Electromyography stimulation compared with intraoperative O-arm imaging for evaluating pedicle screw breaches in lumbar spine surgery: a prospective analysis of 1006 screws in 164 patients.

Background Context: Lumbar pedicle screw placement can be technically challenging. Malpositioned screws occur in up to 15% of patients and could result in radiculopathy or instrumentation failure.

Purpose: To compare intraoperative electromyography (EMG) and image guidance using an O-arm for identifying pedicle breach during elective lumbar fusion.

The Role of a Miniopen Thoracoscopic-assisted Approach in the Management of Burst Fractures Involving the Thoracolumbar Junction.

Thoracoscopic spinal surgery is a minimally invasive open endoscopic approach to the anterior thoracolumbar spine for decompression and stabilization. It offers an alternative to open thoracotomy for thoracolumbar burst fractures, anterior spinal cord decompression, and spinal reconstruction with interbody and anterolateral plate instrumentation for restoration of biomechanical stability and alignment. Posterior instrumentation may not sufficiently stabilize a significantly disrupted anterior load-bearing spinal column, and the high access morbidity of open procedures is of significant concern.

Genetic drivers of metastatic dissemination in sonic hedgehog medulloblastoma.

Leptomeningeal dissemination (LMD), the metastatic spread of tumor cells via the cerebrospinal fluid to the brain and spinal cord, is an ominous prognostic sign for patients with the pediatric brain tumor medulloblastoma. The need to reduce the risk of LMD has driven the development of aggressive treatment regimens, which cause disabling neurotoxic side effects in long-term survivors. Transposon-mediated mutagenesis studies in mice have revealed numerous candidate metastasis genes.

An assessment of academic productivity in pediatric neurosurgery.

Object: Various bibliometric indices are now commonly used to assess academic productivity in medicine. Some evidence suggests that these measures are specific to subspecialty areas. The authors' goal was to measure the h index of academic pediatric neurosurgeons and compare it with previously reported results for academic neurosurgeons in general.

The in vivo antitumoral effects of lipopolysaccharide against glioblastoma multiforme are mediated in part by Toll-like receptor 4.

Objective: Toll-like receptor 4 (Tlr-4) mediates many biological effects of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which has antitumoral effects on glioblastoma both in vivo and in vitro. However, the precise role of Tlr-4 in these antitumoral effects remains unknown.

Methods: The role of Tlr-4 in the antitumoral effect of LPS on glioblastomas was assessed in wild-type BALB/c mice and in Tlr-4 knockout (KO) BALB/c mice.