Spine
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Cadaveric motion segment experiment. ⋯ Two physical aspects of disc degeneration (dehydration and endplate disruption) cause marked segmental instability. Back pain associated with instability may be attributable to stress concentrations in degenerated discs.
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Comparative Study
Correlation of HR-MAS spectroscopy derived metabolite concentrations with collagen and proteoglycan levels and Thompson grade in the degenerative disc.
A quantitative high-resolution magic angle spinning (HR-MAS) NMR study of human lumbar discs was conducted to determine biomarkers of disc degeneration. ⋯ Changes in disc chemical composition can be accurately quantified using quantitative HR-MAS NMR spectroscopy ex vivo. This noninvasive method of qualitatively and quantitatively assessing disc degeneration supports the utility of these biomarkers and underlines the need for developing in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) for characterizing intervertebral disc degeneration.
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A cross section of Web sites accessible to the general public was surveyed. ⋯ The information about scoliosis on the Internet is of limited quality and poor information value. Although the majority of the Web sites were academic, the content quality and accuracy scores were still poor. The lowest scoring Web sites were the nonphysician professionals and the unidentified sites, which were often message boards. Overall, the highest scoring Web site related to both quality and accuracy of information was www.srs.org. This Web site was designed by the Scoliosis Research Society. The public and the medical communities need to be aware of these existing limitations of the Internet. Based on our review, the physician must assume primary responsibility of educating and counseling their patients.
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In vivo measurements and model studies are combined to investigate the role of lumbar posture in static lifting tasks. ⋯ Alterations in the lumbar lordosis in lifting resulted in significant changes in the muscle forces and internal spinal loads. Spinal shear forces at different segmental levels were influenced by changes in both the disc inclinations and extensor muscle lines of action as the posture altered. Considering internal spinal loads and active-passive muscle forces, the current study supports the freestyle posture or a posture with moderate flexion as the posture of choice in static lifting tasks.