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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This study aimed to develop machine learning methods to estimate bone mineral density and detect osteopenia/osteoporosis from conventional lumbar MRI (T1-weighted and T2-weighted images) and planar radiography in combination with clinical data and imaging parameters of the acquisition protocol. ⋯ The models showed good discriminative performances in detecting cases of low bone mineral density, and more limited capabilities for the direct estimation of its value. Being based on routine imaging and readily available data, such models are promising tools to retrospectively analyse existing datasets as well as for the opportunistic investigation of bone disorders.
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To evaluate effects of spinal and rib osteotomies on the resulting spinal flexibility for surgical correction of thoracic scoliosis and to explore effects of posterior fixation on thoracolumbar segmental range of motion and lumbar intervertebral disc loading. ⋯ Low effects of Schwab grade 1 and 2 osteotomies question the impact of isolated posterior spinal releases for surgical correction maneuvers in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, in contrast to additional concave rib osteotomies. High effects of posterior fixation potentially explain frequently reported complications such as adjacent segment disease or proximal junctional kyphosis.
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This study aims to evaluate the accuracy and safety of C1 lateral mass and upper cervical pedicle screw placement assisted by the TiRobot II system. ⋯ The TiRobot II system demonstrates the capability to precisely execute pre-planned trajectories and improves the accuracy and safety of C1 lateral mass and upper cervical screw placement.
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Surgical stabilization of the spine by vertebral body replacement (VBR) is used for spinal disorders such as traumatic fractures to provide an anatomical re-adjustment of the spine to prevent late detrimental effects and pain [1-4]. This study addresses the clinical outcome after a ventral intervention with VBR and bisegmental fusion. ⋯ Patients who underwent VBR in the lower thoracic or lumbar spine show modest long-term well-being. The results suggest that injuries to the lower thoracic or lumbar spine requiring vertebral body replacement should be classified as severe injuries since they adversely affect the patients' long-term well-being.
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The identification of gene mutations in the modern medical workup of metastatic spine tumors has become more common but has not been highly utilized in surgical planning. Potential utility of these genetic markers as surrogates for cancer behavior in current prognosis scoring systems and overall survival (OS) remains underexplored in existing literature. This study seeks to investigate the association of frequently identified tumor markers, EGFR, ALK, and PD-L1, in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) to the spine with Tokuhashi prognosis scoring and OS. ⋯ ALK and PD-L1 were significantly associated with Tokuhashi score while EGFR was not. Tumor markers alone were not predictive of OS. These findings indicate that genetic markers found in NSCLC metastases to the spine may demonstrate prognostic value. Therefore, employing standard tumor markers could enhance the identification of appropriate surgical candidates, although they demonstrate limited effectiveness in predicting overall survival.