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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Standalone lateral lumbar interbody fusion (SA-LLIF) without posterior instrumentation can be an alternative to 360° fusion in selected cases. This study aimed to investigate quantitative changes in psoas and paraspinal muscle morphology that occur on index levels after SA-LLIF. ⋯ Our study demonstrated that SA-LLIF did not alter psoas muscle morphology, underlining its minimally invasive nature. However, FI of PPM significantly increased over time despite the lack of direct tissue damage to posterior structures, suggesting a pain-mediated response and/or the result of segmental immobilization.
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This work aimed to provide a comprehensive description of cervical alignment including cranial arch and caudal arch according to age, thus offering a reference database for cervical deformity treatment. ⋯ This work explored in detail the normal reference values of cervical sagittal alignment including cranial arch and caudal arch under different age groups. Age-related changes in cervical alignment depended on the increase in the cranial and caudal arches in different proportions with age.
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The sole determination of volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD) is insufficient to evaluate overall bone integrity. The accumulation of advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) stiffens and embrittles collagen fibers. Despite the important role of AGEs in bone aging, the relationship between AGEs and vBMD is poorly understood. We hypothesized that an accumulation of AGEs, a marker of impaired bone quality, is related to decreased vBMD. ⋯ QCT-derived vBMD measurements were found to be inversely associated with trabecular fAGEs. Our results enhance the understanding of bone integrity by suggesting that spine surgery patients with decreased bone quantity may also have poorer bone quality.
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To evaluate the impact of the lowest instrumented vertebra (LIV) on Distal Junctional kyphosis (DJK) incidence in adult cervical deformity (ACD) surgery. ⋯ DJK risk is lower when the LIV is at the upper thoracic segment than the lower cervical segment. DJK incidence is highest with LIV level in the lower thoracic or thoracolumbar junction.
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There is no data that shows if it is possible to determine if a curve is structural or non-structural or to assess flexibility of an adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) instead of bending radiographs (BR). We investigated if the results of BR may be compared to those of MRI. ⋯ Spinal curves showed a significant correlation between bending radiographs and recumbent images (MRI). In our group of patients, a Cobb angle of the minor curve of less than 30° in the MRI indicated that this minor curve was non-structural according to the classification of Lenke.