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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To evaluate the clinical and radiological outcomes of elderly (>75 years old) patients who underwent spinal instrumented fusion surgery. ⋯ Spinal fixation and fusion in patients older than 75 years old grants good results in terms of quality of life but the rate of morbidity is higher than standard spine surgery. Rate of fusion especially is still a critical point.
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The Myelopathy Disability Index and the Neck Disability Index are widely used to assess outcome in cervical spine surgery. Short Form (SF) 36 is a generic measure of health which can be used to measure health gains across a wide variety of conditions. The aim of the current study is to assess long-term outcomes using these measures in a cohort of patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM). ⋯ We have used generic and condition-specific outcome measures of health and shown that in patients with CSM treated surgically, up to 70% can expect improvement in their quality of life. These outcome measures are easy to collect and provide objective evidence of changes in quality of life and disability and can help quantify the potential health gains that can be achieved.
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To evaluate the outcome of pure percutaneous fixation of unstable single level fractures at the thoraco-lumbar junction (A1 to B2 Magerl/AO Spine). ⋯ When feasible we recommend a pure percutaneous short segment pedicle screw fixation adding a lordorizing screw.
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The pathomechanism of cervical myelopathy due to cervical ossification of posterior longitudinal ligament (C-OPLL) remains unclear. No previous literature has quantified the influence of dynamic factors on cervical myelopathy due to C-OPLL. The purpose was to investigate the influence of dynamic factors on the spinal column in the patients with C-OPLL using CT scan after myelography (MCT). ⋯ Dynamic factors are seen both in cervical myelopathy patients with the continuous type of OPLL and others. Deterioration of myelopathy could be induced by motion effects even in the connection department of OPLL.
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Lumbar disc degeneration may be associated with intensity of neovascularization in disc herniations. Our study was designed to evaluate how much the severity of histodegeneration is related to the development of neovascularization and to the level of pleiotrophin in the herniated lumbar discs. ⋯ Severe histodegeneration of the lumbar disc herniations is associated with enhanced neovascularization and potentially also spontaneous regression of the herniated tissue.