Spine
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Retrospective study with clinical evaluation of posterior hemivertebra resection with transpedicular instrumentation in very young children. ⋯ Correction surgery of congenital scoliosis should be performed early, before the development of severe local deformities and secondary structural changes, especially in patients with expected deterioration. Posterior resection of the hemivertebra with transpedicular instrumentation allows for early intervention in very young children. Excellent correction in the frontal and sagittal planes, and a short segment of fusion allows for normal growth in the unaffected parts of the spine.
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Clinical and imaging findings of patients diagnosed with pyogenic sacroiliitis were retrospectively analyzed. ⋯ Both magnetic resonance imaging and technetium bone scanning are sensitive for localizing occult sites of bone inflammation. Magnetic resonance imaging may provide more useful information than bone scanning by screening for abnormalities in the sacroiliac joint region. With prompt appropriate antibiotic therapy, clinical improvement of patients can be expected.
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Case report. ⋯ The development of avascular necrosis of the femoral heads following surgery for spinal stenosis may be due to hypotensive anesthesia, prone positioning on a Montreal mattress, or a combination of the two. Careful intraoperative positioning may reduce the risk of this occurring after spinal surgery. However, close postoperative surveillance and a high index of suspicion of worsening hip pathology in patients who appear to mobilize poorly after lumbar spinal surgery may be the only method of early detection and treatment for this condition.
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A retrospective radiographic review was performed on 41 patients with scoliosis associated with a Chiari I malformation and/or syringomyelia. ⋯ Although the decision to obtain magnetic resonance imaging in a patient with scoliosis should be based on both clinical and radiographic criteria, we suggest that a heightened index of suspicion is warranted with certain curve patterns (left thoracic, double thoracic, triple, and a long right thoracic curve with end vertebra caudal to T12), and with a high or low apex and/or end vertebra, especially in males and patients with a normal to hyperkyphotic thoracic spine.
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A consecutive series of patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, treated between 1968 and 1977 before age 21 years with distraction and fusion using Harrington rods (surgically treated: n = 156; 145 females and 11 males) were followed-up at least 20 years after completion of the treatment. ⋯ Minimal pain and no dysfunction occurred (mean) 23 years after fusion for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis compared with normal straight controls. Significantly more pain in the scar region occurred when bone graft from an incision over the posterior iliac crest was used for harvesting bone to the fusion compared with an incision performed as an elongation of the midline incision used for the scoliosis surgery.