Percutaneous drainage combined with hyperbaric oxygen therapy for pyogenic spondylitis with iliopsoas abscess.

Study Design: A retrospective study.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate outcomes in patients with pyogenic spondylitis accompanied by iliopsoas abscess who were treated by percutaneous drainage combined with hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy.

Overview Of Literature: To the best of our knowledge, there have been no previous reports of the use of percutaneous drainage combined with HBO therapy for the treatment of this condition.

Facet arthrography in an unusual presentation of a lumbar hemorrhagic synovial cyst.

An 84-year-old man experienced right buttock pain that radiated gradually to his right lower extremity over a few months before admission. MRI revealed a space occupying intraspinal lesion that was close to the right-sided L4-L5 facet joint and an extraspinal lesion posterior to the right-sided L5 lamina. The lesions appeared as hyperintense areas on T1 weighted images and heterogeneous areas on T2 weighted images.

Facet arthrography of a cervical synovial cyst.

A rare case is presented of a synovial cyst located at the level of C3-C4 that caused cervical myelopathy and that was preoperatively diagnosed by facet arthrography. A woman in her late seventies experienced muscle weakness and numbness in her right upper extremity and gait disturbance. MRI revealed an extradural lesion located dorsolaterally on the right side of the spinal cord at the level of C3-C4.

Hyperbaric oxygen as a chemotherapy adjuvant in the treatment of osteosarcoma.

Although hyperbaric oxygen has been shown to enhance the efficacy of radiotherapy and chemotherapy for the treatment of several malignant tumors, the impact of hyperbaric oxygen on osteosarcoma has not yet been demonstrated. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of hyperbaric oxygen alone and in combination with an anti-cancer drug as an adjuvant to chemotherapy. In vitro, highly metastatic murine osteosarcoma cell lines were exposed to hyperbaric oxygen and cell viability was examined.

Traumatic lumbosacral dislocation treated with posterior lumbar interbody fusion using intersomatic cages.

A 35-year-old man was struck by a car on his right side and presented with paraparesis of both lower extremities. Radiographic examination revealed multiple transverse process fractures and anterior displacement of L5 on S1. Computed tomography revealed a bilateral anterior facet dislocation of the fifth lumbar vertebra on the sacrum.

Efficacy of the third-generation bisphosphonate risedronate alone and in combination with anticancer drugs against osteosarcoma cell lines.

Background: Bisphosphonates (BPs) are currently the most important class of inhibitors of osteoclast-mediated bone resorption and are widely used in the treatment of osteoporosis and other osteoclast-mediated bone diseases. Recently, there has been increasing evidence that BPs also exhibit direct anti-tumor activity against several cancer cell lines. However, the efficacies of BPs against osteosarcoma have not yet been fully elucidated, and the anti-osteosarcoma activity of the potent new-generation BP risedronate, which is widely used clinically, has not been determined.

Dorsally sequestered cervical disc herniation.

Study Design: A case report of dorsally sequestered cervical disc herniation.

Objective: To present an unusual case of dorsally sequestered cervical disc herniation and to briefly review the literature on this condition.

Summary Of Background Data: There have been few reports of migration of cervical disc herniation to the posterior surface of the spinal canal.

Spinal cord infarction following endoscopic variceal ligation.

Study Design: A case report of spinal cord infarction following endoscopic variceal ligation.

Objectives: To describe an exceedingly rare case of spinal cord infarction following endoscopic variceal ligation.

Setting: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kagoshima, Japan.

Continuous irrigation in pyogenic spondylitis accompanied by iliopsoas abscess.

Study Design: A retrospective assessment of 12 patients with pyogenic spondylitis accompanied by iliopsoas abscess treated by continuous irrigation with our new method between March 2003 and July 2005.

Objectives: To present our method of treatment and to evaluate outcomes of 12 patients undergoing it.

Summary Of Background Data: Since patients with pyogenic spondylitis accompanied by iliopsoas abscess who require surgery are often immunocompromised hosts, open surgery may be excessively invasive.

Spontaneous regression of symptomatic lumbar epidural varix: a case report.

Study Design: A case report of spontaneous regression of symptomatic lumbar epidural varix.

Objectives: To present a case of spontaneous regression of lumbar epidural varix itself and to briefly review the literature.

Summary Of Background Data: It has previously been reported that some cases of lumbar epidural varix exhibit complete resolution of symptoms without surgery.

Hypoplasia of the atlas causing cervical myelopathy with situs inversus totalis.

Study Design: A case report of myelopathic hypoplasia of the atlas with situs inversus totalis.

Objectives: To describe a case of cervical myelopathy caused by hypoplasia of the atlas with situs inversus totalis, and to briefly review the pertinent literature.

Setting: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kagoshima, Japan.

Preventive effect of erythropoietin on spinal cord cell apoptosis following acute traumatic injury in rats.

Study Design: Using a rat spinal cord injury (SCI) model, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL), anti-active caspase-3 antibody staining, histological examination, and histochemical studies were used to examine the antiapoptotic effect of erythropoietin.

Objective: To evaluate in detail the antiapoptotic effect of erythropoietin following SCI.

Summary Of Background Data: Although some investigators have reported antiapoptotic effects of erythropoietin using the TUNEL method, it has not been determined whether erythropoietin can prevent both acute neuronal death and secondary injury.

Intraoperative infusion of epoprostenol sodium for patients with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia undergoing cardiac surgery.

Prevention of catastrophic thromboembolic complications during surgery in patients with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) remains a challenging problem during cardiac surgery. We infused an increasing dose of epoprostenol sodium, which is one of three anti-HIT regimens available in Japan, ahead of administration of heparin and performed a mitral valve operation for a patient with type II HIT. The absence of thromboembolic events and platelet consumption during cardiopulmonary bypass, together with considerable reduction of platelet adhesion to the fibers of the membrane oxygenator, support the efficacy and safety of our strategy.

HAS3-related hyaluronan enhances biological activities necessary for metastasis of osteosarcoma cells.

Several studies have suggested that increased production of hyaluronan (HA) is associated with metastatic behavior in various malignant tumors. To our knowledge, HA molecular weights required for metastasis are still unsolved in osteosarcoma. We examined the size of HA and hyaluronan synthase (HAS) isoforms related to biological functions required for metastasis in the LM8 stably highly metastatic osteosarcoma cell line.

Clinical course of patients with ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament: a minimum 10-year cohort study.

Object: Ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) may produce quadriplegia. The course of future neurological deterioration in patients with radiographic evidence of OPLL, however, is not known. The authors conducted a long-term follow-up cohort study of more than 10 years to clarify the clinical course of this disease progression.

Primary malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor of the cauda equina in a child case report.

Study Design: A case report of primary malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST) of the cauda equina in a child is presented, and the literature is reviewed.

Objective: To discuss the problems involved in the treatment of primary intradural MPNSTs.

Setting: A department of orthopaedic surgery in Japan.