Risk Factors for de Novo Postoperative Urinary Retention in Posterior Lumbar Spine Surgery.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Objective: De novo postoperative urinary retention (POUR) after lumbar posterior decompression surgery for lumbar spinal canal stenosis (LSCS) is a statistically known but uncommon complication for both patients and spine surgeons. The aim of this study is to review clinical data and imaging findings and identify preoperative predictors of de novo POUR.

Use of accelerometry to detect varus thrust of osteoarthritic knees before and one year after high tibial osteotomy.

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of high tibial osteotomy (HTO) on varus thrust during gait in patients with medial compartment knee osteoarthritis (KOA), and to identify factors that influence thrust before and one year after surgery.

Methods: HTO was performed in 60 KOA patients (70 knees, including 56 knees by open wedge and 14 by closed wedge). The control group comprised 28 normal, control subjects.

Symptom-based characteristics and treatment efficacy of neuropathic pain related to spinal disorders.

Background: Symptom-based therapeutic management is required for neuropathic pain (NeP) to achieve higher treatment efficacy. In spinal disorders, which have a high prevalence of NeP, neurological symptoms are classified into myelopathy, radiculopathy, and cauda equina syndrome. The characteristics of pain and the treatment efficacy for each of these symptoms require clarification.

Cyclic tensile strain facilitates ossification of the cervical posterior longitudinal ligament via increased Indian hedgehog signaling.

The pathomechanisms of initiation and progression of ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) are unclear. Indian hedgehog (Ihh) and related signaling molecules are key factors in normal enchondral ossification. The purpose of this study is to investigate the contribution of mechanical strain to OPLL and the relationship of Ihh with OPLL.

Role of macrophages and activated microglia in neuropathic pain associated with chronic progressive spinal cord compression.

Neuropathic pain (NeP) is commonly encountered in patients with diseases associated with spinal cord damage (e.g., spinal cord injury (SCI) and compressive myelopathy).

Comparison of Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Isolated from Murine Adipose Tissue and Bone Marrow in the Treatment of Spinal Cord Injury.

The use of mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) transplantation to repair the injured spinal cord has shown consistent benefits in preclinical models. However, the low survival rate of grafted MSC is one of the most important problems. In the injured spinal cord, transplanted cells are exposed to hypoxic conditions and exposed to nutritional deficiency caused by poor vascular supply.

Reconstruction of acetabulum in revision total hip arthroplasty for pelvic discontinuity: report of a difficult case requiring four revision arthroplasty.

Background: Massive bone defects of the acetabulum with pelvic discontinuity are one of the major problems in revision total hip arthroplasty. Several techniques have been described for repair of acetabular defect; however, reconstruction of acetabulum with massive bone defect is still a major problem. We describe a patient who required four revision total hip arthroplasty during a 24-year period.

[Ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) and the ligamentum flavum (OLF)].

The adult population is frequently sustained with ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) and/or the ligamentum flavum (OLF) of the spine and the diseases may subsequently result is serious spinal cord insult with profound paralysis of the extremities. These pathologies are genetically denoted metaplasia of the elastic fibers of the ligament with consequent ectopic ossification process. The spinal cord is chronically compressed and will result in profound motor paralysis with sensory deficit.

Early transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation reduces hyperalgesia and decreases activation of spinal glial cells in mice with neuropathic pain.

Although transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is widely used for the treatment of neuropathic pain, its effectiveness and mechanism of action in reducing neuropathic pain remain uncertain. We investigated the effects of early TENS (starting from the day after surgery) in mice with neuropathic pain, on hyperalgesia, glial cell activation, pain transmission neuron sensitization, expression of proinflammatory cytokines, and opioid receptors in the spinal dorsal horn. Following nerve injury, TENS and behavioral tests were performed every day.

Prognostic value of changes in spinal cord signal intensity on magnetic resonance imaging in patients with cervical compressive myelopathy.

Background Context: Signal intensity on preoperative cervical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the spinal cord has been shown to be a potential predictor of outcome of surgery for cervical compressive myelopathy. However, the prognostic value of such signal remains controversial. One reason for the controversy is the lack of proper quantitative methods to assess MRI signal intensity.

Blockade of interleukin 6 signaling improves the survival rate of transplanted bone marrow stromal cells and increases locomotor function in mice with spinal cord injury.

Bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) have the potential to improve functional recovery in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI); however, they are limited by low survival rates after transplantation in the injured tissue. Our objective was to clarify the effects of a temporal blockade of interleukin 6 (IL-6)/IL-6 receptor (IL-6R) engagement using an anti-mouse IL-6R monoclonal antibody (MR16-1) on the survival rate of BMSCs after their transplantation in a mouse model of contusion SCI. MR16-1 cotreatment improved the survival rate of transplanted BMSCs, allowing some BMSCs to differentiate into neurons and astrocytes, and improved locomotor function recovery compared with BMSC transplantation or MR16-1 treatment alone.

Indian hedgehog signaling promotes chondrocyte differentiation in enchondral ossification in human cervical ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament.

Study Design: Histological, immunohistochemical, and immunoblot analyses of the expression of Indian hedgehog (Ihh) signaling in human cervical ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL).

Objective: To examine the hypothesis that Ihh signaling in correlation with Sox9 and parathyroid-related peptide hormone (PTHrP) facilitates chondrocyte differentiation in enchondral ossification process in human cervical OPLL.

Summary Of Background Data: In enchondral ossification, certain transcriptional factors regulate cell differentiation.

(18)F-FDG PET/CT for Diagnosis of Osteosclerotic and Osteolytic Vertebral Metastatic Lesions: Comparison with Bone Scintigraphy.

Study Design: A retrospective study.

Purpose: The aims of this study were to investigate the diagnostic value of (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) in PET/computed tomography (CT) in the evaluation of spinal metastatic lesions.

Overview Of Literature: Recent studies described limitations regarding how many lesions with abnormal (18)F-FDG PET findings in the bone show corresponding morphologic abnormalities.

The prevalence and phenotype of activated microglia/macrophages within the spinal cord of the hyperostotic mouse (twy/twy) changes in response to chronic progressive spinal cord compression: implications for human cervical compressive myelopathy.

Background: Cervical compressive myelopathy, e.g. due to spondylosis or ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament is a common cause of spinal cord dysfunction.

Fracture of the acetabulum: a retrospective review of ninety-one patients treated at a single institution.

Acetabular fracture result in fairly good outcome after the anatomic reduction in the displaced fracture fragments and damaged joint structure, but some patients will inevitably suffer from hip joint problems during their courses after the insult. We retrospectively reviewed 91 patients with acetabular fractures to investigate the causes of clinical failure and relationship among the fracture types, selected treatment options and their courses. Ninety-one patients (73 men and 18 women) with an average age of 49 years (range 18-80) at the time of injury were followed up for an average of 8.

Dislocated intra-articular femoral head fracture associated with fracture-dislocation of the hip and acetabulum: report of 12 cases and technical notes on surgical intervention.

This report describes case series of the femoral head fractures associated with fracture-dislocation of the hip joint to evaluate the mid- and long-term outcomes and to highlight the surgical technique of fixation of the femoral head from the posterior trochanteric flip osteotomy approach. Twelve patients (6 men and 6 women) with dislocated femoral head fractures (mean age at the time of injury, 56 years; range, 23-80) were followed up for mean period of 9.7 years (range, 5-20).

Changes in gait pattern and hip muscle strength after open reduction and internal fixation of acetabular fracture.

Objectives: To characterize changes in the gait pattern at 3 and 12 months after surgery for acetabular fracture, to assess the relationship between various gait parameters and hip muscle strength, and to determine the factors associated with gait disorders that correlate with gait parameters measured at 12 months after surgery.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: University hospital.

Transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells promotes an alternative pathway of macrophage activation and functional recovery after spinal cord injury.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) derived from bone marrow can potentially reduce the acute inflammatory response in spinal cord injury (SCI) and thus promote functional recovery. However, the precise mechanisms through which transplanted MSC attenuate inflammation after SCI are still unclear. The present study was designed to investigate the effects of MSC transplantation with a special focus on their effect on macrophage activation after SCI.