Hirayama's Disease - A Rare Case Report with Review of Literature

INTRODUCTION

Hirayama's disease is a rare benign disorder, also referred to as monomelic amyotrophy (MMA), Juvenile non progressive amyotrophy, Sobue disease. It is a focal, lower motor neuron type of disease. Mainly young males in their second and third decades of age are most commonly affected. It is seen most commonly in Asian countries like India and Japan. In majority of people cause of this disease is unknown. MRI of cervical spine in flexion will reveal the cardinal features of Hirayama disease.

CASE REPORT

A 22 year gentleman came with a history of insidious onset of weakness in both the hands begenning with left side followed by right of 4 years duration. On examination he had clawing of both hands with wasting of forearm muscles. Lower limbs had no abnormality with normal deep tendon reflexes. MRI showed thinning of cord from C4 to C7 level suggestive of cord atrophy. Based on these features a diagnosis of focal amyotrophy was made. A cervical collar was prescribed and patient is under regular follow up.

CONCLUSION

Hirayama disease is a rare self-limiting disease. Early diagnosis is necessary as the use of a simple cervical collar which will prevent neck flexion, has been shown to stop the progression.

Outcome of ankle arthrodesis in posttraumatic arthritis

BACKGROUND

Ankle arthrodesis is still a gold standard salvage procedure for the management of ankle arthritis. There are several functional and mechanical benefits of ankle arthrodesis, which make it a viable surgical procedure in the management of ankle arthritis. The functional outcomes following ankle arthrodesis are not very well known. The purpose of this study was to perform a clinical and radiographic evaluation of ankle arthrodesis in posttraumatic arthritis performed using Charnley's compression device.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Between January 2006 and December 2009 a functional assessment of 15 patients (10 males and 5 females) who had undergone ankle arthrodesis for posttraumatic arthritis and/or avascular necrosis (AVN) talus (n=6), malunited bimalleolar fracture (n=4), distal tibial plafond fractures (n=3), medial malleoli nonunion (n=2). All the patients were assessed clinically and radiologically after an average followup of 2 years 8 months (range 1-5.7 years).

RESULTS

All patients had sound ankylosis and no complications related to the surgery. Scoring the patients with the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) Ankle-Hindfoot scale, we found that 11 of the 15 had excellent results, two had good, and two showed fair results. They were all returned to their preinjury activities.

CONCLUSION

We conclude that, the ankle arthrodesis can still be considered as a standard procedure in ankle arthritis. On the basis of these results, patients should be counseled that an ankle fusion will help to relieve pain and to improve overall function. Still, one should keep in mind that it is a salvage procedure that will cause persistent alterations in gait with a potential for deterioration due to the development of subtalar arthritis.

Simultaneous Bilateral Tibial Tubercle Avulsion Fracture in a case of Pre-Existing Osgood-Schlatter Disease (OSD)

INTRODUCTION

Osgood-Schlatter disease (OSD) is a well known condition, characterized by pain over the tibial tubercle with subsequent tubercle prominence. Avulsion fracture following OSD is a rare complication. We report an unusual case of simultaneous bilateral tibial tubercle avulsion fracture in a 16 year old boy who was a known case of OSD.

CASE PRESENTATION

A 16 year old boy a known case of OSD presented to the outpatient department with history of jumping from the school compound wall (two feet height) while playing, followed by severe pain around anterior aspect of both knees and difficulty in walking. Radiographs showed bilateral tibial tubercle avulsion fracture. He was treated successfully with open reduction and internal fixation with tension band wiring. At the end of 22 months the patient was symptomatically relieved and both the tuberosities were united with the main bone.

CONCLUSION

Even though bilateral Osgood-Schlatter disease (OSD) is a well known condition, one should always keep in mind the risk of tibial tubercle avulsion fractures while treating a case of OSD. Patient should be advised not to involve in strenuous activities till the disease subsides radiologically or till skeletal maturity.

Giant Cell Tumor (GCT) of Capitate

INTRODUCTION

Giant cell tumors (GCT) of bone are not uncommon. The most common location for this tumour is distal femur, followed by proximal tibia and distal radius (the third most common location). GCT of small bone is a rare presentation. Occurrences in the hand, however, particularly in the carpal bones are rare. We report an unusual case of GCT of Capitate in a 20 year female patient.

CASE PRESENTATION

A 20 year old female patient presented with history of pain in the left wrist of 6 months duration. She was diagnosed to be having GCT of Capitate which was successfully treated with curettage, phenol ablation and bone grafting. At the end of 1 year, patient was symptom free and near normal range of movements and with no evidence of recurrence.

CONCLUSION

Giant cell tumors usually are solitary lesions. Occurrence in the hand, particularly in the carpal bones is rare. This case report emphasizes the rarity of the lesion with only few cases reported in literature.

Repeatability of nerve thickness assessment in the clinical examination for leprosy

The assessment of the thickness of the superficial peripheral nerve trunks to document nerve involvement is an important aspect of clinical examination in case finding for leprosy, and is usually done by trained paramedical workers (PMWs). This assessment is subject to variability and has implications on the outcome of the survey. The present study proposes to quantify this variability. In this study, 242 individuals, consisting of 50 neuritic cases, 143 nonneuritic cases of leprosy and 49 normal controls, selected from the records of the trial of BCG prophylaxis in leprosy in South India, were examined by a doctor and paramedical workers. Repeatability of nerve thickness assessment for ulnar and popliteal nerves between the medical officer (MO) and the PMWs was quantified using Kappa statistics. The Kappa values for repeatability between the MO and the PMWs ranged from 0.45 to 0.54 and 0.52 to 0.69 for ulnar and popliteal nerves, respectively. The implications of the variability in nerve assessment are discussed.