Purpose
Planned interim analysis of GENESIS; a prospective pilot study investigating the role of genicular artery embolization (GAE) in patients with mild to moderate osteoarthritis of the knee using permanent microspheres.
Methods
Thirty-eight patients, median age = 60 (45–83), attended for GAE using 100–300 μm permanent microspheres. All patients had mild to moderate knee OA, resistant to conservative treatments over 6 months. Knee MRI was performed at baseline, and 12 months, enabling semi-quantitative analysis using Whole-Organ Magnetic Resonance Imaging Score (WORMS). Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) and visual analogue scale (VAS) (0–100 mm) were completed at baseline, 6 weeks, 3 months (n = 32), and 1-year (n = 16). Adverse events were recorded prospectively.
Results
Technical success of accessing and embolizing the target genicular arteries was 84%. Six patients were not embolized: four due to a presumed risk of non-target embolization, and two due to a lack of hyperaemic target. Mean VAS improved from 60 (SD = 20, 95% CI 53–66) at baseline to 36 (SD = 24, 95% CI 28–44) at 3 months (p < 0.001) and 45 (SD = 30, 95% CI 30–60) at 1-year (p < 0.05). All KOOS subscales showed a significant improvement at 6-weeks, 3-months, and 1-year follow-up, except function in daily living, which reached borderline significance (p = 0.06) at 1-year. Four patients experienced mild self-limiting skin discoloration over the embolized territory. One patient experienced a small self-limiting groin haematoma. WORMS scores at 1-year follow-up showed significant improvement in synovitis (p < 0.05). There were no cases of osteonecrosis.
Conclusion
GAE using permanent microspheres in patients with mild to moderate knee OA is safe, with potential efficacy at early follow-up.
In this method for measuring conjugated urinary testosterone, testosterone-4-14 C is added to an aliquot of urine to correct for subsequent losses and an ethyl ether extract is then chromatographed in 2 Zaffaroni systems prior to chromic oxide oxidation of testosterone to A 4 -androstene-3,17-dione. A third Zaffaroni system confirms the completion of oxidation and purifies the steroid before a final fourth chromatography in a Bush system. Quantitation is carried out by a modified micro Zimmermann reaction. Values of testosterone glucuronide in 24-hr specimens (mean +SE) were found to be 19 ±3 ng in 20 normal women aged 20-40; 88+7 ng in 20 normal men aged 30-40; 151 ±22 ng in 5 young normal men aged 17-24; and 6 ±3 jug in 5 boys aged 7-12. A satisfactory correlation between the level of testosterone glucuronide and the degree of androgenicity in various pathologic states studied was observed. (J Clin Endocr 25: 95, 1965) T ESTOSTERONE 5 is properly considered the most potent of the known androgens. The growing evidence that low or normal values of 17-ketosteroids (17-KS) may coexist with virilization in the female has made the evaluation of testosterone indispensable to an adequate investigation of androgenic states.Free testosterone has been measured in blood and a good correlation was established between elevated values and virilizing conditions in women (1, 2). Testosterone glucuronide has been measured in human urine (3-6). A new, relatively simple method is described in this paper for the measurement of conjugated
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