient age at the time of surgery was 72.0 (47~93) years. The mean follow-up period was 39.3 (24~67) months. Thirty three knees of OA were treated with OxUNI combined with ACLR, by using synthetic graft. Clinical results were assessed by the Oxford Knee Score (OKS) and active range of motion (ROM). Patients are asked a series of 12 questions, and their response scores range from 0 (worse) to 4 (best) for each, yielding an overall score range of 0–48. All living patients were contacted, and the status of the implant was established at the time of last follow from hospital records. We evaluate the survival rate for OxUNI with or without ACLR, using the endpoint of revision for any reason.

The pre-and postoperative clinical scores were compared using the paired Student’s t-test. Survivor-ship curves were constructed using the Kaplan-Meier method, and survivorship between groups was compared using logrank and Wilcoxon methods. All analyses were performed using 95% confidence intervals and a P value of < 0.05 was considered significant.

The mean OKS at final follow-up was 42.1 (preoperative; 21.7), and the mean active ROM was 125.2° (preoperative; 113.4°). OKS and active ROM were significantly improved. There were no significant differences in OKS and active ROM between OxUNI with ACLR and OxUNI with intact ACL. Fourteen knees among 367 knees were revised; nine for loosening of tibial component, four for dislocation of bearing and one for progression of lateral OA. Overall 5-year survival rate was 95.6%. When survival rate was assessed separately with or without ACLR, that of OxUNI with intact ACL was 96.7% and that of OxUNI with ACLR was 83.8%. There was significant worse survival rate between the two groups (P=0.0071).

The 5-year survival rate for OxUNI with intact ACL was 96.7%, which was equivalent to those of original series from Oxford. However, 5-year survival rate for Oxford UKA with ACLR was 83.8% in our series. Four knees in nine of loosening of tibial component were replaced by OxUNI combined with ACLR. Therefore, even if ACL was reconstructed, the results of OxUNI for OA with secondary ruptured ACL was proved to be pessimistic.

There was significantly worse survival rate for OxUNI with ACLR, compared with OxUNI with intact ACL. So we conclude that combined ACL reconstruction and OxUNI for anteromedial OA with secondary ruptured ACL is not recommended, which must be treated with TKA.

Objective: The treatment of osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) in young active patients remains a challenge. The purpose of this study was to determine and compare the clinical and radiographic results of the two different hip resurfacing systems, hemi-resurfacing and metal-on-metal total-resurfacing, in patients with ONFH.

Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 20 patients with 30 hips with ONFH who underwent hemi-resurfacing or total-resurfacing between November 2002 and February 2006. We mainly performed hemi-resurfacing for early stage ONFH, and total-resurfacing for advanced stage. Fifteen hips in 11 patients had a hemi-resurfacing component (Conserve, Wright Medical Co) with the mean age at operation of 50 years and the average follow-up of 5.5 years. Fifteen hips in 10 patients had a metal-on-metal total-resurfacing component (Birmingham hip resurfacing, Smith & Nephew Co.) with the mean age at operation of 40 years and the average follow-up of 5 years. Clinical and radiographic reviews were performed.

Results: The average postoperative JOA hip scores were 86 points in hemi-resurfacing, 96 points in total-resurfacing. The difference of pain score was a main factor to explain the difference of total JOA hip score in the two groups. Both implants were radiographically stable, but radiolucent lines around the metaphyseal stem were more frequent in total-resurfacing. In hemi-resurfacing patients, ten of 15 hips had groin pain or groin discomfort, three hips were revised to total hip arthroplasties (THA) because of femoral neck fracture, acetabular pro-trusio, and osteoarthritic change, respectively. On the other hand, in total-resurfacing patients, there were no revision and no groin pain.

Discussion: In the prosthetic treatment of young active patients with ONFH, it is theoretically desirable to choose an implant with conservative design in anticipation of the future revision surgery. Hemi-resurfacing hip arthroplasty is the most conservative implant for the treatment of ONFH. However, the results of hemi-resurfacing in this study have been very disappointing due to high revision rates and insufficient pain relief despite of the good implant stability. On the other hand, the pain relief and implant survivorship after total-resurfacing were superior to the results of hemi-resurfacing, although the usages of the total-resurfacing were for more advanced cases. These results suggested that total-resurfacing was a more valuable treatment option for active patients with ONFH than hemi-resurfacing