Background Intraarticular injections, mainly using longlasting corticosteroid suspensions, have long been used to treat knee osteoarthritis. Viscosupplementation is a relatively new approach with injection of a variety of agents.

ARTIGO DE REVISÃO O tumor de células gigantes (TGC) é uma neoplasia óssea benigna agressiva de comportamento biológico incerto, constituído histologicamente por células gigantes multinucleadas dispersas pelo tecido tumoral, cujo núcleo apresenta as mesmas características das células ovóides e fusiformes que formam o seu estroma. A graduação anatomopatológica é dada pelo seu estroma e não pelas células gigantes, que podem estar presentes também em outras lesões tumorais e pseudotumorais como o tumor marrom do hiperparatireoidismo, o cisto ósseo aneurismático, o condroblastoma epifisário, o osteoblastoma e o fibroma não osteogênico. Os aspectos radiográficos clássicos do TGC o definem como uma lesão epifisiometafisária, lítica, insuflativa, excêntrica, com afinamento ou erosão da cortical, em adulto jovem na faixa dos 20 aos 35 anos de idade, localizado mais freqüentemente no fêmur distal e na tíbia proximal, podendo ocorrer em outras patologias, destacando-se pela sua gravidade o osteossarcoma telangectásico e o fibrohistiocitoma ósseo maligno. Dentre as lesões benignas, notadamente o cisto ósseo aneurismático e o condroblastoma epifisário fazem o diagnóstico diferencial com o TGC. Com menor freqüência, pode estar localizado no úmero proximal, rádio distal, fêmur proximal, coluna dorsal e sacro.Clinicamente, seu comportamento é agressivo (estadiamento B3 de ENNEKING), com crescimento rápido, às vezes em semanas, apesar de oligossintomático, levando ao afinamento e ruptura da cortical óssea, com invasão das partes moles adjacentes, sem entretanto invadir e ulcerar a pele e o tecido celular subcutâneo. A princípio pode ser confundido como uma lesão intrínseca do joelho, principalmente se a radiografia não for atualizada e bem feita, já que alterações nítidas podem ser notadas com intervalo de 10-15 dias. A nossa própria experiência mostra que, em alguns casos encaminhados Giant Cells Tumor (GCT) is an aggressive benign bone neoplasia, with an uncertain biological behavior. It is histologically constituted of giant multinuclear cells spread over tumoral tissue with a nucleus presenting the same features of the ovoid and fusiform cells forming its stroma.The anatomopathological rate is given by its stroma and not by the giant cells that can also be present in other tumoral and pseudo-tumoral lesions such as the hyperparatireoidism brown tumor, the aneurismatic bone cyst, the epiphysial condroblastoma, the osteoblastoma and the non-osteogenic fibroma.Classic radiologic features of GCT: lytic, pumping, eccentric, with thinning or erosion of cortical bone, epiphysial-metaphyseal lesion, found in young adults from 20 to 35 years old, more frequently located in distal femur or proximal tibia, can be found in other pathologies, deserving emphasis for its severity the teleangectasic osteosarcoma and malignant bone fibrohystiocitoma. Among benign lesions, aneurismatic bone cyst and epiphysial condroblastoma are differential diagnosis from GCT. Less frequently it can be located in proximal humerus, distal radius, proximal femu...

We investigated 30 consecutive Brazilian patients with definite ankylosing spondylitis (AS) fulfilling the New York and the European spondyloarthropathy study group classification criteria. The mean age at study was 37 years old and the mean disease duration was 17 years. Bone densitometry employed the dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) technique, using a Hologic QDR-1000/W densitometer. Axial bone mineral density (BMD) was measured in the lumbar spine (L1-L4) and appendicular BMD was measured in the total proximal femur and sub-regions (neck, greater trochanter, intertrochanter and Ward's triangle). Based on World Health Organisation criteria, the lumbar spine showed osteopenia or osteoporosis in 50% of the patients, while 86% had osteopenia or osteoporosis in the total proximal femur. When compared with the normal population, the patients showed a significant BMD decrease in the lumbar spine and total proximal femur with sub-regions, except for the femoral neck. A comparison of BMD between patients with active and inactive disease did not reveal a significant effect of clinical disease activity on the lumbar spine and total proximal femur with sub-regions, except for Ward's triangle. Concerning disease chronicity, there were significant positive correlations between disease duration and lumbar spine, total proximal femur, greater trochanter and intertrochanteric regional BMD. This false increase in lumbar spine BMD found mostly in patients with long standing AS was due to the presence of paravertebral calcification and ossification. We conclude that the bone mass loss in AS is better evaluated in the proximal femur, because of the greater sensitivity of bone densitometry in this region, which is almost free of artefacts.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the biological behavior of classical and atypical osteoblastomas in comparison to osteosarcomas. METHODS: Based on histological parameters, 30 osteoblastomas were subclassified as classical osteoblastomas (23/30) or atypical osteoblastoma (high cellularity, prominent blue osteoid, and epithelioid osteoblasts-7/30). Comparative immunohistochemical and clinical analysis was performed in 17 cases of patients with high-grade osteosarcoma. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded archival tissue was immunostained for p53 and proliferation cell nuclear antigen. Tumors with positive p53 stain underwent molecular analyses for fragments of exon 10. RESULTS: The mean proliferating cell nuclear antigen indexes for classical osteoblastoma, atypical osteoblastoma, and osteosarcoma were 33%, 61%, and 79%, respectively. The atypical subgroup showed similar results to those of the osteosarcoma group (P < 0.001). p53 protein was detected in 4 (13%) osteoblastomas (3 of these were atypical osteoblastoma), and 4 osteosarcomas (23%) also showed p53 positivity. DNA mutation performed in p53-positive cases was confirmed in exon 10 in 2 atypical osteoblastomas (2/3), 1 classical osteoblastoma (1/1), and 1 osteosarcoma (1/4). Disease recurrence was correlated with p53 expression (P = 0.009), atypical subtype (P = 0.031), spiculated blue bone on histology (P = 0.018), and proliferating cell nuclear antigen labeling index ≥ 40 (P = 0.015). CONCLUSION: These results validate atypical osteoblastoma as an entity, with p53 and proliferation cell nuclear antigen immunoexpression closer to that of osteosarcoma than of classical osteoblastoma. Proliferating cell nuclear antigen labeling index and p53 may be useful predictors of recurrence.

Objective: To evaluate shoulder functional results and the retear rate of arthroscopic repair of the rotator cuff augmented with platelet-rich plasma (PRP).Methods: Prospective case series with single-row arthroscopic repair of the rotator cuff augmented with PRP. Only cases of isolated supraspinatus tears with retraction of less than 3 cm were included in this series. The PRP used was obtained by apheresis. It was applied on liquid consistency in its activated form, with the addition of autologous thrombin. Patients were evaluated after 12 months of the surgical procedure. The Constant-Murley, UCLA and VAS scales were used, and the retear rate was assessed using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Results: Fourteen patients were evaluated (14 shoulders). The mean Constant-Murley score was 45.64 ± 12.29 before the operation and evolved to 80.78 ± 13.22 after the operation (p < 0.001). The UCLA score increased from 13.78 ± 5.66 to 31.43 ± 3.9 (p < 0.001). The patients’ pain level decreased from a median of 7.5 (p25% = 6, p75% = 8) to 0.5 (p25% = 0, p75% = 3) (p = 0.0013) according to the VAS score. None of the patients presented complete retear. Three patients (21.4%) showed partial retear, without transfixation. Only one patient developed complications (adhesive capsulitis). Conclusion: Patients submitted to arthroscopic rotator cuff repair augmented with PRP showed significant functional improvement and none of them had complete retearing.