To evaluate whether there is a difference in mental function after general anaesthesia and epidural analgesia, a homogeneous group of 40 elderly men (age between 60 and 80) undergoing transurethral prostatectomy was studied. The study was prospective, randomised and double blind. Patients with all types of complications believed to impair mental function were excluded. Long-term, short-term, verbal and visual memory were tested preoperatively, and 4 days, and 3 weeks postoperatively. In conclusion, we found a significant and equal decline in test performance on the fourth postoperative day. Three weeks postoperatively, however, both groups had returned to or exceeded preoperative levels of performance.

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Invasive bone biopsy to assess bone metabolism in patients with chronic kidney disease-mineral and bone disorder may be replaced by the noninvasive ¹⁸F-NaF PET/CT and biomarkers of bone metabolism. We aimed to compare parameters of bone turnover, mineralization, and volume assessed by bone biopsies with results derived from ¹⁸F-NaF PET/CT and biomarkers (bone-specific alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin, fibroblast growth factor 23, and osteoprotegerin). <b><i>Methods:</i></b> A cross-sectional study included 17 dialysis patients, and results from ¹⁸F-NaF PET/CT scans and the biomarkers were directly compared with the results of histomorphometric analyses of tetracycline double-labeled trans-iliac bone biopsies. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Bone biopsies showed 40% high, 20% normal, and 40% low bone turnover. No biopsies had generalized abnormal mineralization, and the bone volume/total tissue volume was low in 80% and high in 7%. The pelvic skeletal plasma clearance (K_i) from ¹⁸F-NaF PET/CT correlated with bone turnover parameters obtained by bone biopsy (activation frequency: <i>r</i> = 0.82, <i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.01; bone formation rate/bone surface: <i>r</i> = 0.81, <i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.01), and K_i defined low turnover with high sensitivity (83%) and specificity (100%). CT-derived radiodensity correlated with bone volume, <i>r</i> = 0.82, <i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.01. Of the biomarkers, only osteocalcin showed a correlation with turnover assessed by histomorphometry. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> In conclusion, ¹⁸F-NaF PET/CT may be applicable for noninvasive assessment of bone turnover and volume in CKD-MBD.

This study indicates that radial subluxation may not be an important factor in symptoms and function in patients with symptomatic TMC osteoarthritis without severe scaphotrapezio (ST) joint degeneration. In addition, preoperative subluxation seems not to be important for the result after total joint arthroplasty.