Journal of neurosurgery. Spine
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The authors present 2 cases involving patients who presented with myelopathy. Magnetic resonance imaging of the cervical spine showed spinal cord signal changes on T2-weighted images without any spinal cord compression. ⋯ Compression of the spinal cord was caused by dynamic anulus bulging and ligamentum flavum buckling. This report emphasizes the need for dynamic MR imaging of the cervical spine for evaluating spinal cord changes on neutral position MR imaging before further workup for other causes such as demyelinating disease.
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Distal-type cervical spondylotic amyotrophy (CSA) is a rare form of cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM). The authors documented the incidence, clinical presentation, radiological features, and outcome following central corpectomy (CC) in patients with this entity. ⋯ Distal-type CSA is a rare form of CSM that should be differentiated from motor neuron disease on the basis of subtle sensory symptoms or signs in the upper limbs, and the presence of significant cord compression on the MR imaging. Patient outcome after central corpectomy is good and long lasting.
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New generations of devices for spinal interbody fusion are expected to arise from the combined use of bioactive peptides and porous implants. The purpose of this dose-ranging study was to evaluate the fusion characteristics of porous ceramic granules (CGs) coated with the bioactive peptide B2A2-K-NS (B2A) by using a model of instrumented lumbar interbody spinal fusion in sheep. ⋯ Bioactive treatment with B2A effectively enhanced the fusion capacity of porous CGs. These findings suggest that B2A/CG may well represent a new generation of biomaterials for lumbar interbody fusion and indicate that additional studies are warranted.