Which vacuum phenomenon is more predictive for future junctional disorders?: Intradiscal or Intrafacet?

Recent spine studies focused on identifying whether intradiscal vacuum phenomenon (VP) was associated with spinal instability. However, none of them reported a direct association between VP and spinal instability following fusion for degenerative lumbar spine disorders (DSDs), namely junctional disorders. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate whether the VP was predictive for junctional disorders in patients who underwent short-segment lumbar decompression and fusion for DSDs at a tertiary spine center.

Erector spinae could be the game changer in surgical decision-making in patients with lumbar spondylolisthesis: a cross-sectional analysis of an age-, sex-, subtype-, level-matched patients with similar spinopelvic parameters received surgical or conservative management.

Purpose: In this study we aimed to identify whether paraspinal muscle morphology could play a role in surgical decision-making in patients with lumbar spondylolisthesis.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of a prospectively collected database between January 2013 and May 2023. Consecutive women and men, who visited our outpatient clinics with chronic LBP, neurogenic claudication, and had lumbar spine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for their complaints were included into the preliminary dataset.

Mo-fi-disc scoring system: Towards understanding the radiological tools to better delineate the disease process and enhancing our solutions for low back pain in artificial intelligence era.

Background: 'Mo-fi-disc' is a new scoring system that quantifies degeneration of the lumbar spine and predicts the intensity of low back pain (LBP). However, its association with LBP-related disability is unknown. In the present study, we aimed to analyze whether 'Mo-fi-disc' scoring system could predict LBP-related disability and distinguish patients with LBP from asymptomatic subjects, while the spine medicine marching towards the era of artificial intelligence (AI).

Health-related quality of life measures in patients undergoing decompressive craniectomy for severe traumatic brain injury: a 6-year follow-up analysis.

Purpose: We aimed to assess the long-term neurological outcomes and the functionality and QoL in patients undergoing decompressive craniectomy for severe traumatic brain injury, respectively.

Materials And Methods: Among the 120 patients who underwent decompressive craniectomy for severe TBI between 2002 and 2007, 101 were included based on the inclusion criteria. Long-term follow-up results (minimum 3 years) were available for 22 patients.

Dural and calvarial metastasis of thyroid follicular carcinoma mimicking Sindou type 6 parafalcine meningioma.

Fifty-two years, NID type-2 diabetic female was admitted with progressive headache, enlarging, pulsatile midline mass, dizziness, and numbness of extremities. Physical examination revealed only hypoesthesia in the upper left extremity C7-dermatome. Preoperative computed tomography revealed eroded parafalcian dural mass and caused a round 7 cm calvarial defect over the superior sagittal sinus (SSS) and another left parietal 1.

Management of Persistent Syringomyelia in Patients Operated for Chiari Malformation Type 1.

Background: The treatment of persistent syringomyelia associated with Chiari malformation type 1 (CM1) is unclear. This study aims to evaluate the clinical and radiologic outcomes of syringo-subarachnoid shunt (SSS) as a treatment for persistent syringomyelia following posterior fossa decompression (PFD) for CM1.

Methods: Forty-nine cases treated for CM1 associated syringomyelia at a single center were analyzed, 17 of them undergoing reoperation due to persistent syrinx formation.

Potential blood markers as screening tools for subjects with low back pain: an age- and gender-matched cross-sectional analysis.

Background: Mechanical and inflammatory factors were suggested as the causes of spine degeneration and low back pain (LBP). Previous studies partly reported the association of LBP with inflammation. However, none of them compared patients with LBP and asymptomatic subjects in terms of complete blood count and inflammatory markers in detail.

Fatty infiltration of the erector spinae at the upper lumbar spine could be a landmark for low back pain.

Purpose: Intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD), Modic changes, and fatty infiltration in the paraspinal muscles are possible causes of low back pain (LBP). Multifidus has been the most commonly blamed paraspinal muscle in the etiology of LBP. However, it contributes to 20% of the extensor moment on the lumbar spine.

Circumferential Approach to Congenital Kyphoscoliosis with Hemivertebra: Adding on Rather than Resecting Could Be a Better Option in Older Adolescents.

Objective: To present a new technique combining anterior release with allograft insertion and lateral fixation at the concave side of the curve, preserving the hemivertebra and posterior bilateral transpedicular fixation in patients with congenital kyphoscoliosis (CKS) who were not operated on until late adolescence, including long-term follow-up of patients, and a discussion of the literature on CKS with hemivertebra.

Methods: Two patients with CKS concomitant with hemivertebra underwent circumferential (anterior-posterior) instrumentation and fusion using a new technique.

Results: Patient 1 underwent a 2-stage operation, first anterior then posterior.

The impact of interaction between verteporfin and yes-associated protein 1/transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding motif-TEA domain pathway on the progression of isocitrate dehydrogenase wild-type glioblastoma.

Verteporfin and 5-ALA are used for visualizing malignant tissue components in different body tumors and as photodynamic therapy in treating isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) wild-type glioblastoma (GBM). Additionally, verteporfin interferes with Yes-associated protein 1 (YAP)/Transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding motif - TEA domain (TAZ-TEAD) pathway, thus inhibiting the downstream effect of these oncogenes and reducing the malignant properties of GBM. Animal studies have shown verteporfin to be successful in increasing survival rates, which have led to the conduction of phase 1 and 2 clinical trials to further investigate its efficacy in treating GBM.

Risk Factors for Intracranial Aneurysm Rupture: A Clinical Case Series and Systematic Review of the Literature.

Aim: To evaluate the patients who underwent surgery for an anterior communicating artery (AcomA) aneurysm at our institution. We analyzed our case series and systematically reviewed the literature to identify factors that could predict the rupture of an intracranial aneurysm in patients with AcomA aneurysms or any intracranial aneurysm.

Material And Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of prospectively collected data from patients who underwent surgery for AcomA aneurysms at a single institution between January 2014 and May 2023.

Increased Neutrophil Lymphocyte Ratio Could be Predictive for Higher Mortality in Preterm Infants with Intraventricular Hemorrhage.

Background: The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a simple, cost-effective index of inflammation that can be measured by peripheral blood count. This study aimed to reveal that a high NLR value could be a prognostic marker for mortality risk in preterm babies born with IVH.

Methods: Preterm babies who had been followed up in the neonatal intensive care unit (ICU) between 2018 and 2020 were included in the study.

Are serum thyroid hormone, parathormone, calcium, and vitamin D levels associated with lumbar spine degeneration? A cross-sectional observational clinical study.

Purpose: Low back pain (LBP) impairs the quality of life and rises healthcare costs. The association of spine degeneration and LBP with metabolic disorders have been reported, previously. However, metabolic processes related with spine degeneration remained unclear.

Facet Joint Orientation/Tropism Could Be Associated with Fatty Infiltration in the Lumbar Paraspinal Muscles.

Background: Facet joint orientation (FJO) and facet joint tropism (FJT) are associated with intervertebral disc degeneration and paraspinal muscle atrophy. However, none of the previous studies has evaluated the association of FJO/FJT with fatty infiltration in the multifidus, erector spinae, and psoas muscles at all lumbar levels. In the present study, we aimed to analyze whether FJO and FJT were associated with fatty infiltration in the paraspinal muscles at any lumbar level.

Accessory Hand Muscles Over the Transverse Carpal Ligament: An Obstacle in Carpal Tunnel Surgery.

Background: Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is an entrapment neuropathy caused by compression of the median nerve throughout the carpal tunnel. It is the most common entrapment neuropathy, with an estimated prevalence of 4%-7%. Surgical management is more effective in moderate to severe and severe CTS.

Extreme Lateral Lumbar Interbody Fusion Surgery with a Robot-Assisted System in a Swine Model.

Aim: To evaluate the technical aspects of the Da Vinci Xi Surgical System in minimally invasive extreme lateral lumbar interbody fusion (XLIF) surgery in a swine model.

Material And Methods: Endoscopic discectomy and XLIF cage insertion were performed using a robot-assisted system. The time taken and the pros and cons of each steps were recorded.

Split cord malformation concomitant with spinal teratoma without open spinal dysraphism.

Purpose: Split cord malformation (SCM) presenting concomitant with spinal teratoma without any open spinal dysraphism has rarely been reported in the literature. We aimed to make a systematic review and qualitative analysis of the literature about the topic and present the first case of SCM concomitant with spinal teratoma harboring papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) component.

Methods: Two big search tools (Pubmed/MEDLINE) and Scopus were used.

Schmorl's nodes could be associated with intervertebral disc degeneration at upper lumbar levels and end-plate disease at lower lumbar level in patients with low back pain.

Schmorl's nodes (SNs) have increasingly been recognized on vertebral end-plates using advanced imaging techniques. Even though vertebral end-plates are the closest structures to discs, their pathologies are underestimated in the etiology of low back pain (LBP). We aimed to detect the prevalence of SNs and other end-plate defects in subjects with/without LBP and to understand whether SNs were associated with LBP and spinal degeneration.

Subcutaneous fat index: a reliable tool for lumbar spine studies.

Objectives: Obesity has been proposed as a risk factor for low back pain (LBP), and the body mass index (BMI) has been used for obesity; however, a more reliable tool is required to assess obesity-related health issues. A recent study depicted the subcutaneous fat tissue thickness (SFTT) at the L1-L2 level as superior to BMI in predicting LBP and spine degeneration. However, the study failed to answer the following questions: (1) What was the cutoff value for the SFTT to predict LBP and spine degeneration? (2) Could this new index be adjusted according to gender? (3) Could this new index predict fatty infiltration in the paraspinal muscles, severe intervertebral disk degeneration (IVDD), and Modic changes in the lumbar spine? Therefore, the current study aimed to answer these questions by developing and validating a new anthropometric index-the subcutaneous fat index (SFI).

Transconjunctival Approach: A Safe and Effective Access to Mass Lesions in the Anterior Orbit.

Background: The orbit is an eloquent organ of the body. Safe surgical access to the orbit could be challenging due to the dense network of critical structures confined to it. There are versatile approaches to different parts of the orbit that could be used by neurosurgeons without causing injury to critical neurovascular structures.

At what speed does spinal degeneration gear up?: Aging Paradigm in patients with Low Back Pain.

Objective: Aging is a cause of spinal degeneration. However, the natural history of degeneration process is unclear. We aimed to analyze change of intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) and Modic changes in Caucasians with LBP decade by decade.

Management of Pregnancy-and Lactation-Related Osteoporosis: Case Series.

Aim: To share the experience regarding management and follow-up of patients with Pregnancy- and lactation-related osteoporosis (PLRO) who were effectively treated.

Material And Methods: This case series presented 10 patients diagnosed with PLRO and treated from January 2010 to December 2019. Visual analog scale and laboratory findings were evaluated.

Obesity could be associated with poor paraspinal muscle quality at upper lumbar levels and degenerated spine at lower lumbar levels: Is this a domino effect?

Vertebral end-plate changes and paraspinal muscles are recently getting much more attention, since they could be associated with intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) and low back pain (LBP). Even though obesity is known as a risk factor for LBP, the role of obesity in the process of LBP is still controversial. In this study, we aimed to identify whether increased body mass index (BMI) was associated with IVDD, vertebral end-plate changes and paraspinal muscle quality.