Unilateral and bilateral pedicle screw fixation in transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion: radiographic and clinical analysis.

Background: Transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion with bilateral segmental pedicle screw (PS) fixation is a widely used and well-recognized technique that provides fixation and load-bearing capacity, while restoring morphometric spine parameters and relieving symptoms in patients with degenerative disc disease. A supplemental interspinous process fixation plate (ISFP) as an adjunct to unilateral PS fixation allows for reduced invasiveness of this technique compared with bilateral PS placement. The biomechanical comparison results have been previously reported, but the significance of these findings has not been studied in clinical settings.

Complications in patients undergoing combined transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion and posterior instrumentation with deformity correction for degenerative scoliosis and spinal stenosis.

Background: Utilization of the transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) approach for scoliosis offers the patients deformity correction and interbody fusion without the additional morbidity associated with more invasive reconstructive techniques. Published reports on complications associated with these surgical procedures are limited. The purpose of this study was to quantify the intra- and postoperative complications associated with the TLIF surgical approach in patients undergoing surgery for spinal stenosis and degenerative scoliosis correction.

Interhemispheric propagation time and temporal lobe epileptogenicity.

Long-term subdural electroencephalographic (EEG) recording was performed in a series of patients with medically intractable complex partial seizures to test the hypothesis that ictal interhemispheric propagation time (IHPT) is correlated with temporal lobe epileptogenicity. In 41 patients, the duration from initial subdural EEG seizure onset to the first appearance of subdural EEG epileptic activity in the contralateral hemisphere (IHPT) was measured in seconds and analyzed for a quantitative relationship to temporal lobe seizure interval (frequency⁻¹), in hours. A statistically significant, nonlinear correlation between IHPT and seizure interval was found (Arctan y=-0.