European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society
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Cervical spine spondylodiscitis is a rare, but serious manifestation of spinal infection. We present a retrospective study of 20 consecutive patients between 01/1994 and 12/1999 treated because of cervical spondylodiscitis. Mean age at the time of treatment was 59.7 (range 34-81) years, nine of them female. ⋯ Preoperative neurological deficits improved in all cases. Residual neurological deficits persisted in three of eight cases. The results indicate that spondylodiscitis in cervical spine should be treated early and aggressive to avoid local and systemic complications.
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Comparative Study
C3-6 laminoplasty takes over C3-7 laminoplasty with significantly lower incidence of axial neck pain.
Five-lamina (C3-7) procedure is the most popular cervical laminoplasty and there have been no studies on the most appropriate number of laminae to be opened. We prospectively reduced the range of laminoplasty from C3-7 to C3-6 in 2002 and compared the outcome of C3-6 laminoplasty (n=37) to that of C3-7 laminoplasty (n=28). ⋯ Postoperative axial neck pain was significantly rarer after C3-6 laminoplasty than after C3-7 laminoplasty (5.4% vs. 29%, P=0.015). Due to its simplicity and various benefits, C3-6 laminoplasty is a promising alternative to conventional C3-7 laminoplasty for treatment of multisegmental compression myelopathy.
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The aim of this study is to localize and document the anatomic features of the thoracic duct and its tributaries with special emphasis on the spinal surgery point of view. The thoracic ducts were dissected from nine formaldehyde-preserved male cadavers. The drainage patterns, diameter of the thoracic duct in upper, middle and lower thoracic segments, localization of main tributaries and morphologic features of cisterna chyli were determined. ⋯ Additionally, our study group is quite small. Larger series may be needed to define the anatomic variations. As a conclusion, anatomic variations of the thoracic duct are numerous and must be considered to avoid complications when doing surgery.