Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion with self-locking standalone cage for the treatment of cervical degenerative disc disease in patients over 80 years.

Background: The need for anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) for cervical degenerative disc disease (CDDD) will probably grow dramatically in the geriatric population. However, ACDF with self-locking standalone cages in patients over 80 years has not yet been investigated. This study aimed to assess the clinical and radiographic results in patients over 80 years treated by ACDF with self-locking standalone cages.

Analysis of D-dimer levels for the detection of deep venous thrombosis for patients with spinal metastasis undergoing decompression with fixation.

Background: Deep venous thrombosis (DVT) after spinal surgery has recently attracted increasing attention. Patients with spinal metastases who undergo decompression with fixation are at a high risk of developing DVT. D-dimer levels indicate the risk of DVT, and the purpose of our study was to investigate D-dimer levels as a predictor of DVT perioperatively.

CX3CL1 in the red bone marrow promotes renal cell carcinoma to metastasize to the spine by involving the Src-related pathway.

Spinal metastasis (SM) frequently occurs in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients. Our preliminary work showed that CX3CL1 plays a positive role in SM. The objective of the present study was to verify whether CX3CL1 activates the downstream pathway by binding to CX3CR1 in RCC cells, ultimately promoting RCC to metastasize to the spine.

Hsa_circ_0006571 promotes spinal metastasis through sponging microRNA-138 to regulate sirtuin 1 expression in lung adenocarcinoma.

Background: Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are known to participate in lung cancer. However, their role in spinal metastasis (SM) of lung adenocarcinoma remains elusive. In this study, we determined that hsa_circ_0006571 serves as a sponge for miR-138, which targets sirtuin 1 (Sirt1) in the development of SM.

Autophagy-activated nucleus pulposus cells deliver exosomal miR-27a to prevent extracellular matrix degradation by targeting MMP-13.

Although autophagy may be beneficial for maintaining the metabolic balance of the extracellular matrix (ECM) in the nucleus pulposus (NP) and its vitality under inflammation, the underlying mechanism still remains unclear. A previous study found that autophagy activation stimulated the release of exosomes in normal chondrocytes, which are located in a similar avascular environment and share many common features with those of nucleus pulposus cells (NPCs). This study explored the protective effect on matrix degradation in the NP by exosomes derived from autophagy-activated NPCs and exosomal microRNAs.

Autophagy regulates exosome secretion in rat nucleus pulposus cells via the RhoC/ROCK2 pathway.

Our present study investigated whether exosome secretion of nucleus pulposus cells (NPCs) is regulated by autophagy. Different autophagic states of NPCs were induced by rapamycin (Rap), bafilomycin A1 (Baf) and other agents, and it was found that exosomes were secreted in an autophagy-dependent manner. Activation or inhibition of autophagy increased or decreased, respectively, the amount of exosomes that were released into the extracellular space.

Value of CT-guided Core Needle Biopsy in Diagnosing Spinal Lesions: A Comparison Study.

Objective: A retrospective study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of CT-guided core needle biopsy in diagnosing spinal lesions through comparison with C-arm guidance.

Methods: From April 2013 to July 2017, a total of 188 patients, who suffered from spinal lesions or had malignant tumor history with a new spinal fracture, were included in this study. There were 96 men and 92 women, with an average of 57.

Learning curves of percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy in transforaminal approach at the L4/5 and L5/S1 levels: a comparative study.

Objectives: This study aimed to compare the learning curves of percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD) in a transforaminal approach at the L4/5 and L5/S1 levels.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the first 60 cases at the L4/5 level (Group I) and the first 60 cases at the L5/S1 level (Group II) of PELD performed by one spine surgeon. The patients were divided into subgroups A, B, and C (Group I: A cases 1-20, B cases 21-40, C cases 41-60; Group II: A cases 1-20, B cases 21-40, C cases 41-60).