Spine
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An experimental study to investigate the in vitro gene expression of neurotrophic factors and receptors in cultured rat spinal cord cells subjected to cyclic mechanical stretch forces. ⋯ Our results suggest survival of spinal cord neuronal cells under injurious tensile stress with increased synthesis and utilization of several neurotrophic factors, receptors, and expression of proteins related to cell apoptosis.
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Comparative Study
Development of an index to characterize the "invasiveness" of spine surgery: validation by comparison to blood loss and operative time.
Prospective cohort study. ⋯ An "invasiveness" index based on the number of vertebrae decompressed, fused, or instrumented showed the expected associations with both blood loss and surgery duration. This quantitative description of surgery invasiveness may be useful to adjust for surgical variations when making safety comparisons in spine surgery.
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Retrospective clinical study. ⋯ Our clinical observation suggests that patients with spinal metastases and a high Tokuhashi score benefit from surgical treatment with moderate improvement in sensomotoric function even in a heterogenic collective.
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Analyses of improvements in nerve conduction velocity (NCV) and blood flow after administering cilostazol in a dog model of experimental acute and chronic cauda equina compression. ⋯ Cilostazol improved NCV and blood flow to the cauda equina in this dog model. Cilostazol might be a potential agent to improve symptoms due to compression of cauda equina and/or cauda equina dysfunction.
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Multicenter Study
Radiographic predictors for the development of myelopathy in patients with ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament: a multicenter cohort study.
A multicenter cohort study was performed retrospectively. ⋯ Static and dynamic factors were related to the development of myelopathy in OPLL.