Scapular notching is a complication after reverse shoulder arthroplasty with a high incidence up to 100%. Its clinical relevance remains uncertain; however, some studies have reported that scapular notching is associated with an inferior clinical outcome. There have been no published articles that studied positional relationship between the scapular neck and polyethylene insert in vivo. The purpose of this study was to measure the distance between the scapular neck and polyethylene insert in shoulders with Grammont type reverse shoulder arthroplasty during active external rotation at the side. Eighteen shoulders with Grammont type prosthesis (Aequalis Reverse, Tornier) were enrolled in this study. There were 13 males and 5 female, and the mean age at surgery was 74 years (range, 63–91). All shoulders used a glenosphere with 36mm diameter, and retroversion of the humeral implant was 10°in 4 shoulders, 15°in 3 shoulders, and 20°in 11 shoulders. Fluoroscopic images were recorded during active external rotation at the side from maximum internal to external rotation at the mean of 14 months (range, 7–24) after surgery. The patients also underwent CT scans, and three-dimensional glenosphere models with screws and scapula neck models were created from CT images. CT-derived models of the glenosphere and computer-aided design humeral implant models were matched with the silhouette of the implants in the fluoroscopic images using model-image registration techniques (Figure 1). Based on the calculated kinematics of the implants, the closest distance between the scapular neck and polyethylene insert was computed using the scapular model and computer-aided design insert models (Figure 2). The distance was computed at each 5° increment of glenohumeral internal/external rotation, and the data from 20°internal rotation to 40°external rotation were used for analyses. One-way repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to examine the change of the distance during the activity, and the level of significance was set at P < 0.05.Background
Methods
Massive rotator cuff tears and consequent cuff-deficient arthritis (CTA) of the shoulder can cause severe shoulder dysfunction in the elderly. Reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (RTSA) has been widely used for treatment of CTA in all over the world since its introduction in the 90's. In Japan, however, we have just started to clinically use RTSA from April 2014. In addition, we have only one choice of the implants (Aequalis Reverse, Tornier) currently, and only one size of the base-plate of the glenoid component (29 mm in diameter) is available so far. Japanese, especially elderly people, have generally smaller figure than Caucasians. We are not sure whether the base-plate would fit for the smaller Japanese. The purpose of this study was to measure the size of the glenoids in Japanese using CT images and to examine that they would fit the 29 mm base-plate. The shoulders without osteoarthritis of the glenohumeral joint were eligible for the study. The subjects consisted of 30 shoulders including 10 elderly males, 10 elderly females, and 10 younger males, and the mean ages were 73 (range, 63–81), 74 (range, 65–89), and 32 (range, 27–36) years old, respectively. Mean heights and weights were 164 cm (range, 156–179) and 59 kg (range, 49–72), 154 cm (range, 151–161) and 57 kg (range, 48–65), and 173 cm (range, 162–179) and 72 kg (range, 61–100), respectively. CT images with a 0.3 mm slice pitch were used for the analysis. The images were loaded into a DICOM viewer (OsiriX), and a slice for simulated implantation of the base-plate was created using the multi-planar reconstruction (Figure 1), which had 10° of inferior tilt to the glenoid face. The width of the glenoid in the antero-posterior direction was measured at 14 mm above the inferior edge of the glenoid.Background
Methods
Highly cross-linked polyethylene (HXLPE) was developed to reduce the wear of articular-bearing surfaces in total hip arthroplasty (THA). This study aimed to compare the mean linear wear of HXLPE with a 22.225 mm diameter zirconia head with that of conventional polyethylene (CPE) with a 22.225 mm diameter ortron head. A prospective cohort study performed on 93 patients (113 hips) who had undergone primary cemented THAs at our hospital between January 2001 and December 2003. The subject population included 85 females and 8 males with a mean age of 58.0 years (22 to 78) at the time of surgery. The mean follow-up period was 10.2 years (9 to 12). We randomly used two types of implants: the HXLPE cup with a 22.225 mm diameter zirconia head (Kyocera Medical, Osaka, Japan) in 60 hips (HXLPE group), and the CPE cup with a 22.225 mm diameter ortron head (DePuy International, Leeds, UK) in 53 hips (CPE group). Linear wear (penatration) by computer-assisted method with PolyWare software (Draftware Inc, Indiana, USA) was measured at 10 years. Anteroposterior radiographs were evaluated for osteolysis or component loosening defined by the criteria of Hodgkinson et al. Analysis of covariance using the general linear models procedure was carried out to determine the linear wear rate difference between the groups after adjusting for variables (age at surgery, sex, body mass index, vertical distance, horizontal distance, cup inclination, and cup anteversion) as covariates. The differences were considered significant when the p value was <0.05.Introduction
Materials and Methods
Antibiotic-loaded acrylic cement (ALAC) is employed in the treatment or prevention of infected total hip arthroplasty (THA). We have administered vancomycin (VCM) as the ALAC for the treatment of THAs with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or for the prevention of THAs with high risks. This study aimed to evaluate the serum concentration of VCM from ALAC in THA or cement beads. Between December 2013 and February 2014, 16 hips (16 patients) underwent application of the ALAC including VCM at our institution. Two hips were used for the treatment of infection, in the first stage of two-staged revision THAs (i.e., cement beads). Two hips were used for the both treatment and prevention of infection, in one-staged revision THAs. Twelve hips were used for the prevention of infection, in aseptic revision THAs or primary THAs with high risks. Patients were classified into two groups depending on the VCM concentration of ALAC, as follows: high-dose group (2 hips), average 4.4% (3.8–5.0%); low-dose group (14 hips), average 1.6% (1.3–2.5%). The amount of VCM placed as ALAC into the hip was calculated by using the remaining ALAC. The serum concentration of VCM was evaluated at 1 day, 4 days, 7 days, and 28 days after surgery. Statistical analysis was performed by using the Introduction
Methods
The diagnosis of implant-associated infections is challenging, and the conventional culturing of periprosthetic tissue has been the gold standard for diagnosis of implant-associated infections. However, conventional diagnostic tests are inaccurate because the pathogenesis of implant-associated infection is related to microorganisms growing in biofilms. We compared culture of samples obtained by sonication of explanted implants to dislodge adherent bacteria from implants with conventional culture of periprosthetic tissue. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the results of sonication that is microbiological diagnostic method for implant-associated infections. Between January 2013 and April 2013, a total of 19 consecutive patients underwent the removal of implants at our institution. There were 15 women and 4 men with a mean age of 71 years (32 to 90) at the time of the operation. Implants were removed because of aseptic loosening in 9 patients, infection in 6 patients, necrosis in 2 patients, dislocation in 1 patient and implant fracture in 1 patient. Removed implants, including 17 joint prostheses and 2 fracture fixation devices, were subjected to sonication in a BactoSonic (BANDELIN, Germany). Preoperative bacterial culture, intraoperative conventional culture of periprosthetic tissue, intraoperative culture of sonicate-fluid, and pathological examination were assessed.Introduction:
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