Spine
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Matched case-control study. ⋯ Our results suggest that pediatric patients undergoing spinal fusion might benefit from antimicrobial prophylaxis that covers gram-negative organisms. Surgical duration, graft implantation, and blood loss are potentially modifiable operative risk factors. Neuromuscular scoliosis, high weight-for-age, and American Society of Anesthesiologists scores 3 or more may help surgical teams identify patients at high risk for SSI.
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Retrospective case series. ⋯ PET/CT was effective in diagnosing SSI and identifying infection sites despite the presence of spinal instruments. Although further studies with a larger number of patients are required, PET/CT presents a good candidate for detecting early-phase SSI after instrumented spinal surgery.
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Vaccination of spinal cord injury (SCI) mice with myelin basic protein-derived peptide (A91) pulsed dendritic cells (DC) to enhance brain-derived neurotrophic factor and neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) expression in injured spinal cord. ⋯ The findings of study demonstrate that the therapeutic strategy of vaccination A91-DC is a potential minimally invasive approach that could provide strong neurotrophic factor support after SCI.
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Prospective study. ⋯ The mJOA is a useful tool in the assessment of cervical spondylotic myelopathy and it should be adopted as the standard for evaluating functional status in this population.