Journal of neurosurgery. Spine
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The most common spinal procedure performed in the US is lumbar discectomy for disc herniation. Longterm disc degeneration and height loss occur in many patients after lumbar discectomy. The incidence of mechanical back pain following discectomy varies widely in the literature, and its associated health care costs are unknown. The authors set out to determine the incidence of and the health care costs associated with mechanical back pain attributed to segmental degeneration or instability at the level of a prior discectomy performed at their institution. ⋯ Postoperative mechanical back pain associated with same-level degeneration is not uncommon in patients undergoing single-level lumbar discectomy and is associated with substantial health care costs.
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The goal in this study was to review a series of patients who underwent surgical removal of intramedullary high-grade gliomas, focusing on the functional outcome, recurrence rates, and technical problems continually debated in neurosurgical practice. ⋯ Surgical treatment did not ameliorate the postoperative neurological status; instead, in the majority of cases, it prompted a worsening of the deficit. Radiotherapy and chemotherapy have a little influence on the length of survival. In this series, multimodality treatment of intramedullary high-grade astrocytomas has been shown to increase length of survival without improving the neurological status.
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Lumbar disc herniation is a rare but significant cause of pain and disability in the pediatric population. Lumbar microdiscectomy, although routinely performed in adults, has not been described in the pediatric population. The objective of this study was to determine the surgical results of lumbar microdiscectomy in the pediatric population by analyzing the experiences at Children's Hospital Boston over the past decade. ⋯ The treatment of pediatric lumbar disc herniation with microdiscectomy is a safe procedure with low operative complications. Nuances of the presentation, treatment options, and surgery in the pediatric population are discussed.
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In this study the author documents the epidemiology of spine and spinal cord injuries (SCIs) over 2 decades at the largest Level I adult trauma center in Canada. He describes the current state of spine injuries (SIs), their changing patterns over the years, and the relative distribution of different demographic factors in a defined group of trauma patients. ⋯ Data in this analysis will provide useful information to guide future studies on changing SI patterns, possible etiologies, and efficient resource allocation for the management of these diseases.
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So far, the morphological features of the vascular system supplying the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) have been inferred only from microangiograms. However, in the past most of these studies lacked 3D observations. This study presents the details of the microvasculature of the lumbar DRG visualized by scanning electron microscopy of vascular corrosion casts. ⋯ The results of this study suggest a causal relationship between the metabolic demands of local neuronal activity and both the density of the capillary network and the placement of the blood flow control structures.