BackgroundTissue engineering appears to be an attractive alternative to the traditional approach in the treatment of fracture non-unions. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are considered an appealing cell source for clinical intervention. However, ex vivo cell expansion and differentiation towards the osteogenic lineage, together with the design of a suitable scaffold have yet to be optimized. Major concerns exist about the safety of MSC-based therapies, including possible abnormal overgrowth and potential cancer evolution.AimsWe examined the long-term efficacy and safety of ex vivo expanded bone marrow MSCs, embedded in autologous fibrin clots, for the healing of atrophic pseudarthrosis of the upper limb. Our research work relied on three main issues: use of an entirely autologous context (cells, serum for ex vivo cell culture, scaffold components), reduced ex vivo cell expansion, and short-term MSC osteoinduction before implantation.Methods and FindingsBone marrow MSCs isolated from 8 patients were expanded ex vivo until passage 1 and short-term osteo-differentiated in autologous-based culture conditions. Tissue-engineered constructs designed to embed MSCs in autologous fibrin clots were locally implanted with bone grafts, calibrating their number on the extension of bone damage. Radiographic healing was evaluated with short- and long-term follow-ups (range averages: 6.7 and 76.0 months, respectively). All patients recovered limb function, with no evidence of tissue overgrowth or tumor formation.ConclusionsOur study indicates that highly autologous treatment can be effective and safe in the long-term healing of bone non-unions. This tissue engineering approach resulted in successful clinical and functional outcomes for all patients.

The most recent literature reports that the incidence of atypical fractures is 0.6 %. However, taking into consideration only the fracture locations suitable for the identification of atypical fractures, the percentage rises to 5 %. To date, there is still no clarity on the exact etiology of fractures even if it seems to be related to a bone mineral component alteration.

SummaryOsteoarthritis is one of the most common joint disorder. For treatment of hip symptomatic osteoarthritis, when conservative medical therapy has failed, total hip arthroplasty (THA) is a successful orthopaedic procedures that reduces pain and improves function and quality of life. Incidence of osteoarthritis is constantly increasing with raising life expectancy. This aging process also has led to an increasing number of patients with osteoporosis who need hip replacement for osteoarthritis. Osteoporosis have 3 major potential complications in total hip arthroplasty: perioperative fracture, an increased risk of periprosthetic fracture, and late aseptic loosening. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of osteoporosis on total hip replacement procedure outcome and highlight the importance of adequate study of calcium-phosphorus metabolism in patient candidate for hip surgery, and the need to start a suitable therapy to recover the bone mass before surgery. Bone quality of the hip joint has become an important risk factor limiting the durability of THA.KEY WORDS: total hip replacement; bone metabolism; perioperative and periprosthetic fracture.

Teriparatide is a synthetic polypeptide hormone that contains the 1-34 aminoacid fragment of the recombinant human parathyroid hormone. It has been approved for the treatment of postmenopausal women with osteoporosis who are at high risk for sustaining a fragility fracture. It has been shown that teriparatide also accelerates fracture healing by improving the biomechanical properties of the fracture callus, increasing endochondral ossification and bone remodeling in animal models. This effect has been observed in several case reports. Fracture healing disorders negatively affect the patient's quality of life and result in high healthcare costs, as a second surgery is required to stabilize the fracture and stimulate bone biology. Future biotechnologies that accelerate fracture healing may be useful tools. We present a case report of delayed union of a femoral fracture treated with teriparatide. She was diagnosed with right distal metaphyseal femoral fracture on total knee arthroplasty. She underwent surgery at our center consisting of ORIF with lateral femoral locking plate in October 2011. Radiologic controls at 5 and 7 months did not show any signs of healing. After 2 months of treatment with teriparatide, the X-ray showed the presence of bone bridges and a decreased gap between fragments and a different aspect of neoformed bone. After 3 months of treatment, healing was complete. Our case report seems to confirm the possible effect of TPTD as bone induction through a more rapid healing of fractures. The TPTD could have a potentially important role in treating some forms of nonunion and delay in consolidation. Thus, one could hypothesize the possibility of a medical treatment with TPTD both as a preventive way and also as a support to the synthesis in high risk of nonunion fractures and complexed fractures in osteoporotic bone.

The results obtained indicate a clear improvement of the clinical symptoms and slowing joint degeneration. The clinical and imaging results confirm that the Trufit constitutes a valid surgical alternative in case of focal osteochondral.