Spinal stenosis and disc herniation are the two most frequent causes of lumbosacral nerve root compression. This can result in muscle weakness and present with or without pain. The difficulty when managing patients with these conditions is knowing when surgery is better than non-operative treatment: the evidence is controversial. Younger patients with a lesser degree of weakness for a shorter period of time have been shown to respond better to surgical treatment than older patients with greater weakness for longer. However, they also constitute a group that fares better without surgery. The main indication for surgical treatment in the management of patients with lumbosacral nerve root compression should be pain rather than weakness.

Introduction

Spinal infections constitute a spectrum of disease comprising pyogenic, tuberculous, nonpyogenic-nontuberculous and postoperative spinal infections. The aim of this study was to review the epidemiology, diagnostic yield of first and second biopsy procedures and microbiology trends from Sheffield Spinal Infection Database along with analysing prognostic predictors in spinal infections.

Introduction

Spinal osteosarcomas are quite rare and the optimal treatment strategy is unknown. We report a series of 9 cases of osteosarcoma of the spine treated with intralesional resection and adjuvant combination therapy in order to evaluate their clinico-pathological correlation, recurrence rate and survival.

Introduction

Aneurysmal bone cysts are uncommon benign lesions affecting the spinal column. They mostly occur in the lumbar spine and have a propensity to affect adjacent vertebrae. We describe 14 aneurysmal bone cysts affecting the spinal column from the Scottish Bone Tumour Registry with regard to assess the incidence, demography, biological behaviour and recurrence rate.

Introduction

Medical Exposure Directive of the European Commission, 97/43/Euratom recommended setting-up local national diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) for the most common radiological examinations in order to comply with the law and to maintain safe clinical practice. There are no guidelines for spinal diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. The aims of this study were to evaluate local radiation doses & screening times for diagnostic spinal blocks, to look at PACS image intensifier films for diagnostic representation and to assess the accuracy of data in IR(ME) document.

Introduction

There is no consensus among scoliosis surgeons on which surface topography method and parameters may be used as an alternative to serial radiography to monitor scoliosis progression. The aim of this study was to evaluate the inter-correlation among surface rotation (4-D formetric II) with 3-D Quantec scan and 2-D cobb's angle measurements for assessing torso asymmetry in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS).

Chordomas are slowly growing, locally aggressive primary malignant neoplasms derived from primitive notochordal cells. They tend to occur at the extreme of ages and at the two ends of the spinal column. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the presentation, morphology and behaviour of 20 non-clival, non-sacral chordoma cases.

Details of 20 cases of histologically confirmed Chordomas of the mobile spine (Cervical-7, Thoracic-7, Lumbar-6) between 1967 and 2006, were extracted from the Scottish Bone Tumour Registry. The casenotes and radiographs were retrospectively reviewed.

Non-sacral chordomas comprised 48.7% (20/41 cases) of total chordomas registered. There was a slight feminine predominance (11/20 cases). Mean age was 58.1 years (range, 12 to 82 years). Progressively worsening back pain was the first symptom in all the patients. Seven had intra-lesional (five recurred), six marginal (1 recurred) and 2 wide resections (none recurred). Eleven of the twenty-one patients were treated with adjuvant radiation therapy. In five patients, the chordoma was inoperable and all but one were treated with radiotherapy. There were 2 recurrences in the group of patients treated without adjuvant radiotherapy.

Six patients (40%) developed local recurrences and 3 patients (15%) developed metastases. There were 4 survivors including one with local recurrence. Sixteen patients died including 3 with metastases, 7 with persistent primary disease, 1 with local recurrence and 5 with no evidence of disease or died of unrelated causes. Median survival was 19 months (mean-30.2 months), with 5- and 10-year survival rates 10% and 0.0% respectively.

We found that non-sacral/non-clival chordomas had a much poorer prognosis than published in the literature. Local recurrences occurred in 40%. Intra-lesional resection should be avoided as it is associated with 71.4% local recurrence in our series.

Following the implementation of the Ionising Radiations (Medical Exposure) Regulations Act 2000 and recommendation from International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), the establishment of diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) for all radiological examinations became mandatory. There are no recommended or published standards or national dosage guidelines in the UK of diagnostic reference levels available for fluoroscopy-guided diagnostic and therapeutic spinal procedures. The aim of this study is to establish reference dose area product (DAP) levels for the diagnostic spinal procedures requiring fluoroscopy as a basis for setting DRLs.

All patient data consisted of diagnostic spinal procedures done in 2009 at Newcastle General Hospital under care of 4 spinal surgeons. Radiation data were collected on specific type of the procedure, DAP and screening time. Nerve root blocks, facet joint blocks and facet joint rhizolysis were included for data collection and analysis for this study. The third-quartile values were used to establish the DRLs.

There were 387 nerve root blocks with a mean exposure per injection 171.3 cGycm² (range, 3.0 to 2029.1; third quartile 209.4). Facet joint injections were 669 at a mean radiation dose 41.3 cGycm² (range, 1.9 to 541.0; third quartile 48.9). In a total 430 facet joint rhizolysis, the mean exposure was 44.4 cGycm² (range, 7.7 to 154.5; third quartile 58.4). The mean screening times were 36.7s (range, 0.4-281s; third quartile 41s) for nerve root blocks, mean 11.2s (range, 1.8-37s, third quartile 13.3s) for single facet joint block and mean 14.6s (range, 0.1-162s, third quartile 15.1s) for single facet rhizolysis.

We found the third-quartile values for setting DRLs for single level nerve root block, single facet joint block and single facet joint rhizolysis to be 209.4, 48.9 and 58.4 cGycm² respectively. We recommend that all spinal units in the UK should establish their own local DRLs to help in establishing national dosage guidelines for fluoroscopy-guided diagnostic and also therapeutic spinal procedures.

The Walter Reed Visual Assessment Scale (WRVAS) is a valid and reliable tool, designed to measure physical deformity as perceived by patients with idiopathic scoliosis. It is unclear whether the type of treatment in patients with thoracic adolescent idiopathic scoliosis affects the patients' perception of cosmesis gain. We studied 40 patients with Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis treated with posterior spinal fusion with (20) and without thoracoplasty (20) aiming to assess correlation of improvement in radiological parameters to subjective cosmesis gain.

Patients with Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis treated with posterior spinal fusion with thoracoplasty (20) and without thoracoplasty (20) filled out Walter Reed Visual Assessment Scale (WRVAS) forms with their perception of deformity before and after operation at the clinic follow-up. The WRVAS forms include seven aspects of the deformity i.e. spinal deformity, rib prominence, lumbar prominence, thoracic deformity, trunk imbalance, shoulder asymmetry and scapular asymmetry. Each aspect is shown with five figures of increasing severity of the deformity and scored from minimum (1) to maximum (5). Results are presented as the sum of the seven questions. The lowest possible score for the total is 7, while the highest possible total score is 35. The curve magnitude was divided into 5 subgroups as 30 and under, 30-40, 40-50, 50-60 and 70 and over.

Floor and ceiling effects were analysed as percentage of cases with minimum and maximum scores.

Our study confirmed that following posterior scoliosis surgery with and without thoracoplasty, there was significant improvement in perceived appearance. Overall spinal deformity and thoracic deformity correction were comparable in two groups. However, improvement in rib hump prominence, flank prominence, restoration of truncal, shoulder and scapular symmetry were much better rated by the patients with PSF and thoracoplasty group using Walter Reed Visual Assessment Scale.

Chondrosarcomas are uncommon primary malignant cartilaginous tumours, even less common in spine. Surgical excision is the only mode of successful treatment as these tumours are resistant to conventional chemotherapy and radiation therapy. We share our experience of 22 cases of chondrosarcomas of the spine with special reference to their recurrence and survival.

We identified 20 conventional and 2 dedifferentiated chondrosarcomas from the Scottish Bone Tumour Registry database between 1964 and 2009. Radiology and histopathology were documented. The mean follow-up was 5.2 years.

There were 14 men and 8 women with a mean age of 50.1 years. There were 7 under the age of 40 years (31.8%). The majority of lesions occurred in the thoracic spine (16), followed by sacrum (3), lumbar (2) and cervical spine (1). The overall local recurrence rate was 45.4% (10/22 cases-once in 5, twice in 2 and thrice in 3 patients).

Four patients presented with pulmonary metastases leading to death. The estimated overall 5- and 10-year survival rates were 31.8% and 18.1% respectively. We found that 1/3^rd of chondrosarcomas of the spine occured below 40 years of age and 3/4^th in the thoracic spine. Every other case was associated with local recurrence with a 32% 5-year and 18% 10-year survival rates.

Sacro-coccygeal chordomas pose a difficult diagnostic and therapeutic problem due to late presentation, large size, soft-tisue extension, difficulties in obtaining adequate resection margins, higher local recurrence rate and uncertain effectiveness of adjuvant treatment. We present a series of 21 patients of sacral chordomas obtained from Scottish Bone Tumour Registry to analyse predictors of local control and survival.

The clinical and morphologic features, type of treatment and follow-up of 21 consecutive patients with sacral chordoma were retrospectively reviewed and analysed. The data were obtained from Scottish Bone Tumour Registry.

The average age at time of the biopsy was 59 years (range, 12 to 82 years): twelve patients were male and nine were female. Pain was the presenting symptom in all patients. Two had intralesional (both recurred), 9 marginal (4 recurred) and 3 wide resections (1 recurred). Fifteen of the twenty-one patients were treated with adjuvant radiation therapy. In seven patients, the chordoma was inoperable and all but one were treated with adjuvant radiotherapy. Local recurrence and metastases occurred in 7 (50%) and 5 (23.8%) patients. The 5-year and 10-year survival were 38% and 14.2%, respectively.

Excision of the lesion combined with adjuvant radiation therapy provided satisfactory results. Local recurrence presents a major problem in the management of sacral chordomas (50%). Intralesional resection should be avoided as it is associated with 100% local recurrence in our series.

Proponents of thoracoplasty suggest a better correction, obviating iliac crest donor site morbidity, obtaining bone grafts for fusion and better rib hump correction. Opponents suggest increase risk for chest complications, additional operating time and blood loss, and possible longer hospital stay. There are controversies in the literature about thoracoplasty and its effect on lung function changes. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect and outcome of thoracoplasty in conjunction with pedicle screw construct in the treatment of thoracic adolescent idiopathic scoliosis on lung functions.

It is a retrospective study of consecutive series of 62 patients with thoracic adolescent idiopathic scoliosis surgically treated by single surgeon between 2007 and 2008 at a tertiary referral Orthopaedic Spinal unit. Posterior spinal fusion and thoracoplasty (n=32, all but one girls) were compared with 30 without thoracoplasty (all but one girls). Clinical and radiographic analysis was performed, including the SRS-30 questionnaire and Pulmonary Function Tests (PFT). Absolute and percent-predicted values of forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), and total lung capacity (TLC) were evaluated preoperatively and at 3-months, 1 year and/or 2-year follow-up, and comparisons were made between two groups. The minimum follow-up was one year.

No statistical differences were found between the two groups in PFT's both pre-operatively and at latest follow up ranging 1 to 3 years. Our findings suggest that thoracoplasty did not adversely affected long-term PFT's in AIS patients compared to patients treated by posterior spinal fusion alone. Three-month postoperative pulmonary function test values in both groups experienced 15-30% decline which returned to the preoperative baseline at 1 year in > 90% patients. In thoracoplasty group, 5 to 8 ribs were resected and used for bone graft. Chest complications were observed in 2 patients requiring chest drainage. Prolonged donor site morbidity was noted in 3 patients.

Thoracoplasty showed comparable clinical and radiological correction without any significant pulmonary function compromise. Pulmonary function test values returned to the preoperative baseline at 1 year in > 90% patients.