The benefits of collaboration: the Nordic Arthroplasty Register Association

The Nordic Arthroplasty Register Association (NARA) was established in 2007 by arthroplasty register representatives from Sweden, Norway and Denmark with the overall aim to improve the quality of research and thereby enhance the possibility for quality improvement with arthroplasty surgery. Finland joined the NARA collaboration in 2010.NARA minimal hip, knee and shoulder datasets were created with variables that all countries can deliver. They are dynamic datasets, currently with 25 variables for hip arthroplasty, 20 for knee arthroplasty and 20 for shoulder arthroplasty.NARA has published statistical guidelines for the analysis of arthroplasty register data. The association is continuously working on the improvement of statistical methods and the application of new ones.There are 31 published peer-reviewed papers based on the NARA databases and 20 ongoing projects in different phases. Several NARA publications have significantly affected clinical practice. For example, metal-on-metal total hip arthroplasty and resurfacing arthroplasty have been abandoned due to increased revision risk based on i.a. NARA reports. Further, the use of uncemented total hip arthroplasty in elderly patients has decreased significantly, especially in Finland, based on the NARA data.The NARA collaboration has been successful because the countries were able to agree on a common dataset and variable definitions. The collaboration was also successful because the group was able to initiate a number of research projects and provide answers to clinically relevant questions. A number of specific goals, set up in 2007, have been achieved and new one has emerged in the process

Linkage of murine (T,G)-A- -L-specific idiotypic determinants to the heavy chain constant region allotypic markers

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/46735/1/251_2005_Article_BF01567784.pd

Associação entre distúrbios do ombro e trabalho: breve revisão da literatura Association between shoulder diseases and work: a brief review

Este artigo apresenta os resultados de uma breve revisão da literatura focalizada nos distúrbios do ombro. As publicações foram pesquisadas nos sites do Medline, Ovid, Lilacs e periódicos Capes, no período de janeiro de 1993 a julho de 2004, com as seguintes palavras-chave: shoulder pain, rotator cuff, job, dor no ombro, manguito rotador, trabalho. Foram selecionados os artigos de acordo com os seguintes critérios: estudo epidemiológico publicado em inglês, português ou espanhol, com informações sobre a carga física ou sobre os fatores psicossociais do trabalho, explicitação do método de avaliação da exposição, presença de dor no ombro ou tendinopatia do manguito rotador. Vinte artigos preencheram todos os critérios de inclusão. Encontrou-se associação positiva entre os distúrbios do ombro e o trabalho praticado pelos sujeitos dos estudos revisados. Restaram como limite da revisão: a heterogeneidade dos artigos quanto à avaliação da exposição, ao tipo de diagnóstico, à metodologia utilizada na condução da pesquisa, e aos meios para avaliação da dor. Os autores discutem a necessidade de aprofundamento dos métodos de investigação de problemas musculoesqueléticos relacionados ao trabalho.<br>This article presents the results of a brief review of shoulder diseases and their association with work. Pertinent studies, identified by the keywords shoulder pain, rotator cuff, and job were reviewed in the reference databases Medline, Ovid, Lilacs and Capes journals (January 1993 to July 2004). The articles were chosen according to the following criteria: either epidemiological or experimental surveys having been published in English, Portuguese or Spanish, with information about physical demands or psychosocial factors of work, evaluation of exposure, presence of shoulder pain or rotator cuff lesion. After the search, 20 articles were included in the revision. The articles show a relationship between shoulder diseases and working in awkward postures. The limitations to the revision observed were: heterogeneity of the exposure and diagnosis, methodological problems and the methods to evaluate pain. The authors discuss the need of new methods of investigation for work-related musculoskeletal diseases