Combined anterior and posterior surgery is useful for fixed deformity of the lumbar spine. The specific indications for and clinical outcome parameters after combined surgery for patients with degenerative lumbar scoliosis have not been well defined. We retrospectively reviewed 14 consecutive patients with degenerative lumbar scoliosis treated with combined anterior ...

A retrospective study was undertaken to evaluate and compare the results of telescoping (group I) versus non telescoping rods (group II) in the treatment of osteogenesis imperfecta. Thirty-three lower limb segments in ten patients were studied (14 segments in group I and 19 segments in group II). The surgical techniques ...

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective clinical data analysis. OBJECTIVE: To compare clinical results with radiologic results of 2 fusion techniques for adult low-grade isthmic spondylolisthesis. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: There is clear evidence that lumbar interbody fusion using anterior and posterior approaches provides a high fusion rate, good sagittal alignment, and good ...

STUDY DESIGN: Prospective longitudinal cohort. OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the effect of preoperative Mental Component Summary (MCS), preoperative Physical Component Summary (PCS), preoperative Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), back pain predominance, body mass index (BMI), age, smoking status, and workers' compensation on health-related quality of life after lumbar fusion. These factors ...

STUDY DESIGN: Serial retrospective long-term follow-up study. OBJECTIVE: To assess the long-term results of anterior surgery with Cloward trephination and iliac strut grafting for cervical spondylotic myelopathy. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Anterior surgery remains the most common surgical option and generally gives good results, although early and late deterioration after ...

Comparative prospective study. To determine functionality of the cervical spine when using ProDisc C in comparison with the conventional method of treatment (decompression and fusion) in paraplegics. Spinal Cord Injury Centre in Germany. Two homogeneous groups were studied. The patients were treated with ventral decompression and either had a fusion ...

We compared the preliminary outcomes of cervical fusion performed using radiolucent cages containing either cancellous bone or hydroxyapatite graft. From July 2004 to June 2006, 45 consecutive patients presented with a total of 109 levels of degenerative disc disease between the C2 and C7 levels. Each patient underwent anterior cervical ...

STUDY DESIGN: Cluster analysis of existing database of spinal shape of patients attending a scoliosis clinic. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether patients with scoliosis can be classified into distinct groups by 3-dimensional curve shape. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Subjective or semiquantitative methods can be used to classify curve types in scoliosis, ...

BACKGROUND: Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) is widely performed for the treatment of cervical spinal degenerative disease. Autogenic or allogenic bone grafts are used for interbody fusion with satisfactory long term outcomes. However, harvest of the autograft causes donor site complications and allograft is associated with low fusion rate. ...

To evaluate the efficacy of unipedicular kyphoplasty in the treatment of patients with osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures, we compared the pre- and postoperative clinical and radiological results in the unipedicular and bipedicular kyphoplasty groups. The clinical and radiological results of unipedicular kyphoplasty were as good as those of bipedicular kyphoplasty. ...

BACKGROUND: Reduction of severe spondylolisthesis is controversial. Publications have emphasized the techniques of reduction and associated complications, but there is little knowledge about the effect of reduction on the sagittal balance of the spine and pelvis in the postoperative patient. This study evaluated the effect of surgical reduction and instrumented ...

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the influence of segmental pedicle screws versus hybrid instrumentation on the correction results in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients undergoing posterior selective thoracic fusion, METHODS: By reviewing the medical records and roentgenograms of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients who underwent selective thoracic fusion from February 2000 to January 2007 ...

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to analyze the true outcomes of a unique cohort of patients with spinal deformities who were treated as children and followed for 40 or more years. METHODS: Altogether, 23 patients were reviewed who had been originally treated in our community, whose original charts ...

Bilateral C1-2 transarticular screw fixation (TAF) with interspinous wiring has been the best treatment for atlantoaxial instability (AAI). However, several factors may disturb satisfactory placement of bilateral screws. This study evaluates the usefulness of unilateral TAF when bilateral TAF is not available. Between January 2003 and December 2007, TAF was ...

C57BL6 mice are melatonin deficient from birth and have been shown to develop scoliosis when rendered bipedal. Our previous work suggested that tamoxifen and trifluoperozine may change the natural course of scoliosis in a chicken model. The objective of this study was to analyze whether the incidence of scoliosis or ...

OBJECTIVE: The study aims to assess changes in cervical spine curvature following occipitocervical fusion (OCF) in the pediatric population. METHODS: In a retrospective study, the angle of sagittal curvature and whole cervical spine alignment were determined in the preoperative, immediate postoperative, and follow-up radiographs in 14 patients (<20 years of ...

The purpose of this study was to investigate geometrical stability and preservation of height gain of vertebral bodies after percutaneous vertebroplasty during 2 years' follow-up and to elucidate the geometric remodeling process of the vertebral bidisk unit (VDU) of the affected segment. Patients with osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures with pain ...

Existing predictive signs as available in current literature may miss potential proximal thoracic (PT) curve deterioration and shoulder imbalance, following selective main thoracic (MT) curve correction in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). The present study is an attempt to evaluate and complement these signs, through a retrospective study of 56 AIS ...

Retrospective comparative study of 80 consecutive patients treated with either anterior cervical discectomy fusion (ACDF) or anterior cervical corpectomy fusion (ACCF) for multi-level cervical spondylosis. To compare clinical outcome, fusion rates, and complications of anterior cervical reconstruction of multi-level ACDF and single-/multi-level ACCF performed using titanium mesh cages (TMCs) filled ...

To date, there have been no published studies of the degenerative changes in the cervical spine in adult idiopathic scoliosis patients with thoracic and lumbar curves severe enough to require major reconstructive surgery. The primary study group was 48 adult patients who had previously undergone a fusion from T10 or ...

STUDY DESIGN: A prospective cohort study on selected consecutive patients. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of an innovative operative technique called monosegmental transpedicular fixation for the treatment of some thoracolumbar burst fractures. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Short-segment pedicle screw instrumentation is accepted by many spinal surgeons as an acceptable technique ...

There is a debate regarding the distal fusion level for degenerative lumbar scoliosis. Whether a healthy L5-S1 motion segment should be included or not in the fusion remains controversial. The purpose of this study was to determine the optimal indication for the fusion to the sacrum, and to compare the ...

In a prospective study, 23 consecutive girls with Rett syndrome and neuromuscular scoliosis were evaluated for functioning at a long-term follow-up. The patients had mostly improved, which was confirmed by their parents. Rett syndrome is associated with neuromuscular scoliosis and has a typically long C-shaped thoracolumbar kyphoscoliosis. Prospective long-term follow-up ...

Interbody cages are widely used instruments for cervical fusion operations. Long-term follow-up studies are needed to clarify if these devices are dependable. In this prospective study, 79 patients (42 women and 37 men) with a mean age of 51 years operated between January 2000 and December 2005 for treatment of ...

Abundant data are available for direct anterior/posterior spine fusion (APF) and some for transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF), but only few studies from one institution compares the two techniques. One-hundred and thirty-three patients were retrospectively analyzed, 68 having APF and 65 having TLIF. All patients had symptomatic disc degeneration of ...

In contemporary literature few have written in detail on the in-brace correction effects of braces used for the treatment of hyperkyphosis. Bradford et al. found their attempts effective, treating Scheuermann's kyphosis with Milwaukee braces, but their report did not specifically focus on in-brace corrections. White and Panjabi's research attempted to ...

The SRS criteria give the methodological reference framework for the presentation of bracing results, while the SOSORT criteria give the clinical reference framework for an appropriate bracing treatment. The two have not been combined in a study until now. Our aim was to verify the efficacy of a complete, conservative ...

Fifty consecutive patients with posterior thoracolumbar spine fusion were included in a prospective study to determine the accuracy of intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM) for safe pedicle screw placement using postoperative computed tomography (CT). The patients were allocated into two equal groups. Pedicle screw placement was evaluated intraoperatively by using the ...

A retrospective review was performed to analyze the radiographic and functional outcomes of two different surgeries to repair a pseudarthrosis following a transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) procedure. Although there are several published reports on the results of the TLIF procedure, there are no reports on how to salvage a ...

The effectiveness of conservative treatment of scoliosis is controversial. Some studies suggest that brace is effective in stopping curve progression, whilst others did not report such an effect.The purpose of the present study was to effectiveness of Progressive Action Short Brace (PASB) in the correction of thoraco-lumbar curves, in agreement ...

Retrospective study. To evaluate the radiological results of fusion with segmental pedicle screw fixation in juvenile idiopathic scoliosis with a minimum 5-year follow-up. Progression of spinal deformity after posterior instrumentation and fusion in immature patients has been reported by several authors. Segmental pedicle screw fixation has been shown to be ...

BACKGROUND: This study retrospectively reviewed 9 patients who underwent occipitocervical fixation with a newly developed screw-rod fixation system between April 2004 and November 2005. The objective was to evaluate the clinical result of occipitocervical fixation with the screw-rod fixation system, including symptom relief, fusion rate and complications. METHODS: All 9 ...

Patients with cloverleaf skull deformity are known to have high morbidity and poor outcome. Physical anomalies include a misshapen, trilobar skull, with a high "bossed" forehead, a bulging temporal region, and a flat posterior skull from multiple cranial suture fusion. Patients with cloverleaf skull deformity treated at the University of ...

BACKGROUND CONTEXT: Studies have suggested that the use of bone marrow aspirate (BMA) with HEALOS (DePuy Spine, Raynham, MA), a collagen-hydroxyapatite sponge (CHS), is an effective substitute for autologous iliac crest bone graft when used in fusion procedures of the lumbar spine. PURPOSE: To assess clinical and radiographic outcomes after ...

INTRODUCTION: Sniff nasal inspiratory pressure (SNIP) has become a valuable tool in assessing respiratory muscle weakness. Its role in the scoliosis population is still being defined. AIM: To assess significance of SNIP value in paediatric patients with scoliosis. METHODS: Eighty-nine paediatric patients were investigated with SNIP at the time of ...

STUDY DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial comparing OP-1 (rhBMP-7) with iliac crest autograft in patients with symptomatic degenerative spondylolisthesis and spinal stenosis treated with decompression and uninstrumented posterolateral arthrodesis. OBJECTIVE: To determine the safety and the clinical and radiographic efficacy of OP-1 (rhBMP-7) Putty as compared with an iliac crest bone ...

The literature has described different indications for pelvic fixation in neuromuscular scoliosis. We retrospectively evaluated changes in pelvic obliquity for a minimum of two years among three groups: group I (initial pelvic obliquity >15 degrees; with pelvic fixation), group II (initial pelvic obliquity >15 degrees; without pelvic fixation), and group ...

INTRODUCTION: The traditional bipedicular kyphoplasty was proved to be safe and effective for the treatment of pain associated with osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures (VCFs). Nevertheless, unilateral kyphoplasty would be an attractive alternative to the traditional bipedicular kyphoplasty owing to theoretical speed, safety, and less expense; thus far, the biomechanical testing ...

OBJECT: As minimally invasive approaches gain popularity in spine surgery, clinical outcomes and effectiveness of mini-open transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) compared with traditional open TLIF have yet to be established. The authors retrospectively compared the outcomes of patients who underwent mini-open TLIF with those who underwent open TLIF. METHODS: ...

STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective case-control study. OBJECTIVE: To clarify associations between both lamina horizontalization and facet tropism and adjacent segment degeneration (ASD). SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: We have previously reported coexistence of lamina horizontalization and facet tropism adjacent to the cranial fusion segment as risk factors for ASD. METHODS: Subjects ...

OBJECTIVE: To propose a new technique to treat lumbar spinal stenosis with median approach endoscopic decompression combined with interspinous process implant fusion and evaluate the initial clinical outcome. METHODS: This study involved 30 patients who had neurogenic commitment claudication over 2 years and were resistant to conservative therapy. All cases ...

STUDY DESIGN: A prospective long-term follow-up study of nonoperative treatment for lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) and multivariable analysis of the prognosis. OBJECTIVES: To clarify the outcomes of nonoperative treatment for LSS over a long-term follow-up, and to extrapolate factors relating to the prognosis of treatment. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: The ...

OBJECT: Minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) is an increasingly popular procedure. The technique involves use of fluoroscopy to assist with pedicle screw (PS) placement. The potential exists for both the surgeon and the patient to become exposed to significant amounts of radiation. The authors undertook this study to ...

BACKGROUND: Spinal growth modulation by tethering the anterolateral aspect of the spine, as previously demonstrated in a nonscoliotic calf model, may be a viable fusionless treatment method for idiopathic scoliosis. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the radiographic, histologic, and biomechanical results after six and twelve months ...

STUDY DESIGN: Prospective cohort. OBJECTIVE: Comparing efficacy and outcomes of a new technique for sacroiliac arthrodesis. BACKGROUND: The sacroiliac joint has been described as a possible source of chronic low back pain. However, surgical treatment of sacroiliac pain and dysfunction is controversial. Arthrodesis is normally reserved as a salvage procedure ...

A retrospective radiographic study. To evaluate the axial plane lumbar responses after anterior selective thoracic fusion (STF) in patients with main thoracic adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (MT-AIS). Anterior scoliosis surgery induces more MT derotation through disc preparation than posterior surgery. Twenty-eight MT-AIS patients treated with STF were evaluated after a minimum ...

A retrospective study. To compare outcomes of apical derotation with pedicle screws in idiopathic and neuromuscular scoliosis (NMS). No information about apical derotation in NMS with pedicle screws is available. We performed deformity correcting surgery using pedicle screw constructs on 12 adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) patients (mean age 14.1 years) ...

The aim of this study was to compare our experience with minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (MITLIF) and open midline transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF). A total of 36 patients suffering from isthmic spondylolisthesis or degenerative disc disease were operated with either a MITLIF (n = 18) or an ...

Lumbar spinal fusion is advancing with minimally invasive techniques, bone graft alternatives, and new implants. This has resulted in significant reductions of operative time, duration of hospitalization, and higher success in fusion rates. However, costs have increased as many new technologies are expensive. This study was carried out to investigate ...

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective review of a multicenter prospectively collected series of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) patients. OBJECTIVE: To compare uninstrumented compensatory curve spontaneous derotation of the rib hump and lumbar prominence after selective lumbar or thoracic fusions in AIS. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Coronal correction of the unfused minor curve ...