The Global Spine Care Initiative: World Spine Care executive summary on reducing spine-related disability in low- and middle-income communities.

Purpose: Spinal disorders, including back and neck pain, are major causes of disability, economic hardship, and morbidity, especially in underserved communities and low- and middle-income countries. Currently, there is no model of care to address this issue. This paper provides an overview of the papers from the Global Spine Care Initiative (GSCI), which was convened to develop an evidence-based, practical, and sustainable, spinal healthcare model for communities around the world with various levels of resources.

The Global Spine Care Initiative: methodology, contributors, and disclosures.

Purpose: The purpose of this report is to describe the Global Spine Care Initiative (GSCI) contributors, disclosures, and methods for reporting transparency on the development of the recommendations.

Methods: World Spine Care convened the GSCI to develop an evidence-based, practical, and sustainable healthcare model for spinal care. The initiative aims to improve the management, prevention, and public health for spine-related disorders worldwide; thus, global representation was essential.

Anaplastic clear cell ependymoma of the conus medullaris and cauda equina in a 3-year-old child.

Only a minority of ependymomas present in the spinal cord. We report on a child with recurrence of a rare anaplastic clear cell type of ependymoma. This was initially misdiagnosed as a World Health Organization grade I myxopapillary ependymoma because this type of ependymoma occurs more commonly and the magnetic resonance imaging features and location at the conus medullaris were considered characteristic.