Spine
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Comparative Study
Legal sequelae of occupational back injuries: a longitudinal analysis of Missouri judicial records.
Telephone survey and longitudinal analysis of judicial database for cohort of worker's compensation (WC) claimants in Missouri. ⋯ The results confirm that workers with occupational back injuries, especially African American and younger adults, encounter long-term financial and domestic duress that appears to escalate with each passing year after claim settlement. This pattern suggests that short-term studies underestimate postsettlement difficulties, particularly among selected demographic cohorts.
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Comparative Study
The effects of age, sex, ethnicity, and spinal level on the rate of intervertebral disc degeneration: a review of 1712 intervertebral discs.
A gross anatomic and magnetic resonance imaging study of intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration in fresh cadaveric lumbar spines. ⋯ The relatively early degeneration at L5-S1 in all races and lower Thompson grade in donors of African ethnicity needs further investigation. Factors such as sagittal alignment, facet joint arthritis, and genetics potentially play a role in IVD degeneration.
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Comparative Study
Preoperative evaluation of the cervical spondylotic myelopathy with flexion-extension magnetic resonance imaging: about a prospective study of fifty patients.
The authors evaluated preoperative modifications of the cervical spinal canal in flexion and extension in 50 patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) and looked for impingement of the spinal cord not diagnosed in the neutral position. ⋯ Cervical spondylotic myelopathy results from the synergistic action of static and dynamic factors, the latter of which play an important role. In some patients, IHIS on T2 images is only visible with the neck in flexion. That might explain why IHIS is first detected after surgery in some patients in whom MRI was obtained before surgery only in the neutral position. Dynamic MRI is useful to determine more accurately the number of levels where the spinal cord is compromised, and to better evaluate narrowing of the canal and IHIS. New information provided by flexion-extension MRI might change our strategy for CSM management.
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Case Reports
Percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy via contralateral approach: a technical case report.
Technical case report. ⋯ When a conventional transforaminal PELD is difficult because of some anatomical reasons, PELD via a contralateral route could be a good alternative option in selected cases.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Low back pain in adolescents: is quality of life poorer in those seeking medical attention?
Paired case-control study. ⋯ Adolescents with LBP seeking specialized medical attention have better HRQOL than symptomatic peers from the general population but report worse clinical and functional status.