Adversity specificity and life period exposure on cognitive aging

This study set out to examine the role of different adversities experienced at different life course stages on cognitive aging (i.e., level and change). Data from the longitudinal study: Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) with the selection of participants over 60 years were used (N = 2662, Mdnage = 68, SDage = 5.39) in a Structural Equation Modeling. In early life, the experience of hunger predicted lower delayed recall (β = - 0.10, p < 0.001) and verbal fluency (β = - 0.06, p = 0.001) performance in older age, whereas financial hardship predicted lower verbal fluency (β = - 0.06, p = 0.005) performance and steeper decline in delayed recall (β = - 0.11, p < 0.001). In early adulthood, financial hardship and stress predicted better delayed recall (financial hardship: β = 0.08, p = 0.001; stress: β = 0.07, p = 0.003) and verbal fluency performance (financial hardship: β = 0.08, p = 0.001; stress β = 0.10, p < 0.001), but no adversities were associated with a change in cognitive performance. In middle adulthood, no adversities were associated with the level of cognitive performance, but financial hardship predicted lower decline in delayed recall (β = 0.07, p = 0.048). This study highlights the importance of disentangling the period effect from the specific effect of the adversity experienced in the association between adversity and cognition in older age. Moreover, differential results for delayed recall and verbal fluency measures suggest that it is also important to consider the cognitive outcome domains examined.

Fractures of the capitellum in adolescents

Fractures of the capitellum are rare in children. The treatment of these injuries has been controversial. At a major pediatric trauma center, seven capitellar fractures were seen in children between 1988 and 1994. The average age of the children was 14.7 years (range, 11-17). Six of these fractures were type I injuries, with large anterosuperior fragments that required operative reduction and internal fixation in five cases. Internal fixation methods used were K wires in three patients, Herbert screws in one patient, and cannulated screws in one patient. The remaining type I fracture was treated with a closed reduction. The seventh fracture was a type II fracture, treated nonoperatively. Five children did well with their respective treatments, but one required reoperation to remove an exostosis block to flexion. Accurate open reduction and internal fixation for the displaced capitellar fracture in children is an effective treatment to restore normal elbow function.

The orthopaedic manifestations of the Langer-Giedion syndrome

Less than 50 cases of Langer-Giedion syndrome (also known as trichorhinophalangeal syndrome with exostoses) have been reported in the English literature since its first description in 1974. Affected individuals have been described as having a bulbous nose, micrognathia, short stature, multiple cartilaginous exostoses, and large, protruding ears. We recently treated a 5-year-old, mentally retarded boy with Langer-Giedion syndrome for symptomatic multiple exostoses involving his proximal tibia and distal femur. This paper will highlight the musculoskeletal abnormalities found in this child and compare them to those of 43 patients reported in the world literature. The comparison reveals a very distinctive pattern of exostosis, demonstrating a primary altered growth pattern in the lower extremities and deformity secondary to marked ligamentous laxity. Orthopaedic surgeons are frequently the first consultants to see these children for their obvious osteochondromata. They must consider the diagnosis of Langer-Giedion syndrome to facilitate the treatment of its other manifestations.