What Is Osteomyelitis? What Causes Osteomyelitis?

Osteomyelitis means infection of the bone or bone marrow; inflammation of the bone due to infection. Osteomyelitis sometimes occurs as a complication of injury or surgery. In some cases, the infection may get into bone tissue from the bloodstream. Patients with osteomyelitis typically experience deep pain and muscle spasms in the inflammation area, as well as fever. Osteomyelitis is usually caused by a bacterial infection. In some cases, a fungal infection may be the cause. Bone infections commonly affect the leg and upper arm bones, as well as the spine and pelvis - the long bones. There are three types of osteomyelitis: Acute osteomyelitis - the infection develops within two weeks of an injury, initial infection, or the start of an underlying disease.

Treatment Of Rare Type Of Bone Tumour: Promising Results With Denosumab

Denosumab is a targeted therapy to prevent bone loss. It stops progressive bone destruction and tumour spread in some patients with inoperable giant-cell tumour (GCT) of bone. An article published Online First in The Lancet Oncology reports this could change standard treatment practice. Breaking new ground, this work is the first to clearly show a promising systemic treatment option for this rare type of bone tumour. GCT can be limb and life threatening. It causes pain, impaired function and mobility. This condition is usually benign, and surgery is the standard treatment. However, GCT can become malignant after radiation therapy or several recurrences. In some cases, patients are unable to undergo surgery because of multiple lesions, location of the tumour (for example, the spine), or because of tumour spread.

Anorexics Found To Have Excess Fat -- In Their Bone Marrow

People with anorexia nervosa, paradoxically, have strikingly high levels of fat within their bone marrow, report researchers at Children's Hospital Boston. Their findings, based on MRI imaging of the knees of 20 girls with anorexia and 20 healthy girls of the same age, appear in the February issue of the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. "It's counter-intuitive that an emaciated young woman with almost no subcutaneous fat would be storing fat in her marrow, " says endocrinologist Catherine Gordon, MD, MSc, director of the Bone Health Program at Children's and the study's senior investigator. In the study, the knee MRI images were read by radiologists who were unaware of the patient's clinical status.

Marker Of Ewing Sarcoma: Potential New Drug Target?

Ewing sarcoma (EWS) is a bone tumor of unknown cellular origin that affects children and young adults. The protein CD99 is highly expressed in most cases of EWS, but its function in the disease is unknown. Now, Katia Scotlandi and colleagues, at SSN Emilia Romagna Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli IRCCS, Bologna, Italy, have identified a crucial role for CD99 in the development of EWS and suggest that targeting CD99 or its downstream molecular pathway may be a new therapeutic approach for EWS. In the study, decreasing CD99 expression in human EWS cell lines reduced their ability to form tumors xenografted into mice. In vitro, it increased expression of H-neurofilament, a marker of neuronal differentiation.

Drinking Beer Could Be Good For Your Bones, Study

A new study suggests that beer is a significant source of dietary silicon, a key ingredient for increasing bone mineral density. Researchers from the Department of Food Science & Technology at the University of California, Davis studied commercial beer production to determine the relationship between beer production methods and the resulting silicon content, concluding that beer is a rich source of dietary silicon. Details of this study are available in the February issue of the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Society of Chemical Industry. "The factors in brewing that influence silicon levels in beer have not been extensively studied" said Charles Bamforth, lead author of the study.

HSS Supports Arthritis Foundation Focus On Raising National Awareness Of Osteoarthritis

Hospital for Special Surgery, (HSS), a world leader in orthopedics and rheumatology, announced its support of the Arthritis Foundation and Ad Council newly launched campaign, "Moving is the Best Medicine, " to raise awareness of osteoarthritis, increase public health education and support breakthrough research. "Like the Arthritis Foundation, we are focusing our extensive clinical and research resources on raising awareness of the potentially debilitating effects of osteoarthritis in this country, " said Stephen Paget, M.D., physician-in-chief and chair of the division of rheumatology at HSS. "We applaud the efforts of the Arthritis Foundation and the Ad Council as they begin a multi-year initiative to improve the understanding of osteoarthritis, and we join them with our commitment to identify better methods to diagnose, treat and prevent the disease, " Dr.

Denosumab Demonstrated Superiority Over Zometa R In Pivotal Phase 3 Head-to-Head Trial In Prostate Cancer Patients With Bone Metastases

Amgen (Nasdaq: AMGN) announced that a pivotal, Phase 3, head-to-head trial evaluating denosumab versus Zometa ® (zoledronic acid) in the treatment of bone metastases in 1, 901 men with advanced prostate cancer met its primary and secondary endpoints. Denosumab demonstrated superiority over Zometa for both delaying the time to the first on-study skeletal related event (SRE) ( fracture, radiation to bone, surgery to bone or spinal cord compression) (hazard ratio 0.82, 95 percent CI: 0.71, 0.95), and reducing the rate of multiple SREs (hazard ratio 0.82, 95 percent CI: 0.71, 0.94). Both results were statistically significant. Overall rates of adverse events and serious adverse events, including infections, were generally similar between the two arms.

Geisinger Researchers Awarded Funds For Personalized Healthcare Project

Researchers at Geisinger Medical Center recently received funding totaling more than $44, 000 from a Geisinger Health System (GHS) - NYU Langone Medical Center (NYULMC) collaborative project focusing on personalized healthcare. The grant, titled "Expanding Comparative Effectiveness Research in Orthopedics by Capturing Uniform Measures of Patient-Reported Functional Outcomes at Two Institutions", will permit Geisinger to administer electronic questionnaires to patients with osteoarthritis (OA) via new, touch-screen monitors in its orthopaedic clinics. Results from these questionnaires will allow physicians to track patient-reported outcomes, which are critical in developing evidence-based protocols in OA management.

Orthopaedic Researchers Investigating New Treatments For Injured Troops, Civilians

For each action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. So after the surge in U.S. troops heading to Afghanistan, there will be an influx of injured veterans returning back home. But the U.S. Department of Defense has recruited its own "soldiers" in the battle against war casualties: a consortium of researchers who are improving care to wounded soldiers as well as the general public. Some of the orthopaedic researchers involved will lead a workshop about the program at the 56th annual meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS), March 6 - 9, 2010, in New Orleans. They will also present an overview of the program during Extremity War Injuries V, a symposium that takes place Jan.

Auxilium Announces U.S. Food And Drug Administration Approval For XIAFLEXTM For The Treatment Of Dupuytren's Contracture

Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AUXL), a specialty biopharmaceutical company, announced that it has received marketing approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for XIAFLEX™ (collagenase clostridium histolyticum), a novel, first-in-class, orphan-designated, biologic, for the treatment of adult Dupuytren's contracture patients with a palpable cord. The Company expects to begin shipping XIAFLEX to its distribution partners in early March in advance of a launch planned for late March. "We believe the approval of XIAFLEX represents a major breakthrough for patients suffering from the debilitating effects of Dupuytren's contracture, " said Armando Anido, Chief Executive Officer and President of Auxilium.