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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Little information is available on the relationship between cervical sagittal alignment and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients. The aim of this study was to identify relationships between cervical sagittal alignment and HRQOL in AS. ⋯ Cervical sagittal parameters were found to be significantly different in AS patients and normal controls. Correlation analysis revealed significant relationships between radiographic parameters and QOL. In particular, C2-C7 SVA was found to be a significant predictor of QOL in AS patient.
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Although cervical radiculopathy is very common, there is no standard treatment for this condition, with little high-level evidence available to guide the treatment choice. Thus, this study aimed to review the current data on the management of cervical radiculopathy; and, further, to establish a new Chinese clinical consensus of the treatments for cervical radiculopathy using the Delphi method. ⋯ The modified Delphi study conducted herein reached a consensus concerning several treatment issues for cervical radiculopathy. In the absence of high-level evidence, at present, these expert opinion findings will help guide health care providers to define the appropriate treatment in their regions. Items with no consensus provide excellent areas for future research.
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Alignment of the cervical spine (CS) in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (IS) as well as in asymptomatic adult populations has recently been studied and described as being less lordotic in the adolescent IS population. However, few studies have examined the sagittal alignment of the CS in adult IS or its association with other radiological variables and clinical relevance. The aim of this study is to analyse the sagittal alignment of CS in adult IS and its association with age, alignment of the thoracic, lumbar and global spinal column as well as health-related quality of life (HRQOL) parameters. ⋯ The sagittal alignment of the CS in adult IS is less lordotic than the normal average while less kyphotic than that of IS of a younger age. It correlates with age, thoracic kyphosis and some global sagittal alignment parameters. These findings suggest that CS alignment is likely a component of the global sagittal alignment strongly affected by thoracic kyphosis, and most probably does not affect HRQOL by itself.
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Significant progression of spinal deformity could occur during the peak of pubertal growth in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). Gender differences in spinal and vertebral inclination have been reported in asymptomatic young adults and are thought to affect the risk of curve progression in male and female AIS. The present study aimed to investigate whether there were gender differences in the sagittal spinal-pelvic profile and whether any differences occurred before or developed during the normal pubertal growth spurt. ⋯ Although a trend toward a more backward inclination of the spine and individual vertebrae might pre-exist during the ascending phase or peak of pubertal growth, the differences become more significant during the late stage of puberty. The observation could be related to relatively active anterior vertebral overgrowth that occurs in females during pubertal growth.
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The aim of this retrospective clinical study is to evaluate the effect of growing rod lengthening technique on sagittal balance in relationship with the spinopelvic parameters, in early onset scoliosis (EOS). ⋯ Significant improvement was found in the global thoracic kyphosis angle, by comparing the preoperative, the early postoperative and the last follow-up parameters statistically (p < 0.05). There was no statistically significant improvement in the spinopelvic parameters (p > 0.05). We claim that growing rod technique doesn't provide statistically significant improvement, in the sagittal spinal and the spinopelvic parameters, except for the kyphosis, in the treatment of EOS patients.