Minimally invasive plate osteosynthesis for tibial derotation osteotomies in children with cerebral palsy

WOS: 000452634300005PubMed ID: 29759883Objective: Tibial derotation osteotomy can be used in the treatment of rotational deformities in case of ineffective conservative management. Our aim was to evaluate the results of the patients who underwent minimal invasive plate osteosynthesis for tibial derotation osteotomies. Methods: Total of 16 patients (17 procedures) were included in this study. Mean age was 11.5 (3-25) years. We clinically assessed the tibial torsion by measuring the thigh-foot angle (TFA). No immobilization was used postoperatively and range of motion exercises were begun immediately. The patient was allowed weight-bearing activity, as tolerated, when callus formation was seen on the radiographs, at approximately three to four weeks after surgery. Results: The mean follow-up time was 27.5 months. Mean preoperative and follow up TFA were 27 degrees of internal rotation and 3.74 degrees of external rotation, respectively. A mean of 22.3 degrees improvement was achieved postoperatively. There was only one wound detachment, which was accepted as a complication and healed with local wound care. Conclusions: The recurrence risk and correction loss can be decreased with plate-screw fixation. Minimal invasive surgery would also decrease the risk of wound complications

A family approach to severe mental illness in post-war Kosovo

This study describes the effects of a psychoeducational multiple-family group program for families of people with severe mental illness in post-war Kosovo that was developed by a Kosovar-American professional collaborative. The subjects were 30 families of people with severe mental illnesses living in two cities in Kosovo. All subjects participated in multiple-family groups and received family home visits. The program documented medication compliance, number of psychiatric hospitalizations, family mental health services use, and several other characteristics, for the year prior to the groups and the first year of the groups. The families attended an average of 5.5 (out of 7) groups, and 93% of these families attended four or more meetings. The uncontrolled pre- to post-intervention comparison demonstrated decreases in medication non-compliance and hospitalizations, and increases in family mental health service use. The program provided training for mental health professionals, led to policy change in the Ministry of Health, and resulted in dissemination to other community mental health centers. This study provides preliminary evidence that a collaboratively designed and implemented psychoeducational, multiple-family program is a feasible and beneficial intervention for families of people with severe mental illness in impoverished post-war settings

Cancer-associated rs6983267 SNP and its accompanying long noncoding RNA CCAT2 induce myeloid malignancies via unique SNP-specific RNA mutations

The cancer-risk-associated rs6983267 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and the accompanying long noncoding RNA CCAT2 in the highly amplified 8q24.21 region have been implicated in cancer predisposition, although causality has not been established. Here, using allele-specific CCAT2 transgenic mice, we demonstrate that CCAT2 overexpression leads to spontaneous myeloid malignancies. We further identified that CCAT2 is overexpressed in bone marrow and peripheral blood of myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative neoplasms (MDS/MPN) patients. CCAT2 induces global deregulation of gene expression by down-regulating EZH2 in vitro and in vivo in an allele-specific manner. We also identified a novel non-APOBEC, non-ADAR, RNA editing at the SNP locus in MDS/MPN patients and CCAT2-transgenic mice. The RNA transcribed from the SNP locus in malignant hematopoietic cells have different allelic composition from the corresponding genomic DNA, a phenomenon rarely observed in normal cells. Our findings provide fundamental insights into the functional role of rs6983267 SNP and CCAT2 in myeloid malignancies