European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society
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C-reactive protein (CRP) has been shown to be a powerful parameter for detecting acute postoperative spinal implant infections (PSII) with a high sensitivity and specificity. However, little data are available on the performance of CRP in the diagnosis of delayed PSII. The aim of the current study was therefore to establish cutoff values for diagnosing delayed infection based on serum CRP. ⋯ Serum CRP showed low sensitivity and specificity for diagnosis of delayed PSII, even after applying cutoffs optimized by using receiver operating curve analysis, because of the high incidence of low-virulent pathogens. These slides can be retrieved under Electronic Supplementary Material.
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Scoliosis with spondylolisthesis was described in 4.4-48%. No information on clinical impact or outcome is available. ⋯ The prevalence of low-grade isthmic L5-spondylolisthesis in AIS patients was 7.8%. The presence of low-grade isthmic spondylolisthesis did not influence the curve type of AIS nor did it affect the course or long-term outcome. These slides can be retrieved under Electronic Supplementary Material.
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Review Meta Analysis
Meta-analysis of topical vancomycin powder for microbial profile in spinal surgical site infections.
To systematically evaluate the impact of topical vancomycin powder for microbial profile in spinal surgical site infections. ⋯ Topical administration of vancomycin powder may not increase the rates of gram-negative bacterial or polymicrobial infections in spinal surgical sites. On the contrary, it can significantly reduce the infection rates of gram-positive bacteria, methicillin-resistant staphylococcus (MRS) and microorganism. Of course, the topical vancomycin powder cannot change the rates of gram-negative bacterial infections, which may be related to the antimicrobial spectrum of vancomycin. Due to the limited number of articles included in this study, additional large-scale and high-quality studies are needed to provide more reliable clinical evidence.
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Clinical photography has proven to be reliable for posture assessment in adolescents and young adults with idiopathic scoliosis. This paper attempts to elucidate whether clinical photography is capable of distinguishing the distinctive characteristics in trunk deformity of the different Lenke patterns in patients with severe scoliosis candidate for surgery. ⋯ Clinical photography is a valid method for assessing trunk asymmetry in severe idiopathic scoliosis. Specifically, for waist area measurements, robust cutoff values can be determined to discriminate among different curve patterns according to Lenke classification. These slides can be retrieved under Electronic Supplementary Material.
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Measurement of vertebral axial rotation (VAR) is relevant for the assessment of scoliosis. Stokes method allows estimating VAR in frontal X-rays from the relative position of the pedicles and the vertebral body. This method requires identifying these landmarks for each vertebral level, which is time-consuming. In this work, a quasi-automated method for pedicle detection and VAR estimation was proposed. ⋯ The proposed method allowed calculating VAR values in frontal radiographs with minimal user intervention and robust quasi-automated pedicle localization. These slides can be retrieved under Electronic Supplementary Material.