Full Endoscopy Combined with Allogeneic Bone Grafting for Benign Spinal Lesions: Technical Notes and Preliminary Clinical Results.

Benign lesions of the spine include benign tumors and tumor-like lesions of the spine, which usually occur in the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae. The incidence rate is low, accounting for about 1% of primary bone tumors. Few cases of endoscopic treatment of benign spinal lesions have been reported in the literature. Here, we introduce a new surgical technique using full endoscopy and allogeneic bone grafting to treat benign spinal lesions. All patients in this study successfully underwent the operation, and their pain was significantly relieved postoperatively. The patient VAS scores decreased from 3.07 ± 0.70 preoperatively to 0.33 ± 0.49 at the last follow-up visit (p < 0.05). The mean total blood loss (including drainage blood) was 16.67 ± 6.98 mL. The mean operative time was 63.33 ± 7.23 min. No patients developed numbness in the corresponding segmental distribution after surgery, none of the patients had serious postoperative complications, and none had focal recurrence during follow-up requiring reoperation. Patients reported symptom relief throughout the whole follow-up period. We believe that endoscopic surgery preserves the ligaments and soft tissues around the vertebral body, and that this technique is feasible with minimal trauma, rapid recovery, and good outcomes at short-term follow-up. This minimally invasive treatment modality offers a new option for the treatment of patients with benign spinal lesions.

Adherence and interaction of cationic quantum dots on bacterial surfaces.

Understanding molecular mechanisms of interactions between nanoparticles and bacteria is important and essential to develop nanotechnology for medical and environmental applications. Quantum dots (QDs) are specific nanoparticles with unique optical properties and high photochemical stability. In the present study, direct interactions were observed between cationic QDs and bacteria. Distinct fluorescence quenching patterns were developed when cationic QDs interacted with Gram negative and Gram positive bacteria. The aggregation of QDs on bacterial surface as well as fluorescence quenching depends upon the chemical composition and structure of the bacterial cell envelopes. The presence of lipopolysaccharide is unique to Gram-negative bacterial surface and provides negatively charge areas for absorbing cationic QDs. The effects of lipopolysaccharide were proved on fluorescence quenching of cationic QDs. In contrast to Gram-negative bacteria, the presence of teichoic acids is unique to Gram-positive bacterial cell wall and provides negatively charged sites for cationic QDs along the chain of teichoic-acid molecules, which may protect QDs from aggregation and fluorescence quenching. This study may not only provide insight into behaviors of QDs on bacterial cell surfaces but also open a new avenue for designing and applying QDs as biosensors in microbiology, medicine, and environmental science.