Publications by authors named "Naci Balak"

Background: Digestive system perforations after anterior cervical spine surgery (ACSS), if left untreated, are life-threatening. These injuries are often categorized as pharyngoesophageal. Although the pharynx and esophagus are continuations of each other, they are two distinct anatomical structures.

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Background: The shortcomings of business-like management systems in health care were exposed during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic when the need for flexibility and a rapid response to patients' needs became pressing. Almost all administrative decisions concerning the management of health care services have an ethical dimension. This research aims to investigate current debates on this subject and fill in the knowledge gaps.

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Background: Statistics show that over the past 2 decades, even in high-income countries, fewer and fewer students have listed neurosurgery as their top career option. Literature on medical students' pursuit of neurosurgical careers in middle- and low-income countries are scarce. The aim of this research, conducted in Turkey with a middle-income economy, was to contribute insights relevant to medical education and neurosurgery across the world.

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Background: It is known that a possible decrease in disc height (DH) and foraminal size after open lumbar microdiscectomy (OLM) may cause pain in the long term. However, there is still insufficient information about the short- or long-term pathoanatomical and morphological effects of microdiscectomy. For example, the exact temporal course of the change in DH is not well known.

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Background: One of the difficulties of oblique corpectomy, less discussed in the literature, is the problem of how to achieve an optimum corpectomy. Therefore, this anatomico-radiological study was conducted to shed light on the use of the microscope at an appropriate angle and optimum drill distances in clinical cases undergoing cervical oblique corpectomy surgery.

Materials And Methods: We examined the average distance of the diagonal line extending from the medial aspect of the ipsilateral vertebral foramen to the contralateral pedicle in cervical computed tomography -angiography axial scans in four cervical vertebrae, C3, C4, C5, and C6.

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Introduction: Professionalism entails expert knowledge, self-regulation, accountability, and professional ethics. These factors are influenced by culture, political observance, professional maturity, education, and occupation; ethical practices may thus vary between countries and affect how neurosurgery is practiced.

Research Question: This paper aims to conduct a survey that addresses whether ethico-legal practices differ in European countries and whether existing ethical guidelines have been implemented.

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Objective: Mathematical models are known to help determine potential intervention strategies by providing an approximate idea of the transmission dynamics of infectious diseases. To develop proper responses, not only are more accurate disease spread models needed, but also those that are easy to use.

Materials And Methods: As of July 1, 2020, we selected the 20 countries with the highest numbers of COVID-19 cases in the world.

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Recently, the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies Spine committee recommended that additional research on cost-benefit analysis of various surgical approaches for cervical spondylotic myelopathy be carried out and their efficacy with long-term outcomes be compared. Unfortunately, it is highly probable that the oblique corpectomy (OC) will not be included in cost-benefit investigations due to its infrequent application by neurosurgeons dealing with the spine. In this cadaveric study, head and necks of 5 adult human cadavers stained with colored latex and preserved in 70% alcohol solution were dissected under a table-mounted surgical microscope using 3× to 40× magnifications.

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Introduction: High-grade gliomas (HGG), including Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), account for the majority of primary brain tumors. Nevertheless, prognostic and diagnostic biomarkers are quite limited for HGG. The objective of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of sRANKL and sTREM2 levels in HGG patients.

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