Wartime penetrating traumatic brain injury of the anterior skull base involving the paranasal sinuses: a single-center, first-year experience from Dnipro, Ukraine.

Objective: Since February 2022, the number of casualties in the Russian-Ukrainian war have dramatically increased, with a high incidence of penetrating traumatic brain injuries (pTBIs). To date, there has been limited evaluation of pTBI of the anterior skull base involving the paranasal sinuses. The objective of this study was to highlight the authors' experience with this injury pattern and identify specific factors associated with favorable short-term (1-month) outcome and survival.

Determining the time frame of maximum clinical improvement in surgical decompression for cervical spondylotic myelopathy when stratified by preoperative myelopathy severity: a cervical Quality Outcomes Database study.

Objective: While surgical decompression is an important treatment modality for cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM), it remains unclear if the severity of preoperative myelopathy status affects potential benefit from surgical intervention and when maximum postoperative improvement is expected. This investigation sought to determine if retrospective analysis of prospectively collected patient-reported outcomes (PROs) following surgery for CSM differed when stratified by preoperative myelopathy status. Secondary objectives included assessment of the minimal clinically important difference (MCID).

Robotic Sacroiliac Fixation Technique for Triangular Titanium Implant in Adult Degenerative Scoliosis Surgery: 2-Dimensional Operative Video.

Corrective surgery remains a definitive treatment for adult spinal deformity, improving pain and disability. With these cases, instrumentation to the pelvis with iliac fixation is recommended. Whether iliac or S2-Alar-Iliac (S2AI) trajectories are used, sacroiliac joint pain and long-term sacroilitis can be common after long-fusion constructs.

Long-term clinically relevant rodent model of methotrexate-induced cognitive impairment.

Background: With the enhanced use of chemotherapy and the advent of increased patient survival rates, there are an increasing number of cancer survivors living with chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment. A growing number of clinical studies have brought to light the association of agents like methotrexate in generating these neurological sequelae, although mechanisms remain unclear.

Methods: Here, we use a clinically relevant regimen of several cycles of methotrexate and leucovorin rescue to develop a model of chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment, and investigate the in vivo long-term (16 mo) impact of high-dose systemic methotrexate on white matter cellular dynamics as assessed by stereology, animal behavior, and diffusion tensor imaging.

In vivo annular repair using high-density collagen gel seeded with annulus fibrosus cells.

Objective: The aim is assessing the in vivo efficacy of annulus fibrosus (AF) cells seeded into collagen by enhancing the reparative process around annular defects and preventing further degeneration in a rat-tail model.

Summary Of Background Data: Treating disc herniation with discectomy may relieve the related symptoms but does not address the underlying pathology. The persistent annular defect may lead to re-herniation and further degeneration.

Total disc replacement using tissue-engineered intervertebral discs in the canine cervical spine.

The most common reason that adults in the United States see their physician is lower back or neck pain secondary to degenerative disc disease. To date, approaches to treat degenerative disc disease are confined to purely mechanical devices designed to either eliminate or enable flexibility of the diseased motion segment. Tissue engineered intervertebral discs (TE-IVDs) have been proposed as an alternative approach and have shown promise in replacing native IVD in the rodent tail spine.

Ten-Step Minimally Invasive Spine Lumbar Decompression and Dural Repair Through Tubular Retractors.

Background: Minimally invasive spine (MIS) surgery utilizing tubular retractors has become an increasingly popular approach for decompression in the lumbar spine. However, a better understanding of appropriate indications, efficacious surgical techniques, limitations, and complication management is required to effectively teach the procedure and to facilitate the learning curve.

Objective: To describe our experience and recommendations regarding tubular surgery for lumbar disc herniations, foraminal compression with unilateral radiculopathy, lumbar spinal stenosis, synovial cysts, and dural repair.

A New Volumetric Radiologic Method to Assess Indirect Decompression After Extreme Lateral Interbody Fusion Using High-Resolution Intraoperative Computed Tomography.

Background: Two-dimensional radiographic methods have been proposed to evaluate the radiographic outcome after indirect decompression through extreme lateral interbody fusion (XLIF). However, the assessment of neural decompression in a single plane may underestimate the effect of indirect decompression on central canal and foraminal volumes. The present study aimed to assess the reliability and consistency of a novel 3-dimensional radiographic method that assesses neural decompression by volumetric analysis using a new generation of intraoperative fan-beam computed tomography scanner in patients undergoing XLIF.

Can Fan-Beam Interactive Computed Tomography Accurately Predict Indirect Decompression in Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery Fusion Procedures?

Background: Recently, novel mobile intraoperative fan-beam computed tomography (CT) was introduced, allowing for real-time navigation and immediate intraoperative evaluation of neural decompression in spine surgery. This study sought to investigate whether intraoperatively assessed neural decompression during minimally invasive spine surgery (MISS) has a predictive value for clinical and radiographic outcome.

Methods: A retrospective study of patients undergoing intraoperative CT (iCT)-guided extreme lateral interbody fusion or transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion was conducted.

Annulus Fibrosus Repair Using High-Density Collagen Gel: An In Vivo Ovine Model.

Study Design: Ovine in vivo study.

Objective: To perform lateral approach lumbar surgery in an ovine model to administer an injectable riboflavin cross-linked high-density collagen (HDC) gel and to assess its ability to mitigate intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration after induced annulus fibrosus (AF) injury.

Summary Of Background Data: Biological-based injectable gels have shown efficacy in restoring biomechanical, radiographic, and histological parameters in IVD-injured animal models.

Initial investigation of individual and combined annulus fibrosus and nucleus pulposus repair ex vivo.

Unlabelled: Novel tissue engineered and biomaterial approaches to treat intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration focus on single aspects of the progressive disease and hence are insufficient repair strategies. In this study, annulus fibrosus (AF) and nucleus pulposus (NP) biomaterial repair strategies were used individually and combined to treat IVD degeneration modeled in ex vivo rat-tail motion segments by annulotomy and nucleotomy. An injectable riboflavin cross-linked high-density collagen gel patched defects in the AF, while NP repair consisted of injections of a modified hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogel.

Carotid Artery Injury in Anterior Cervical Spine Surgery: Multicenter Cohort Study and Literature Review.

Study Design: Retrospective study and literature review.

Objective: To provide more comprehensive data about carotid artery injury (CAI) or cerebrovascular accident (CVA) related to anterior cervical spine surgery.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective, multicenter, case series study involving 21 high-volume surgical centers from the AOSpine North America Clinical Research Network.

The Impact of Cage Dimensions, Positioning, and Side of Approach in Extreme Lateral Interbody Fusion.

Study Design: This is a retrospective single-center study.

Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of cage characteristics and position toward clinical and radiographic outcome measures in patients undergoing extreme lateral interbody fusion (ELIF).

Summary Of Background Data: ELIF is utilized for indirect decompression and minimally invasive surgical treatment for various degenerative spinal disorders.

Total Navigation in Spine Surgery; A Concise Guide to Eliminate Fluoroscopy Using a Portable Intraoperative Computed Tomography 3-Dimensional Navigation System.

Background: Portable intraoperative computed tomography (iCT) with integrated 3-dimensional navigation (NAV) offers new opportunities for more precise navigation in spinal surgery, eliminates radiation exposure for the surgical team, and accelerates surgical workflows. We present the concept of "total navigation" using iCT NAV in spinal surgery. Therefore, we propose a step-by-step guideline demonstrating how total navigation can eliminate fluoroscopy with time-efficient workflows integrating iCT NAV into daily practice.

Total 3D Airo® Navigation for Minimally Invasive Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion.

Introduction. A new generation of iCT scanner, Airo®, has been introduced. The purpose of this study is to describe how Airo facilitates minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (MIS-TLIF).

Biological Treatment Approaches for Degenerative Disk Disease: A Literature Review of In Vivo Animal and Clinical Data.

Study Design: Literature review.

Objective: Degenerative disk disease (DDD) has a negative impact on quality of life and is a major cause of morbidity worldwide. There has been a growing interest in the biological repair of DDD by both researchers and clinicians alike.

Correction: Minimally Invasive 2D Navigation-Assisted Treatment of Thoracolumbar Spinal Fractures in East Africa: A Case Report.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.7759/cureus.507.

Minimally Invasive 2D Navigation-Assisted Treatment of Thoracolumbar Spinal Fractures in East Africa: A Case Report.

Spinal surgery under Eastern-African circumstances is technically demanding and associated with significant complications, such as blood loss, infection, and wound breakdown. We report a spinal trauma case that was performed using minimally invasive surgery (MIS) and navigation, and hypothesize that these newer techniques may enable surgeons to perform effective spinal surgery with minimal complications and good outcomes.  During the 2014 First Hands-on Neurotrauma Course held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, we successfully performed three minimally invasive and two-dimensional (2D) navigated spinal surgeries to decompress and stabilize patients with complete and incomplete spinal injuries.

Intraoperative herniation of an L5-S1 disc during microdiscectomy and transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion: a case report.

Introduction: We report the progression of an intraoperative L5-S1 lumbar disc herniation that occurred during a routine microdiscectomy and transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion, which, to the best of our knowledge, has never been previously reported in the literature. The objective of this report is to bring to light the possibility of a lumbar disc herniating intraoperatively, and to demonstrate that accompanying neurologic involvement can be detected and subsequently addressed with the aid of neurophysiologic monitoring.

Case Presentation: A 36-year-old African American woman, who had previously undergone minimally invasive microdiscectomy for a right L5-S1 herniated nucleus pulposus with full recovery, presented with a large reherniation of the L5-S1 disc on the right side.