Global spine journal
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Global spine journal · Aug 2015
Prevalence of Klippel-Feil Syndrome in a Surgical Series of Patients with Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy: Analysis of the Prospective, Multicenter AOSpine North America Study.
Study Design Prospective study. Objective To evaluate the prevalence of Klippel-Feil syndrome (KFS) in a prospective data set of patients undergoing surgical treatment for cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) and to evaluate if magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features in patients with KFS are more pronounced than those of non-KFS patients with CSM. Methods A retrospective analysis of baseline MRI data from the AOSpine prospective and multicenter CSM-North American study was conducted. ⋯ Multiple MRI features, most notably maximum canal compromise (p = 0.05) and T2 signal hyperintensity area (p = 0.05), were worse in patients with CSM and KFS. Conclusions The high prevalence of KFS in our surgical series of patients with CSM may serve as an indication that these patients are prone to increased biomechanical use of segments adjacent to fused vertebra. This supposition is supported by a tendency of patients with KFS to present with more extensive MRI evidence of degeneration than non-KFS patients with CSM.
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Global spine journal · Aug 2015
Does Balloon Kyphoplasty Deliver More Cement Safely into Osteoporotic Vertebrae with Compression Fractures Compared with Vertebroplasty? A Study in Vertebral Analogues.
Study Design A biomechanical and radiographic study using vertebral analogues. Objectives Kyphoplasty and vertebroplasty are widely used techniques to alleviate pain in fractures secondary to osteoporosis. However, cement leakage toward vital structures like the spinal cord can be a major source of morbidity and even mortality. ⋯ Results The highest volume of the cement injected was in the vertebroplasty group using high-viscosity cement, which was almost twice the injected volume in the other three groups. One-way analysis of variance comparing the four groups showed a statistically significant difference (p < 0.005). Conclusions High-viscosity cement injected using vertebroplasty delivers more cement volume before cement leakage and fills the vertebral body more uniformly when compared with balloon kyphoplasty in osteoporotic vertebrae with compression fractures.
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Global spine journal · Aug 2015
Cervical Synovial Cyst Causing Cervical Radiculomyelopathy: Case Report and Review of the Literature.
Study Design Case report. Objective Synovial cysts in the subaxial cervical spine are rare and are most commonly reported at the cervicothoracic junction. Only six cases of symptomatic C5-C6 synovial cysts have been reported in the literature; the condition is usually treated with decompressive laminectomy. ⋯ Conclusions C5-C6 is an unusual localization for symptomatic synovial cysts. Similar cases reported in the literature achieved excellent results after cyst excision and decompressive laminectomy. Because spondylolisthesis plus laminectomy are risk factors for segmental instability in the cervical spine, we report a case of a C5-C6 facet synovial cyst successfully treated with posterior laminectomy and C4-C6 fusion.