Crossing the Cervicothoracic Junction During Posterior Cervical Fusion for Myelopathy Is Associated With Superior Radiographic Parameters But Similar Clinical Outcomes.

Background: For laminectomy and posterior spinal fusion (LPSF) surgery for cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM), the evidence is unclear as to whether fusions should cross the cervicothoracic junction (CTJ).

Objective: To compare LPSF outcomes between those with and without lower instrumented vertebrae (LIV) crossing the CTJ.

Methods: A consecutive series of adults undergoing LPSF for CSM from 2012 to 2018 with a minimum of 12-mo follow-up were identified.

Perioperative Anesthesia Lean Implementation Is Associated With Increased Operative Efficiency in Posterior Cervical Surgeries at a HighVolume Spine Center.

Objective: Lean management strategies aim to increase efficiency by eliminating waste or by improving processes to optimize value. The operating room (OR) is an arena where these strategies can be implemented. We assessed changes in OR efficiency after the application of lean methodology on perioperative anesthesia associated with posterior cervical spine surgeries.

The MISDEF2 algorithm: an updated algorithm for patient selection in minimally invasive deformity surgery.

Objective: Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) can be used as an alternative or adjunct to traditional open techniques for the treatment of patients with adult spinal deformity. Recent advances in MIS techniques, including advanced anterior approaches, have increased the range of candidates for MIS deformity surgery. The minimally invasive spinal deformity surgery (MISDEF2) algorithm was created to provide an updated framework for decision-making when considering MIS techniques in correction of adult spinal deformity.

Sexual Dysfunction: Prevalence and Prognosis in Patients Operated for Degenerative Lumbar Spondylolisthesis.

Background: There is a paucity of investigation on the impact of spondylolisthesis surgery on back pain-related sexual inactivity.

Objective: To investigate predictors of improved sex life postoperatively by utilizing the prospective Quality Outcomes Database (QOD) registry.

Methods: A total of 218 patients who underwent surgery for grade 1 degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis were included who were sexually active.

Summary of Guidelines for the Treatment of Lumbar Spondylolisthesis.

Degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis is a common cause of low back pain, affecting about 11.5% of the United States population. Patients with symptomatic lumbar spondylolisthesis may first be treated with conservative management strategies including, but not limited to, non-narcotic and narcotic pain medications, epidural steroid injections, transforaminal injections, and physical therapy.

A novel technique for awake, minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion: technical note.

Minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (MI-TLIF) is associated with improved patient-reported outcomes in well-selected patients. Recently, some neurosurgeons have aimed to further improve outcomes by utilizing multimodal methods to avoid the use of general anesthesia. Here, the authors report on the use of a novel awake technique for MI-TLIF in two patients.

Comparison of Fusion Rates Based on Graft Material Following Occipitocervical and Atlantoaxial Arthrodesis in Adults and Children.

Background: Fusion rates following rigid internal instrumentation for occipitocervical and atlantoaxial instability approach 100% in many reports. Based on this success and the morbidity that can be associated with obtaining autograft for fusion, surgeons increasingly select alternative graft materials.

Objective: To examine fusion failure using various graft materials in a retrospective observational study.

Analysis and interrater reliability of pB-C2 using MRI and CT: data from the Park-Reeves Syringomyelia Research Consortium on behalf of the Pediatric Craniocervical Society.

OBJECTIVE The distance to the ventral dura, perpendicular to the basion to C2 line (pB-C2), is commonly employed as a measure describing the anatomy of the craniovertebral junction. However, both the reliability among observers and the clinical utility of this measurement in the context of Chiari malformation Type I (CM-I) have been incompletely determined. METHODS Data were reviewed from the first 600 patients enrolled in the Park-Reeves Syringomyelia Research Consortium with CM-I and syringomyelia.

Potential evolution of neurosurgical treatment paradigms for craniopharyngioma based on genomic and transcriptomic characteristics.

The recent genomic and transcriptomic characterization of human craniopharyngiomas has provided important insights into the pathogenesis of these tumors and supports that these tumor types are distinct entities. Critically, the insights provided by these data offer the potential for the introduction of novel therapies and surgical treatment paradigms for these tumors, which are associated with high morbidity rates and morbid conditions. Mutations in the CTNNB1 gene are primary drivers of adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma (ACP) and lead to the accumulation of β-catenin protein in a subset of the nuclei within the neoplastic epithelium of these tumors.

Minimally invasive percutaneous screw fixation of traumatic spondylolisthesis of the axis.

OBJECT Most cases of traumatic spondylolisthesis of the axis (hangman's fracture) can be treated nonoperatively with reduction and subsequent immobilization in a rigid cervical collar or halo. However, in some instances, operative management is necessary and can be accomplished by using either anterior or posterior fusion techniques. Because open posterior procedures can result in significant blood loss, pain, and limited cervical range of motion, other less invasive options for posterior fixation are needed.

Relationship of vocal cord paralysis to the coil diameter of vagus nerve stimulator leads.

Object: This investigation was done to examine, following implantation of vagus nerve stimulators, the relationship of vocal cord paralysis to the inner diameter of the coils used to attach the stimulator lead to the nerve.

Methods: All data in this investigation were collected, as mandated by the FDA, by the manufacturer of vagus nerve stimulators and were made available without restrictions for analysis by the authors. The data reflect all initial device implantations in the United States for the period from 1997 through 2012.

The effects of pharmacist interventions on patients with polypharmacy.

Polypharmacy, the state of being prescribed or taking more medications than clinically appropriate, can result in a variety of negative outcomes for both patients and healthcare facilities. These include negative outcomes such as adverse drug effects, hospitalizations, and poor patient health, as well as economic outcomes such as increased drug cost and costs associated with increased utilization of health services. Available data suggests pharmacists have the potential to have a large effect in combating this problem through a variety of interventions such as reducing the number of medications taken, reducing the number of doses taken, increasing patient adherence, preventing adverse drug reactions (ADRs), improving patient quality of life and decreasing facility and drug costs.