The cervical pedicle diameter size differs between Asians and non-Asians. The authors studied the transverse pedicle diameter of the C2-C7 of the cervical spine in a Malaysian population using computerized tomography (CT) measurements. The transverse diameter of the pedicle is the determinant of the feasibility of this technique because the sagittal diameter of the pedicle has been wider than the transverse pedicle diameter.
Persistent sciatic artery is a very uncommon embryological vascular variant. This case report highlights this rare vascular anomaly, diagnostic difficulty, complication and subsequent treatment in a 43-year-old man who presented with sudden onset of right leg pain for a few hours. He was unable to walk because of pain and numbness. Emergency right lower limb angiogram showed a large aneurysm that was initially thought to arise from the right common femoral artery, associated with thrombus formation within the right popliteal artery. A below knee amputation was performed due to worsening ischaemia of the right leg. The persistent right sciatic artery was later obliterated using percutaneous stenting and endovascular grafting, with deployment of two wallstents.
Staphylococcus aureus infection remains the commonest organism causing musculoskeletal infection and antibiotic is the mainstay of treatment apart from adequate and appropriate surgical intervention. The exact figure of antibiotic resistance in orthopaedic practice is not known but it is expected to be higher than previously reported as the use of antibiotics is rampant. Its sensitivity to various antibiotics differs from one center to another making local surveillance necessary. From 66 patients with musculoskeletal infections studied in our centre, Staphylococcus aureus was cultured in 50-65% of patients, depending on the sample taken. Fifteen percent of this were methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Staphylococcus aureus was found to be sensitive to cloxacillin in 95% of patients' sample. MRSA remained highly sensitive to vancomycin, clindamycin and fucidic acid.