High-grade intramuscular tendon disruption in acute hamstring injury and return to play in Australian football players

Recent literature has reported intramuscular tendon (IT) disruption is associated with longer return to play (RTP) following acute hamstring injury.Investigate whether an increase in hamstring injury severity involving high-grade IT disruption and proximal injury location is associated with longer RTP times in elite Australian Rules Football (AFL) players.Hamstring injury records and RTP times from one professional AFL club were obtained over six seasons. MRI of injuries were retrospectively reviewed by a musculoskeletal radiologist blinded to RTP information. A simplified four-grade classification of acute hamstring injuries was developed based on IT disruption severity and proximodistal injury location. MR0 had no observable MRI tissue damage; MR1 involved muscle-tendon junction, myofascial and low-grade IT injuries; MR2 involved distal and/or single muscle high-grade IT injuries, MR3 involved high-grade IT injuries of the proximal biceps femoris (BF) IT with concomitant injury to BF + semitendinosus muscles.41 injuries were available for analysis. Median RTP times were: MR0, 14 days; MR1, 21 days; MR2, 35 days and MR3, 88 days. For MRI positive injuries (MR1, MR2, MR3), there was a significant difference in the distributions of RTP, with increased injury severity associated with increased RTP times (p < .001). The distributions of RTP were significantly different between MR1 vs MR2 (p=0.008), MR1 vs MR3 (p=0.002) and MR2 vs MR3 (p=0.012).In elite AFL players, acute hamstring injuries with high-grade IT disruption identified on MRI were associated with increased times to RTP compared to injuries with low-grade or no IT disruption

A quality audit of MRI knee exams with the implementation of a novel 2-point DIXON sequence

INTRODUCTION: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect on diagnostic image quality and acquisition time utilising a DIXON sequence to replace two standard proton density (PD) fat saturation (FS) sequences in routine magnetic resonance (MR) evaluation of the knee. METHODS: Thirty-one consecutive patients referred for an MR examination of the knee were examined using the routine departmental protocol along with the addition of a DIXON sequence. The sequences were all evaluated by a senior radiologist and feedback provided via both written and scored responses. The sequences were then repackaged for two additional reviewers with the sagittal PD FS (Chemical Shift Selective Fat Saturation or CHESS) and sagittal PD removed and replaced with the DIXON (fat suppressed and in-phase, respectively) sequence equivalents. Scored and written responses were tabled and reviewed to assess the suitability of sequence replacement. RESULTS: The DIXON-based images were judged as being comparable replacements for the sagittal PD fat sat and PD sequences. There was no report of any loss in diagnostic confidence across the 31 patients (total of 32 knees) with a time saving of just over 10% gained. The most common issues raised affecting image quality, though not affecting diagnostic attributes, were patient motion and a minor chemical shift artefact. CONCLUSION: The use of the DIXON technique in place of the PD sequences was of equivalent diagnostic quality with'good' to 'outstanding' fat suppression observed for the majority of cases using the DIXON sequence with an incremental time saving obtained

Burden of skin disease in two remote primary healthcare centres in northern and central Australia

The burden of skin infections across all age groups in remote Australian Indigenous communities is currently unknown. In a retrospective audit of 439 residents from two remote communities presenting to health clinics, skin conditions were the most common reason for presentation (1603/7392, 22%) and 330/439 (75%) residents presented at least once with a skin infection. Skin infections are an under-appreciated and dominant reason for presentation to primary healthcare centres in these indigenous communities and public health campaigns to address this should incorporate all age groups.Lauren Thomas, Asha C. Bowen, Marleesa Ly, Christine Connors, Ross Andrews, Steven Y. C. Ton

Equine laminitis induced with oligofructose

Reasons for performing study: Experimental induction of equine laminitis with a reliable and clinically relevant model should facilitate understanding of the disease. Successful induction with oligofructose (,OF) could link pasture consumption to laminitis

Wolbachia induces reactive oxygen species (ROS)-dependent activation of the Toll pathway to control dengue virus in the mosquito Aedes aegypti

Wolbachia are maternally transmitted symbiotic bacteria that can spread within insect populations because of their unique ability to manipulate host reproduction. When introduced to nonnative mosquito hosts, Wolbachia induce resistance to a number of human pathogens, including dengue virus (DENV), Plasmodium, and filarial nematodes, but the molecular mechanism involved is unclear. In this study, we have deciphered how Wolbachia infection affects the Aedes aegypti host in inducing resistance to DENV. The microarray assay indicates that transcripts of genes with functions related to immunity and reduction-oxidation (redox) reactions are up-regulated in Ae. aegypti infected with Wolbachia. Infection with this bacterium leads to induction of oxidative stress and an increased level of reactive oxygen species in its mosquito host. Reactive oxygen species elevation is linked to the activation of the Toll pathway, which is essential in mediating the expression of antioxidants to counterbalance oxidative stress. This immune pathway also is responsible for activation of antimicrobial peptides—defensins and cecropins. We provide evidence that these antimicrobial peptides are involved in inhibition of DENV proliferation in Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes. Utilization of transgenic Ae. aegypti and the RNAi depletion approach has been instrumental in proving the role of defensins and cecropins in the resistance of Wolbachia-infected Ae. aegypti to DENV. These results indicate that a symbiotic bacterium can manipulate the host defense system to facilitate its own persistent infection, resulting in a compromise of the mosquito's ability to host human pathogens. Our discoveries will aid in the development of control strategies for mosquito-transmitted diseases