Spine
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The level of Tuffier's line was assessed on 200 standing and 60 prone lumbar radiographs. Sex, height, weight, and body mass index (BMI) were correlated with the radiograph findings. ⋯ Tuffier's line demonstrated predictable sex-related differences: men had an intercristal line that most often intersected the L4 body or inferior endplate whereas the women's intercristal line most often intersected the L5 body or superior endplate. However, because the actual level of Tuffier's line may vary from the L4 body to the L5 body, the intercristal line is insufficient to use as the sole landmark for assessing spinal segmental level.
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Comparative Study
Repeat vertebroplasty for unrelieved pain at previously treated vertebral levels with osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures.
A retrospective study was performed in patients with a repeat percutaneous vertebroplasty (PV) at the vertebral levels previously undergoing vertebroplasty. ⋯ The outcomes of this series suggest that repeat PV is effective at the same vertebral levels in patients without pain-relief who underwent previous PV. Absent or inadequate filling of cement in the unstable fractured areas of the vertebral body may be responsible for the unrelieved pain after the initial PV.
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Comparative Study
The incidence of intravascular penetration in medial branch blocks: cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spines.
Clinical observational study. ⋯ The false-negative rate for medial branch blocks is likely to be lower than previously reported. The rate of inadvertent intravascular injection for thoracic medial branch blocks is 0.7%. Cervical and lumbar medial branch blocks are associated with an overall rate of 3.9% and 3.7%, respectively. Although these rates are lower than previously reported, the incidence of false-negative blocks still justifies the use of contrast to confirm nonvascular injection.
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Comparative Study
The effects of the degenerative changes in the functional spinal unit on the kinematics of the cervical spine.
The sagittal kinematics of the cervical spine was evaluated using kinematic magnetic resonance imaging (kMRI). ⋯ Our results suggest that cervical cord compression may cause deterioration of cervical cord function and kinematic changes in the cervical spine. We hypothesize that the spinal cord may potentially protect its functions from dynamic mechanical cord compression by restricting segmental motion, and these mechanisms may be closely related to the intervertebral discs.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Anterior cervical discectomy with or without fusion with ray titanium cage: a prospective randomized clinical study.
A prospective randomized clinical study. ⋯ This study showed no statistically significant difference between simple discectomy and discectomy followed by interbody fusion with a titanium cage in the surgical treatment of cervical radiculopathy caused by disc herniation.