World Neurosurg
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Recent literature suggests that sagittal imbalance is a risk factor for adjacent segment disease following fusion surgery. This study explored the influence of pelvic incidence minus lumbar lordosis (PI-LL) mismatch on the mid-term results and reoperation rate after single-level posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF). ⋯ The mid-term results of L4-5 single-level PLIF were compared with and without PI-LL mismatch, with the threshold defined as 30°; however, there were no significant differences in both the Japanese Orthopaedic Association recovery and reoperation rates between the 2 groups.
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Pyogenic vertebral osteomyelitis is a bacterial infection of the vertebral body often caused by hematogenous spread from a distant site with 3%-11% of cases affecting the cervical spine.1,2 Patients at risk for osteomyelitis are intravenous drug users, patients with diabetes, patients in dialysis, and males older than 50 years of age. In severe cases where infection causes osseous destruction of the vertebral column lending to a loss of normal sagittal and coronal plane alignment, neurologic impairment, or spinal instability, surgical correction may be required.3 A 38-year-old woman with a medical history of intravenous drug use presented with a 1-week history of progressive paresthesias, subjective loss of lower extremity sensation, and severe right upper extremity weakness. Neurologic examination was notable for significant weakness in the right deltoids, biceps, and triceps. ⋯ The patient was then transitioned to the prone position and underwent C3-T3 posterior fusion with instrumentation and C3-C7 laminectomies. Correction of sagittal imbalance should restore normal physiologic spinal alignment while promoting a successful fusion.4 The patient was discharged to acute rehabilitation after an uneventful postoperative course. At 5-month follow-up, she has regained antigravity strength in right upper extremity and reports significant reduction in neck pain.
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Clinical research is necessary to evaluate neurosurgical interventions, yet clinical trials are conducted less frequently in low- and middle-income countries. Because specific barriers, facilitating factors, and strategies for neurosurgical clinical research in Uganda have not been previously identified, this study evaluated neurosurgical providers' perspectives on clinical research and documentation patterns of neurosurgical variables at Mulago National Referral Hospital. ⋯ At Mulago National Referral Hospital, there was variability in the frequency of documentation of neurosurgical variables, which may impact data collection for future studies. While multiple barriers were identified, sociocultural, financing, and time barriers greatly impacted neurosurgical clinical research. Despite that, identified facilitating factors and strategies could be utilized to support neurosurgical research capacity growth.
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Many predictive models for estimating clinical outcomes after spine surgery have been reported in the literature. However, implementation of predictive scores in practice is limited by the time-intensive nature of manually abstracting relevant predictors. In this study, we designed natural language processing (NLP) algorithms to automate data abstraction for the thoracolumbar injury classification score (TLICS). ⋯ We have developed a machine learning NLP model for extracting TLICS features from radiology reports, which we deployed in a web application that can be integrated into clinical practice.
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Esthesioneuroblastoma (ENB) is a rare cancer deriving from the olfactory mucosa. Among the basal or neural genomic subtypes, the basal subtype is associated with poorer survival, poor differentiation, and higher levels of tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TIICs). The immune microenvironment of these ENB subtypes remains unclear. We used an established machine learning algorithm on ENB transcriptomic profiles. ⋯ Basal and neural subtypes display distinct TIIC involvement, which may impact their difference in outcome. These findings provide the framework for further investigation in novel immunomodulation strategies for ENB.