[Modern aspects to the diagnosis and non-surgical treatment of low back pain]. / Sovremennye podkhody k diagnostike i nekhirurgicheskomu lecheniyu boli v nizhnei chasti spiny.

Low back pain is one of the most common complaints in primary care. This pain is usually nonspecific and musculoskeletal. However, identification and exclusion of specific causes of pain as early as possible are important for specialists since their underestimation can sometimes lead to life-threatening consequences. The authors analyze literature data on the key facts of anamnesis («red flags¼), management of patients with low back pain with emphasis on modern concepts and recommendations for diagnostics, identifying the dominant nature and cause of pain, differential diagnosis, and diagnostic significance of neuroimaging. Special attention is paid to existing options for conservative (drug and non-drug therapy) and interventional treatment methods, which have become increasingly popular in recent years.

Hemostatic performance and biocompatibility of chitosan-based agents in experimental parenchymal bleeding.

The uncontrolled parenchymatic bleeding is still a cause of serious complications in surgery and require new effective hemostatic materials. In recent years, numerous chitosan-based materials have been intensively studied for parenchymatic bleeding control but still require to increased safety and effectiveness. The current research is devoted to new hemostatic materials made of natural polymer (chitosan) developed using electrospinning and microwave-assisted methods. Hemostatic performance, biocompatibility, degradation, and in-vivo effectiveness were studied to assess functional properties of new materials. Chitosan-based agents demonstrated considerable hemostatic performance, moderate biodegradation pace and high biocompatibility in vitro. Using the electrospinning-made chitosan-copolymer significantly improved in vivo biocompatibility and degradation of Chitosan-based agents that provides opportunities for its implementation for visceral bleeding management. Chitosan aerogel could be effectively applied in hemostatic patch development due to high antibacterial activity but it is not recommended for visceral application due to moderate inflammatory effect and slow degradation.

[Minimally invasive surgery and modern view on the treatment of degenerative spine diseases]. / Opyt minimal'no invazivnoi khirurgii i sovremennyi vzglyad na lechenie degenerativnykh porazhenii pozvonochnika.

OBJECTIVE: To summarize and analyze the results of minimally invasive spine surgery. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A retrospective quantitative analysis of surgical interventions for the period 2011-2018 was carried out. All procedures were performed at the neurosurgical department of the Neurology Research Center. Structure and effectiveness of minimally invasive interventions were reported. RESULTS: There were over 800 endoscopic minimally invasive interventions on the lumbar spine and 127 procedures on the cervical spine. For the period from 2011 to 2018, we found an increase in the number of minimally invasive interventions (104 endoscopic discectomies in 2018), active use of percutaneous approaches (87 operations in 2018) along with microsurgical discectomy (81 operations in 2018). The total efficiency of the methods ranges from 91.42% to 95.69%. CONCLUSION: Own results and literature data confirm the validity and expediency of surgical treatment of patients with degenerative-dystrophic spine diseases. Highly effective and safe minimally invasive surgery should be preferred in these cases.

[Modern concepts of intervertebral disc degeneration]. / Sovremennye kontseptsii degeneratsii mezhpozvonkovykh diskov.

The widespread prevalence of degenerative spine diseases and achievements in the treatment of these lesions have not yet led to an answer the main question: «What is the etiology of spine degeneration?¼ Treatment will remain symptomatic if primary cause of disease will be unclear. However, improvement of genetic and molecular survey gradually clarifies the mechanisms underlying degenerative processes. The latest knowledge in regenerative medicine seem promising. Nevertheless, further advances in understanding the fundamental processes in human organism are followed by additional questions and unsolved problems. The authors analyzed the best-studied modern theories of degeneration in this brief review devoted to current concepts of intervertebral disc degeneration.

[Microvascular angina. Modern aspects of pathogenesis, diagnostics and treatment].

Microvascular angina was included in the European guidelines on the management of patients with stable coronary artery disease in 2013. Topical aspects of etiology, pathogenesis, clinical course, diagnosis, and treatment of microvascular angina are discussed in this review.