Demographic and economic trends in vertebral fracture surgeries throughout the United States.

Background: Vertebral fractures, frequently resulting from high-impact trauma to the spine, are an increasingly relevant public health concern. Little is known about the long-term economic and demographic trends affecting patients undergoing surgery for such fractures. This study examines national economic and demographic trends in vertebral fracture surgery in the United States to improve value-based care and health care utilization.

Transcervical styloidectomy for Eagle syndrome.

We demonstrate a safe and effective surgical technique for the operative management of Eagle syndrome, also known as stylohyoid syndrome, via transcervical styloidectomy. Fifteen patients who presented to our institution for surgical management of Eagle syndrome were included. A detailed video shows the operative techniques used to perform styloidectomy via a transcervical approach.

The Expanding Frontier of Outpatient Spine Surgery.

Background: In 2014, inpatient spinal fusion surgery had the highest aggregate cost of any inpatient surgery performed in the United States, costing 12 billion dollars. As the national health care system seeks to improve value-based care, there is increased motivation to perform surgery on an outpatient basis. To ensure improved patient outcomes with this transition, patient selection has become increasingly important to identify who would most benefit from outpatient spine fusion, for example.

Marked Increase in Spinal Deformity Surgery Throughout the United States.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort database study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate trends in utilization and demographics in Spinal Deformity Surgery.

Summary Of Background Data: The aging population in the United States will likely result in increased incidence of adult degenerative scoliosis.

Change in rates of primary atlantoaxial spinal fusion surgeries in the United States (1993-2015).

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate revision burden and associated demographic and economic data for atlantoaxial (AA) fusion procedures in the US.

Methods: Patient data from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database for primary AA fusion were obtained from 1993 to 2015, and for revision AA fusion from 2006 to 2014 using ICD-9 procedure codes. Data from 2006 to 2014 were used in comparisons between primary and revision surgeries.

Inchoate guidelines of endoscopic resection of colloid cysts.

Colloid cyst are cystic lesions in the third ventricle and could render patients asymptomatic. However, there is an inherent risk of symptomatic progression, acute decompensation, and sudden death. Therefore, there is no clear consensus as how to observe or when to treat a newly diagnosed patient with a colloid cyst.

Thirty-day readmission risk after intracranial tumor resection surgeries in children.

Objective: The risk of readmission after brain tumor resection among pediatric patients has not been defined. The authors' objective was to evaluate the readmission rates and predictors of readmission after pediatric brain tumor resection.

Methods: Nationwide Readmissions Database (NRD) data sets from 2010 to 2014 were searched for unplanned readmissions within 30 days of the discharge date after pediatric brain tumor resection.

Occipital neuralgia: A neurosurgical perspective.

Occipital neuralgia typically arises in the setting of nerve compression by fibrosis, surrounding anatomic structures, or osseous pathology, such as bone spurs or hypertrophic atlanto-epistropic ligament. It generally presents as paroxysmal bouts of sharp pain in the sensory distribution of the first three occipital nerves. Due to the long course of the greater occipital nerve (GON), and its peculiar anatomy, and location in a mobile region of the neck, it is unsurprising that the GON is at high risk for compression.

Pre-operative assessment and post-operative outcomes of elderly women with gynecologic cancers, primary analysis of NRG CC-002: An NRG oncology group/gynecologic oncology group study.

Introduction: CC-002 is a prospective cooperative group study conducted by NRG Oncology to evaluate whether a pre-operative GA-GYN score derived from a predictive model utilizing components of an abbreviated geriatric assessment (GA) is associated with major post-operative complications in elderly women with suspected ovarian, fallopian tube, primary peritoneal or advanced stage papillary serous uterine (GYN) carcinoma undergoing primary open cytoreductive surgery.

Methods: Patients 70 years or older with suspected advanced gynecologic cancers undergoing evaluation for surgery were eligible. A GA-GYN score was derived from a model utilizing the GA as a pre-operative tool.

Disease extent at secondary cytoreductive surgery is predictive of progression-free and overall survival in advanced stage ovarian cancer: An NRG Oncology/Gynecologic Oncology Group study.

Purpose: GOG 152 was a randomized trial of secondary cytoreductive surgery (SCS) in patients with suboptimal residual disease (residual tumor nodule >1cm in greatest diameter) following primary cytoreductive surgery for advanced stage ovarian cancer. The current analysis was undertaken to evaluate the impact of disease findings at SCS on progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS).

Methods: Among the 550 patients enrolled on GOG-152, two-hundred-sixteen patients were randomly assigned following 3cycles of cisplatin and paclitaxel to receive SCS.

Health literacy assessment in developing countries: a case study in Zambia.

Education and literacy are key determinants of health but do not necessarily ensure health literacy (HL). The Institute of Medicine's (IOM) definition of HL is widely accepted, but there is no consensus over its constituent parts. Developing a practical measure of HL is a priority, but challenging.

Expanding the phenotype of a neurofibromatosis type 1-like syndrome: a patient with a SPRED1 mutation and orbital manifestations.

A 4-year-old child with no medical history presented for evaluation of a small, palpable nodule near the left inferolateral rim. The lesion had a bluish hue and had been slowly enlarging over the course of several months. MRI of the orbits revealed a heterogenous and infiltrative preseptal and extraconal mass which enhanced with gadolinium, and sphenoid wing dysplasia on the left.

Ewing sarcoma presenting as a subconjunctival mass.

A 14-year-old previously healthy boy presented for evaluation of a subconjunctival mass that had been present for 2 to 3 years, but had recently started to enlarge. Imaging demonstrated an anterior orbital lesion that enhanced with gadolinium. An excisional biopsy was performed and revealed highly malignant-appearing small, blue, round tumor cells.