1. A child is described who presented with very severe rickets and gross myopathy. The clinical, biochemical and radiological signs were identical with those to be expected of a very chronic and severe vitamin D deficiency. The child's diet, however, had been normal.

2. All the pathological signs, except for residual dwarfism and leg bowing, disappeared on treatment with very large doses of vitamin D₂. Ordinary anti-rachitic doses had no effect.

3. We suggest that this child demonstrates a true resistance to the action of vitamin D and that the defect is permanent. The findings in two similar patients that we have seen suggest that the condition is inherited as an autosomal recessive gene, and that it may be the same disease as that described in the continental literature as "hereditäre pseudo-mangelrachitis" and by other names.

4. The disease seems distinct clinically and biochemically from the disease originally described under the name "vitamin resistant rickets," which does not respond so well to massive vitamin D therapy and which is usually inherited as a sex-linked dominant gene.

1. A complete replacement arthroplasty of the hip is described in which both components are inherently stable.

2. The arthroplasty does not require the use of acrylic cement.

3. It is appropriate for the treatment of the severely arthritic hip in which arthrodesis is not indicated, and for the mobilisation of two stiff and painful hips at any age.

4. It can be performed on both sides at the same time.

5. It produces a stable, pain-free and mobile joint in a high proportion of cases, and has appeared not to deteriorate over periods of up to four years.

1. The management of gas gangrene by hyperbaric oxygen is described.

2. The mode of action, administration and risks of hyperbaric oxygen are discussed.

3. A series of seventeen cases, with one death, is recorded from a hospital unit with a small chamber, using two atmospheres in pure oxygen.

The results of 110 operations for the treatment of fractures through metastases in the femoral neck and intertrochanteric region have been studied. Of these, forty-four fractures were treated by internal fixation, forty-six by resection of the femoral head and neck, and twenty by prosthetic replacement. The following conclusions were reached.

1. Prosthetic replacement of the femoral head is a reliable procedure.

2. The long stem type of prosthesis has the advantages of greater stability and simultaneous fixation of the shaft.

3. Patients with diffuse metastatic disease of the ilium are not suitable for prosthetic replacement. These patients should be treated by resection of the femoral head and neck.

4. Resection is a less traumatic procedure and therefore useful in the palliative treatment of patients in poor general condition.

5. Internal fixation leads more often to complications and unfavourable results than do the other methods.

1. Thirteen cases of traumatic separation of the upper femoral epiphysis have been studied. Four were previously reported and nine new cases are analysed.

2. This is a rare injury occurring in young children and is due to severe violence.

3. Separation occurred at the epiphysial plate, and severe posterior displacement was frequent. The fracture line does not penetrate the epiphysis.

4. Premature fusion, avascular necrosis or non-union (individually or together) occurred in eleven of the thirteen patients.

5. Separation of the upper femoral epiphysis is a serious injury which is likely to lead to permanent deformity.

1. The difficulties of obtaining myo-electric signals from the muscles in amputation stumps are discussed.

2. The requirements of a myo-telemetry system which could be implanted are discussed.

3. A description is given of a new approach to the problem in which the electrical unit is contained in an inert plastic and fitted into the bone in the amputation stump, using an external power source.

1. Experience with a refined type of implantable electrode for the myo-electric control of externally powered prostheses is reported.

2. The electrodes are externally energised by electromagnetic induction and therefore do not contain any battery cells. The myo-potentials are transmitted in frequency-modulated form and detected by a receiver placed on the skin. The implantable electrode, measuring 5x11x4 millimetres, is encapsulated in epoxy resin.

3. Six electrodes have been implanted in the forearms of two normal subjects and two below-elbow amputees. The time of implantation ranged from three to fifteen months. Macroscopically, a fibrous capsule developed around the electrodes. Histological examination showed a capsule of granulation tissue of varying thickness with slight inflammatory reaction and foreign-body giant cells.

4. In all cases except one the signals received have been of high quality as ascertained by conventional electromyography and frequency analysis. There has been no significant deterioration in signal quality during the follow-up periods.

5. The major source of failure was fatigue fracture of the gold wires making contact with the body tissues. In one case, however, the electrode was still functioning normally at the time of removal fifteen months after insertion.

6. The patients have not been inconvenienced either by the operative procedures or by the presence of the electrodes in the tissues.

1. Sixty-one cases of compression of the ulnar nerve are reported, forty at the elbow and twenty-one at the wrist. Although contributory factors may include deformity, osteoarthritis, injury, ganglia and other tumours, the narrow anatomical confines of the nerve at these two levels are noteworthy and alone may produce nerve compression.

2. Careful clinical examination will usually determine the level of involvement if not the exact pathology. Surgical exploration is indicated both as a diagnostic and therapeutic procedure in most cases.

3. Following removal of the compressing agent rapid recovery occurred in most cases.

A case of anterior interosseous neuritis due to compression of the nerve over an abnormally large tendon of origin of the flexor digitorum profundus is described. Excision of the band relieved the paralysis.

1. Four cases of spontaneous interosseous nerve palsy are reported.

2. The condition is commoner than is usually thought.

3. Recovery is quick after operation done to excise or exclude a band causing mechanical compression.

1. The arcade of Frohse, a fibrous arch over the posterior interosseous nerve, may well play a part in causing progressive paralysis of the posterior interosseous nerve, both with and without injury.

2. Paralysis of the muscles supplied by this nerve with no evidence of recovery after six weeks, either electromyographic or clinical, should be treated by exploration and splitting of the arcade of Frohse.

1. Because of socio-medical deficiencies, osteitis in some parts of the world still conforms to the classical pattern seen before the introduction of antibiotics.

2. One of many complications is loss of continuity from widespread destruction of tubular bone.

3. Twelve patients with this complication are described. The most satisfactory treatment, when practicable, is the transference of an adjoining normal bone into the remnants of the defective one.

4. Two neonates each with a massive defect of the femur are described. This complication of osteitis at this age has not been reported before.

5. The long-term prognosis of lower limb defects is poor when there is failure of bone growth. Nevertheless, reconstructive procedures are still worth attempting because later amputation, if necessary, can be conservative, and prosthetic difficulties may thus be eased.

1. A study is reported of 190 femora in 174 patients in whom self-curing acrylic cement had been present in the medullary cavity of the upper end of the femur for the fixation of an endoprosthesis for an average period of four years.

2. The bone remained radiologically normal in 81 per cent of cases.

3. Improvement in the thickness of the cortex from pre-existing atrophy was noted in 2·6 per cent.

4. In 4·7 per cent the bone showed some atrophy after insertion of the cement. This exceeded 10 per cent in only two cases. All were originally osteoporotic from polyarthritis; all were satisfactory as regards the arthroplasty itself, and the atrophy could usually be explained by disuse resulting from the state of the opposite lower extremity, or the knee on the same side.

5. In 9·4 per cent there was fusiform hypertrophy of the femoral cortex, the bony texture remaining normal. This appearance was considered physiological and benign.

6. In 2·2 per cent there were changes for which the most likely explanation is chronic non-suppurative osteitis, though no collateral evidence of infection was found.

7. In 44·8 per cent there was a thin line of condensation in the cancellous bone demarcating the outer limits of the cement. This is considered to be physiological and not to indicate failure of immobilisation.

8. In 37·2 per cent there was slight resorption of the cut surface of the calcar femorale. This is considered to be physiological and to confirm the efficacy of weight transmission by cement lower down in the medullary cavity.

1. A low oblique fracture of the libula is described associated with diastasis of the inferior tibio-fibular joint.

2. Seven cases are presented in which this injury was seen.

3. A method of internal fixation is described.

4. The importance of recognising this injury is stressed.

1. A case of Behçet's syndrome in which the main complaint was severe pain in the manubrio-sternal joint is described. Arthrodesis relieved the pain.

2. Histological material from a mouth ulcer and from the manubrio-sternal joint showed non-specific inflammatory changes but failed to throw light on the etiology.

1. Attention is drawn to the importance of taking tangential radiographs of the patella in all cases of injury to the knee, especially when there is difficulty in distinguishing between recurrent dislocation of the patella and tear of a meniscus.

2. New bone formation along the medial side of the patella confirms a diagnosis of recurrent dislocation.

3. The importance of Coleman's original observations is stressed.

1. The healing of the radius and tibia in dogs after compression plating of osteotomies made by a Gigli saw was studied.

2. The methods used were indian ink microangiography and terramycin labelling. The Spalteholz technique and azane colouring were used.

3. Revascularisaton of the fracture region took place both from newly formed vessels in the Haversian systems and from periosteal and endosteal vessels.

4. The fracture gap was filled at an early stage by a vascular network. Under stable conditions direct angiogenic bone formation took place around this network.

5. Rebuilding of the cortical bone in the fracture region occurred by osteoclastic activity. Groups of osteoclasts made cavities in the necrotic bone and were immediately followed by loops of vessels; behind and around the loop new bone was formed. Another form of bone absorption consisted of bundles of vessels which eroded necrotic cortical bone without new bone formation.

6. The new bone was initially oriented along the fracture gap but, by conversion into secondary osteones, it became progressively oriented longitudinally in the direction of the original bone.

7. Under stable conditions some periosteal and endosteal callus formation occurred though it was of slight importance. It regressed very soon and was seldom seen in the radiographs.

The collagen framework of articular cartilage is disposed, as in other connective tissues, to resist tension forces within the material. In this paper the fine structure of articular cartilage, as demonstrated by polarised light microscopy and electron microscopy, is related to the gross anatomy and to the naked eye changes of chondromalacia and fibrillation.

1. A series of experiments on the tensile strength of the anterior capsular mechanism have been performed. These show that in the young the weakest point is the glenoid labral attachment, whereas in the elderly calcification of tissues makes the capsule and subscapular tendon weaker.

2. It has been shown previously that glenoid labral detachment is the common injury in the young at the time of an acute dislocation, whereas capsular rupture and subscapularis tendon damage occur in the elderly.

3. These findings suggest that in an acute anterior dislocation of the shoulder the shoulder integuments give at their weakest point, and that it is the site of this weakest point and not the mechanism of injury which influences the liability to recurrence.

1. Transplantations of autografts and of Kiel bone to the iliac bone and to muscle tissue were performed in rabbits. Through labelling with two tetracycline compounds which have different fluorescent colours in ultraviolet light, bone formation between the labelling periods could be followed.

2. It was shown that bone formation between the fifth and the tenth day after transplantation to bone took place in about 50 per cent of the fresh autografts. Storage of the transplants in saline for one hour before replacement had little adverse effect, whereas exposure to air for one hour seemed to reduce the osteogenic effect of the grafts. Bone formation was not observed in grafts of Kiel bone during this period.

3. The fact that new bone formation in fresh autografts could be demonstrated even during the first four days after transplantation to bone indicates that osteogenic cells from the fresh autografts continue their activity under favourable conditions. This is supported by microradiographic and histological evidence.

4. The amount of callus which developed in close contact with the grafts during the first ten days after transplantation to bone was more pronounced both in fresh autografts and in autografts kept in saline than in autografts exposed to air for one hour. Callus developing at a later stage showed no significant difference between the various grafts, including those of Kiel bone.

5. In fresh autografts transplanted to muscle tissue callus formation could be demonstrated in most cases by the tenth day, indicating either survival of osteoblasts or the transformation of more primitive cells from the graft or from the host bone into osteogenic cells. No bone formation was observed when Kiel bone was embedded in muscle tissue.