Autografts for spinal fusion: osteogenic potential of laminectomy bone chips and bone shavings collected via high speed drill.

In case of revision or minimal invasive spinal surgery, the amount of autograft possibly harvested from the lamina and the spinous processes is limited. Ekanayake and Shad (Acta Neurochir 152:651-653, 2010) suggest the application of bone shavings harvested via high speed burr additionally or instead, but so far no data regarding their osteogenic potential exist. Aim of the study was to compare the osteogenic potential of bone chips and high speed burr shavings, and to evaluate the applicability of bone shavings as an autograft for spinal fusion.

[Implantation of the ProDisc intervertebral disk prosthesis for the lumbar spine].

Objective: To eradicate treatment-resistant lower back pain caused by painful degeneration of the intervertebral disks. To avoid the disadvantages of alternative fusion surgery, especially degenerative wear and tear on adjacent segments, by maintaining the mobility of the affected motion segments.

Indications: Treatment-resistant lower back pain due to painful degeneration of the intervertebral disks ("degenerative disk disease").

Is there an indication for prophylactic balloon kyphoplasty? A pilot study.

Vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty are associated with a recurrent fracture rate of 2.4% to 23%, which is lower than the general natural history of untreated osteoporotic fractures. Some authors suggest the risk of refracture at adjacent vertebra will be reduced by prophylactic stabilization.

Preliminary results with modified techniques of balloon kyphoplasty for vertebra plana, traumatic fractures and neoplasms.

Percutaneous vertebroplasty and balloon kyphoplasty are less invasive treatment options than open surgery for patients with vertebral compression fractures. With balloon kyphoplasty, the injection of bone cement is preceded by inflation and removal of bone tamps (balloons) inside the fractured vertebral body. This allows for the creation of a void, where viscous cement is delivered resulting in a lower risk for cement leakage than with vertebroplasty.

Multicentre performance evaluation of the E170 module for modular analytics.

The E170 module was evaluated at 13 sites in an international multicentre study. The objective of the study was to assess the analytical performance of 49 analytes, and to collect feedback on the system's reliability and practicability. The typical, within-run coefficients of variation (CVs) for most of the quantitative assays ranged between 1 and 2% while a range of 2-4% was achieved with the infectious disease methods.