The Combined Influence of Sleep Disturbance and Depression on 12-month Outcomes After Lumbar Spine Surgery.

Study Design: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data.

Objective: To examine the combined influence of preoperative sleep disturbance and depression on 12-month patient-reported outcomes after lumbar spine surgery (LSS).

Summary Of Background Data: Psychological and behavioral factors are considered major risk factors for poor outcomes after LSS.

Impact of Racial/Ethnic Disparities on Patient-Reported Outcomes Following Cervical Spine Surgery: QOD Analysis.

Study Design: Retrospective analysis of data from the cervical module of a National Spine Registry, the Quality Outcomes Database.

Objective: To examine the association of race and ethnicity with patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) at one year after cervical spine surgery.

Summary Of Background Data: Evidence suggests that Black individuals are 39% to 44% more likely to have postoperative complications and a prolonged length of stay after cervical spine surgery compared with Whites.

Isoforms of the neuropeptide myosuppressin differentially modulate the cardiac neuromuscular system of the American lobster, .

Post-translational modifications (PTMs) diversify peptide structure and allow for greater flexibility within signaling networks. The cardiac neuromuscular system of the American lobster, , is made up of a central pattern generator, the cardiac ganglion (CG), and peripheral cardiac muscle. Together, these components produce flexible output in response to peptidergic modulation.

Clinically Meaningful Improvement Following Cervical Spine Surgery: 30% Reduction Versus Absolute Point-change MCID Values.

Study Design: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected registry data.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the performance of 30% reduction to established absolute point-change values for measures of disability and pain in patients undergoing elective cervical spine surgery.

Summary Of Background Data: Recent studies recommend using a proportional change from baseline instead of an absolute point-change value to define minimum clinically important difference (MCID).

Differential neuropeptide modulation of premotor and motor neurons in the lobster cardiac ganglion.

The American lobster, , cardiac neuromuscular system is controlled by the cardiac ganglion (CG), a central pattern generator consisting of four premotor and five motor neurons. Here, we show that the premotor and motor neurons can establish independent bursting patterns when decoupled by a physical ligature. We also show that mRNA encoding myosuppressin, a cardioactive neuropeptide, is produced within the CG.

Why are patients dissatisfied after spine surgery when improvements in disability and pain are clinically meaningful?

Background Context: Studies have found that most patients are satisfied after spine surgery, with rates ranging from 53% to 90%. Patient satisfaction appears to be closely related to achieving clinical improvement in pain and disability after surgery. While the majority of the literature has focused on patients who report both satisfaction and clinical improvement in disability and pain, there remains an important subpopulation of patients who have clinically relevant improvement but report being dissatisfied with surgery.

Measuring clinically relevant improvement after lumbar spine surgery: is it time for something new?

Background Context: Minimum clinically important difference (MCID) for patient-reported outcome measures is commonly used to assess clinical improvement. However, recent literature suggests that an absolute point-change may not be an effective or reliable marker of response to treatment for patients with low or high baseline patient-reported outcome scores. The multitude of established MCIDs also makes it difficult to compare outcomes across studies and different spine surgery procedures.

Comparing different chronic preoperative opioid use definitions on outcomes after spine surgery.

Background Context: No consensus exists for defining chronic preoperative opioid use. Most spine studies rely solely on opioid duration to stratify patients into preoperative risk categories.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to compare established opioid definitions that contain both duration and dosage to opioid models that rely solely on duration, including the CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain, in patients undergoing spine surgery.

AMGSEFLamide, a member of a broadly conserved peptide family, modulates multiple neural networks in .

Recent genomic/transcriptomic studies have identified a novel peptide family whose members share the carboxyl terminal sequence -GSEFLamide. However, the presence/identity of the predicted isoforms of this peptide group have yet to be confirmed biochemically, and no physiological function has yet been ascribed to any member of this peptide family. To determine the extent to which GSEFLamides are conserved within the Arthropoda, we searched publicly accessible databases for genomic/transcriptomic evidence of their presence.