We have reviewed 80 children who were involved in the Medical Research Council (UK) trial of surgical treatment for tuberculosis of the
1. Two hundred young Korean patients with a diagnosis of tuberculosis of the
Patients with multiple myeloma (MM) develop deposits in the spine
which may lead to vertebral compression fractures (VCFs). Our aim
was to establish which spinopelvic parameters are associated with
the greatest disability in patients with spinal myeloma and VCFs. We performed a retrospective cross-sectional review of 148 consecutive
patients (87 male, 61 female) with spinal myeloma and analysed correlations
between spinopelvic parameters and patient-reported outcome scores.
The mean age of the patients was 65.5 years (37 to 91) and the mean
number of vertebrae involved was 3.7 (1 to 15).Aims
Patients and Methods
Osteoradionecrosis is a rare but recognised complication of radiotherapy. Cases have been described in the cervical spine following treatment for head and neck malignancies up to 25 years after administration of radiotherapy. We present a rare case of osteoradionecrosis affecting the L5 and S1 vertebral bodies in a 58-year-old woman who presented with low back pain 25 years after undergoing a hysterectomy with adjuvant radiotherapy for cancer of the cervix.
The spinal manifestations of neurofibromatosis include cervicothoracic kyphosis, in which scalloping of the vertebral body and erosion of the pedicles may render conventional techniques of fixation impossible. We describe a case of cervicothoracic kyphosis managed operatively with a vascularised fibular graft anteriorly across the apex of the kyphus, followed by a long posterior construct using translaminar screws, which allow segmental fixation in vertebral bodies where placement of the pedicle screws was impracticable.
The demand for spinal surgery and its costs have
both risen over the past decade. In 2008 the aggregate hospital
bill for surgical care of all spinal procedures was reported to
be $33.9 billion. One key driver of rising costs is spinal implants.
In 2011 our institution implemented a cost containment programme
for spinal implants which was designed to reduce the prices of individual
spinal implants and to reduce the inter-surgeon variation in implant costs.
Between February 2012 and January 2013, our spinal surgeons performed
1493 spinal procedures using implants from eight different vendors.
By applying market analysis and implant cost data from the previous
year, we established references prices for each individual type
of spinal implant, regardless of vendor, who were required to meet
these unit prices. We found that despite the complexity of spinal
surgery and the initial reluctance of vendors to reduce prices,
significant savings were made to the medical centre. Cite this article: 2015; 97-B:1102–5.