We performed a systematic literature review to define features of patients, treatment, and biological behaviour of multicentric giant cell tumour (GCT) of bone. The search terms used in combination were “multicentric”, “giant cell tumour”, and “bone”. Exclusion criteria were: reports lacking data, with only an abstract; papers not reporting data on multicentric GCT; and papers on multicentric GCT associated with other diseases. Additionally, we report three patients treated under our care.Aims
Methods
Prediction tools are instruments which are commonly used to estimate the prognosis in oncology and facilitate clinical decision-making in a more personalized manner. Their popularity is shown by the increasing numbers of prediction tools, which have been described in the medical literature. Many of these tools have been shown to be useful in the field of soft-tissue sarcoma of the extremities (eSTS). In this annotation, we aim to provide an overview of the available prediction tools for eSTS, provide an approach for clinicians to evaluate the performance and usefulness of the available tools for their own patients, and discuss their possible applications in the management of patients with an eSTS. Cite this article:
The use of a noninvasive growing endoprosthesis in the management
of primary bone tumours in children is well established. However,
the efficacy of such a prosthesis in those requiring a revision
procedure has yet to be established. The aim of this series was
to present our results using extendable prostheses for the revision
of previous endoprostheses. All patients who had a noninvasive growing endoprosthesis inserted
at the time of a revision procedure were identified from our database.
A total of 21 patients (seven female patients, 14 male) with a mean
age of 20.4 years (10 to 41) at the time of revision were included.
The indications for revision were mechanical failure, trauma or infection
with a residual leg-length discrepancy. The mean follow-up was 70
months (17 to 128). The mean shortening prior to revision was 44 mm
(10 to 100). Lengthening was performed in all but one patient with
a mean lengthening of 51 mm (5 to 140).Aims
Patients and Methods
Iontophoresis is a novel technique which may be used to facilitate the movement of antibiotics into the substance of bone using an electrical potential applied externally. We have examined the rate of early infection in allografts following application of this technique in clinical practice. A total of 31 patients undergoing revision arthroplasty or surgery for limb salvage received 34 iontophoresed sequential allografts, of which 26 survived for a minimum of two years. The mean serum antibiotic levels after operation were low (gentamicin 0.37 mg/l (0.2 to 0.5); flucloxacillin 1 mg/l (0 to 1) and the levels in the drains were high (gentamicin 40 mg/l (2.5 to 131); flucloxacillin 17 mg/l (1 to 43). There were no early deep infections. Two late infections were presumed to be haemotogenous; 28 of the 34 allografts were retained. In 12 patients with pre-existing proven infection further infection has not occurred at a mean follow-up of 51 months (24 to 82).
We have developed a hollow perforated cannulated screw. One or more of these was implanted percutaneously in 11 patients with an osteolytic metastasis in the femoral neck and multiple metastases elsewhere. They were supplemented by one or two additional standard 6.5 mm cannulated screws in nine patients. Polymethylmethacrylate bone cement was injected through the screw into the neck of the femur using small syringes, as in vertebroplasty. The mean amount of cement injected was 23.2 ml (17 to 30). Radiotherapy was started on the fourth post-operative day and chemotherapy, on average, was resumed a day later. Good structural stability and satisfactory relief from pain were achieved in all the patients. This technique may be useful in the palliation of metastases in the femoral neck.
Non-tuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) infection
of the musculoskeletal tissue is a rare disease. An early and accurate diagnosis
is often difficult because of the indolent clinical course and difficulty
of isolating pathogens. Our goal was to determine the clinical features
of musculoskeletal NTM infection and to present the treatment outcomes.
A total of 29 patients (nine females, 20 males between 34 and 85
years old, mean age 61.7 years; 34 to 85) with NTM infection of the
musculoskeletal system between 1998 to 2011 were identified and
their treatment retrospectively analysed. Microbiological studies
demonstrated NTM in 29 patients: the isolates were Cite this article:
Biochemical markers of bone-turnover have long been used to complement the radiological assessment of patients with metabolic bone disease. Their implementation in daily clinical practice has been helpful in the understanding of the pathogenesis of osteoporosis, the selection of the optimal dose and the understanding of the progression of the onset and resolution of treatment. Since they are derived from both cortical and trabecular bone, they reflect the metabolic activity of the entire skeleton rather than that of individual cells or the process of mineralisation. Quantitative changes in skeletal-turnover can be assessed easily and non-invasively by the measurement of bone-turnover markers. They are commonly subdivided into three categories; 1) bone-resorption markers, 2) osteoclast regulatory proteins and 3) bone-formation markers. Because of the rapidly accumulating new knowledge of bone matrix biochemistry, attempts have been made to use them in the interpretation and characterisation of various stages of the healing of fractures. Early knowledge of the individual progress of a fracture could help to avoid delayed or nonunion by enabling modification of the host’s biological response. The levels of bone-turnover markers vary throughout the course of fracture repair with their rates of change being dependent on the size of the fracture and the time that it will take to heal. However, their short-term biological variability, the relatively low bone specificity exerted, given that the production and destruction of collagen is not limited to bone, as well as the influence of the host’s metabolism on their concentration, produce considerable intra- and inter-individual variability in their interpretation. Despite this, the possible role of bone-turnover markers in the assessment of progression to union, the risks of delayed or nonunion and the impact of innovations to accelerate fracture healing must not be ignored.
