Journal of neurosurgery. Spine
-
Cervical chordomas are rare lesions and usually bring about challenges in treatment planning because of their wide extension and complicated adjacent anatomy. There are few large published series at present focusing on cervical chordomas. The authors studied a consecutive series of 14 patients with primary cervical chordomas who underwent surgical treatment and were observed between 1989 and 2008. By reviewing the clinical patterns and follow-up data, they sought to investigate the clinical characters, tailor the appropriate surgical techniques, and establish prognosis factors for cervical chordomas. ⋯ Chordomas in the cervical spine are usually neoplasms that exhibit insidious growth and a wide extension by the time of diagnosis. Radical intralesional debulking surgery and postoperative radiotherapy have been effective treatment. A limited application of en bloc tumor resection and the highly likely intraoperative intralesional tumor seeding may partially explain the high local recurrence rate, whereas the chance of distant metastases, fortunately, is very low. Most recurrence were documented within 3 years. Some specific surgical techniques should be emphasized to minimize tumor seeding. Patients with upper cervical chordomas, younger adults, and elderly adults have worse prognosis. For patients with chordoma extending to both the anterior and posterior spinal columns, total spondylectomy combined with piecemeal excision is recommended for a better prognosis.
-
Multicenter Study
Spontaneous improvement of cervical alignment after correction of global sagittal balance following pedicle subtraction osteotomy.
Sagittal spinopelvic malalignment is a significant cause of pain and disability in patients with adult spinal deformity. Surgical correction of spinopelvic malalignment can result in compensatory changes in spinal alignment outside of the fused spinal segments. These compensatory changes, termed reciprocal changes, have been defined for thoracic and lumbar regions but not for the cervical spine. The object of this study was to evaluate postoperative reciprocal changes within the cervical spine following lumbar pedicle subtraction osteotomy (PSO). ⋯ Adults with positive sagittal spinopelvic malalignment compensate with abnormally increased cervical lordosis in an effort to maintain horizontal gaze. Surgical correction of sagittal malalignment results in improvement of the abnormal cervical hyperlordosis through reciprocal changes.
-
Comparative Study
Comparison of mini-open anterior corpectomy and posterior total en bloc spondylectomy for solitary metastases of the thoracolumbar spine.
The object of this study was to compare the mini-open anterior corpectomy procedure with posterior total en bloc spondylectomy (TES) in treating patients with solitary metastases of the thoracolumbar spine. ⋯ Mini-open anterior corpectomy can be accomplished with less blood loss, fewer fixation instrumentations, and shorter surgical time than that required for TES, but patients who undergo a mini-open corpectomy might have a greater tendency to experience local recurrence. A mini-open anterior corpectomy has a relatively mild learning curve and involves fewer technical difficulties. With smaller incisions, mini-open anterior corpectomy is an option in treating solitary metastases of the thoracolumbar spine.
-
A patient with failed back surgery syndrome reported paresthesia in his hands and arms during a spinal cord stimulation (SCS) screening trial with a low thoracic electrode. The patient's severe thoracic stenosis necessitated general anesthesia for simultaneous decompressive laminectomy and SCS implantation for chronic use. Use of general anesthesia gave the authors the opportunity to characterize the patient's unusual distribution of paresthesia. ⋯ Stimulation of the dorsal columns at T-8 evoked potentials in the legs (common peroneal nerves) and at similar thresholds, consistent with the sensation of paresthesia in the arms, in the right ulnar nerve. The authors' electrophysiological observations support observations by neuroanatomical specialists that primary afferents can descend several (in this case, at least 8) vertebral segments in the spinal cord before synapsing or ascending. This report thus confirms a physiological basis for unusual paresthesia distribution associated with thoracic SCS.
-
Comparative Study
Hybrid dynamic stabilization: a biomechanical assessment of adjacent and supraadjacent levels of the lumbar spine.
The object of this study was to evaluate the effect of hybrid dynamic stabilization on adjacent levels of the lumbar spine. ⋯ The dynamic stabilization system displayed stability characteristics similar to a solid, all-metal construct. Its addition of the supraadjacent level (L3-4) to the fusion (L4-5) did protect the adjacent level from excessive motion. However, it essentially transformed a 1-level lumbar fusion into a 2-level lumbar fusion, with exponential transfer of motion to the fewer remaining discs.