
3D Printed Suppurative Arthritis of the Knee
3D Printed Suppurative Arthritis of the Knee Clinical History A man aged 82 years had a history of tuberculosis of the left knee in childhood. He developed a painful swollen knee 10 days prior to admission to hospital. Examination revealed an inflamed knee, painful to move, which improved slightly with antibiotic therapy and rest. X-ray showed a disorganized knee joint and mid-thigh amputation was performed 3 days after admission. Post-operative recovery was satisfactory. Pathology The specimen displays the articular surfaces of a femur and tibia. The articular surfaces have been severely eroded. They are brown in colour, very irregular, and there are shaggy adhesions and plaques of yellow necrotic material. No normal articular cartilage is present. Some irregular varying in size bony projections (up to 1 cm in diameter) are present on the femoral condyles. Staphylococcus aureus was cultured from the joint. This is an example of suppurative arthritis in