Comparative study of radiographic disc height changes using two different interbody devices for transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion: open box vs. fenestrated tube interbody cage.

Study Design: Retrospective comparative study of the postoperative subsidence of two interbody devices following posterior or transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF/TLIF) for degenerative spondylolisthesis of the lumbar spine.

Objective: To assess certain radiograph characteristics of PLIF/TLIF using two interbody fusion devices at L4-L5.

Summary Of Background Data: PLIF can achieve spinal stabilization with vertebral body support and direct neural decompression.

Unilateral transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion and bilateral anterior-column fixation with two Brantigan I/F cages per level: clinical outcomes during a minimum 2-year follow-up period.

Object: There are no published reports of unilateral transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) in which two Brantigan I/F cages were placed per level through a single portal to achieve bilateral anterior-column support. The authors describe such a surgical technique and evaluate the clinical outcomes of this procedure.

Methods: Data obtained in 86 (93.

Traumatically induced vertebral artery occlusion associated with cervical spine injuries: prospective study using magnetic resonance angiography.

Study Design: A prospective study using magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) on a consecutive cohort of patients with cervical spine injuries.

Objective: To investigate clinical and radiographic features of vertebral artery injury/occlusion associated with nonpenetrating cervical spine trauma.

Summary Of Background Data: With the popularization of MRA, vertebral artery injury has been a common complication of cervical spine trauma.

Secondary medulla oblongata involvement following middle cervical spinal cord injury associated with latent traumatic instability in a patient with ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament.

Study Design: A case report.

Objectives: To report a rare case of extension of edema and hemorrhage from initial C4-5 spinal injury to the medulla oblongata.

Setting: Center for Spinal Disorders and Injuries, Bibai Rosai Hospital, Japan.

Epidermoid cyst with perforation of the skull.

A rare case of an epidermoid cyst associated with a skull defect is reported. The patient was a 59-year-old healthy woman from Japan who exhibited an elastic, soft, subcutaneous tumor on the left side of the parietal scalp for approximately 10 years without a history of trauma. On radiographic findings, a punched-out lesion was shown.

Complications related to hydroxyapatite vertebral spacer in anterior cervical spine surgery.

Study Design: This is a report of complications related to the hydroxyapatite vertebral spacer used for anterior cervical reconstructive surgery. Compression of the spinal cord by broken fragments of hydroxyapatite spacer as well as its surrounding radiolucent clear zone were observed in seven patients.

Objectives: To report complications related to the use of hydroxyapatite vertebral spacer for anterior cervical reconstructive surgery and to discuss how to prevent these complications.

Role of MR imaging in the evaluation of low back pain (orthopedic surgeon's view).

In this article, the role of magnetic resonance imaging in the evaluation of degenerative lumbar disorders causing low back pain and radicular symptoms is discussed from an orthopedic surgeon's point of view. Magnetic resonance imaging can represent not only morphological, but pathological changes of osteoligamentous and neural components of the lumbar spine.

Circulating thrombomodulin and hematological alterations in type 2 diabetic patients with retinopathy.

To clarify the relationship between circulating thrombomodulin (TM) and endothelial cell damage in diabetes mellitus, plasma levels of TM were quantitated by an enzyme linked immunoabsorbant assay (ELISA) in 164 type 2 diabetes mellitus and 72 normal control subjects, and these levels were compared with those of von Willebrand factor antigen (vWf: Ag), thrombin antithrombin III complexes (TAT), plasmin-alpha2-plasmin inhibitor complexes (PIC), fibrinogen, D-dimer, urinary albumin excretion rate (AER), intima-media thickness (IMT) and plaque score of the common carotid artery assessed with high resolution B-mode ultrasonography. Plasma levels of TM, vWf: Ag, TAT, PIC, AER, IMT and plaque score were significantly increased in the diabetic patients compared to the normal control subjects. Plasma TM levels showed significant correlation with vWf: Ag (r=0.

Differentiation of vasospastic angina from noncardiac chest pain by history and coronary risk factors in patients with chest pain at rest.

To determine the efficacy of the medical interview and the coronary risk factor profile in differentiating vasospastic angina from other causes of chest pain, we examined 59 patients who underwent diagnostic coronary angiography with selective intracoronary injection of acetylcholine. In the medical interview, a questionnaire on the characteristics of chest pain and additional symptoms was given. We examined coronary risk factors from laboratory tests, life history, and physical examination.

Elevation of plasma lipid peroxides in non-insulin dependent diabetics with multiple lacunar infarcts.

Our purpose was to determine whether lipid peroxides are elevated in the plasma of patients with non-insulin dependent diabetes with multiple lacunar infarcts as detected by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and to confirm whether peroxide levels correlate with glycemic controls and blood lipid levels. The level of lipid peroxide (measured as thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS)) was measured in 23 healthy controls and 28 diabetics showing normal MRI findings and 22 diabetics with multiple lacunar infarcts. These groups were age-matched.

Magnetic resonance imaging of Long-Evans cinnamon rats as a new model of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Rationale And Objectives: Following hereditary hepatitis, Long-Evans Cinnamon (LEC) rats spontaneously develop hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC) histopathologically similar to human well-differentiated HCC. We demonstrated that LEC rats are an appropriate model of evaluating magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of well-differentiated liver tumors.

Methods: Six 23-25-month-old LEC rats were studied using liver MR imaging and histologic observation.

[Multiple cerebral infarction by blood-borne tumor emboli in carcinoma of the mid-pharynx: an autopsy case].

In May, 1989, a-54-year old man was admitted complaining of sore throat and tumor of the neck which had persisted for 2 months. Mid-pharyngeal tumor was diagnosed as poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma (stage, T3N2M0) and the patient was treated with radiation (Co 65Gy) from May 30 to July 24 and chemotherapy (UFT), which therapies were effective. On Aug.

Simultaneous flow cytometric detection of nuclear DNA and tumor-associated antigens in lung cancers.

Flow cytometric (FCM) determinations of DNA index were found to be insufficient to distinguish the presence of tumor cells from normal ones in neoplastic tissues obtained from 29 patients with lung cancer. Therefore, the DNA and tumor-associated antigen (TAA) contents of cultured human lung cancer cells were simultaneously analyzed using FCM to assess whether this dual technique would help in distinguishing tumor cells from normal ones. For the study, cells from PC-10 (a squamous cell carcinoma line), PC-3 (an adenocarcinoma line) and PC-6 (a small cell carcinoma line) were mixed with normal peripheral lymphocytes.