Background An injury to the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) of the elbow is potentially career threatening for elite baseball pitchers. Stress ultrasound (US) of the elbow allows for evaluation of both the UCL and the ulnohumeral joint space at rest and with stress. Hypothesis Stress US can identify morphological and functional UCL changes and may predict the risk of a UCL injury in elite pitchers. Study Design Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods A total of 368 asymptomatic professional baseball pitchers underwent preseason stress US of their dominant and non-dominant elbows over a 10-year period (2002-2012). Stress US examinations were performed in 30° of flexion at rest and with 150 N of valgus stress by a single musculoskeletal radiologist. Ligament thickness, ulnohumeral joint space width, and ligament abnormalities (hypoechoic foci and calcifications) were documented. Results There were 736 stress US studies. The mean UCL thickness in the dominant elbow (6.15 mm) was significantly greater than that in the nondominant elbow (4.82 mm) (P < .0001). The mean stressed ulnohumeral joint space width in the dominant elbow (4.56 mm) was significantly greater than that in the nondominant elbow (3.72 mm) (P < .02). In the dominant arm, hypoechoic foci and calcifications were both significantly more prevalent (28.0% vs 3.5% and 24.9% vs 1.6%, respectively; P < .001). In the 12 players who incurred a UCL injury, there were nonsignificant (P > .05) increases in baseline ligament thickness, ulnohumeral joint space gapping with stress, and incidence of hypoechoic foci and calcifications. More than 1 stress US examination was performed in 131 players, with a mean increase of 0.78 mm in joint space gapping with subsequent evaluations. Conclusion Stress US indicates that the UCL in the dominant elbow of elite pitchers is thicker, is more likely to have hypoechoic foci and/or calcifications, and has increased laxity with valgus stress over time.

These findings suggest that an increase in UCL thickness may be one of the first changes to develop in young professional baseball pitchers.

Surgical treatment of aneurysmal bone cyst with curettage and adjuvant argon beam coagulation is effective. Postoperative fracture appears to be a common complication of this treatment and needs to be studied further. Treatment with curettage and high-speed burr alone may not reduce recurrence.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Either of the mentioned 2 techniques appears to produce acceptable results. Biplanar fluoroscopy and navigation systems could minimize the risk of screw misplacement with LS construct. Familiarity with the various fixation techniques will allow the surgeon to select the most appropriate surgical technique.

Approximately 85% of patients receiving methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) for opiate dependence in the United States are infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV).MMT is significantly underrepresented in most liver transplant programs, but the number of patients receiving MMT is increasing and few data are available to guide treatment. We evaluated MMT in our program (27 pretransplant and 10 posttransplant cases) for medical and psychiatric complications and anesthesia and analgesia requirements. After transplant, 10 patients receiving MMT were compared with a matched control group of 19 patients who were not receiving MMT and not dependent on opiates. Fewer patients receiving MMT retained a spot on the transplant waiting list (65%) than patients not receiving MMT (80%); 30% of patients receiving MMT pretransplant used heroin, cocaine, or marijuana, and more than 25% were lost to follow-up.