Spine
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Comparative Study
The range and nature of flexion-extension motion in the cervical spine.
The full flexion to full extension angular ranges of motion (ROM) from C2 to C7 were measured for 78 normal subjects and 50 cervical myelopathic cases to examine the cervical motions for these two groups in a Chinese population. ⋯ This work suggests that the reduction in total angular ROM concomitant with aging results in the emphasis of cervical flexion-extension motion moving from C5:C6 to C4:C5, both in normal cases and those suffering from cervical myelopathy.
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This study reviewed 36 retrospective patients who underwent surgeries for rare cervico-thoracic junctional problems. ⋯ In treating patients with cervico-thoracic problems, one should do careful clinical and radiologic survey to avoid missed or delayed diagnoses, and the surgeon must be thoroughly familiar with anterior and posterior landmarks and associated vital structures and remember that the cervico-thoracic junction is an area of potential instability particularly after trauma or laminectomy. Complications of surgery at the cervico-thoracic junction are frequent, and meticulous surgical techniques and postoperative care are important in the prevention of these complications.
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This study analyzed anatomic characteristics of cervical ventral rootlets. After total vertebrectomy, detailed morphology of the ventral rootlets was studied from the anterior. ⋯ Short C5 ventral rootlets appeared to become taut and easily injured by hemilateral anterior compression. Spinal cord lesion resulting from localized anterior compression at the single disc level might not play as important a role in the pathogenesis of dissociated motor loss of the deltoid muscle because of the wider spinal segments of C5 and C6.
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The histologic and histochemical changes in back muscle were studied in virgin surgery patients with lumbar spine disorders and in patients who underwent repeat posterior lumbar surgery. ⋯ Histologic damages of back muscle due to previous surgical intervention were long-lasting. To avoid permanent muscle injury, the retraction time and pressure should be shortened or the pressure on the back muscle should be monitored during posterior surgery.