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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The aim of this study is to assess inter-reader agreement of imaging findings and compare readers' assessment of image quality (IQ) and appearance of metal artifact (MA) in patients with spinal implants between 0.55T and 1.5T MRI. ⋯ Imaging patients with spinal hardware at 0.55T results in comparable inter-reader agreement for clinically-relevant imaging findings and equivalent or improved image quality compared to 1.5T.
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Review Meta Analysis Comparative Study
Long-term effectiveness of stand-alone anchored spacer in multilevel anterior cervical discectomy and fusion compared with cage-plate system: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
For anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF), stand-alone anchored spacers (SAAS) and cage-plate system (CPS) are currently employed. However, controversy remains over the effectiveness and security of these two apparatuses in multilevel ACDF. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the global long-term effectiveness and safety of SAAS versus CPS with multilevel ACDF. ⋯ SAAS provided comparable long-term effectiveness and safeness for multilevel ACDF regarding JOA scores, NDI scores, fusion rates and ASD rates at endpoint compared to CPS. In comparison to CPS, SAAS demonstrated significant advancement in the reduction of operative time, intraoperative blood loss and the incidence of postoperative dysphagia. As a consequence, SAAS appeared more desirable than CPS among people who needed multilevel ACDF. Yet in long-term observation, SAAS was inferior to CPS in maintaining CSA and FSH and in preventing cage descent. However, whether or not radiographic abnormality has an impact on clinical presentation awaits confirmation from research with more longitudinal follow-up.