Perioperative outcomes of general versus spinal anesthesia in the lumbar spine surgery population: A systematic review and meta-analysis of data from 2005 through 2021.

Study Design: Meta-analysis.

Objectives: Perform a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the perioperative utility of general versus spinal anesthesia in the lumbar spine surgery population.

Methods: PubMed and Embase were queried for manuscripts reporting perioperative outcomes for patients undergoing one to three-level lumbar spine surgery (including decompression, fusion, and decompression with fusion) using either general or spinal anesthesia.

Cerebrospinal fluid and plasma biomarkers in individuals at risk for genetic prion disease.

Background: Prion disease is neurodegenerative disease that is typically fatal within months of first symptoms. Clinical trials in this rapidly declining symptomatic patient population have proven challenging. Individuals at high lifetime risk for genetic prion disease can be identified decades before symptom onset and provide an opportunity for early therapeutic intervention.

Opposing Roles of apolipoprotein E in aging and neurodegeneration.

Apolipoprotein E (APOE) effects on brain function remain controversial. Removal of APOE not only impairs cognitive functions but also reduces neuritic amyloid plaques in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Can APOE simultaneously protect and impair neural circuits? Here, we dissociated the role of APOE in AD versus aging to determine its effects on neuronal function and synaptic integrity.