Spine
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An observational study of the relation between disability and psychological distress in patients with no on-going compensation claim who underwent posterior lumbar interbody fusion for chronic low back pain. ⋯ Postoperative improvement in disability was not found to be related to preoperative psychology as measured by the Distress and Risk Assessment Method score. Change in disability is significantly related to change in distress.
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An analysis of proteoglycans of the intervertebral disc using immunoblotting of tissue extracts. ⋯ Growth, aging, and degeneration of the intervertebral disc are associated with changes in the abundance and structure of fibromodulin and lumican, which presumably influence the functional properties of the tissue.
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Cadaveric study on the biomechanics of osteoporotic vertebral bodies augmented and not augmented with polymethylmethacrylate cement. ⋯ This study suggests that unipedicular and bipedicular injection of cement, as used during percutaneous vertebroplasty, increases acute strength and restores stiffness of vertebral bodies with compression fractures.
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Retrospective review of anterior and posterior fusions for treatment of adolescent idiopathic thoracic scoliosis. ⋯ Spontaneous lumbar curve correction occurs consistently after both selective anterior and posterior thoracic fusion implying intrinsic ability of the lumbar spine to follow thoracic spine correction. In the current study, using multisegmented hook-rod systems posteriorly with intentional limitation of posterior thoracic correction to avoid decompensation, instrumented thoracic and spontaneous lumbar curve correction was statistically better after anterior thoracic instrumentation and fusion, with the results most dramatic for lumbar curve Type C (true King II curves).
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This outcome study used patients' responses to the Scoliosis Research Society Outcomes Instrument to discriminate among patients who had undergone surgery for correction of juvenile or adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. ⋯ The strongest predictors of self-perceived favorable outcome among patients were female sex and white race. It is also suggested that longer fusions to L1 through L3 lead to less perceived pain than with shorter fusions.