Surgical Correction of Kyphosis in Patients With Camptocormia Associated With Parkinson's Disease: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Background: Camptocormia is a postural deformity that is characterized by a markedly flexed lumbar spine, with symptoms that worsen with walking and standing. Here, we report a case of camptocormia associated with Parkinson's disease. Case description: A 70-year-old man with a 7-year history of Parkinson's disease presented with a fall injury that caused lower back pain for 3 months and was aggravated for 2 months. He had been diagnosed with a compression fracture after the fall and had undergone percutaneous kyphoplasty at a local hospital. MRI showed non-union of the L1 vertebra and compression fracture of L2. The patient underwent posterior osteotomy, canal decompression, and internal fixation of the T10-L3 intervertebral plate with bone graft fusion. Postoperative examination showed that the lumbar lordosis was corrected and sensation was restored in both lower extremities. However, after 1 month, the fixation was loosened and a correction surgery was performed at our hospital. At the most recent follow-up at 1.5 years, the patient was found to be in good general health and did not complain of lower back discomfort. He was also actively exercising according to the rehabilitation regimen and had resumed social life. Conclusion: This is a rare case of camptocormia in a Parkinson's patient that highlights the need for careful evaluation of whether internal spinal fixation surgery is beneficial in such patients.

[Preliminary application of CPC/PMMA composite bone cement in kyphoplasty for the elderly].

OBJECTIVE: From the perspective of clinical application to analyze the effectiveness and reliability of CPC/PMMA bone cement in percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP) for the treatment of elderly patients with osteoporotic thoracolumbar fractures. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed on 62 patients with osteoporotic compression fracture of single-vertebral thoracic or lumbar segment who underwent PKP surgery and had a bone density less than or equal to -3.0 SD from February 2016 to December 2016. Among them, 23 patients were in CPC/PMMA group, with an average age of (77.6±2.2) years old, 39 patients in PMMA group, with an average age of (77.1±1.1) years old. The indexes between two groups were compared, including the visual analogue scale (VAS), height ratio of anterior vertebra (AVHR), local Cobb angle, cement leakage, new adjacent vertebral fracture(NAVF). RESULTS: There were no significant difference in gender, age, follow-up time and preoperative VAS, AVHR, local Cobb angle between two groups (P>0.05), at the 1 day after operation, VAS, AVHR, local Cobb angle in all patients got obvious improvement (P<0.05), which was no significant difference at 1 day after operation and final follow-up (P>0.05). At the same time, there was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of new adjacent vertebral fracture and cement leakage (P>0.05). The pain in both groups continued to improve at follow up after operation (P<0.05), the local Cobb angle increased (P<0.05) and AVHR decreased slightly (P<0.05). However, the images of conventional methods (X-ray or CT) could not find signs about CPC degeneration and new bone ingrowth. CONCLUSION: CPC/PMMA composite bone cement is safe and reliablein PKP for treatment of elderly patients with osteoporotic thoracolumbar fractures, which can effectively relieve pain and maintain vertebral body stability. It has the same curative effect as PMMA bone cement. It was worthy to research more in future, although no direct evidences support the CPC/PMMA composite bone cement can reduce the incidence of adjacent vertebral fracture, CPC degeneration or new bone ingrowth.

Modified percutaneous Kyphoplasty technique in the treatment of osteoporotic thoracolumbar burst fractures: could it reduce the odds of cement leakage?

BACKGROUND: Osteoporotic thoracolumbar burst fracture (OTLBF) is common in seniors. Due to the fracture of the posterior vertebra and spinal canal occupancy, the risk of cement leakage and spine injury is high in OTLBF patients, thus the application of vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty is limited in these patients. This study aims to investigate the efficacy and safety of the modified percutaneous kyphoplasty (MPKP) in the treatment of OTLBF. METHODS: Clinical data of the OTLBF patients treated with MPKP and the osteoporotic thoracolumbar compression fracture (OTLCF) patients undergone PKP from January 2014 to June 2016 were collected. The key procedure of the MPKP was to fill the bone cavity with gel-foam by the first balloon inflation and to press the gel-foam by a second balloon inflation. Pain intensity, Oswestry disability index (ODI), and bone cement leakage of the patients in the two groups were analyzed. RESULTS: In the burst fracture group, the overall spinal canal occupancy was relatively low, and the maximum occupancy was 1/3 of the sagittal diameter of the spinal canal. The surgical duration was longer in the burst fracture group (39.0 ± 5.0 min with 95% CI: 37.7, 40.3) than in the compression fracture group (31.7 ± 4.3 min with 95% CI: 31.1, 32.3), and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (Z = -8.668 and P = 0.000). Both the Oswestry disability index (ODI) and the visual analog scales (VAS) were apparently improved, but there was no significant difference between the two groups. Cement leakage occurred in 13 out of the 53 cases (24.5%) in the burst fracture group and 35 out of the 193 cases (18.1%) in the compression fracture group, and there was no significant difference between the two groups (Z = - 1.038 and P = 0.299). Neither group had consequential symptoms, such as spinal cord lesion, pain, and numbness of the peripheral nerve. CONCLUSION: Similar to the efficacy of PKP in the treatment of OTLCF, MPKP efficiently reduced the cement leakage rate and improved the safety of the surgery, although it prolonged the surgical duration and introduced more surgical steps.

[Clinical comparative study of short-segment and long-segment fixation for single-segment thoracic and lumbar spine III stage Kümmell disease].

OBJECTIVE: By comparing the clinical efficacy of short-segment and long-segment fixation for single-segment thoracic and lumbar spine III stage Kümmell disease to explore a more suitable fixed segment for the disease. METHODS: The clinical data of 46 patients with single-segment thoracic and lumbar spine III stage Kümmell disease treated from July 2013 to December 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. Forty-six patients were divided into short-segment fixation group(one vertebra above and below the diseased vertebra) and long-segment fixation group(two vertebrae on the upper and lower of the diseased vertebra) according to different methods of cement stick fixation. There were 25 patients in the short-segment fixation group, including 9 males and 16 females, with an average age of (75.3±4.5) years old, lumbar spine bone mineral density T-value of (-3.1±0.3) g/cm³, follow-up time of (13.0±2.3) months; there were 21 patients in long-segment fixation group, 6 males and 15 females, with an average age of (74.5±3.9) years old, lumbar spine bone mineral density T-value of (-3.2±0.3) g/cm³, follow-up time of (14.7±3.6) months.The gender, age, follow-up time, operation time, intraoperative blood loss, cement leakage, and the rate of adjacent vertebrae fractures were compared between two groups, as well as pain VAS score, ODI, and kyphosis angle before and after surgery. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in age, gender, bone density, pain VAS score, ODI, and kyphosis between two groups before surgery. The operation time and intraoperative blood loss of short-segment fixation group were less than that of long-segment fixation group. The pain VAS score, ODI and kyphosis of the two groups were significantly improved at 7 days after the operation and at the latest follow-up, there was no significant difference between two groups. There were no significant differences in bone cement leakage(9/25 vs 11/21) and adjacent vertebrae fractures(4/25 vs 3/21). CONCLUSIONS: Both long-segment fixation and short-segment fixation can effectively relieve pain, correct kyphosis, improve functional index, and achieve better clinical results, but short-segment fixation has less operation time and less intraoperative blood. So single-segment thoracic and lumbar spine III stage Kümmell disease does not need to extend the fixed segment, short-segment fixation is more in line with clinical needs and worthy of further study.