Publications by authors named "Mazin Al Tamimi"

Article Synopsis
  • This study analyzes prognostic factors affecting long-term outcomes and changes in contusion volume in patients with traumatic brain injuries (TBI) due to hemorrhagic cerebral contusions.
  • Key findings indicate that older age, larger initial contusion volumes, and lower Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) scores are linked to worse functional outcomes post-injury.
  • The research suggests that the GCS verbal score could predict both initial contusion volume and potential expansion, highlighting its importance in managing and predicting patient outcomes in neurosurgery.
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Background Context: Degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) is characterized by spinal cord atrophy. Accurate estimation of spinal cord atrophy is key to the understanding of neurological diseases, including DCM. However, its clinical application is hampered by difficulties in its precise and consistent estimation due to significant variability in spinal cord morphometry along the cervical spine, both within and between individuals.

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Objective: Basilar impression (BI) is a rare yet debilitating abnormality of the craniovertebral junction, known to cause life-threatening medullary brainstem compression. Our study analyzes surgical approaches for BI and related outcomes.

Methods: A systematic review was conducted using PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science electronic databases according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines to critically assess primary articles examining BI.

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Background: Symptomatic cervical spondylosis is often treated with anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF). However, few factors can predict which cervical level will degenerate and require intervention. This analysis evaluates preprocedural factors associated with level of first-time single-level ACDF.

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Background: Three-dimensional (3D) printing has enabled numerous advances in spine surgery execution and education. However, few examples exist to outline how this technology can aid the performance of complex spine surgery using minimally invasive surgery (MIS) techniques. Therefore, we present a case that illustrates the benefits of 3D-printed spine model production before and after correction of a congenital lumbosacral anomaly using an MIS approach.

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Background: Nontraumatic pedicle fracture is uncommon, with sparsely described cases of conservative management versus surgical treatment by open fusion or percutaneous fixation.

Methods: We report the case of a 60-year-old woman with nontraumatic L4 and L5 pedicle fracture who developed additional pedicle fractures at L3 while undergoing conservative management in a brace. The patient underwent percutaneous pediculosynthesis with screw fixation without fusion at L3-5 bilaterally.

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Study Design: Meta-analysis.

Objective: To determine the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that are related to adult idiopathic scoliosis.

Summary And Background Data: Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is considered one of the most prevalent spinal diseases.

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Our study aims to provide a synthesis of the best available evidence on the hemoglobin (hgb) red blood cell (RBC) transfusion thresholds in adult traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients, as well as describing the risk factors and outcomes associated with RBC transfusion in this population. A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted using PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science electronic databases according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines to assess articles discussing RBC transfusion thresholds and describe complications secondary to transfusion in adult TBI patients in the perioperative period. Fifteen articles met search criteria and were reviewed for analysis.

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Background: Advances in three-dimensional (3D) printing technology have enabled the development of customized instrumentation and surgical training platforms. However, no existing studies have assessed how patient-specific 3D-printed spine models can facilitate patient education and operative planning in complex spinal deformity correction.

Objective: To present a cost-effective technique for constructing personalized 3D-printed spine models for patients with severe spinal deformities and to outline how these models can promote informed consent, trainee education, and planning for instrumentation placement and alignment correction.

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Background: Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is an accepted treatment for certain chronic pain syndromes. It is imperative that patients undergo a stimulation screening trial. For trial stimulation, typically patients undergo a percutaneous lead placement.

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Background: Serum biomarkers have gained significant popularity as an adjunctive measure in the evaluation and prognostication of traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, a concise and clinically oriented report of the major markers in function of TBI severity is lacking. This systematic review aims to report current data on the diagnostic and prognostic utility of blood-based biomarkers across the spectrum of TBI.

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Study Design: Retrospective cohort study with propensity matched cohorts.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association of anticoagulation with VTE and hematoma complications after spine surgery.

Summary Of Background Data: One of the major complications of surgery is VTE which can range in presentation.

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Objective We aimed to assess the impact of surgical intervention on outcome in patients diagnosed with demyelinating disorders and cervical degenerative disease warranting surgical intervention. Methods The records of patients with a diagnosis of a demyelinating disorder of the central nervous system who underwent cervical spine surgery at a single institution from 2016 to 2020 were reviewed. Demyelinating disease included multiple sclerosis (MS), neuromyelitis optica, and transverse myelitis (TM).

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Bertolotti syndrome is a commonly missed cause of intractable back pain that affects 4% to 8% of the general population. It involves the congenital malformation of a transitional lumbosacral vertebra, with total or partial and unilateral or bilateral transverse process (TP) fusion or articulation to the sacrum. The pain can be debilitating, and the tethering of the spine to the sacrum can encourage deformity formation in the coronal plane and lead to early degenerative changes, especially if present only unilaterally.

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Objective: The analysis of perioperative electronic patient portal (EPP) communication may provide risk stratification and insight for complication prevention in patients with affective disorders (ADs). We aimed to understand how patterns of EPP communication in patients with AD relate to preoperative narcotic use, surgical outcomes, and readmission rates.

Methods: The records of adult patients who underwent elective spinal surgery between January 2010 and August 2017 at a single institution were retrospectively reviewed for analysis.

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Intradural arachnoid cysts are common entities that can be congenital, or caused by infectious, inflammatory, or even traumatic processes. However, true "inter"-dural cysts formed between the two lamellae of the lumbar dura without any fistulous arachnoid connection are rare. We present the case of a post-traumatic interdural cyst formation of the lumbar spine that compressed the roots of the cauda equina causing acute unrelenting pain.

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The incidence of symptomatic percutaneous intrathecal subarachnoid lead placement for spinal cord stimulator is almost an unheard of complication in the literature. We present the first case of a spinal cord stimulator implant with a complication of symptomatic intrathecal subarachnoid lead placement with a pseudomeningocele. This complication was found with myelogram and addressed by replacement with a new spinal cord stimulator implant with paddle leads instead of percutaneous leads and obliterating the pseudomeningocele tract.

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An intraneural posterior interosseous nerve (PIN) lipoma is a rare entity consisting of two types and only two previously reported cases. Treatment involves total excision for the well-encapsulated "true intraneural lipomas" type and subtotal resection for the other type, fibrolipomatous hamartomas of the nerve. We present the management and surgical treatment of a case that illustrates a variation of the traditional posterolateral surgical approach for the complete excision of an intraneural PIN lipoma-contrary to the more commonly used anterior approach in literature-along with a literature review of intraneural PIN lipomas.

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Background: Venous thromboembolism can be a significant cause of morbidity in the trauma population. Medical and surgical specialties have been pushing the indication for prophylactic filter placement.

Case Description: A 36-year-old man presented with axial lower back pain with a radicular right L2 component after lifting a heavy object.

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Background: The management of dermoid cysts can be tedious as they have a tendency to recur, and respond poorly to chemotherapy and radiation. Management is especially difficult for tumors involving highly eloquent areas such as the conus medullaris.

Objective: We aim to provide a summary of the pathology, clinical presentation, and operative management strategies of dermoid cysts involving the conus medullaris.

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Spinal cord stimulation is a safe method for treating chronic pain syndromes. Spinal cord stimulators can be placed either surgically by creating a laminectomy defect for paddle leads or percutaneously by inserting electrodes. They are usually not associated with major complications.

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Objective: Our goal was to determine the efficacy of spinal cord stimulation for patients with intractable post-herniorrhaphy pain which conventional treatment failed to ameliorate.

Procedure: The patients underwent an uneventful spinal cord stimulator (SCS) trial with percutaneous placement of two eight-electrode epidural leads (Medtronic Inc, Minneapolis, MN, USA) to level T7-T8-T9.

Results: Upon experiencing excellent pain relief over the next two days during the trial, the patients were implanted with permanent leads and rechargeable or non-rechargeable generators two to four weeks later and reported sustained pain relief during following 12 months after implantation.

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Introduction: Pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) current applied to nerve tissue to treat intractable pain has recently been proposed as a less neurodestructive alternative to continuous radiofrequency lesioning. Clinical reports using PRF have shown promise in the treatment of a variety of focal, neuropathic conditions. To date, scant data exist on the use of PRF to treat myofascial and neuromatous pain.

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