Neurosurgical Injuries Associated With the Use of Personal Watercrafts.

Introduction:  A personal watercraft is widely used for recreation on coastlines, rivers, and lakes. This study aimed to identify the spectrum of neurosurgical injuries related to personal watercraft accidents in Puerto Rico.

Methods: A retrospective study was performed utilizing the University of Puerto Rico neurosurgery database to identify patients who had been consulted to the neurosurgery service from 2005 to 2023 due to a personal watercraft-related neurosurgical injury.

Testicular yolk sac tumour metastasis to the L2 vertebra.

The role of surgery for metastases to the vertebra from yolk sac tumours has not been established. The main treatment for disseminated disease is chemotherapy. We present a man in his 30s with a left orchiectomy for a testicular mixed germ cell tumour with a prominent yolk sac component who, 12 months later, developed an asymptomatic metastasis to the L2 vertebra unresponsive to chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Prognosis and Outcome of Cervical Primary Extraosseous Intradural Extramedullary Ewing Sarcoma: A Systematic Review.

Primary spinal extraosseous Ewing sarcoma (ES) is a rare mesenchymal tumor characterized by high malignancy, occurring in a few patients with ES. The occurrence of this tumor in the intradural extramedullary spinal region is infrequent. This systematic review examines primary extraosseous intradural extramedullary ES in the cervical region to provide specific outcomes and evaluate the role of adjuvant chemoradiation in overall prognosis.

Time of Surgery in the Outcome of Cervical Spinal Cord Injury: the University of Puerto Rico Experience.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of the timing of surgery on the neurological function of patients with a cervical spinal cord injury.

Methods: Retrospectively, an analysis was done of patients who underwent decompression and/or spinal cord stabilization surgeries from 2010 through 2014 for cervical trauma. All patients were older than 18 years of age, had had surgery at our facility, and had made at least 1 follow-up visit.

Anterior Longitudinal Ligament Release From the Minimally Invasive Lateral Retroperitoneal Transpsoas Approach: Technical Note.

Background: The technique for minimally invasive anterior longitudinal ligament release is a major advancement in lateral access surgery. This method provides hypermobility of lumbar segments to allow for aggressive lordosis restoration while maintaining the benefits of indirect decompression and minimally invasive access.

Objective: To provide video demonstration of the lateral retroperitoneal transpsoas approach with anterior longitudinal ligament sectioning.

Percutaneous Minimally Invasive (MIS) Guide Wire-less Self-Tapping Pedicle Screw Placement in the Thoracic and Lumbar Spine: Safety and Initial Clinical Experience: Technical Note.

Background: Multiple methods for minimally invasive (MIS) thoracic and lumbar pedicle screw placement exist. The guide wire is almost universally used for most insertion techniques; however, its use is not without complication and potentially prolongs surgical procedures.

Objective: To evaluate the safety of percutaneous MIS guide wire-less pedicle screw placement in the thoracic and lumbar spine at a single institution over a 3-year experience.

Complications and neurological deficits following minimally invasive anterior column release for adult spinal deformity: a retrospective study.

Background: Minimally invasive techniques have become increasing popular and are expanding into deformity surgery. The lateral retroperitoneal transpsoas anterior column release (ACR) is a newer minimally invasive alternative to posterior osteotomy techniques for correcting and promoting global spinal alignment. This procedure attempts to avoid the potential complications associated with conventional osteotomies, but has its own subset of unique complications to be discussed in depth.

Subsidence of polyetheretherketone intervertebral cages in minimally invasive lateral retroperitoneal transpsoas lumbar interbody fusion.

Study Design: A retrospective review.

Objective: The objective is to evaluate subsidence related to minimally invasive lateral retroperitoneal lumbar interbody fusion by reviewing our experience with this procedure.

Summary Of Background Data: Polyetheretherketone intervertebral cages of different lengths, widths, and heights filled with various allograft types are commonly used as spacers in lumbar fusions.

Acute adrenal insufficiency in cervical spinal cord injury.

Background: Adequate adrenal response is fundamental for the maintenance of physiological homeostasis in the setting of trauma and severe illness. Patients with neurogenic shock are at risk of severe consequences if adrenal insufficiency (AI) is not rapidly identified and treated.

Objective: To analyze the incidence of AI in patients with acute cervical spinal cord injury and its effect on in-hospital complications.

A 10-year experience of radiosurgical treatment for cerebral arteriovenous malformations: a perspective from a series with large malformations. Clinical article.

Object: The purpose of this study was to describe a 10-year experience in the use of radiosurgery (RS) for patients with arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) in Puerto Rico.

Methods: This retrospective analysis was performed for all patients with AVMs treated with RS by the senior author (R.H.

Descriptive profile of surgically-confirmed adult central nervous system tumors in Puerto Rico.

Introduction: Published studies regarding the incidence of central nervous system (CNS) tumors in Puerto Rico (PR) are exceedingly rare. The general understanding is that the incidence of these tumors in Puerto Rico is similar to the one found in the United States of America (USA). The objective of this study is to describe the specific profile of all the CNS tumors that are surgically intervened in Puerto Rico, through the creation of a database.

Contribution of mesenterial muscle dedifferentiation to intestine regeneration in the sea cucumber Holothuria glaberrima.

Holothurians (sea cucumbers) have been known from ancient times to have the capacity to regenerate their internal organs. In the species Holothuria glaberrima, intestinal regeneration involves the formation of thickenings along the free mesentery edge; these thickenings will later give rise to the regenerated organ. We have previously documented that a remodeling of the extracellular matrix and changes in the muscle layer occur during the formation of the intestinal primordium.

Myogenesis during holothurian intestinal regeneration.

Echinoderms are well known as being able to regenerate body parts and thus provide excellent models for studying regenerative processes in adult organisms. We are interested in intestinal regeneration in the sea cucumber, Holothuria glaberrima, and focus here on the regeneration of intestinal muscle components. We have used immunohistochemical techniques to describe the formation of the intestinal muscle layers.