The prevalence of radiographic signs of gonarthrosis and its relation to knee injuries were studied in 286 former soccer players-215 nonelite and 71 elite players-and were compared with 572 age-matched controls with a mean age of 55 years. The prevalence of gonarthrosis among the nonelite players was 4.2%, among the elite players 15.5%, and among the controls 1.6%. Seven of the soccer players had

Objective. To compare the effect of intraarticular injections of hyaluronan and placebo (vehicle, saline) in patients with knee pain on exertion and with joint cartilage abnormalities. Methods. Fifty-two patients with arthroscopically verified deep cartilage fissures and villus-like flakes in the symptomatic knee were randomly assigned to receive intraarticular injections of 2.5 ml of either hyalu

Intrasynovial and extrasynovial flexor tendon grafts recently have been shown to have dissimilar patterns of cellular survival and host integration within the digital sheath. In an effort to determine if fundamental differences exist between these two types of tendons, we investigated the biochemical composition and cellular activity of intrasynovial and extrasynovial tendon segments of 12 adult m

Objective - The release of fragments of cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) and aggrecan into knee joint fluid and serum after joint injury and in post-traumatic and primary osteoarthritis was monitored in a cross-sectional study. Methods - Samples of joint fluid and serum were obtained from healthy volunteers and from patients with arthroscopically verified injury to anterior cruciate liga

The degree of cartilage changes by arthroscopic and radiologic examination was evaluated in a retrospective, cross-sectional study of 1012 patients with knee complaints at different times after knee injury. Patients were classified by age, sex, trauma date and type of injury. The condition of the cartilage was graded on a 1-10 scale based on findings at arthroscopy and on weight-bearing radiograph

Aggrecan turnover is critically important to maintain extracellular matrix homeostasis in articular cartilage. Cartilage aggrecan metabolism has been studied in chondrocyte cell cultures, cartilage explant cultures, and in whole animal models. In many of these studies, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are proposed to degrade cartilage aggrecan. MMP expression appears elevated in joint tissues from

The concentrations of cartilage proteoglycan (aggrecan), stromelysin-1, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1) and procollagen II C-propeptide in knee joint fluid and the levels of aggrecan, hyaluronan and keratan sulfate in serum were measured before and after exercise in 33 healthy athletes. The samples before exercise were obtained after 24 h rest from running or soccer and the sampl

All players in Swedish soccer teams are required to have insurance in the same company. from the archives of the insurance company, all 3,735 injuries reported in 1986 in 188,152 Swedish soccer players were reviewed. of these, 937 were knee injuries. All players were asked by mail to fill in a questionnaire and 83 percent replied. the patient records from the different hospitals were requested. th

Aggrecan fragments are released from human joint cartilage matrix into joint fluid after injury and in osteoarthritis (OA). The temporal patterns of release agree with changes in synthesis and degradation of aggrecan found in experimental animal models of OA. However, we are far from being able to use these molecular fragments to monitor human OA. The structures of the aggrecan fragments remaining

Objective. To determine in a cross sectional study the concentrations in joint fluid of the C-propeptide of collagen II (pCol II-C) in patients with knee injury and developing osteoarthritis (OA). Methods. Synovial fluid (SF) samples were collected from knees of healthy volunteers, from patients with injury to the knee causing lesions of the anterior cruciate ligament and/or menisci, and from pati

Objective - To assess the effects of intraarticular injections of hyaluronan on symptoms of knee osteoarthritis (OA). Methods - Two hundred and forty patients with symptomatic, radiological knee OA were randomly assigned to treatment with weekly injections for five weeks with either 25 mg of high molecular weight hyaluronan or vehicle. Results were evaluated at weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 13, and 20 by v

Deep flexor tendons of 30 rabbits were divided at the ankle level. The effects of unloading on the synthesis and content of matrix components, the synthesis of DNA, and dry weight were investigated. The reaction of the fibrocartilaginous and non-fibrocartilaginous segments were separately analyzed. The ability of the tendons to synthesize collagen during short-term culture and the contents of matr

Tendon healing and integration of tendon grafts may be site or donor specific. To determine if differences exist in sensitivity to growth factors that have the potential to influence tendon repair, we compared the effect of recombinant human insulin-like growth factor-1 on various types of tendon segments. The dose response effects on proteoglycan, collagen, noncollagen protein, and DNA synthesis