Myelopathy Associated with Rapid Progression of a Dystrophic Neurofibromatosis-1 Curve - A Case Report and Review of Literature.

Introduction: Thoracic myelopathy in neuro fibromatosis-1 (NF-1) is most commonly due to intra-spinal neurofibromas/dumb-bell tumors/intra-canal rib head penetration (RHP) causing cord compression. However, acute thoracic myelopathy due to rapid progression of the kyphoscoliotic curve alone in NF-1 without a significant spinal cord compression occurs very rarely. This case report discusses our experience with one such patient and we also discuss intraoperative and post-operative challenges encountered with this patient and a rare complication of hemothorax postoperatively. Case Report: A 15-year-old male presented to the clinic after being lost to follow-up for 4 years with a rapid acute deterioration of dystrophic curve and no myelopathic symptoms (Scoliosis - 65°, Kyphosis - 77°). His subsequent examination in 6 weeks showed acute development of myelopathic gait with right ankle and extensor hallucis longus weakness. He was admitted for halo gravity traction for 6 weeks and a single-stage posterior instrumentation with excision of rib heads at the apex was planned. Postoperatively, the patient developed massive left hemothorax and loss of power in both lower limbs at day 2. He subsequently regained full power and complete resolution of myelopathic symptoms at the end of 9- month follow-up with a satisfactory alignment of spine in the follow-up X-rays. Conclusion: Acute onset of myelopathy is a rare and uncommon finding with a rapid deterioration of dystrophic curve alone without any major spinal cord compromise. Early detection of dysplastic changes with early aggressive surgical management and deformity correction is necessary with dystrophic NF-1 curves to prevent pre-operative and post-operative morbidities.

One Hundred Top Cited Articles in Cervical Myelopathy: A Bibliographic Analysis.

STUDY DESIGN: A bibliometric review of the literature. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to identify the most highly cited articles relating to cervical myelopathy and to analyze the most influential articles. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Over the past several decades, a lot of research has been conducted regarding the subject of cervical myelopathy. Although there are a large number of articles on this topic, to our knowledge, this is the first bibliometric analysis. METHODS: A selection of search terms and keywords were inputted into the "Dimensions" database and the most highly cited articles in cervical myelopathy were selected from high impact factor journals. The top 100 articles were analyzed for year of publication, authorship, publishing journals, institution and country of origin, subject matter, article type, and level of evidence. RESULTS: The 100 most cited articles in the topic of cervical myelopathy were published from 1956 to 2015. These articles, their corresponding authors, and number of citations are shown in Table 1. The number of citations ranged from 121 times for the 100th article to 541 times for the top article in a total of 20 journals. The most common topic was operative technique, whereas the journals which contributed the most articles were the Spine journal and the Journal of Neurosurgery. CONCLUSION: Our study provided an extensive list of the most historically significant articles regarding cervical myelopathy, acknowledging the key contributions made to the advancement of this field.Level of Evidence: 5.

Contiguous Three-Level Vertebral Collapse in Thoracic Spine: A Novel Presentation of Chronic Recurrent Multifocal Osteomyelitis in 12 years old and Review of Literature.

Introduction: Chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis (CRMO) is a rare autoimmune disorder of childhood and adolescence which often manifests as recurring episodes of inflammatory bone pains. Spinal involvement is rare; however, recent studies advocate full body magnetic resonance imaging in all suspected cases to pick up asymptomatic lesions early to prevent complications. Spinal involvement may manifest as fractures, scoliosis, or kyphotic deformity. Case Report: We present a case of a 12-year-old boy who had three-level involvement of thoracic spine, T6-T8, and was worked up and managed for pathological fracture of spine. He underwent biopsy for the same and was later diagnosed as CRMO. Here, we discuss the diagnostic challenges involved in CRMO, need for biopsy, and the management options available. Conclusions: Identifying CRMO is challenging and remains a diagnosis of exclusion. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs often constitute the first line of treatment and other drugs such as bisphosphonates and biologics such as TNF-alpha antagonists are reserved for more severe cases. Although CRMO is considered a benign disease, recent data suggest up to 50% rate of residual impairments despite optimal management.

Preoperative and Postoperative, Three-dimensional Gait Analysis in Surgically Treated Patients With High-grade Spondylolisthesis.

BACKGROUND: High-grade spondylolisthesis (HGS) (Myerding grade III-V) in adolescents can lead to a marked alteration of gait pattern and maybe the presenting symptom in these patients. This characteristic gait pattern in patients with HGS has been referred to as the "pelvic waddle." Modern 3-dimensional (3D) gait analysis serves an important tool to objectively analyze the different components of this characteristic gait preoperatively and postoperatively and is an objective measure of postoperative improvement.This study demonstrates the use of 3D gait analysis preoperatively and postoperatively in a cohort of 4 consecutive patients with HGS treated surgically at a single tertiary referral center and utilize this to objectively evaluate outcome of surgical treatment in these patients. This has not been reported previously in a cohort of patients. METHODS: This is a prospective analysis of patients with HGS who underwent surgical intervention for spondylolisthesis at a single institution. Patient demographics, clinical, and radiologic assessment were recorded, and all patients underwent 3D gait analysis before and after surgical intervention. Kinetic, kinematic, and spatial parameters were recorded preoperatively and postoperatively for all patients. This allowed the outcome of change in gait deviation index, before and after surgical treatment, to be evaluated. RESULTS: We were able to review complete records of 4 adolescent patients who underwent surgical treatment for HGS. Mean age at surgery was 13.5 years with a minimum follow-up of 2.5 years postoperatively (average 40 mo). Preoperative gait analysis revealed marked posterior pelvic tilt in 2 patients, reduced hip and knee extension in all 4 patients and external foot progression in 3 of the 4 patients. Along with an observed improvement in gait, there was an objective improvement in gait parameters postoperatively in all 4 patients. Gait deviation index score improved significantly from 78.9 to 101.3 (mean). CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative gait abnormalities exist in HGS and can be objectively analyzed with gait analysis. Surgical intervention may successfully resolve these gait abnormalities and gait analysis is a useful tool to assess the outcome of surgery and quantify an otherwise intangible benefit of surgical intervention. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV-case series.

Magnetically controlled growing rods in the treatment of early onset scoliosis: a single centre experience of 44 patients with mean follow-up of 4.1 years.

AIMS: Magnetically controlled growing rods (MCGR) have been gaining popularity in the management of early-onset scoliosis (EOS) over the past decade. We present our experience with the first 44 MCGR consecutive cases treated at our institution. METHODS: This is a retrospective review of consecutive cases of MCGR performed in our institution between 2012 and 2018. This cohort consisted of 44 children (25 females and 19 males), with a mean age of 7.9 years (3.7 to 13.6). There were 41 primary cases and three revisions from other rod systems. The majority (38 children) had dual rods. The group represents a mixed aetiology including idiopathic (20), neuromuscular (13), syndromic (9), and congenital (2). The mean follow-up was 4.1 years, with a minimum of two years. Nine children graduated to definitive fusion. We evaluated radiological parameters of deformity correction (Cobb angle), and spinal growth (T1-T12 and T1-S1 heights), as well as complications during the course of treatment. RESULTS: The mean Cobb angles pre-operatively, postoperatively, and at last follow-up were 70° (53 to 103), 35° (15 to 71) and 39° (15 to 65) respectively (p < 0.001). Further, there was a mean of 14° (-6 to 27) of additional Cobb angle correction upon graduation from MCGR to definitive fusion. Both T1-T12 and T1-S1 showed significant increase in heights of 27 mm and 45 mm respectively at last follow-up (p < 0.001). Ten children (23%) developed 18 complications requiring 21 unplanned operations. Independent risk factors for developing a complication were single rod constructs and previous revision surgery. CONCLUSION: MCGR has the benefit of avoiding multiple surgeries, and is an effective tool in treatment of early-onset scoliosis. It also maintains the flexibility of the spine, allowing further correction at the time of definitive fusion.Cite this article: Bone Joint Open 2020;1-7:405-414.

Metastasis Affecting Craniocervical Junction: Current Concepts and an Update on Surgical Management.

STUDY DESIGN: Literature review. OBJECTIVES: Metastatic disease affecting the craniovertebral junction (CVJ) only accounts for 0.5% of all spine metastases. The management of these disease processes is complex, which involves multimodality radiological studies and various surgical approaches. We aimed to review the available evidence and summarize the findings in this review. METHODS: The authors conducted search of PubMed and Google Scholar with the following search terms: metastasis, craniovertebral junction (CVJ), occipitocervical, approaches, stability, and radiotherapy. Articles were reviewed by the authors and determined for inclusion based on relevance and level of evidence. RESULTS: The majority of relevant research reviewed composed of literature reviews of particular aspects regarding metastatic disease affecting the craniovertebral junction, including diagnosis, surgical approach, and radiotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: Prompt evaluation of rotational neck pain with or without occipital neuralgia may reveal early metastatic disease within a stable CVJ. Magnetic resonance imaging appears to be the gold standard imaging modality in detecting this pathology, with nuclear bone scan playing a role in distinguishing benign and malignant processes. Unfortunately, no level 1 evidence exists for use of either radiotherapy or surgery in these cases; however, from the available literature, spinal instability and evidence of progressive neurology are relative indications for operative intervention.

Comparison of thermal spread with the use of an ultrasonic osteotomy device: Sonopet ultrasonic aspirator versus misonix bonescalpel in spinal surgery.

BACKGROUND: The development of high speed rotating burrs has greatly advanced spinal surgery in recent years. However, they produce unwanted frictional heat and temperature elevation during the burring process. We compare the misonix bone scalpel (MBS) and the Sonopet ultrasonic aspirator to assess which would be the safer device in terms of the risk of thermal injury following laminectomy. METHODS: We describe an experimental nonrandomized study comparing two ultrasonic osteotomy devices. We use the device tip temperature and temperature of inner cortex of the lamina, following laminectomy, as the primary outcome. Our secondary outcome is to assess which device is associated with a lower risk of osteonecrosis and potential thermal injury to surrounding dura and nerves. RESULTS: The average device tip temperature for the Sonopet ultrasonic aspirator following the process of laminectomy was 36.8 with a maximum temperature of 41.8°C. The average device tip temperature for the MBS following laminectomy was 48.6 with a maximum temperature of 85.3°C. CONCLUSION: Our results have demonstrated the safety of the Sonopet ultrasonic aspirator with the Nakagawa serrated knife with temperatures below the threshold for osteonecrosis and thermal neural injury. However, the MBS has shown to occasionally reach high temperatures above the threshold of potential thermal injury to surrounding nerves and dura for a very short period of time. We advise to withdraw and re-insert the ultrasonic tip repeatedly to re-establish adequate cooling and lubrication. Further studies should be carried out using cadaveric bone at body temperature to simulate more accurate results.

A novel technique for the subfascial insertion of magnetically controlled growing rods - The Alder Hey technique.

PURPOSE: In this study, we would like to describe a novel technique for subfascial insertion of magnetically controlled growing rods using chest drain during surgery for early-onset scoliosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Posterior approach, surgical dissection to the spine is performed exposing the relevant anatomy to allow placement of pedicle screws always in the distal construct and pedicle screws or hooks in the proximal construct. To allow easy passage of the Magnetic Expansion Control (MAGEC) rod, as well as easy maneuvering of the rod in either the cranial to caudal direction, we use a chest drain of size 24 French diameter as a tunnel. This allows surgeons to fit the nonflexible part of MAGEC rod in the middle of the deformity and cut to length passed through the chest drain from a cranial to caudal position and then chest drain is removed. RESULTS: A total of 40 children with early-onset scoliosis had insertion of MAGEC rods using this technique. There were 21 female and 19 male patients. Early-onset scoliosis etiology is idiopathic in 20 patients, neuromuscular in 16 patients, and others in 4 patients. Median age across all groups was 7 years (range 4-13) at the time of surgery. Follow-up ranged from 11 to 56 months with a median of 24 months. CONCLUSION: The use of a chest drain during subfascial passage of magnetically controlled growing rod is a safe, reliable, reproducible novel technique. This shortens overall time of surgery in our experience.

Sternal metastasis - the forgotten column and its effect on thoracic spine stability.

Sternal metastases are not studied extensively in the literature. There is a paucity of information on their role in metastatic disease. The concept of the fourth column was described by Berg in 1993, and has been proven in case report, clinically and biomechanical studies. The role of the sternum as a support to the thoracic spine is well documented in the trauma patients, but not much is known about its role in cancer patients. This review examines what is known on the role of the fourth column. Following this we have identified two likely scenarios that sternal metastases may impact management: (1) sternal pathological fracture increases the mobility of the semi-rigid thorax with the loss of the biomechanical support of the sternum-rib-thoracic spine complex; and (2) a sternal metastasis increases the risk of fracture, and while being medical treated the thoracic spine should be monitored for acute kyphosis and neurological injury secondarily to the insufficiency of the fourth column.

Spinal Metastatic Disease: A Review of the Role of the Multidisciplinary Team.

Historically, a simple approach centered on palliation was applicable to the majority of patients with metastatic spinal disease. With advances in diagnosis and treatment, a more complicated algorithm has devolved requiring a multidisciplinary approach with institutional commitment and support. We performed a database review including pertinent articles exploring the multidisciplinary management of spinal metastatic disease. The wide variation in clinical presentation and tumor response to treatment necessitates a multidisciplinary approach that integrates the diagnosis and treatment of the cancer, symptom management, and rehabilitation for optimal care of patients with spinal metastases. Advances in the field of radiology have led to earlier and more focused diagnosis of spinal metastasis and acts to guide therapy. Advances in surgical techniques, neurophysiologic monitoring, and anesthetic expertise have allowed surgeons to perform more extensive procedures leading to improved outcomes and reduced morbidity. Radiation oncology input that is essential as external beam radiation therapy can provide significant pain relief. Non-operative measures may include bisphosphonate infusions, management of complications (e.g. hypercalcemia of malignancy), monoclonal antibody infusions, and chemotherapy if indicated in the treatment of the primary malignancy. Input from psychology services is necessary to address the biopsychosocial ramifications of spinal metastasis. Allied health professionals in the form of physiotherapists, social workers, and dieticians also contribute in maximizing patients' quality of life and well-being.

Occipitocervical fusion - An epidemiological drift experienced in an Irish tertiary spinal referral center: Twenty-year follow-up study.

BACKGROUND: Occipitocervical disease is common in the elderly population, and is on the rise due to an increasingly aging population. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed all patients who underwent occipitocervical fusion in our institution over a 20 year period (1996-2016) at a tertiary spinal referral centre. Patients were divided in 2 groups. Group A included all patient who underwent OCF in the first decade between 1996 and 2005. Group B was all patients who underwent OCF in the second decade between 2006 and 2016. RESULTS: A total of 23 patients underwent occipitocervical fusion between 1996 until 2016 at our institution. Instability secondary to Rheumatoid arthritis was the leading factor in group A, responsible for 43 percent of cases. In group B, trauma was the leading burden accounting for 44 percent of the cases. In contrast to Group A however, only 19 % of OCFs occurred secondary to RA in group B. Our fusion rate was 96 percent with a survival rate of 67 percent. CONCLUSION: We noticed a clear epidemiological drift in the cervical spine pathologies requiring OCF during the first and second decade of study period with an increase in prevalence of pathological fractures secondary to metastatic disease. In addition, a drop in rheumatoid cervical disease requiring OCF has been noted.

Uncemented total hip arthroplasty in osteoarthritis of hip secondary to low and high dislocated hips: A mid-term follow-up study.

BACKGROUND: Performing successful total hip replacement (THR) in dysplastic, subluxed, and dislocated hip is a challenging task. Here, we assessed midterm clinical and radiological outcomes of uncemented total hip arthroplasty in osteoarthritis (OA) of hip secondary to Hartofilakidis low and high-dislocated hips with a mean follow-up of 8.8 years. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study of prospectively collected data was designed involving all consecutive patients who underwent uncemented THR for OA of hip secondary to developmental dysplasia of the hip and Grade II or Grade III Hartofilakidis classification. RESULTS: Thirty-two patients underwent 45 THR, with 23 Grade II (low dislocation) and 22 Grade III (high-dislocation) of Hartofilakidis classification. Thirteen patients had bilateral hip replacements, 19 patients had unilateral THR. There was highly statistically significant difference between preoperative and postoperative HHS and SF-36v2™ at each follow-up. Survivorship of original implant was 98.88% at a mean follow-up of 8.8 years. The mean improvement in leg length in this series was 3.6 cm (1.8-4.5, 95% confidence interval). No sciatic nerve or femoral nerve palsies were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Uncemented THR provides better function and quality of life. However, longer follow-up studies are needed to assess survivorship of uncemented THR in Hartofilakidis low and high-dislocations.

Do "Myths" of low back pain exist among Irish population? A cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION: Low back pain remains major public health problem in the Western industrialized world. The known prevalence of low back pain in Ireland is approximately 13 %. It is one of the leading causes of sickness compensation and disability pension in our justification. We hypothesized that there is a widespread misconception about the perception of low back pain among the Irish population. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the "Myths" of low back pain existed among the Irish population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We carried out a cross-sectional study in the Republic of Ireland from April 2013 to August 2013. The Irish population who visited Galway University Hospital, Galway, Ireland, was contacted randomly at point of entry to the hospital. During the survey, the authors obtained verbal consent before handing the questionnaire, which contained the Deyo's seven myths. The responders were asked to mark their response in a three-point scale (agree, unsure, disagree) to the seven statements. RESULTS: Out of 500 responders, 59 (11.8 %) people answered none of the questions correctly. Fifty-six (11.2 %) answered one question correctly, 106 (21.2 %) answered two questions correctly, 85 (17 %) people disagreed with three myths, 88 (17.6 %) disagreed with four myths, 55 (11 %) people answered five questions correctly, and 34 (6.8 %) answered six questions correctly. Therefore, only 17 (3.4 %) people disagreed with all the seven myths. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, this cross-sectional study showed that myths of low back pain widely exist among Irish population studied . The level of education played an important role. The findings from this study suggest that public health information regarding low back pain is inadequate and has not affected attitudes to low back pain in an Irish population.

Simultaneous bilateral septic arthritis of the knee after intraarticular steroid injection: A clinical report.

Osteoarthritis of knee is one of the common problems in elderly population. Intraarticular corticosteroid injection is a conservative management modality in osteoarthritis of knee. Septic arthritis is an infective complication of intraarticular corticosteroid injection. Septic arthritis in rheumatoid arthritis patients have worse prognosis because of delay in diagnosis. A higher rate of infectious complications following intraarticular injection is expected in immunocompromised and rheumatoid patients. We would like to report an extremely rare case of simultaneous bilateral knee septic arthritis after bilateral knee intraarticular steroid injection in a rheumatoid arthritis patient. Patient was treated successfully with multiple bilateral knee arthroscopic washouts and long-term intravenous antibiotics. This case report emphasizes the increased risk of infection in rheumatoid arthritis patients and a risk benefit assessment on individual basis before carrying out intraarticular steroid injection. Patient should be aware of this increased risk of infection.

Acute bilateral spontaneous forearm compartment syndrome.

Acute spontaneous compartment syndrome of the forearm is rarely reported in the literature. It is typically associated with trauma or thromboembolism in the acute setting and repetitive exertional stress in the chronic setting. However it is rare for it to present bilaterally with no apparent underlying cause. We report the case of a young 31-year-old lady who presented to our Emergency Department with bilateral compartment syndrome of the forearm. Her presenting complaints included acute severe pain and swelling of the forearms bilaterally, with a decreased range of movement of the wrist and fingers. She also complained of numbness in all fingers. She had no history of recent trauma and ultrasound scans showed no evidence of vascular compromise. Past medical history was notable only for idiopathic hypertension and coeliac disease. The patient was taken to theatre urgently where flexor and extensor compartments and carpal tunnel were decompressed. Pronator Teres was found to be dusky initially but turned pink after decompression. All other muscles were normal. An interesting fact of this case was that combination of the high compartment pressures and anaesthetic related hypotension caused the forearm pulses to become impalpable at induction, these returned intra-operatively. The patient has been seen in the outpatient department following discharge. She is well apart from some mildly reduced grip strength in her right hand likely due to carpal tunnel decompression. No cause was found for the scenario after extensive medical investigation.

Anterior cervical disc replacement for degenerative disc disease.

PURPOSE: To review the outcomes of anterior cervical disc replacement using the Prestige LP system for degenerative disc disease. METHODS: Medical records of 12 men and 23 women aged 26 to 66 (mean, 46) years who underwent 48 anterior cervical disc replacements using the Prestige LP system by a single spine surgeon were reviewed. 22 patients underwent one-level disc replacement at C5-C6 (n=13) and C6-C7 (n=9), and 13 patients underwent 2-level disc replacement at C5-C6 and C6-C7 (n=11), C4-C5 and C5-C6 (n=1), and C6-C7 and C7-T1 (n=1). Neck Disability Index (NDI) score, visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain in the neck and arm, and physical and mental component scores of the Short Form 36 were evaluated at week 6 and months 6, 12, 24, 36, and 48. RESULTS: The NDI score, VAS score for neck and arm pain, and physical and mental component scores of the Short Form 36 improved significantly after surgery (p<0.001). 80% of patients were satisfied with the treatment. One patient developed a neck haematoma on day 1 and underwent surgical evacuation. Another patient developed Horner's syndrome and achieved partial recovery at 6 weeks and complete recovery at 6 months. No patient had implant-related complications or reoperation. CONCLUSION: The Prestige LP cervical disc implant was safe for one- and 2-level cervical disc replacement.

Relevance of World Health Organization surgical safety checklist to trauma and orthopaedic surgery.

Surgery like civil aviation is a risk-prone occupation. Civil Aviation has reported a death rate of less than 1 in a million exposures. On the other hand, surgery has a reported mortality rate of 100 per million surgeries. The National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS) database in England reported 152,017 'incidents' occurred during 4.2 million surgeries in 2008. Trauma and orthopaedic surgery accounted for 32.4 percent of these 'incidents'. Wrong-site surgery occurred in a total of 133 patients, with an incidence of 31.6 per million surgeries. A system to implement and maintain safe surgical practice is mandatory to prevent these 'incidents'. The factors identified in the genesis of these incidents are errors in decision making, lack of communication, leadership and teamwork. These human errors can easily be prevented using a formal structured communication, like the checklists. In 2008, the WHO published a set of guidelines to ensure the safety of surgical patients. In 2009, the checklist was modified with an intention to reduce major surgical complications and was proved to be effective. Wrong level spinal surgery needs special emphasis. There may be an increasing role for checklists in Trauma and Orthopaedic surgical practice to improve its safety profile by being procedure-specific.

Septic arthritis of the adult ankle joint secondary to Salmonella enteritidis: a case report.

Salmonella septic arthritis in healthy individuals is a rare phenomenon. However, septic arthritis of the native adult ankle joint in healthy patients has not been previously described in the published data. This is a case report of a 70-year-old farmer who presented with a 2-week history of a painful, swollen right ankle and an inability to bear weight. He had no history of ankle injury or any predisposing conditions. Joint aspirations were positive for Salmonella enteritidis that was successfully treated with right ankle arthrotomy and washout, along with a 6-week course of intravenous antibiotic therapy.