A complex assessment of patients with knee osteoarthritis and Baker's cyst: observational study

Vol. 54 No. 3 Suppl., 2013
This supplement was not sponsored by Outside Organizations.

ROMANIAN JOURNAL of MORPHOLOGY and EMBRYOLOGY

Rodica Traistaru, Roxana Popescu, Corina Gruia, Otilia Rogoveanu

In our observational study, we performed the clinical and functional examination, analyzed imagistic and histological findings and evaluated the correlation between previous aspects in patients with primary knee osteoarthritis (PKOA) and Baker's cyst (BC). The correlations were made to better understanding of BC in patients with PKOA and optimal choosing for treatment. Seventy patients with painful PKOA (ACR criteria) and BC were assessed. We evaluated knee pain using a 100 mm VAS and functional status using the pain, stiffness and functional subscales of WOMAC index. All patients were imagistic examined (ultrasonography and MRI). Thirty-eight patients with PKOA and simple BC respond to conservative treatments. Thirty-two patients with PKOA and complex BC need surgical removal (arthroscopic decompression +/- open excision in larger cysts). For these patients, it is performed histological assessment. Any medical team that manages a PKOA patient with BC may develop the treatment plan based upon not only the size of BC, symptoms and other associated conditions but also on the WOMAC scoring and complex anatomic and histological data about BC.

Corresponding author: Otilia Rogoveanu, Lecturer, MD, PhD; e-mail: rodicatraistru@hotmail.com

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ROMANIAN JOURNAL of MORPHOLOGY and EMBRYOLOGY

Marinela Bonta, Lucia Daina, Gabriela Mutiu

Structural and functional alterations, as well as changes occurring in the aspect of the skin during the ageing process, are due to some complex mechanisms, determined by intrinsic and extrinsic factors, which act synergistically. This study aims to analyze the histological changes of collagen and elastic fibers and of skin vasculature that occur in time, during the process of ageing. Fragments of skin have been collected from subjects of both sexes and of different ages, totaling 121 samples from different body regions. The following stains were used: Modified Goldner's Masson trichrome, Ferric Orcein-Hematoxylin and the combined stains Orcein-Goldner's trichrome. As the process of ageing advances, collagen fibers become thinner and change their aspect; at advanced age, the lysis of collagen fibers and their thickening in the deep dermis is present, as they become more fibrous. Elastic fibers show the tendency of fragmentation at more advanced age, gradually change their tinctorial affinity and reduce in amount; in the deep dermis, they tend to thicken progressively, in the presence of discrete elastolysis processes that evolve steadily and irreversibly. Thus, processes of elastic fibers degeneration and lysis run faster by comparison with those of collagen fibers degeneration. With ageing, a progressive reduction of dermis vasculature is present, due to a reduction in the number and size of vascular vessels, which is in its turn associated with the progressive alterations of vascular walls components, changes that advance until the function of the vessel ceases.

Corresponding author: Marinela Bonta, Lecturer, MD, PhD; e-mail: bontamarinela@yahoo.com

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