Chondromyxoid fibroma of the foot and ankle: 40 years’ Scottish bone tumour registry experience

Ten cases of histologically proven chondromyxoid fibroma (CMF) of the foot and ankle with a mean follow-up of 6.1 years were retrospectively reviewed using the Scottish Bone Tumour Registry. The patients' mean age was 19 years; there were six males and four females. The anatomical locations were five phalangeal, three metatarsal, one tarsal affecting body of os calcis and one distal tibial. The median delay in presentation was 4.5 months. The modes of presentation were pain only (n=4), painful lump (n=4) and painless lump (n=2). The typical radiological finding was an expansile, lobulated, cystic lesion. Cortical erosion was documented in 80% patients. In four cases, curettage alone was carried out, while five patients underwent curettage along with autogenous bone grafting. One patient with distal phalangeal CMF had a primary toe amputation. Two patients had recurrences 9 and 16 months after their initial curettage. Both of them were males with proximal phalangeal CMF, associated with cortical erosion. Foot and phalangeal CMF initially treated with curettage only should be closely followed up, as we observed a 20% recurrence rate within a 2-year period. Cases featuring cortical erosion require thorough curettage and may require autogenous bone grafting to prevent fracture

Intravitreal pro-inflammatory cytokines in non-obese diabetic mice: Modelling signs of diabetic retinopathy.

Diabetic retinopathy is a vascular disease of the retina characterised by hyperglycaemic and inflammatory processes. Most animal models of diabetic retinopathy are hyperglycaemia-only models that do not account for the significant role that inflammation plays in the development of the disease. In the present study, we present data on the establishment of a new animal model of diabetic retinopathy that incorporates both hyperglycaemia and inflammation. We hypothesized that inflammation may trigger and worsen the development of diabetic retinopathy in a hyperglycaemic environment. Pro-inflammatory cytokines, IL-1β and TNF-α, were therefore injected into the vitreous of non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice. CD1 mice were used as same genetic background controls. Fundus and optical coherence tomography images were obtained before (day 0) as well as on days 2 and 7 after intravitreal cytokine injection to assess vessel dilation and beading, retinal and vitreous hyper-reflective foci and retinal thickness. Astrogliosis and microgliosis were assessed using immunohistochemistry. Results showed that intravitreal cytokines induced vessel dilation, beading, severe vitreous hyper-reflective foci, retinal oedema, increased astrogliosis and microglia upregulation in diabetic NOD mice. Intravitreal injection of inflammatory cytokines into the eyes of diabetic mice therefore appears to provide a new model of diabetic retinopathy that could be used for the study of disease progression and treatment strategies