Adjacent segment disease after cervical spine fusion.

Anterior cervical diskectomy and fusion is one of the most common cervical spine procedures. Although it is usually successful in relieving the symptoms of radiculopathy and myelopathy, the subsequent development of clinically significant disk disease at levels adjacent to the fusion is a matter of concern. Adjacent segment cervical disease occurs in approximately 3% of patients; the incidence is expected to increase to more than 25% of patients within the first 10 years after the index fusion procedure.

The use of bone morphogenetic protein in lumbar spine surgery.

Creating a solid lumbar spinal fusion remains a challenge. Despite advances in fixation, a pseudarthrosis still may occur. Recently, attention has focused on creating a more biologically favorable environment to enhance fusion rate.

Regenerative medicine for the musculoskeletal system based on muscle-derived stem cells.

The identification and characterization of stem cells is introducing a paradigm shift in the field of orthopaedic surgery. Whereas in the past, diseased tissue was replaced with allograft material, current trends in research revolve around regenerating damaged tissue. Muscle-derived stem cells have an application in regeneration of articular cartilage, bone, and skeletal muscle.

Does open reduction increase the chance of infection during intramedullary nailing of closed tibial shaft fractures?

Objective: To evaluate whether an open technique used to obtain reduction during intramedullary nailing of closed tibial shaft fractures increases the risk of infection, compared to closed reduction and nailing.

Setting: University level 1 trauma center.

Design: Retrospective database analysis.

The role of CD34 expression and cellular fusion in the regeneration capacity of myogenic progenitor cells.

Characterization of myogenic subpopulations has traditionally been performed independently of their functional performance following transplantation. Using the preplate technique, which separates cells based on their variable adhesion characteristics, we investigated the use of cell surface proteins to potentially identify progenitors with enhanced regeneration capabilities. Based on previous studies, we used cell sorting to investigate stem cell antigen-1 (Sca-1) and CD34 expression on myogenic populations with late adhesion characteristics.

Identification of a novel population of muscle stem cells in mice: potential for muscle regeneration.

Three populations of myogenic cells were isolated from normal mouse skeletal muscle based on their adhesion characteristics and proliferation behaviors. Although two of these populations displayed satellite cell characteristics, a third population of long-time proliferating cells expressing hematopoietic stem cell markers was also identified. This third population comprises cells that retain their phenotype for more than 30 passages with normal karyotype and can differentiate into muscle, neural, and endothelial lineages both in vitro and in vivo.