We studied the reliability of the Singh classification of trabecular bone structure in the proximal femur as a measure of osteoporosis, using kappa statistics. Radiographs of fractures of the femoral neck or trochanteric region in 80 consecutive patients were assessed by six observers. The interobserver variation was large; only three of 72 radiographs were given the same classification by all six observers and the kappa values ranged from 0.15 to 0.54. The intraobserver variation showed substantial strength of agreement; kappa values ranged from 0.63 to 0.88. In 77 patients dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was used to measure bone mineral density. The results were compared with those of the Singh classification: we found no correlation.
1. Five cases of Salmonella osteomyelitis in infants without red-cell sickling are reported. 2. All these cases occurred in children under eighteen months of age and within a period of five months of time, suggesting a seasonal incidence. 3. Only one strain of Salmonella was isolated–Salmonella typhimurium. 4. There was complete healing in four of the cases. 5. In one case there was destruction and complete absorption ofthe upper humeral epiphysis.
1. An account of fifty-four patients suffering from ainhum is presented, and the clinical and pathological findings are discussed. 2. Etiology is considered, and a plan of treatment proposed. 3. Ainhum in Ibadan is a disease of all ages and both sexes. 4. Most patients have considerable pain. 5. It is due to a non-inflammatory change in the basal layer of the epidermis. 6. Surgical treatment has gratifying results.
The effect of cortisone on the repair of simple muscle injury was studied in rabbits. The histological findings in the crushed muscle are described for a period up to twenty-one days after injury. Cortisone defers the onset of muscle regeneration, and retards its progress, but it does not change the course of the repair process or alter its eventual outcome under the conditions of the experiment. This apparent refractoriness of repair of muscle, as compared with that of other connective tissues, is discussed.
