Journal of spinal disorders
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This prospective study compares several roentgenographic parameters of the thoracic and lumbar spine in patients with beta-thalassemia and in healthy persons who served as controls. Eighty-four patients with beta-thalassemia and 84 age- and gender-matched healthy persons were examined clinically and radiologically (thoracic kyphosis, lumbar lordosis, and vertebral and sacral inclination). Although there was a significant difference in the vertebral inclination from T6 to L1, L4, and L5 between patients and controls, thoracic kyphosis and lumbar lordosis did not differ in the two groups. ⋯ There were no age- or gender-related differences in the magnitude of sacral inclination, thoracic kyphosis, or lumbar lordosis in the patients with beta-thalassemia compared with controls. Lumbar lordosis was significantly correlated with sacral inclination in both patients with beta-thalassemia and controls. Beta-thalassemia does not affect sagittal profile of the thoracic and lumbar spine but it is associated by structural changes on the frontal plane of the spine that are expressed as a high prevalence of scoliosis.
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Continuous intraoperative monitoring of spinal cord function using somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEP) has gained nearly universal acceptance as a reliable and sensitive method for detecting and possibly preventing neurologic injury during surgical correction of spinal deformities. In several reports, spinal cord injury was identified successfully based on changes in SSEP response characteristics, specifically amplitude and latency. Less well documented and used, however, is monitoring of peripheral nerve function with SSEPs to identify and prevent the neurologic sequelae of prolonged prone positioning on a spinal frame. ⋯ A statistically significant reduction in ulnar nerve SSEP amplitude was observed in 18 limbs of the 500 patients (3.6%) reviewed. Repositioning the arm(s) or shoulders resulted in nearly immediate improvement of SSEP amplitude, and all awoke without signs of brachial plexopathy. This complication can be avoided by monitoring SSEPs to ulnar nerve stimulation for patients placed in the prone position during spinal surgery.