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
Chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis presenting as acute scoliosis: a case report and review of literature.
Chronic relapsing multifocal osteomyelitis (CRMO) is a rare condition. It commonly affects the clavicle and pelvis. Rarely it can affect the spine. ⋯ Prognosis is generally good although the disease can relapse and remit over many years. At 9 months follow up, the lesions were resolving and the deformity had resolved. CRMO presenting as acute scoliosis is rare and to our knowledge this is the second recognised case in the reported world literature.
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Structural discontinuity in the spinal cord after injury results in a disruption in the impulse conduction resulting in loss of various bodily functions depending upon the level of injury. This article presents a summary of the scientific research employing electrical stimulation as a means for anatomical or functional recovery for patients suffering from spinal cord injury. ⋯ The second part of the article summarises the experimental work done in the past 2 decades to study the effects of weakly applied direct current fields in promoting regeneration of neurites towards the cathode and the new emerging technique of oscillating field stimulation which has shown to promote bidirectional regeneration in the injured nerve fibres. The present article is not intended to be an exhaustive review but rather a summary aiming to highlight these two applications of electrical stimulation and the degree of anatomical/functional recovery associated with these in the field of spinal cord injury research.
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The purpose of this study was to determine risk factors for the occurrence of sickness absence due to low back pain (LBP) and to evaluate prognostic factors for return to work. A longitudinal study with 1-year follow-up was conducted among 853 shipyard workers. The cohort was drawn around January 2004 among employees in the shipyard industry. ⋯ Prior sick leave due to LBP partly captured the effects of work-related physical and psychosocial factors on occurrence of sick leave. Our study showed that individual and job characteristics (living alone, night shift, lower education, sick leave, or care seeking during the last 12 months) influenced the decision to take sick leave due to LBP. An increased awareness of those frequently on sick leave and additional management after return to work may have a beneficial effect on the sickness absence pattern.
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We present the occurrence and management of mediastinal migration of the distal aspect of a posterior occipito-thoracic screw-rod construct. No similar occurrence was found in the literature. This event occurred following an emergency tracheotomy (requiring neck hyperextension) in a patient with severe rheumatoid arthritis, who had previously undergone decompression and an Occiput-T2 instrumented fusion for cranio-cervical and sub-axial cervical spine instability. ⋯ Removal of the instrumentation, decompression (T2 corpectomy) and construct revision down to T10 was safely performed from a posterior approach. Severe osteoporosis, some pre-existing screw loosening and hyperextension of the neck were the predisposing factors of this near catastrophic event. By staying directly posterior to the rod and following the fibrous tract already created, the instrumentation was safely removed from the mediastinum.
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Case Reports
Discrepancies of MRI findings between recumbent and upright positions in atlantoaxial lesion. Report of two cases.
Two cases of atlantoaxial (A-A) instability that showed different MRI findings between supine and upright positions are presented. The upright MRI represented the findings corresponding to their symptoms. In A-A lesions, conventional MR images taken in the supine position do not always explain the pathophysiological consequences. The MR images taken in the upright position disclose the actual spinal pathophysiology with gravitational effects.