Journal of neurosurgery. Spine
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Modified cervical laminoplasty techniques have been developed to reduce postoperative axial neck pain and preserve function in patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM). However, the previous studies demonstrating satisfactory surgical outcomes had a retrospective design. Here, the authors aimed to prospectively evaluate the 2-year outcomes of a modified cervical laminoplasty technique for CSM that preserves the paravertebral muscles. ⋯ The modified laminoplasty technique used in this study ensured very good neurological status and ROM after 2 years and was associated with low incidences of axial neck pain and serious complications. This simple and easy operative method could benefit future laminoplasty protocols.
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In a follow-up study to their prior work, the authors evaluated a novel delivery system for a previously established treatment for spinal cord injury (SCI), based on a poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm), lightly cross-linked with a polyethylene glycol (PEG) injectable scaffold. The primary aim of this work was to assess the recovery of both spontaneous and skilled forelimb function following a cervical dorsolateral funiculotomy in the rat. This injury ablates the rubrospinal tract (RST) but spares the dorsal and ventral corticospinal tract and can severely impair reaching and grasping abilities. ⋯ Based on their results, the authors suggest that BDNF delivered by the scaffold promoted the growth of RST axons into the lesion, which may have contributed in part to the increased recovery rate.
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Review
Long-term outcome of laminectomy for cervical ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament.
Although laminectomy is an effective surgical technique for the treatment of multilevel cervical stenotic lesions, postoperative kyphosis and neurological deterioration have been frequently reported after laminectomy. Hence, laminectomy without fusion is seldom performed nowadays. However, the clinical impression from the long-term follow-up of patients who had undergone laminectomy does not support that postoperative kyphosis is common in patients with ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL). In this paper, the authors assessed the long-term outcome of laminectomy for cervical OPLL in terms of the changes in the cervical curvature and in the neurological status. ⋯ The long-term outcome of laminectomy for cervical OPLL is satisfactory in terms of the clinical and radiological aspects. The risk of postlaminectomy kyphosis was not high, raising the possibility that the OPLL itself may serve as a support for the spinal column.
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The characteristics and efficacy of indocyanine green (ICG) videoangiography in cavernous malformation (CM) have not been fully elucidated. The purpose of this paper is to examine the potential utility of ICG videoangiography in the surgical treatment of intramedullary CMs. ⋯ Indocyanine green videoangiography provided useful information with regard to the detection of lesion margins by demonstrating intramedullary CMs as avascular areas. In cases associated with venous anomalies, ICG contributed to safe and complete removal of the CMs by visualizing the venous structure. In extramedullary CMs, ICG videoangiography demonstrated the characteristic of slow blood flow within CMs.