7th SOSORT consensus paper: conservative treatment of idiopathic & Scheuermann's kyphosis.

UNLABELLED: : Thoracic hyperkyphosis is a frequent problem and can impact greatly on patient's quality of life during adolescence. This condition can be idiopathic or secondary to Scheuermann disease, a disease disturbing vertebral growth. To date, there is no sound scientific data available on the management of this condition. Some studies discuss the effects of bracing, however no guidelines, protocols or indication's of treatment for this condition were found. The aim of this paper was to develop and verify the consensus on managing thoracic hyperkyphosis patients treated with braces and/or physiotherapy. METHODS: The Delphi process was utilised in four steps gradually modified according to the results of a set of recommendations: we involved the SOSORT Board twice, then all SOSORT members twice, with a Pre-Meeting Questionnaire (PMQ), and during a Consensus Session at the SOSORT Lyon Meeting with a Meeting Questionnaire (MQ). RESULTS: There was an unanimous agreement on the general efficacy of bracing and physiotherapy for this condition. Most experts suggested the use of 4-5 point bracing systems, however there was some controversy with regards to physiotherapeutic aims and modalities. CONCLUSION: The SOSORT panel of experts suggest the use of rigid braces and physiotherapy to correct thoracic hyperkyphosis during adolescence. The evaluation of specific braces and physiotherapy techniques has been recommended.

Quality of life of patients operated on for lumbar stenosis: a long-term follow-up.

BACKGROUND: We evaluated a sample of 28 patients surgically treated for lumbar stenosis (LS) four years after the first evaluation (length of the first follow-up mean 44.6 months, range 15-88) in order to evaluate the long-term follow-up of Quality of Life (QoL) after surgical treatment as LS may greatly impair the patients' QoL. We previously assessed QoL in 30 patients operated on for LS four years before, by performing a retrospective follow-up through the Short-Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36). METHODS: In this current study we performed a phone call evaluation administering the SF-36 and the official Italian version of the North American Spine Society (NASS) lumbar spine outcome assessment instrument. FINDINGS: With regard to the SF-36 results at long term follow-up we observed a significant improvement of Physical Function, Bodily Pain, Mental Health and the Physical Composite Score with respect to the first follow-up. Conversely, Vitality worsened. Regarding the results of NASS an improvement of neurological symptoms was observed. Comparison of SF-36 mean scores in the current LS sample vs. the Italian normal population at the same age, showed similar QoL pattern. CONCLUSIONS: The long-term follow-up showed that patients operated on for LS continue to improve their QoL pattern even between the 4th and the 8th year after surgery.

Interleukin-6 gene polymorphism and risk of osteoarthritis of the hip: a case-control study.

OBJECTIVES: Osteoarthritis (OA) is considered a polygenic disease controlled by the expression of genetic factors. Genes encoding for cytokines have been associated with susceptibility for joint OA and interleukin (IL)-6 gene is also supposed to be involved in the cartilage degradation process. In this case-control study, we evaluated for the first time whether the risk of hip OA might be influenced by the -174 IL-6 gene polymorphism. METHODS: The distribution of IL-6 genotypes was evaluated in 75 patients affected by hip OA and in 107 age- and sex-matched controls. RESULTS: The distribution of IL-6 genotypes in (1) patients with hip OA: 33 GG, 30 GC, 12 CC and (2) control subjects: 34 GG, 40 GC, 33 CC. The frequency of the CC genotype was significantly higher in control patients (P=0.02). Logistic regression analysis indicated that the presence of the CC genotype is independently associated with a decreased risk of OA (odds ratio 0.4 [95% confidence interval 0.1-0.9], P=0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Primary OA of the hip has an important genetic component and variations of genes encoding for inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-6, may play an important role in the series of events responsible for the pathophysiology of OA.

Quality of life, clinical and neurophysiological picture in patients operated on for lumbar stenosis.

BACKGROUND: In lumbar stenosis (LS) patients, clinical, neuroradiological and neurophysiological findings were not related to validated measurements of the outcomes that are more relevant to patients such as functional status and symptoms. METHOD: We have retrospectively studied 30 patients surgically treated for LS. We have evaluated the patients by means of self-administered questionnaires (SF-36), clinical examination, and neuroradiological and neurophysiological measurements and we have registered preoperative and follow-up clinical and neurophysiological findings. Finally we evaluated the relations between patient-oriented data and validated conventional clinical and neurophysiological measurements. FINDINGS: The comparison between pre- and post-operative clinical picture showed an improvement of most parameters tested. The comparison between pre- and post-operative neurophysiological picture revealed worsening of most tested parameters. The comparison between the current sample and the Italian normative data for the SF-36 showed a worsening of physical aspects of health related quality of life; conversely there was an improvement of some mental domains. CONCLUSIONS: In our sample of LS patients the most compromised SF-36 domain was Role-Physical that measures the difficulty in every-day activities due to physical problems. Conversely, the clinical findings showed a significant improvement after surgery: patients reported in particular lower sciatica after surgical treatment, but the neurophysiological evaluation did not show any improvement.

[An effective method to prevent deep venous thrombosis in total hip arthroplasty: a study in patients with and without risk factors for thrombotic disease]. / Efficacia della profilassi della trombosi venosa profonda nell'artroprotesi totale d'anca. Studio di pazienti con e senza fattori di rischio aggiuntivi.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine a safe and effective method of prophylaxis for thromboembolis diseases after THA. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was conducted on 157 patients consecutively admitted to our Department of Orthopedics to undergo elective THA from October 2000 o May 2001. We have preoperatively investigated plasma levels of homocysteine, AT III activity, Fibrinogen levels, Anticardiolipin antibodies, and circulating vWFag D-dimer levels were measured by Asserachrom D-dimer ELISA preoperatively and on day 4 postoperatively. Thromboprophylactic regimen was based on a prolonged subcutaneous administration of nadroparin (for 40 days after surgery) and was used in all patients, with a dose based on body weight. Compression ultrasonography was udes as screening test for the diagnosis of deep venous thrombosis and performed in each patient on postoperative day 4, 15, and 30. RESULTS: Although all patients enrolled in this study showed increased risk for thrombotic disease, none oh them developed either symptomatic or asymptomatic deep venous thrombosis. No complications were observed, including major bleeding or abnormalities of laboratory tests. CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicates that prolonged thromboprophylaxis with nadroparin for 40 days postoperatively, associated with early mobilization, is an effective and safe protocol of antithrombotic prophylaxis in patients operated for THA with and without risk factors for thrombotic disease.

Lumbar nerve root "walled" by a calcified herniated mass in a young patient.

INTRODUCTION: Discal calcification in childhood is rare. Calcifications are occasionally discovered during routine examinations, especially in the cervical spine. Generally, the calcification process is confined to the nucleus pulposus of the intervertebral disc. CASE REPORT: In this report, we describe the case of a 16-year-old girl who presented with acute low back pain, right S1 radiculopathy and a history of increasing paresthesia. The patient underwent a CT scan, which demonstrated a postero-lateral calcified disc hernia at the L5-S1 level. The surgical decompression of the lumbar nerve root was carried out; at the operation it was observed that the nerve root was "walled" into the calcified hernia. DISCUSSION: Only a few cases with evidence of calcification of the herniated portion of the disc have been previously described. In none of them was the phenomenon was so pronounced that it sealed the nerve root completely.

Biomechanics of the conservative treatment in idiopathic scoliotic curves in surgical "grey-area".

The biomechanical behaviour of the spine significantly varies in relation to the age of the spine. Particularly, the elastic behaviour of the intervertebral discs has been proved to change during the spine growth, which changes the disc reaction to externally imparted forces. The biomechanical analysis of the G modulus of torsion rigidity of the intervertebral disc shows that the G values progressively increase through growth, which favours the progression of early scoliotic curves. At the same time, however, early structural scoliosis is more amenable to conservative treatment owing to the residual growth potential of the spine. Whereas indications to surgical treatment of scoliotic curves has been based upon the magnitude of the curves as measured according to the Cobb method, two additional factors affect the chance of correcting a scoliotic curve, The first is the residual growth potential of the vertebrae. In fact, a longer residual growth allows for external forces to be applied so as to change the growth model of the scoliotic spine, which ensures a stable correction of the deformity when these external forces are removed. The second is the magnitude of the elastic deformation of the intervertebral discs. It has been suggested that a deformation beyond the disc elastic behaviour, by producing hysteresis of the disc, renders the disc less susceptible to transferring the load to the neighbouring vertebral bodies, thus impairing remodelling. It ensues that both the age and the magnitude of rotation affects the success of conservative treatment and not only the magnitude in Cobb degrees. The curve localization adds to these two parameters, thoracic curves being stiffer than thoracolumbar and lumbar curves.

Biomechanical factors affecting progression of structural scoliotic curves of the spine.

The development of the spine is affected by both biological and mechanical factors. As the geometry of the motion segment changes throughout growth, so does the mechanical behaviour of the spine owing to changing vectors acting on a variable geometry system. The biomechanical analysis of the growing spine enables the assessment of the role played by biological and mechanical factors in the pathogenesis of progressive scoliosis to be assessed and its comparison with factors acting on an adult scoliotic spine. The knowledge of these principles is instrumental to setting the right parameters for treatment and to design braces that may be capable of obtaining correction of the deformity. The elastic behaviour of child and adult spine differs because of both physiologic and pathologic conditions. In child scoliosis an abnormal geometry causes a persistent stress concentration in crucial areas of the motion segment. This induces a progressive elasto-plastic strain which modifies the geometry of the motion segment, thus worsening the stress concentration and the excessive strain through a vicious cycle. In adult scoliosis, on the other hand, deformation primarily affects the viscous-elastic structures, namely the intervertebral disc and the capsulo-ligamentous structures. This produces instabilty of the motion segments and slow deformation of the vertebrae through remodelling. It therefore ensues that the aim of the treatment differs in both conditions. In the child spine the aim is to prevent the motion segment deformity by means of braces which adequately modifies the stress distribution acting on the spine, thus enabling the spine to grow according to a quasi-physiological model. In adult scoliosis a stable equilibrium is required in order to prevent further deformation of the motion segment.

Spondylolysis and spondylolisthesis in the pediatric and adolescent population.

This article is a review of spondylolysis and spondylolisthesis in younger age groups. Since Herbinaux first described the pathology (1782), many classifications and theories of etiopathogenesis have been proposed. The congenital and isthmic types, as classified by Wiltse, are the most frequent in younger age groups, but the postsurgical progressive forms (3-5%) have been described as increasing in frequency secondary to neoplastic surgery in children. The general incidence is 4-5% at the age of 6 years, and in 30-50% of cases these types do not progress to spondylolisthesis. Most cases are asymptomatic (80%). Standard radiographic examinations (A-P, L, Oblique) are helpful in diagnosis and can suggest what the prognosis will be in terms of the evolution, and also what treatment is indicated (degree of slippage, slip angle, lumbar and lumbosacral index, SPTI). A bone scan (PBS and SPECT) is useful in the early stages of spondylolysis (pre-spondylosis). Although the CT scan is the most accurate examination, MRI is becoming important for diagnosis because of the frequency with which it is used as a primary investigation method. Depending on patient age, progression, degree of slippage, and symptoms, different therapeutic approaches have been proposed and are described in this paper.

Patient outcomes after Harrington instrumentation for idiopathic scoliosis: a 15- to 28-year evaluation.

STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective study was performed, using the Short Form-36 Health Survey and the Roland and Morris Disability Questionnaire, to investigate patient outcomes after fusion for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis using Harrington rod instrumentation. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate health-related quality of life and low back pain in a long-term follow-up study of surgery for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: The commonly accepted surgical treatment for idiopathic evolutive scoliosis is vertebral fusion. It has been suggested that this procedure may cause low back pain and a poor quality of life over the long term. Outcome measures after surgery for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis have focused mainly on objective parameters such as radiographic measures. However, this information has proved to be correlated only weakly with outcomes that are more relevant to patients, such as functional status and symptoms. Until recently, only a few long-term outcome studies have used standardized and validated patient-oriented tools to evaluate surgically treated patients with scoliosis. METHODS: In this study, 70 patients treated with a standard Harrington technique were recontacted and evaluated by means of self-administered questionnaires (Short Form-36 Health Survey and Roland and Morris Disability, clinical examination, and radiographic analysis. Preoperative and follow-up radiographic findings were registered. Relations between radiographic and patient-oriented data were evaluated. RESULTS: A comparison between the current sample and the Italian age-matched normative data for the Short Form-36 Health Survey showed them to have a similar pattern. Findings showed the patient-oriented outcome to be correlated inversely with the extension of vertebral fusion and the preoperative Cobb angle. CONCLUSION: Long-term follow-up evaluation of Harrington rod fusion for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis showed no important impairment of health-related quality of life, as measured by patient-oriented evaluation.

[Pott disease: current diagnostic and therapeutic approaches]. / Il Morbo di Pott: attuali orientamenti diagnostici e terapeutici.

Spinal tuberculosis, or Pott's disease, has been known since ancient times; it was a common orthopaedic illness until 1950, but the progress of specific therapies confined it to third word countries; its resurgency in recent years in developed countries is due to drug resistance, immigration from endemic areas, and an increase in immunodeficient patients. Spinal disease is found in about 1% of all tuberculosis cases. Modern treatment consists of a diagnostic phase, based on clinical findings and imaging exams, and of a medical and surgical therapy. Our patients have been treated with a three antibiotic drugs scheme, and underwent early surgical treatment, in order to assure the curettage of the lesion and obtain spine stabilization, so as to avoid spinal deformity.

Biomechanics of the spine.

Instability is one of the pathologic conditions of the spine for which surgical treatment is increasingly indicated, even if to-date the definition of instability is controversial. Some aspects of the biomechanics of the spine with particular reference to the viscoelastic characteristics of its elements and the involved loads, are reported. The elasticity of the spine is analyzed with an in-depth consideration of the concept of stability and instability from the biomechanical, clinical and radiographic viewpoint.

Surgical management of instability of the lumbar spine.

The surgical management of clinical spinal instability is for many aspects controversial since the lack of a precise clinical and instrumental definition of instability complicates the implementation of a therapeutic protocol. Both the indications and the surgical procedure are not always well defined. Some of the most common surgical techniques used in the most frequent causes of instability of the lumbar spine: fractures, degenerative disease and spondylolisthesis, are described.

Surgical management of degenerative disease of the lumbar spine.

With the advances in diagnostic and surgical procedures, for degenerative disease of the lumbar spine an aggressive therapeutic approach is more frequently indicated. The available surgical procedures are numerous and in continuing evolution. Most common surgical procedures used in major degenerative disease of the lumbar spine as disk herniation and stenosis are described. Indications, results and complications associated to these procedures are also illustrated.

Postoperative lumbar spine.

The differentiation between normal sequelae and complications of any surgical treatment of the lumbar spine is of the utmost importance. Clinical and radiological diagnosis is often difficult. Certainly the introduction of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has improved and refined the diagnostic possibilities, however not all problems have been resolved. For example, the frequent resort in vertebral surgery to metal implants which may limit or even prevent the interpretation of CT or MR images, should be kept in mind. The main types of surgical procedures involving the lumbar spine are briefly reviewed, focusing on CT and MRI appearance of normal sequelae of early or late complications and the recurrence of the lesion that necessitated the first procedure.

Carpal tunnel syndrome: indication for surgical treatment based on electrophysiologic study.

A prospective study of 50 hands from 45 consecutive patients surgically treated for idiopathic carpal tunnel syndrome was conducted to determinate the recovery capacity of the median nerve after open surgical release. Subjects were evaluated by clinical history, physical examination, and electrophysiologic testing. Motor and sensory terminal latencies and motor and sensory conduction velocities were examined before surgery and 2 weeks, 2 months, and 6 months after surgical decompression. All patients showed improvement of postoperative electrophysiologic values; the amount of improvement was dependent on the degree of preoperative impairment. Complete restoration of clinical and electrophysiologic nerve function was observed only in patients with mild carpal tunnel syndrome.