World Neurosurg
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To study the effect of lumbar lordosis change and pelvic parameters on surgical outcomes such as fusion versus nonfusion (pseudarthrosis), adjacent segment pathology (ASP), and reoperation in patients undergoing 1-level, 2-level, and 3-level posterior lumbar fusion (PLF). ⋯ Better restoration of lumbar lordosis reduces rates of pseudarthrosis after short-segment PLF but has no association with rates of ASP.
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Virtual reality (VR) has emerged as a powerful tool for neuroanatomy education of postgraduate medical trainees. However, its use in early training in neurosurgery, such as of undergraduate, medical, and physician assistant students, has not been evaluated. We also have limited insight into how VR may be integrated with traditional teaching methods. ⋯ Integration of VR with traditional pedagogic tactics is well received by the learners and contributes to measurable learning outcomes. Our experience informs the future use of VR tools in medical education.
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Existing scoring system's comparative effectiveness in identifying patients with poor prognosis (i.e., <6 months survival) has not been thoroughly explored. ⋯ This study shows that most scoring systems have low discriminative power, with only the SORG nomogram having moderate power for predicting poor prognosis. Recent and future advances in treatment, laboratory markers, and our understanding of tumor biology should be incorporated into prognostic models to improve their accuracy.