Evaluation of survival rate and athletic ability after nonsurgical or surgical treatment of cleft palate in horses: 55 cases (1986-2008).

Objective: To determine survival rate and athletic ability after nonsurgical or surgical treatment of cleft palate in horses.

Design: Retrospective case series.

Animals: 55 horses with cleft palate.

Aging affects response to cyclic tensile stretch: paradigm for intervertebral disc degeneration.

Much evidence supports a fundamental role for mechanical forces in modulating differentiation, homeostasis, and remodelling of musculoskeletal cells. Little is known, however, regarding mechanobiology and gene expression of intervertebral disc (IVD) cells from older individuals. To characterise the effect of mechanical stimulation on cells from older discs, an in vitro study of IVD cells harvested from different aged pigs was conducted to measure extracellular matrix (ECM) gene expression in response to cyclic tensile stress (CTS).

Use of kinetic gait analysis for detection, quantification, and differentiation of hind limb lameness and spinal ataxia in horses.

Objective: To evaluate use of kinetic gait analysis for detection, quantification, and differentiation of hind limb lameness and spinal ataxia in horses.

Design: Prospective clinical study.

Animals: 36 horses.

Assessment of adjacent-segment disease in patients treated with cervical fusion or arthroplasty: a prospective 2-year study.

Object: The authors compared the incidence of radiologically documented changes and symptomatic adjacent-level cervical disc disease after single-level discectomy and subsequent cervical fusion or arthroplasty in two independent prospective clinical studies.

Methods: The patients were treated with the Affinity Anterior Cervical Cage System or the Bryan Artificial Cervical Disc. In each study the patients were required to undergo serial cervical radiography preoperatively and 24 months postoperatively, as well as serial clinical evaluations including documentation of adverse events, neurological status, and results of the 36-item Short Form Health Survey.

Matrix remodeling expression in anulus cells subjected to increased compressive load.

Study Design: Mechanobiology study of gene expression changes as a result of compressive overload of anular fibrochondrocytes.

Objective: To test hypotheses regarding phenotype shift in genes coding for representative extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins and matrix modulators.

Summary Of The Background Data: In degenerative disc disease, the transfer of compressive load through the disc shifts largely from the nucleus onto the anulus.

Long-term outcome after implantation of the Prestige I disc in an end-stage indication: 4-year results from a pilot study.

Object: The long-term function of an artificial cervical disc device is critical to its clinical success. The Prestige I Cervical Disc System has been used clinically since June 1998, and long-term results can now begin to be assessed. The authors conducted clinical and radiographic examinations at 3 and 4 years postoperatively to evaluate the longterm performance of the Prestige I device.

Effect of laser shock peening on fatigue life and surface characteristics of stainless steel cortical bone screws.

Objective: To investigate the effect of laser shock peening on the fatigue life and surface characteristics of 3.5-mm-diameter cortical bone screws.

Sample Population: 32 stainless steel, 3.

Reduction of epidural fibrosis in lumbar surgery with Oxiplex adhesion barriers of carboxymethylcellulose and polyethylene oxide.

Background Context: Postsurgical epidural adhesions and fibrosis after surgery for lumbar disc herniation are a consequence of normal wound healing. The presence of fibrosis renders reoperations risky, and in some patients fibrosis may lead to nerve root tethering.

Purpose: One approach to minimizing the risk of developing epidural adhesions is to provide a barrier between the dural membrane and the healing connective tissues.

Prevention of cerebrospinal fistulae and reduction of epidural scar with new surgical hemostat device in a porcine laminectomy model.

Study Design: In a porcine laminectomy model, a standard dural/arachnoid incision was made and tested for cerebrospinal fluid leak after material application. Sites were graded for scar formation and healing response at 3 weeks.

Objective: This study compares effectiveness of CoStasis, Tissucol, and suture for prevention of cerebrospinal fluid leaks and epidural scar formation after spinal dural incisions.

The new Frenchay artificial cervical joint: results from a two-year pilot study.

Study Design: A clinical prospective observational cohort study of 15 patients undergoing cervical intervertebral disc replacement.

Objective: To assess the safety, clinical stability, and capacity of a newly designed cervical intervertebral disc replacement for preserving motion in the cervical spine of patients with degenerative disc disease.

Summary Of Background Data: Anterior cervical discectomy and interbody fusion results in loss of motion segments and there is evidence of accelerated degenerative changes occurring at adjacent levels.

The Brain Tumor Cooperative Group NIH Trial 87-01: a randomized comparison of surgery, external radiotherapy, and carmustine versus surgery, interstitial radiotherapy boost, external radiation therapy, and carmustine.

Objective: The objective of the Brain Tumor Cooperative Group NIH Trial 87-01 trial was to investigate the effect of additional implanted radiation therapy in newly diagnosed patients with pathologically confirmed malignant gliomas.

Methods: The study involved a randomized comparison of surgery, external beam radiotherapy, and carmustine (BCNU) versus surgery, external beam therapy, interstitial radiotherapy boost, and BCNU in newly diagnosed malignant gliomas. (125)I was chosen as best suited for this effort because it allowed preimplantation planning and postimplantation quality assurance review.

Persistent low back pain and sciatica in the United States: treatment outcomes.

Patients with persistent low back pain (LBP) appear to be different in several important ways from patients who have traditionally been classified as patients with acute or chronic LBP, and data on the effectiveness of the treatments prescribed for them are lacking. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the short- and long-term effectiveness of the treatments currently prescribed for these patients. The data reported in this article were gathered as part of a multicenter, prospective, cross-sectional study of patients who were treated for persistent LBP by neurologic and orthopedic surgeons who are recognized specialists in spinal disorders.