(C) 2012 American

Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3670362]“
“Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the responsiveness of various patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) and clinician-reported outcomes following total knee arthroplasty (TKA) over a 2year period.

Methods: Data were collected in a prospective cohort study of primary TKA. Patients who had completed Forgotten Joint Score-12 (9S-12), Western Ontario and McMaster Universities click here (WOMAC) osteoarthritis (OA) index, EQ-5D, Knee Society Score and range of movement (ROM) assessment were included. Five time points were assessed: pre-operative, 2 months, SNDX-275 6 months, 1 year and 2 years post-operative. Results: Data from 98 TKAs were available for analysis.

Largest effect sizes (ES) for change from preoperative to 2-month follow-up were observed for the Knee Society Score (KSS) Knee score (1.70) and WOMAC Total (-1.50). For the period from 6 months to 1 year the largest ES for change were shown by the FJS-12 (0.99) and the KSS Function Score (0.88). The EQ-5D showed the strongest ceiling effect at 1year follow-up with 84.4% of patients scoring the maximum score. ES for the time from 1- to 2-year follow-up were largest for the FJS-12 (0.50). All other outcome measures showed ES equal or below 0.30. Conclusion: Outcome measures differ considerably in responsiveness, especially beyond one year postoperatively. joint-specific

outcome measures are more responsive than clinician-reported or this website generic health outcome tools. The FJS-12 was the most responsive of the tools assessed; suggesting that joint awareness may be a more discerning measure of patient outcome than traditional PROMs. (C) 2013 Osteoarthritis Research Society International. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Background: The etiology of Kashin-Beck disease, an endemic osteochondropathy, is unknown. Environmental factors, including selenium deficiency, have been proposed as potential risk factors, but the onset and frequency of this disease vary among groups with similar environmental exposures. Some cases of osteoarthritis that share similar pathological features with Kashin-Beck disease have been associated with specific chromosomal short tandem repeats. In order to better understand the pathogenesis of Kashin-Beck disease, we examined fifteen short tandem-repeat loci on chromosomes 2 and 11 in patients and control subjects, and assessed the interaction between genetic variants and selenium deficiency.