bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Acrylic spinal fusion
Authors: Hansebout Robert R. , Blomquist Gustav A. 
Published: May 2009

✓ Methyl methacrylate (acrylic) was used in fusion techniques in 82 patients, most of whom had metastatic disease, between 1959 and 1979. In all cases the acrylic was used to supplement stabilization with Meurig-Williams stainless steel plates or with wire. In cases involving a decompressive laminectomy and excisional biopsy (radical resection of a tumor mass) that required posterior stabilization, acrylic helped to achieve rapid fusion with excellent results. The series included one anterior fusion with acrylic and nine atlantoaxial fusions in patients without tumors. Strict guidelines for selection of patients are outlined. The advantage of acrylic over bone fusion in selected patients is discussed. Careful follow-up studies including autopsy examinations are included. The technique of the use of acrylic is outlined.
There was no case of late instability. There was one instance of infection in a patient who was immunodeficient and in whom a combination acrylic and bone fusion was performed. Tissue reaction to the acrylic in autopsy specimens is discussed.
Interstitial brachytherapy of primary brain tumors
Authors: Hosobuchi Yoshio , Phillips Theodore L. , Stupar Terry A. , Gutin Philip H. 
Published: May 2009

✓ Ten patients harboring inaccessible, slow-growing or recurrent malignant primary brain tumors were treated by the stereotaxic implantation of a radionuclide seed — iridium-192 (192Ir) or gold-198 (198Au) — either permanent or removable. The strength for 192Ir seeds was selected to deliver 10,000 to 12,000 rads to the periphery of the tumor, and that for 198Au seeds to deliver 4000 to 7500 rads. Three of the six patients treated with 192Ir showed objective responses lasting 8, 11, and 12 months, respectively; and one patient's disease stabilized for 18 months. Three of the four treated with 198Au showed responses lasting 5 months, 6 months, and 2 years, respectively. Because of the higher dose-rate attainable with 198Au, removable implants of this material are more effective against the faster-growing malignant tumors.
Another radionuclide, iodine-125 (125I), is now being tested against brain tumors. The radioactivity of 125I is high; but because its gamma emission is less energetic by a factor of 10 than that of 198Au or 192Ir, its radiation field is concentrated within a radius of 2.5 cm or less. This low-energy gamma emission also makes it easier to protect medical personnel and the patients' families against the nuclide when 125I is used.
An improved rat brain-tumor model
Authors: Kobayashi Naoki , Allen Norman , Clendenon Nancy R. , Ko Li-Wen 
Published: May 2009

✓ The widely used intracerebral tumor implantation method by freehand injection into parietal or hippocampal areas of the rat brain has proven inadequate for reliable experimental therapeutic studies. Problems include poor intracerebral growth yields and significant rates of spread to extracranial tissues, lungs, and spinal cord. Major variables have been examined experimentally on a model using nitrosourea-induced nervous system tumor cell lines in syngeneic rats. A rapid stereotaxic method greatly improved the consistency of tumor placement. The optimal site was found to be the caudate nucleus. The production of a spheroid intracerebral growth was further facilitated by the use of 1% agar in the cell suspension medium and by an injection volume of 10 µl containing at least 104 cells. Further improvements involved injection technique and flushing of the operative field.
These modifications have resulted in a 99% to 100% yield of intracerebral growth, with a marked reduction in the number and size of extracranial extensions and with distant metastasis rates of 0% to 5%. These results have continually improved with further experience. The method is satisfactory for radiation and chemotherapeutic trials in which survival time as an index of tumor size may be used as an end point.
Odontoid compression of the brain stem in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis
Authors: Smith Harold P. , Challa Venkata R. , Alexander Eben 
Published: May 2009

✓ Cervical spine involvement by rheumatoid arthritis is common; brain-stem compression secondary to vertical subluxation of the odontoid in patients with rheumatoid arthritis is rare. Vertical subluxation results from 1) destruction of the transverse atlantal, apical, and alar ligaments of the atlas and odontoid, and 2) bone resorption in the occipital condyles, lateral masses of the atlas, and basilar processes of the skull. Neurological symptoms result from direct compression of the brain stem or from ischemia secondary to compression of vertebral arteries, anterior spinal arteries, or small perforating arteries of the brain stem and spinal cord. A case is reported in which a slowly progressive neurological deficit developed in a woman with rheumatoid arthritis following a fall from a stretcher. Neurological symptoms represented direct compression of the medulla by the dens, a mechanism confirmed at operation and autopsy.
Recognition of progressive neurological deficit is often difficult in patients with rheumatoid arthritis because of their inactivity and their atrophic and immobile joints, but is essential if appropriate decompressive or stabilizing procedures are to be done. In patients with vertical subluxation of the dens, the transoral approach with removal of the odontoid is recommended. Decompression should be extensive, including the fibrous capsule around the odontoid and overlying synovial tissue as well as the odontoid itself.
Inside—outside technique for posterior occipitocervical spine instrumentation and stabilization: preliminary results
Authors: Pait T. Glenn , Al-Mefty Ossama , Boop Frederick A. , Arnautovic Kenan I. , Rahman Salim , Ceola Wade 
Published: May 2009

Object. The authors present a series of 16 patients who underwent inside—outside occipital and posterior cervical spine stabilization.
Methods. In this technique, the screw was placed from the inside of the occiput to the outside. An articular (lateral) mass plate was contoured to the shape of the occipital bone and the cervical spine and affixed to the occiput with a flat-headed screw or stud placed through a burr hole in the calvaria with the flat head of the screw in the epidural space and the threads facing outward. The bone plate was then secured with a nut to the occipital screw and the cervical plate was attached to the spine with a bone screw that coursed through the plate and into the articular pillar. Our series included six children and 10 adults. In five patients, previous fusion had failed; in two patients spinal instability was secondary to Down's syndrome; two patients' instability was related to developmental anomalies; and in five patients spinal instability was due to the presence of tumor. One patient with rheumatoid arthritis had undergone a transoral procedure. Two patients had suffered traumatic fracture. Three patients died of causes unrelated to the procedure, one patient died of metastatic cancer, and one patient died in a long term care facility of cardiopulmonary complications. One patient with renal failure suffered a hemorrhage from an arteriovenous fistula after being treated with dialysis. In one child, a nut backed off after 3 months. The nut was reseated, and a maturing arthrodesis was present.
Conclusions. The authors conclude that the inside—outside occipitocervical fixation is an effective technique for stabilizing the cervical spine.
Anterior cervical discectomy: is fusion necessary?
Authors: Dowd Gregory C. , Wirth Fremont P. 
Published: May 2009

Object. A prospective, randomized trial was performed to compare the efficacy of anterior cervical discectomy (ACD) with ACD and fusion (ACDF) for the treatment of cervical spondylosis in patients with neurological compromise.
Methods. Forty-four patients underwent ACD and 40 underwent ACDF. Operative time and length of hospital stay were shorter and there was less need for analgesia in the ACD group. It was found that whereas the incidence of fusion was greater in the ACDF group compared to the ACD group (97 compared with 70%, respectively; p < 0.01), patient satisfaction and a return to preoperative activity level was similar between groups.
Conclusions. Analysis of the results suggests that the addition of a fusion procedure may be unnecessary.
Risk of early closed reduction in cervical spine subluxation injuries
Authors: Grant Gerald A. , Mirza Sohail K. , Chapman Jens R. , Winn H. Richard , Newell David W. , Jones Dolors T. , Grady M. Sean 
Published: May 2009

Object. The authors retrospectively reviewed 121 patients with traumatic cervical spine injuries to determine the risk of neurological deterioration following early closed reduction.
Methods. After excluding minor fractures and injuries without subluxation, the medical records and imaging studies (computerized tomography and magnetic resonance [MR] images) of 82 patients with bilateral and unilateral locked facet dislocations, burst fractures, extension injuries, or miscellaneous cervical fractures with subluxation were reviewed. Disc injury was defined on MR imaging as the presence of herniation or disruption: a herniation was described as deforming the thecal sac or nerve roots, and a disruption was defined as a disc with high T2-weighted signal characteristics in a widened disc space. Fifty-eight percent of patients presented with complete or incomplete spinal cord injuries. Thirteen percent of patients presented with a cervical radiculopathy, 22% were intact, and 9% had only transient neurological deficits in the field.
Early, rapid closed reduction, using serial plain radiographs or fluoroscopy and Gardner—Wells craniocervical traction, was achieved in 97.6% of patients. In two patients (2.4%) closed reduction failed and they underwent emergency open surgical reduction. The average time to achieve closed reduction was 2.1 ± 0.24 hours (standard error of the mean).
The incidence of disc herniation and disruption in the 80 patients who underwent postreduction MR imaging was 22% and 24%, respectively. However, the presence of disc herniation or disruption did not affect the degree of neurological recovery, as measured by American Spinal Injury Association motor score and the Frankel scale following early closed reduction. Only one (1.3%) of 80 patients deteriorated, but that occurred more than 6 hours following closed reduction.
Conclusions. Although disc herniation and disruption can occur following all types of traumatic cervical fracture subluxations, the incidence of neurological deterioration following closed reduction in these patients is rare. The authors recommend early closed reduction in patients presenting with significant motor deficits without prior MR imaging.
Anterior cervical plating for the treatment of neoplasms in the cervical vertebrae
Authors: Caspar Wolfhard , Pitzen Tobias , Papavero Luca , Geisler Fred H. , Johnson Todd A. 
Published: May 2009

Object. To assess clinical outcome and survival in patients with cervical vertebral spinal neoplasms after they have undergone anterior decompression and cervical plate stabilization (ACPS) by using either autologous bone graft or polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) as the anterior load-bearing support structure.
Methods. This was a retrospective case study composed of 30 patients harboring cervical spinal vertebral neoplasms who underwent anterior cervical decompression and (ACPS) within a 7-year period. Postoperative immobilization included treatment in a halo brace in two cases and in a hard cervical collar for the remaining patients. Postoperatively most patients underwent radio- and/or chemotherapy. All patients except one benefited from a significantly improved quality of life with decreased pain and/or improved neurological status. The mean Kaplan—Meier survivoral estimate was 35.8 months (range 8 days–11.3 years, with 10 patients alive at most recent follow-up contact). Patients achieved long-term or lifelong mechanical stability in the cervical spine, and only one patient required a repeated posterior stabilization procedure. No hardware-related complications occurred. One patient died 8 days postoperatively of pneumonia. A nonsignificant difference in survival (p = 0.2164) was observed between patients harboring metastatic neoplasms (26.8 months) and those harboring lymphomatous and multiple myeloma neoplasms (54 months).
Conclusions. Favorable clinical outcome of both neurological symptoms and pain can be achieved using ACPS after surgery for neoplasms in the cervical vertebrae. Furthermore, long-term or lifelong cervical spine mechanical stability with bone fusion is achieved using this technique even when radiation therapy is delivered to the site of the bone graft.
Cervical corpectomy: report of 185 cases and review of the literature
Authors: Eleraky Mohammed A. , Llanos Carlos , Sonntag Volker K. H. 
Published: May 2009

Object. This study was conducted to determine the indications, safety, efficacy, and complication rate associated with performing corpectomy to achieve anterior decompression of neural elements or for removing anterior lesions.
Methods. Between 1987 and 1998, 185 patients underwent cervical corpectomy for the treatment of degenerative spondylitic disease (81 cases), ossification of posterior longitudinal ligament (16 cases), correction of postoperative kyphosis (31 cases), trauma (39 cases), tumor (10 cases), and infection (eight cases). Ninety-nine patients presented with myelopathy, 48 with radiculomyelopathy, 24 with radicular pain, and 14 with neck muscle pain. Eighty-seven patients underwent a one-level corpectomy; 45 of these patients underwent a discectomy at a different level. Seventy patients underwent a two-level corpectomy; 27 of these patients underwent a discectomy at a different level. Twenty-eight patients underwent a three-level corpectomy. Autograft (iliac crest) was used in 141 cases and allograft (fibula) in 44 cases. All but six patients underwent fixation with an anterior plate-screw system. There were no operative deaths. During the procedure the vertebral artery was injured in four patients and preserved in two of them. No neurological sequelae were encountered. Postoperative hoarseness, transient dysphagia, and pain at the graft site were transitory and successfully managed. The fusion rate was 98.8%. Six patients experienced transient deterioration after surgery but they improved. No patient experienced permanent neurological deterioration and 160 (86.5%) improved.
Conclusions. Corpectomy has an important role in the management of various degenerative, traumatic, neoplastic, or infectious disorders of cervical spine. Following treatment in this series, radiculopathy always improved and myelopathy was reversed in most patients.
Palliative subtotal vertebrectomy with anterior and posterior reconstruction via a single posterior approach
Authors: Cahill David W. , Kumar Rakesh 
Published: May 2009

Object. Laminectomy for the treatment of spinal metastatic disease is ineffective. Total spondylectomy requiring both anterior and posterior operations may cause undue morbidity in patients with a limited life expectancy. The authors demonstrate the technique, feasibility, and success of subtotal vertebrectomy that is followed by anterior and posterior reconstruction via a simple posterior approach. Although this remains a palliative procedure, it provides circumferential decompression and spinal stabilization by using rigid hardware.
Methods. The authors present a review of nine of 43 consecutive patients with spinal metastatic disease who underwent operation in a 42-month period. Via a single midline posterior approach, the authors performed single-stage circumferential decompression of the theca followed by anterior and posterior reconstruction. Anterior support is provided by a methylmethacrylate reconstruction retained with Steinmann pins. Posterior reconstruction is achieved by placement of rigid hook or pedicle screw and rod instrumentation.
Eight of the nine patients died of progression of underlying disease. All patients remained pain free until days before they died. Except for a patient with paraplegia who did not recover, all other patients remained ambulatory. Despite radio-, chemo-, and steroid therapy, there were no wound infections or breakdowns. One patient underwent reoperation because of a technical error.
Conclusions. Use of the near-total vertebrectomy followed by anterior and posterior reconstruction from T2 to L3 by using a single midline posterior approach spares the patient, who has a limited life expectancy, the operative risks associated with thoracotomy or thoracoabdominal approaches. The authors restrict the procedure for use in patients with extensive bony disease, noncontiguous spinal involvement, visceral metastases, other contraindications to a transcavitary procedure, and those with advanced age.
Intraoperative spinal angiography
Authors: Schievink Wouter I. , Vishteh A. Giancarlo , McDougall Cameron G. , Spetzler Robert F. 
Published: May 2009

Object. The use of intraoperative angiography of the spine has become available to neurosurgeons as an adjunct in the management of complex spinal vascular malformations. These vascular malformations are rare, and the use of intraoperative angiography of the spine has not been well described. The authors report their recent experience with the use of this diagnostic modality.
Methods. Between 1995 and 1997, nine consecutive patients with type II or Type IV spinal arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) underwent intraoperative spinal angiography. The cervical spine was involved in three patients, the thoracic spine in five, and the thoracolumbar junction in one. In three patients, intraoperative spinal angiography revealed an unexpected finding (residual filling of the AVM). The results obtained using postoperative spinal angiography in all patients showed complete agreement with the intraoperative studies. No complications arose from obtaining the intraoperative spinal angiograms.
Conclusions. Intraoperative spinal angiography is technically feasible, can be performed safely, and has adequate resolution. It detects unexpected residual AVM in one-third of cases.
Chondrosarcoma of the spine: 1954 to 1997
Authors: York Julie E. , Berk Rasim H. , Fuller Gregory N. , Rao Jasti S. , Abi-Said Dima , Wildrick David M. , Gokaslan Ziya L. 
Published: May 2009

Object. Primary chondrosarcoma of the spine is extremely rare. During the last 43 years only 21 patients with this disease were registered at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. The purpose of this study was to examine the demographic characteristics, treatments, and outcomes of this set of patients.
Methods. Medical records for 21 patients were reviewed. Age, sex, race, clinical presentation, tumor histology, tumor location in the spinal column, treatments, surgical details, and response to treatment were recorded. Surgical procedures were categorized as either gross-total resection or subtotal excision of tumor. Neurological function was assessed using Frankel's functional classification. Time to recurrence and survival analyses were performed using the Kaplan—Meier method. The median age of patients was 51 years, with fairly equal gender representation. Eighteen patients underwent at least one surgical procedure for a total of 28 surgical procedures: seven radical resections and 21 subtotal excisions. Radiation therapy was used in conjunction with 10 of the 28 surgical procedures. The median Kaplan—Meier estimate of overall survival for the entire group was 6 years (range 6 months–17 years). Tumors recurred after 18 of the 28 procedures. Kaplan—Meier analysis revealed a statistically significant difference in the per-procedure disease-free interval after gross-total resection relative to subtotal excision (exact log rank 3.39; p = 0.04). The addition of radiation therapy prolonged the median disease-free interval from 16 to 44 months, although this was not statistically significant (exact log rank 2.63; p = 0.16).
Conclusions. Our results suggest that gross-total resection of the chondrosarcoma provides the best chance for prolonging the disease-free interval in patients. Subtotal excision should be avoided whenever possible. Addition of radiation therapy does not appear to lengthen significantly the disease-free interval in this patient population.
Electrical spinal cord stimulation in reflex sympathetic dystrophy: retrospective analysis of 23 patients
Authors: Kemler Marius A. , Barendse Gerard A. M. , Van Kleef Maarten , Van Den Wildenberg Frans A. J. M. , Weber Wilhelm E. J. 
Published: May 2009

Object. The aim of the study was to assess retrospectively the clinical efficacy and possible adverse effects of electrical spinal cord stimulation (SCS) for the treatment of patients with reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD).
Methods. Twenty-three patients who suffered severe pain due to RSD were included in the study. The SCS system was implanted only after a positive 1-week test period. The visual analog scale (VAS) score for pain (1–10) was obtained in all patients prior to treatment, 1 month postimplantation, and at last follow up. At final follow-up examination, patients were asked to rate the effect of their treatment on the 7-point global perceived effect scale. Eighteen (78%) of 23 patients treated between 1991 and 1997 reported improvement during the test period. Permanent implantation of SCS system was not performed in the other five patients. Complications occurred in nine (50%) of 18 patients. The system was removed in three patients after implantation (17%). At the end of follow up (mean 32 months) 15 patients still had an implanted system. The mean pain score had decreased from 7.9 to 5.4 (p < 0.001). In the other eight patients the pain score had not changed significantly. In 13 patients (57%) in whom the SCS system was implanted, clinical status had much improved or improved; these cases were regarded as successful.
Conclusions. In this retrospective series, the majority of patients with RSD reported a subjective improvement after implantation of an SCS system.
Adenoviral nerve growth factor and β-galactosidase transfer to spinal cord: a behavioral and histological analysis
Authors: Boulis Nicholas M. , Bhatia Vikas , Brindle Theodore I. , Holman Harland T. , Krauss Daniel J. , Blaivas Mila , Hoff Julian T. 
Published: May 2009

Object. The present study characterizes the time course and loci of gene expression induced by the administration of adenoviral vectors into spinal cord. Although a marked inflammatory response to these vectors occurred, no effect on spinal cord function was seen in the 1st postoperative week. The expression of transgenic genes delivered by viral vectors is being exploited throughout the nervous system. The present study utilized adenoviral vectors containing the Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) promoter and a nuclear localization signal to achieve transgenic expression in mammalian spinal cord.
Methods. Initial experiments utilizing the vector Ad.RSVlacZ (1012 particles/ml) injected into the region of the central canal resulted in viral gene expression stretching over approximately 1.2 cm of spinal cord. Gene expression was first detected 3 days following viral administration and lasted until postinjection Day 14 with peak expression at Day 7. A variety of cell types in both white and gray matter expressed lacZ. Transgenic expression of the neurotrophin nerve growth factor (NGF) was achieved using injections of Ad.RSVNGF. On histological examination mononuclear inflammatory infiltrate and gliosis were revealed surrounding the injection sites of spinal cords receiving adenovirus but not vehicle. To assess spinal cord function during viral gene expression, animals previously trained in an operant runway task were tested at 7 days postinjection (the peak of viral gene expression) and demonstrated no changes in spinal cord function.
Conclusions. Results of this study using adenoviral neurotrophic gene transfer indicate that it provided an effective tool for the delivery of potentially therapeutic proteins to the injured or diseased spinal cord.