Rupture of the long head biceps tendon treated with tenodesis to the coracoid process. Results at more than 30 years

We evaluated patients at very long term with rupture of the long head biceps tendon (LHBT) in whom the tendon stump had been sutured to the coracoid tip (Gilcreest technique). Our aim was to determine the natural history of shoulders deprived of the LHBT and to assess the validity of the surgical technique. Between 1969 and 1981, 30 patients with rupture of the LHBT and no evidence of cuff tear underwent the Gilcreest operation. The mean age of the patients was 32 years (range, 20–49). Six of them were professional gymnasts. The 28 patients that could be traced were evaluated a mean of 31 years after operation. The mean Constant score (CS) was 74 in the entire group, and 86 in 22. The latter patients complained occasionally of mild shoulder pain. The remaining six patients had a mean CS of 56 (range, 40–81). Of the six, four (aged 66–71 years) had clinical and MR evidence of rotator cuff tear. The other two had undergone arthroscopic cuff repair (CS, 75–81). After operation, all professional gymnasts had returned to sport activity and all the other patients had resumed their jobs. After 30 years, the majority of the patients who had undergone the Gilcreest operation had good functional and cosmetic outcomes. Only a few patients had a cuff tear. The role of the LHBT as depressor of the humeral head is probably less important than generally believed

Calcification in the ovine intervertebral disc: a model of hydroxyapatite deposition disease

The study design included a multidisciplinary examination of the mineral phase of ovine intervertebral disc calcifications. The objective of the study was to investigate the mineral phase and its mechanisms of formation/association with degeneration in a naturally occurring animal model of disc calcification. The aetiology of dystrophic disc calcification in adult humans is unknown, but occurs as a well-described clinical disorder with hydroxyapatite as the single mineral phase. Comparable but age-related pathology in the sheep could serve as a model for the human disorder. Lumbar intervertebral discs (n = 134) of adult sheep of age 6 years (n = 4), 8 years (n = 12) and 11 years (n = 2) were evaluated using radiography, morphology, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, histology, immunohistology and proteoglycan analysis. Half of the 6-year, 84% of the 8-year and 86% of the 11-year-old discs had calcific deposits. These were not well delineated by plain radiography. They were either: (a) punctate deposits in the outer annulus, (b) diffuse deposits in the transitional zone or inner annulus fibrosus with occasional deposits in the nucleus, or (c) large deposits in the transitional zone extending variably into the nucleus. Their maximal incidence was in the lower lumbar discs (L4/5–L6/7) with no calcification seen in the lumbosacral or lower thoracic discs. All deposits were hydroxyapatite with large crystallite sizes (800–1,300 Å) compared to cortical bone (300–600 Å). No type X-collagen, osteopontin or osteonectin were detected in calcific deposits, although positive staining for bone sialoprotein was evident. Calcified discs had less proteoglycan of smaller hydrodynamic size than non-calcified discs. Disc calcification in ageing sheep is due to hydroxyapatite deposition. The variable, but large, crystal size and lack of protein markers indicate that this does not occur by an endochondral ossification-like process. The decrease in disc proteoglycan content and size suggests that calcification may precede or predispose to disc degeneration in ageing sheep