[Effects of statins upon bone mineral density in postmenopausal women with hypercholesterolemia]

OBJECTIVE

To explore the effects of statins upon bone mineral density (BMD) and bone metabolic markers in postmenopausal women with hypercholesterolemia.

METHODS

A prospective study was conducted for 100 women receiving treatment from January 2011 to August 2012 and meeting the inclusion criteria of osteopenia or osteoporosis with hypercholesterolemia postmenopausal. They were randomly divided into treatment group on atorvastatin 10 mg once daily and control group. The parameters of lumbar BMD, bone resorption markers of type I collagen cross-linked C-telopeptide (CTX) , bone synthesis markers procollagen type I N-terminal peptide (PINP) were compared between two groups after half a year and one year.

RESULTS

There was an upward trend of lumbar spine BMD and PINP in the treatment group at half a year and one year compared with the control group. And two groups had significant difference (P < 0.05). Although two groups had no significant difference in all parameters at half a year, the values of lumbar spine BMD and PINP were higher in the treatment group at one year than the control group. Two groups had significant difference (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Statins can help maintain or increase bone mass of hypercholesterolemic menopausal women through promoting bone synthesis.

FS-3D-FISP for the diagnosis of ankle impingement syndrome and the evaluation of clinical outcomes of arthroscopic surgery

This study aimed to assess the diagnostic value of three types of MRI sequences and to observe the clinical outcomes of arthroscopy surgery for ankle joint impingement syndrome. Ankle joint impingement syndrome was confirmed by FSE-T2WI, FSE-PDWI, and FS-3D-FISP MRI in 23 patients with arthroscopically proven ankle impingement. All 23 patients underwent arthroscopic surgery and the ankle joint function was evaluated before, 1 week after and 6 months after the operation. The patients were followed-up for 12-64 months (average 28 months). There was no significant difference in ankle function score between preoperatively and 1 week postoperatively, but 86.96 % patients got overall excellent or good scores 6 months after the surgery, significantly higher than before the surgery. The FS-3D-FISP MRI exhibited a good consistency with arthroscopic examination and had higher sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of ankle impingement than FSE-T2WI and FSE-PDWI. In summary, arthroscopy surgery for ankle impingement syndrome has several advantages such as good efficacy, minimal trauma, quick recovery, and much less complications. The preoperative FS-3D-FISP MRI allows accurate diagnosis and positioning of ankle impingement syndrome.

[Application value of FS-3D-FISP sequence in the diagnosis of ankle cartilage injury]

OBJECTIVE

To compare several sequences of MRI and arthroscopy for detecting the ankle articular cartilage lesions and to evaluate the clinical outcome of special sequence of FS-3D-FISP.

METHODS

Forty patients (41 ankles) with iterative ankle pain who were scheduled for arthroscopy underwent MR scanning, including FS-3D-FISP, FSE T2WI and FSE PDWI sequences. The results of each sequence were then compared with the arthroscopic findings.

RESULTS

Using arthroscopic results as the standard of reference, the FS-3D-FISP images had the higher sensitivity (92.86%) than the other two sequences. The FS-3D-FISP sequence was well consistent with the result of arthroscopy. Kappa value (0.7590) was higher than the other two sequences (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

As a favorable scanning sequence, FS-3D-FISP imaging can show the early-stage pathological changes of articular cartilage and it has an excellent correlation with the arthroscopic findings. A 3-D reconstruction is helpful to determine the location and the degree of lesion and obtain a more accurate classification to guide clinical decisions.

Comparative study on treatment of midshaft tibial fracture with expandable and interlocking intramedullary nails

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the clinical results of treatment of midshaft tibial fracture with expandable intramedullary nails compared with interlocking intramedullary nails.

METHODS

From June 2003 to August 2005, 46 patients (27 males and 19 females, aged 20-74 years, mean=38.4 years) with midshaft tibial fracture were treated surgically in our department. The causes of fractures were traffic injury in 21 patients, fall injury in 6, tumbling injury in 11 and crushing injury in 8. According to AO/ASIF classification, Type A fracture was found in 16 patients, Type B in 11, Type C(1) in 5, and Type C(2) in 2. Open fractures were found in 12 patients, according to Gustilo classification, Type I in 9 patients and Type II in 3 patients. Based on the patients'consent, 24 patients were treated with expandable intramedullary nails (Group A) and 22 with interlocking intramedullary nails (Group B). The operation time, blood loss during operation, X-ray fluoroscopic times, hospitalization time, weight bearing time after operation, healing time of fracture and complications of all the patients were recorded. The clinical effects of all the cases were evaluated according to the criteria of Johner-Wruhs.

RESULTS

All the patients were followed up for 12-34 months (mean equal to 16.2 months). The time of operation, the blood loss, X-ray fluoroscopic times, hospitalization time and healing time of fracture of Group A significantly decreased (P less than 0.05) compared with those of Group B, but the time for weight bearing after operation, the Johner-Wruhs degree of clinical effects and complications had no significant difference between Group A and Group B (P larger than 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Expandable intramedullary nail can shorten operation time, decrease blood loss and reduce invasion, which is a safe and effective treatment method for tibial midshaft fracture.

Epitaxial Ba(2)NaNb(5)O(15) thin film by pulsed laser deposition and its waveguide properties

An epitaxial Ba(2)NaNb(5)O(15) thin film with excellent crystalline properties has been achieved on a (001) KTiOPO(4) substrate by use of the technique of pulsed laser deposition. X-ray-diffraction analysis has revealed that (110)-oriented Ba(2)NaNb(5)O(15) film was produced. The film has good optical transmitting characteristics and a propagation loss as low as 1.08 dB/cm. The noncritical phase-matching feature in the second-harmonic generation process in the film waveguide has also been studied.