Clinical risk factors for hamstring muscle strain injury: a prospective study with correlation of injury by magnetic resonance imaging. (9/119)

OBJECTIVE: To prospectively establish risk factors for hamstring muscle strain injury using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to define the diagnosis of posterior thigh injury. METHOD: In a prospective cohort study using two elite Australian Rules football clubs, the anthropometric characteristics and past clinical history of 114 athletes were recorded. Players were followed throughout the subsequent season, with posterior thigh injuries being documented. Hamstring intramuscular hyperintensity on T2 weighted MRI was required to meet our criteria for a definite hamstring injury. Statistical associations were sought between anthropometric and previous clinical characteristics and hamstring muscle injury. RESULTS: MRI in 32 players showed either hamstring injury (n = 26) or normal scans (n = 6). An association existed between a hamstring injury and each of the following: increasing age, being aboriginal, past history of an injury to the posterior thigh or knee or osteitis pubis (all p<0.05). These factors were still significant when players with a past history of posterior thigh injury (n = 26) were excluded. Previous back injury was associated with a posterior thigh injury that looked normal on MRI scan, but not with an MRI detected hamstring injury. CONCLUSIONS: Hamstring injuries are common in Australian football, and previous posterior thigh injury is a significant risk factor. Other factors, such as increasing age, being of aboriginal descent, or having a past history of knee injury or osteitis pubis, increase the risk of hamstring strain independently of previous posterior thigh injury. However, as the numbers in this study are small, further research is needed before definitive statements can be made.  (+info)

Oral ulceration: a new and unusual complication. (10/119)

Oral ulceration is a common oral mucosal disorder arising from a range of aetiologies but, apart from being associated with discomfort or pain, rarely results in complications apart from occasional scarring. This paper reports two patients with a history of minor aphthae who developed ulceration with increasingly severe pain, related to the onset of osteitis, and who then developed sequestra.  (+info)

Osteomyelitis pubis versus osteitis pubis: a case presentation and review of the literature. (11/119)

An athletic 23 year old man presented with suprapubic tenderness, fever, and raised inflammatory blood variables. A diagnostic laparoscopy was performed, with a presumed diagnosis of retrocaecal appendicitis, but no abnormalities were found, apart from free fluid in the pouch of Douglas. Imaging of the pubic area suggested bony infection and inflammation. Biopsy and culture confirmed the presence of Staphylococcus aureus, a very common pathogen. The final diagnosis was osteomyelitis pubis, an infectious disease, and osteitis pubis, an inflammatory disease.  (+info)

Calcifying pseudo-tumor of the spine: description of a case and review of the literature. (12/119)

A case of calcifying pseudo-tumor of the thoracic spine, a rare lesion with tumor-like behavior and a probable inflammatory-reactive origin, is described. The clinical-pathological and neuro-radiological aspects of this lesion are discussed in relation to surgical treatment. In accordance with the other cases reported in the literature, the case observed confirmed the benign behavior of the lesion and the effectiveness of surgical treatment for achieving complete resolution of clinical symptoms without any recurrences, even when removal is only subtotal.  (+info)

Tuberculous osteitis of clivus. (13/119)

Tuberculous osteitis of clivus is rare. Its diagnosis is difficult because of the rarity of the site and the non-specific nature of the disease. Management consists of confirmation of diagnosis by biopsy and chemotherapy with anti-tubercular drugs. Meningitis may complicate the clinical course, increase morbidity and mortality.  (+info)

Serum aluminum levels as a reflection of renal osteodystrophy status and bone surface aluminum staining. (14/119)

Twenty eight (14%) out of 196 patients in a regional dialysis population were found to have serum aluminum levels greater than or equal to 5 mumol/L or 135 micrograms/L; 21 consented to undergo a bone biopsy to identify the spectrum of renal osteodystrophy associated with this degree of hyperaluminemia. Both the Aluminon reagent and the acid solochrome azurine (ASA) stain were used to identify aluminum deposits. A control group of 13 patients with biochemical and histological evidence of severe secondary hyperparathyroidism was used to contrast the measured parameters of bone histology in the hyperaluminemic group. Al(OH)3 was used as the principal phosphate binder in all patients. In the hyperaluminemic group, 67% had either dialysis osteomalacia or aplastic bone lesions, and all except one aplastic lesion were positive for bone surface aluminum deposits by the Aluminon stain. The Aluminon stain was also positive in one of three cases of osteitis fibrosa and three of four mild lesions, whereas it was negative in all biopsies from the control group. However, the ASA stain was positive in all biopsies from the hyperaluminemic group and in 11 of 13 control biopsies from the patients with "pure" osteitis fibrosa. For all biopsy data from both groups, there were significant (P less than 0.01) negative correlations between the ASA-stained surface aluminum deposits and resorption indices (total eroded surface, r = -0.68; surface osteoclast counts, r = -0.53) and indices of bone formation (surface osteoblast counts, r = -0.61; mineral apposition rate, r = -0.63; bone formation rate, r = -0.69). These correlations were not significant for Aluminon-stained surface deposits with the exception of the bone formation indices, which had lower correlation coefficients (r = -0.44). These data suggest that hyperaluminemia greater than or equal to 5 mumol/L has a predictive value to identify impaired mineralization in dialysis patients that is high enough to affect clinical decision making. However, the more sensitive ASA stain identifies surface aluminum across the whole spectrum of renal osteodystrophy and is consistent with a toxic role for aluminum at any level of exposure.  (+info)

Paronychia due to Prevotella bivia that resulted in amputation: fast and correct bacteriological diagnosis is crucial. (15/119)

Prevotella bivia is mainly associated with endometritis. The case of a patient with paronychia in a thumb due to P. bivia resulting in osteitis and amputation is reported. The species was not acknowledged in the first bacterial culture 2 weeks before surgery.  (+info)

Salmonella epidural abscess in sickle cell disease: failure of the nonsurgical treatment. (16/119)

In patients suffering from sickle cell disease (SCD), bone is a preferred site of infection. We report the case of a five-year-and-eight-month-old black African boy with homozygous-SS disease who developed a cranial epidural abscess. This intracranial infectious complication originated from a Salmonella enteritidis osteitis of the frontal bone. Antibiotic treatment alone did not control the disease, so surgery was necessary to remove the necrotic bone and to evacuate the epidural pus. The numerous factors interfering with normal healing of a septic focus in sickle cell anemia, particularly in this previously undescribed intracranial complication, emphasize the need for a primary and early surgical treatment in similar situations.  (+info)