Journal of neurosurgery. Spine
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The authors used a rat model to assess spinal cord compression following an incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI). ⋯ The authors' results suggest that spinal cord compression after the initial injury is an additional mechanism by which SCI worsens, and that the mechanism of this injury occurs rapidly. These data, however, do not support duration of compression as a significant variable.
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The current cross-sectional observational MR imaging study aimed to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of lumbar disc degeneration in a healthy population and to establish the baseline data for a prospective longitudinal study. ⋯ The current study established the baseline data of lumbar disc degeneration in a 30- to 55-year-old healthy population for a prospective longitudinal study. Hours spent sitting significantly increased the prevalence of disc herniation, but episode of low-back pain, smoking status, obesity, and standing hours were not significant risk factors.
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Comparative Study
Traumatic spondylolisthesis of the axis: a biomechanical comparison of clinically relevant anterior and posterior fusion techniques.
Surgical management of unstable traumatic spondylolisthesis of the axis includes both posterior and anterior fusion methods. The authors performed a biomechanical study to evaluate the relative stability of anterior fixation at C2-3 and posterior fixation of C-1 through C-3 in hangman's fractures. ⋯ In cadaveric spine specimens subjected to a Type II hangman's fracture, both anterior fixation at C2-3 and posterior fixation with C-1 lateral mass screws and C-2 and C-3 pedicle screws resulted in a consistent increase in stiffness, and hence in stability, over intact specimens.
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Application of the nucleus pulposus (NP) to the nerve root has been developed as a model of lumbar radicular pain. The relationship between disc degeneration and the induction of radicular pain, however, has not yet been fully explored. The authors of this study investigated pain-related behaviors and expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) to evaluate the effects of punctured NP on lumbar radiculopathy. ⋯ Needle puncture led to degenerative changes in the rat tail disc, and the degenerated NP enhanced mechanical hyperalgesia induced by application of the NP to the lumbar nerve root. This model of disc degeneration and lumbar radicular pain is appropriate for evaluating the efficacy of biological treatments for degenerative disc diseases.