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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Review Case Reports
Traumatic atlantoaxial rotatory fixation in an adult patient.
Atlantoaxial rotational fixation (AARF) is a rare entity in adults, with only a few cases reported in the English literature and often associated with a traumatic mechanism. It is an underdiagnosed condition that must be taken into account in the initial assessment of all craniocervical trauma. Both diagnostic and therapeutic delay may be a potential cause of severe neurological damage or even death of the patient. The therapeutic management is controversial given the difficulty of achieving optimum stability and permanent reduction. ⋯ The purpose of this paper is to show a case of a young woman with a posttraumatic AARF successfully treated conservatively. This case delineates the difficulties in diagnosing this pathology, as well as the challenges encountered in its management.
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Review
Evaluation of bony fusion after anterior cervical discectomy: a systematic literature review.
Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) has proven effective in treating radicular arm pain. Post-operatively, cervical spine stability is temporarily challenged, but data on bony fusion and speed of fusion are ambiguous; optimum evaluation method and criteria are debated. ⋯ In approximately 90% of patients, bony fusion is accomplished one year after ACDF. As there is no generally accepted definition of bony fusion, different measuring techniques cannot be compared to a gold standard and it is impossible to determine the most accurate method. Variations in study design hamper conclusions on optimising the rate of bony fusion by choice of material and/or additives. Insufficient attention is paid to correlation between bony fusion and clinical outcome. These slides can be retrieved from electronic supplementary material.
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To report a case series of surgically proven spinal ependymomas of WHO grade II in which there were changes in the preoperative MRI characteristics over time. ⋯ MRI in cases of spinal ependymomas of WHO grade II showed characteristics such as hemorrhage and cyst formation that varied over time. In particular, cases with cyst and hemosiderin showed tumor enlargement, including enlargement of lesions on the caudal and rostral sides and enlargement of Gd-enhanced lesions. These characteristics might influence gait ability during preoperative period. We emphasize that early surgery is still the standard of care for cervical intramedullary ependymoma, and our findings in this study should not be interpreted to indicate that such early surgery is not necessary in symptomatic cases. These slides can be retrieved under electronic supplementary material.
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Clinical Trial
Short-term results of intrathecal injection of low-dose bupivacaine in outpatients with chronic low back and lower extremity pain.
To investigate the safety and efficacy of intrathecal injection as an alternative to epidural injection for analgesia. ⋯ Intrathecal injection of low-dose bupivacaine offers a safe and effective treatment for chronic low back and lower extremity pain.
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To investigate the anatomical and biomechanical feasibility of the unilateral C1 double screw [pedicle screw (PS) + lateral mass screw (LMS)] and ipsilateral C2 PS combined with contralateral C2 laminar screw (LS)-rod fixation for atlantoaxial instability by comparison with traditional posterior fixation methods. ⋯ The C1 unilateral lateral mass could mostly contain two screws(PS + LMS) with diameters ≤ 3.5 mm. The novel technique of unilateral C1 double screw and ipsilateral C2 PS combined with contralateral C2 LS rod fixation provided better stability than unilateral PS rod fixation and similar as bilateral PS rod fixation. Therefore, it is a feasible salvage method that provides a new insight into atlantoaxial instability. These slides can be retrieved under Electronic Supplementary Material.