World Neurosurg
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
Efficacy and Safety of a Thrombin-Containing Collagen-based Haemostatic Agent in Spinal Surgery: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
When common hemostatic methods, such as suturing, cautery, and compression, fail to arrest bleeding during surgery, various local hemostatic agents are used. We aimed to evaluate the hemostatic efficacy and safety of CollaStat (Dalim Tissen Co. Ltd., Seoul, Korea), a novel thrombin-containing, collagen-based topical haemostatic agent used in spinal surgery, by comparing it with Floseal (Baxter Healthcare, Deerfield, Illinois, USA). ⋯ The hemostatic efficacy and safety of CollaStat were found to be noninferior to those of Floseal. Therefore CollaStat can be safely and effectively used in spinal surgery.
-
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a risk factor of lumbar spine surgical failure. The interest of anterior lumbar fusion in this context remains unknown. This retrospective study aimed to compare the outcome of anterior-only fusions between RA patients and non-RA (NRA) patients to treat lumbar spine degenerative disorders. ⋯ As noticed for posterior-only fusion, the anterior lumbar approach in RA patients does not seem to avoid the occurrence of an adjacent segment disease.
-
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a surge in the use of telehealth visits across the country to minimize in-person visits and to limit the spread of COVID-19. To date, no standards or outlines for telehealth spine examinations have been detailed and many surgeons simply defer the physical examination when performing telehealth visits. Nevertheless, just as physical examination of the spine is an integral part of live clinical encounters, appropriately modified physical examinations should also be part of virtual visits. ⋯ An effective and efficient spine physical examination can be performed during telehealth visits. Future directions include verifying the findings from our virtual physical examination with in-person examinations.
-
Meningiomas and gliomas are common benign and malignant primary brain tumors, respectively. One of the most prominent features of aggressive malignancies contributing to their progression is their ability to cope with hypoxia. Therefore, glioma tumors are expected to better cope with adverse hypoxic conditions and, consequently, display significantly different expression levels of hypoxia-adaptive genes. ⋯ These results imply that these genes can possibly be implicated in brain tumor hypoxia-adaptation response with tumor-specific roles and patterns of expression.