Platelet Rich STROMA, the Combination of PRP and tSVF and Its Potential Effect on Osteoarthritis of the Knee

(1) Background: osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee is a degenerative disease accompanied by pain, reduced mobility and subsequent decrease in quality of life. Many studies on OA of the knee have reported that using an intercellular acting-derivate like platelet-rich plasma (PRP) results in a limited effect or none at all. Authors hypothesized that adding tissue-Stromal Vascular Fraction (tSVF) to PRP (Platelet Rich Stroma (PRS)) would reduce pain and improve functionality in osteoarthritis of the knee. (2) Methods: a consecutive case series of fifteen patients (aged 43-75 years) suffering from OA of the knee (Kellgren-Lawrence stage two to three) were treated with a single injection of autologous PRS. tSVF was mechanically isolated by means of the fractionation of adipose tissue (FAT) procedure. Clinical evaluation was done using a visual analogue score (VAS) score, an adapted Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis index (WOMAC) and Lysholm score at fixed time points: pre-injection as well as three, six and twelve months post injection. (3) Results: VAS and WOMAC scores improved significantly after twelve months (p 0.05) in comparison to pre-injection measurements. No complications were seen in any of the patients. One patient was excluded due to a total knee arthroplasty. (4) Conclusions: a single injection with PRS for OA of the knee seems to lead to an improvement of function and simultaneous reduction of pain and joint stiffness for a period of twelve months. Further controlled trials are required to determine the optimal treatment regimen and evaluate long-term results

Needle Arthroscopic All-Inside Repair of Meniscal Tears Under Local Anesthesia

Needle arthroscopy has experienced a substantial increase in image quality due to technical innovation, which has brought needle arthroscopic interventional possibilities along. Repair of meniscal tears is gaining popularity relative to meniscectomy and may be such a procedure that is suitable for needle arthroscopy. We here present a needle arthroscopic technique for all-inside repair of meniscal tears in the red zone and red–white zone. With the use of local anesthesia only, the procedure is easy to perform for the surgeon and well-tolerable for the patient. Compared with conventional approaches to meniscal repair, needle arthroscopy may result in improved patient experience, decreased soft-tissue trauma, speedier recovery, and less need for personnel and hospital facilities. Combined, the advantages may lead to decreased overall costs as well

Quantitative assessment of research data management practice

Description of a survey tool to enable quantitative assessment of research data management practic

Parental problem drinking, parenting, and adolescent alcohol use

Contains fulltext : 73531.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)The present study examined whether parental problem drinking affected parenting (i.e., behavioral control, support, rule-setting, alcohol-specific behavioral control), and whether parental problem drinking and parenting affected subsequent adolescent alcohol use over time. A total of 428 families, consisting of both parents and two adolescents (mean age 13.4 and 15.2 years at Time 1) participated in a three-wave longitudinal study with annual waves. A series of path analyses were conducted using a structural equation modeling program (Mplus). Results demonstrated that, unexpectedly, parental problem drinking was in general not associated with parenting. For the younger adolescents, higher levels of both parenting and parental problem drinking were related to lower engagement in drinking over time. This implies that shared environment factors (parenting and modeling effects) influence the development of alcohol use in young adolescents. When adolescents grow older, and move out of the initiation phase, their drinking behavior may be more affected by other factors, such as genetic susceptibility, and peer drinking