Clinical Effectiveness of Percutaneous Epidural Neuroplasty According to the Type of Single-Level Lumbar Disc Herniation : A 12-Month Follow-Up Study.

Objective: To determine whether the outcomes of percutaneous epidural neuroplasty (PEN) are influenced by the type of lumbar disc herniation (LDH) and evaluate the effectiveness of PEN in patients with single-level LDH.

Methods: This study included 430 consecutive patients with single-level LDH who underwent PEN. Before treatment, the LDH type was categorized as bulging, protrusion, extrusion, and sequestration, while Pfirrmann grades were assigned according to imaging findings.

Clinical Significance of Epidurography Contrast Patterns after Adhesiolysis during Lumbar Percutaneous Epidural Neuroplasty.

Background: The correlation between epidurography contrast patterns and the clinical outcomes of percutaneous epidural neuroplasty (PEN) remains unclear.

Objective: To analyze the correlation between postadhesiolysis epidurography contrast patterns and the clinical outcomes of patients who undergo lumbar PEN.

Design: This study is a retrospective analysis of 78 consecutive patients who underwent lumbar PEN between April 2012 and March 2013.

Efficacy of percutaneous epidural neuroplasty does not correlate with dural sac cross-sectional area in single level disc disease.

Purpose: Percutaneous epidural neuroplasty (PEN) is a minimally invasive treatment. The efficacy of PEN has been relatively well investigated; however, the relationship between the clinical effectiveness of PEN and the severity of spinal canal stenosis by disc material has not yet been established. The purpose of this study was to compare clinical outcomes of PEN according to the dural sac cross-sectional area in single level disc disease.

A novel blasted and grooved low profile pedicle screw able to resist high compression bending loads.

Objective: Polyaxial pedicle screws are a safe, useful adjunct to transpedicular fixation. However, the large screw head size can cause soft tissue irritation, high rod positioning, and facet joint injury. However, the mechanical resistance provided by small and low profile pedicle screws is very limited.

Kyphoplasty versus vertebroplasty: restoration of vertebral body height and correction of kyphotic deformity with special attention to the shape of the fractured vertebrae.

Study Design: Retrospective comparative analysis.

Objective: We analyzed kyphosis correction, vertebral height restoration, and bone cement leakage in patients treated by vertebroplasty (VP) and kyphoplasty (KP) to compare the effectiveness of VP and KP for the treatment of osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures.

Summary Of Background Data: Superior results have been reported for the use of KP for kyphotic deformity correction and collapsed vertebral height restoration.

Spinal surgery in patients with end-stage renal disease undergoing hemodialysis therapy.

Study Design: Case series retrospective review.

Objective: To present the surgical treatment guideline for spinal diseases with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients undergoing hemodialysis.

Summary Of Background Data: Treatment for spinal diseases with ESRD patients in is a special clinical challenge because of complex medical and clinical problems.

Magnetic resonance imaging findings of subsequent fractures after vertebroplasty.

Objective: The biomechanical effect of injected cement has been considered as the cause of adjacent vertebral fracture (AVF) after vertebroplasty, but the clinical evidence supporting this hypothesis is still insufficient.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 33 patients with subsequent fractures among 278 patients who underwent percutaneous vertebroplasty at our hospital from January 2002 to December 2005. The bone marrow edema pattern of subsequent fractures on magnetic resonance imaging was analyzed in 33 patients.

Percutaneous vertebroplasty for the treatment of osteoporotic burst fractures.

Background: Vertebroplasty is a minimally invasive surgical procedure which involves injecting polymethylmethacrylate into the compressed vertebral body. At present the indications include the treatment of osteoporotic compression fractures, vertebral myeloma, and metastases. The value of vertebroplasty in osteoporotic compression fracture has been discussed comprehensively.

Clinical approach and surgical strategy for spinal diseases in pregnant women: a report of ten cases.

Study Design: Case series retrospective review.

Objective: To present the treatment guideline for spinal diseases in pregnant women.

Summary Of Background Data: Treatment for spinal diseases in pregnant women is a special clinical challenge because of complex medical and surgical clinical problems.

Contributing factors affecting the prognosis surgical outcome for thoracic OLF.

The thoracic ossification of ligamentum flavum (OLF) is a disease that produces spastic paraparesis, and there are various factors that may affect the surgical outcome of thoracic OLF patients. The authors of this study treated 19 of these thoracic OLF patients from 1998 to 2002, and retrospectively reviewed the patients' age, sex, symptom duration, involved disease level, preoperative clinical features, neurological findings, radiological findings, the other combined spinal diseases and the surgical outcomes. There were excellent or good surgical outcomes in 16 patients, but 3 patients did not improve after thoracic OLF surgery: this included 1 patient, whose motor function worsened after decompressive thoracic OLF surgery.

Surgical treatments for lumbar disc disease in adolescent patients; chemonucleolysis / microsurgical discectomy/ PLIF with cages.

The herniated lumbar disc (HLD) in adolescent patients is characterized by typical discogenic pain that originates from a soft herniated disc. It is frequently related to back trauma, and sometimes it is also combined with a degenerative process and a bony spur such as posterior Schmorl's node. Chemonucleolysis is an excellent minimally invasive treatment having these criteria: leg pain rather than back pain, severe limitation on the straight leg raising test (SLRT), and soft disc protrusion on computed tomography (CT).

Football injuries at Asian tournaments.

Purpose: To examine the incidences and patterns of injuries that required medical attention among Asian football players.

Methods: A total of 411 Asian football players at both senior and youth (U-20) elite levels were observed during 50 international matches. Independent injury observers and team doctors determined the occurrence of injuries and recorded the location, type, time, and circumstances of the injuries using a protocol sheet.

Glutamine synthetase induced spinal seizures in rats.

Glutamine synthetase (GS) is a key enzyme in the regulation of glutamate neurotransmission in the central nervous system. It is responsible for converting glutamate to glutamine, consuming one ATP and NH3 in the process. Glutamate is neurotoxic when it accumulates in extracellular fluids.