Does Baseline Mental Health Influence Outcomes among Workers’ Compensation Claimants Undergoing Minimally Invasive Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion?

Methods@#WC recipients undergoing single-level MIS TLIF were identified. PROMs of Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for back and leg pain, Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), 12-item Short Form Physical and Mental Composite Scale (SF-12 PCS/MCS), and Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Physical Function evaluated subjects preoperatively/postoperatively. Subjects were grouped according to preoperative SF-12 MCS: <41 vs. ≥41. Demographic/perioperative variables, PROMs, and MCID were compared using inferential statistics. Multiple regression was used to account for differences in spinal pathology. @*Results@#The SF-12 MCS <41 and SF-12 MCS ≥41 groups included 48 and 45 patients, respectively. Significant differences in ΔPROMs were observed at SF-12 MCS at all timepoints, except at 6 months (p≤0.041, all). The SF-12 MCS <41 group had worse preoperative to 6-months SF-12 MCS, 12-weeks/6-months VAS back, 12-week VAS leg, and preoperative to 6-months ODI (p≤0.029, all). The SF-12 MCS <41 group had greater MCID achievement for overall ODI and 6-weeks/1-year/overall SF-12 MCS (p≤0.043, all); the SF-12 MCS ≥41 group had greater attainment for 6-month VAS back (p=0.004). @*Conclusions@#Poorer mental functioning adversely affected the baseline and intermediate postoperative quality-of-life outcomes pertaining to mental health, back pain, and disability among WC recipients undergoing lumbar fusion. However, outcomes did not differ 1–2 years after surgery. While MCID achievement for pain and physical function was largely unaffected by preoperative mental health score, WC recipients with poorer baseline mental health demonstrated higher rates of overall clinically meaningful improvements for disability and mental health

Single-Level Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion versus Minimally Invasive Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion at L5/S1 for an Obese Population

Methods@#Obese patients (body mass index [BMI] ≥30.0 kg/m2) who underwent single-level MIS TLIF or ALIF at L5/S1 were included in the study. Demographic/perioperative variables, presenting patient pathology, and 1-year arthrodesis statistics were collected. PROM scores for Visual Analog Scale (VAS) back/leg, Oswestry Disability Index, 12-item Short Form Physical Composite Scale, and Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement Information System Physical Function (PROMIS-PF) were collected from preoperative and postoperative (6 weeks, 12 weeks, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years) PROMIS-PF. The obese patients were classified based on the procedure they underwent (MIS TLIF vs. ALIF). @*Results@#The criteria were met by 210 patients in total. After coarsened exact matching for Charlson comorbidity index score, degenerative spondylolisthesis, isthmic spondylolisthesis, degenerative scoliosis, foraminal stenosis, insurance, male, and ethnicity, 94 obese patients were included in the total cohort, with 59 receiving MIS TLIF and 35 receiving ALIF. ALIF recipients had higher PROMIS-PF scores at 6 weeks (p=0.014) and 12 weeks (p=0.030), as well as a higher VAS leg at 2 years (p=0.017). Following multiple regression accounting for differences in baseline BMI, only the 6-week PROMIS-PF significantly differed (p=0.028), with no other intergroup differences in mean PROMs between fusion types. Aside from a significantly higher 6-week MCID achievement rate for PROMIS-PF among ALIF recipients (p=0.006), no differences in attainment were observed. @*Conclusions@#There were no statistically significant differences in perioperative characteristics, fusion rates, PROMs, or MCID achievement between obese patients receiving MIS TLIF vs. ALIF. As a result, our findings indicate that MIS TLIF and ALIF at L5/S1 are equally effective in an obese patient population.

Antepartum cerebral angiopathy presenting as middle cerebral artery aneurysm rupture – A rare case report from India

The incidence of middle cerebral artery aneurysm rupture in pregnancy is rare. Rupture of an intracranial aneurysm is the most common cause of subarachnoid hemorrhage in pregnancy and during puerperium. Intracranial aneurysm rupture during pregnancy is disastrous for the mother as well as the fetus. We report a case of a dissecting left middle cerebral artery aneurysm in a 25-year-old woman, G2P1L1, at 18 weeks of gestation, who presented with a 1-day history of giddiness, slurring of speech, and facial deviation to the left.

Retrospective Surveillance for Intussusception in Children Aged Less than Five Years in a South Indian Tertiary-care Hospital.

To facilitate the assessment of the safety profile of rotavirus vaccines effectively, baseline data on intussusception are important for comparison with intussusception rates following the introduction of vaccine. The aim of the study was to describe epidemiological and clinical features of intussusception in children aged less than five years in an Indian medical facility. Hospital data on intussusception for children discharged during 1 January 2001–30 June 2004 from the Christian Medical College Hospital, Vellore, India, were reviewed. Relevant information was extracted from medical records to classify cases according to the criteria of the Brighton Collaboration Intussusception Working Group. Complete review of medical records for clinical and demographic information was only performed for those cases fulfilling level 1 diagnostic certainty (definite intussusception) (Study ID 101245). During the surveillance period, 31 infants and children with definite intussusception were identified. The majority (61.2%) of the cases occurred in the first year of life. The male : female ratio was 3.4 : 1. Intussusception cases occurred round the year with no distinct seasonality. No intussusception-associated death was recorded. This study provides baseline data on intussusception in South India. Cases identified in the study were similar in presentation and demographics as those observed in other Asian settings. Prospective surveillance systems, using standardized case definitions will further increase the understanding of the aetiology and epidemiology of intussusception, especially as new rotavirus vaccines are made available.

Neurotoxoplasmosis Complicating Behcet's Disease on Treatment

Neurotoxoplasmosis is the most common cause of intracranial mass lesions in the immunocompromised and should be considered as a differential diagnosis of neuro-Behcet's