Rapidly Progressive Myelopathy Caused by Aggressive Vertebral Hemangioma.

Introduction: Vertebral hemangiomas are the most common benign tumors of the spine, having an incidence of 10-12% in the general population. They are asymptomatic, incidental findings in the vast majority of patients; however, in rare cases, they can expand to cause neural compression. Aggressive lesions of this sort are most commonly found in the thoracic spine, and expansion leads to the subacute development of myelopathy.

Clinical and radiographic outcomes after spinous process fixation and posterior fusion in an elderly cohort.

Spinous process fixation (SPF) has gained attention as a less invasive option for lumbar fusion surgery. Minimally invasive techniques are of interest in an elderly population due to decreased surgical time and post-operative complications. Clinical outcomes and fusion rates have not been determined in a large cohort.

Antifungal penetration into normal rabbit nucleus pulposus.

Study Design: A rabbit model was used to assess the penetration into the nucleus pulposus of 3 commonly used antifungal medications: amphotericin B, amphotericin B lipid complex, and fluconazole.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to quantitate the penetration of antifungal medications into the normal rabbit nucleus pulposus.

Summary Of Background Data: Fungal infections of the spine are rarely, if ever, treated with medical management alone.