Of a consecutive series of 117 one-year-old infants with 130 established dislocations of the hip, 11% failed to respond to primary surgical treatment. Genetic and iatrogenic factors accounted for half the failures. There were no obvious causes in the remainder, though a few had the superficial stigmata of spinal dysraphism, and by two years of age, most of the group had developed a lateral rotation posture of the affected leg associated with a relatively smaller foot on that side. Radiologically, the femoral head had drifted and rotated laterally out of the surgically deepened acetabulum, causing persistent subluxation. Although there was no clinical evidence of sensory or motor denervation, sensory spinal evoked potential tests revealed the presence of neurological deficits in the majority of patients in this group

There is still some controversy about the reduction of unilateral and bilateral facet dislocations in the cervical spine. We have reviewed the notes and radiographs of 210 such patients; reduction was attempted by manipulation under anaesthesia (MUA) in 91, and by rapid traction under sedation in 119, using weights up to 150 lb (68 kg). Our results suggest that early reduction in patients with neurological deficit gives the best chance of neurological recovery, that rapid traction is more often successful than MUA, and that traction is safer than MUA. We found that the use of heavy weights with close monitoring was safe and brought about reduction in an average time of 21 minutes. We recommend this technique for the reduction of all cervical facet dislocations

We reviewed 40 extensive destructive vertebral lesions in 35 patients with established ankylosing spondylitis. Of these, 31 had presented with localised pain while three had a neurological deficit. The radiographs suggested ununited fractures through either ankylosed discs (37) or vertebral bodies (3). Corresponding fractures were seen in the posterior column in 34 cases. Sixteen patients with 18 lesions underwent anterior spinal fusion, and pseudarthrosis was consistently proven by histopathology. Two pseudarthroses healed in conservatively treated patients. Thirteen of the operated patients were followed for an average of 7 years 7 months. There were two cases of non-union and one required an additional posterior fusion; in the remainder fusion was sound

Two hundred and fifty cases of myelodysplasia were reviewed in relation to spinal deformity. Approximately half of the children had, or were expected to develop, curves severe enough to need operations and only 10 per cent maintained completely undeformed spines. The most frequent deformity was scoliosis which could be subdivided into congenital and developmental types. The latter was of mixed aetiology, neuromuscular imbalance and asymmetry of the neural arch both contributing, while in some cases no causative factors could be identified. The best early indicator that developmental scoliosis was likely to appear was a high segmental level of both the neurological deficit and the neural arch defect. Deformity was very unlikely to start after the age of nine years

We performed a retrospective review of 27 scoliotic patients with syringomyelia using MRI. Their mean age at the first MRI examination was 10.9 years, and at the final review 15.8 years. The mean ratio of the diameter of the syrinx to the cord on the midsagittal MRI (S/C ratio) decreased from 0.49 to 0.24; 14 patients showed a decrease of 50% or more (reduction group). In this reduction group, the cerebellar tonsillar herniation decreased from a mean of 11.3 mm to 6.0 mm, and some improvement in dissociated sensory disturbance was seen in nine of 13 patients. The scoliosis improved by 5° or more in six patients in the reduction group. Our results indicate that spontaneous shrinkage of syringomyelia in children is not unusual and is associated with improvement in the tonsillar herniation, the scoliosis and the neurological deficit

We reviewed 41 patients over the age of 65 years (mean 76.5) who had suffered cervical spine injuries, 12 of them with neurological deficit. Eleven patients died during treatment, mostly from respiratory disease. Seven patients were treated by surgical stabilisation, five by halo traction, and the rest by rigid collars or halo-vests. The cervical injury was missed at the first examination in four patients. We conclude that most injuries can be treated by a rigid collar, and that the use of a halo-vest or surgical stabilisation are effective alternatives. Bed rest and traction are poorly tolerated by old people. There should be a high index of suspicion that any elderly patient who presents with a history of a fall or minor trauma may have a cervical spine injury

The management of spinal metastases is palliative and aimed at improving quality of life at an acceptable risk. This population study uses administrative databases and measures survivorship and complication rates after surgery for spinal metastases. The effects of various potential predictor variables were evaluated. We identified 987 patients with a median survival for all types of cancer of 227 days. The one and three-month mortality was 9% and 29%, respectively. Increasing age, male gender and primary lung cancer were significant risk factors for death within 30 days of surgery. A preoperative neurological deficit contributed a 19% increase in mortality and a 71% increase in the risk of postoperative wound infection. We found an overall major complication rate of 27%. This information will provide patients, families and clinicians with objective data which will help in the choice of treatment and the understanding of the surgical risk and outcome

Between 1955 and 1989 we treated 24 patients (17 women and seven men) with giant-cell tumours of the spine at the Mayo Clinic. Their mean age was 30 years and the mean follow-up time was 12.4 years. Pain was the presenting symptom in all and half had a neurological deficit. The cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spines were equally involved. The tumours recurred in five of the 14 patients treated by one-stage surgery and in five of the ten treated by two-stage surgery. Seven patients received adjuvant radiotherapy, one for the primary lesion and six for recurrent lesions. Surgical management was by curettage or en bloc excision depending on the location and the extent of the tumour. Because of the risk of sarcomatous transformation, radiation therapy should be reserved for patients with incomplete excision or for those with local recurrence

Primary malignant tumours should be resected with wide margins. This may be difficult to apply to lesions of the spine. We undertook total vertebrectomy on seven patients, four males and three females with a mean age at operation of 26.5 years (6.3 to 45.8). The mean follow-up was 52.3 months. Histological examination revealed a Ewing’s sarcoma in two patients and osteosarcoma, leiomyosarcoma, spindle-cell sarcoma, chondrosarcoma and malignant schwannoma in one each. In five patients, histological examination showed that a wide resection had been achieved. At follow-up there was no infection and a permanent neurological deficit was only seen in those patients in whom the surgical procedure had required resection of nerve roots. Despite the high demands placed on the surgeon and anaesthetist and the length of postoperative care we consider total vertebrectomy to be an appropriate procedure for the operative treatment of primary malignant lesions of the spine

An electrophysiological system for monitoring the spinal cord during operations for scoliosis is described. During the development of the technique the recording of cortical somatosensory evoked potentials from the scalp and spinal somatosensory evoked potentials from the laminae or spines was superseded by the positioning of recording electrodes in the epidural space cephalad to the area to be fused. All recordings were made in response to stimulation of the posterior tibial nerve at the knee. Results in 138 patients are presented and the findings in three patients who exhibited neurological deficits after operation are described. It is concluded that spinal somatosensory evoked potentials are sensitive to minor spinal cord impairment, possible due to ischaemia, and that these changes may be reversed when the cause is quickly remedied. The monitoring system interferes minimally with anaesthetic and surgical procedures and is now performed as a routine

The different methods described in the literature for the reduction of severe spondylolisthesis are reviewed. The case histories of two girls with neurological deficits in their legs due to Grade IV spondylolisthesis are described. Reduction and fusion by the posterior route in a one-stage operation were performed on these patients. For this purpose special instruments have been designed to exert a controlled force on the displaced vertebra in two perpendicular directions. Technical details of the procedure are reported. In both patients intervertebral and posterolateral fusion were carried out. Fusion was successful and redisplacement did not occur. There have been only few descriptions in the literature of a technique that reduces and stabilises spondylolisthesis in one stage. However, only patients with Grade III and IV spondylolisthesis require reduction and in less severe cases fusion without reduction is sufficient

We have reviewed the cervical spine radiographs of 180 patients with athetoid cerebral palsy and compared them with those of 417 control subjects. Disc degeneration occurred earlier and progressed more rapidly in the patients, with advanced disc degeneration in 51%, eight times the frequency in normal subjects. At the C3/4 and C4/5 levels, there was listhetic instability in 17% and 27% of the patients, respectively, again six and eight times more frequently than in the control subjects. Angular instability was seen, particularly at the C3/4, C4/5 and C5/6 levels. We found a significantly higher incidence of narrowing of the cervical canal in the patients, notably at the C4 and C5 levels, where the average was 14.4 mm in the patients and 16.4 mm in normal subjects. The combination of disc degeneration and listhetic instability with a narrow canal predisposes these patients to relatively rapid progression to a devastating neurological deficit

Twelve adult patients with confirmed tuberculosis of the atlanto-axial spine are presented and a classification proposed. Stage I has minimal ligamentous or bone destruction and no displacement of C1 on C2; the suggested treatment is transoral biopsy and decompression followed by an orthosis. Stage II has ligamentous disruption and minimal bone destruction but anterior displacement of C1 on C2; treatment involves transoral biopsy and decompression, reduction by halo traction, then a posterior C1-2 fusion. Stage III has marked ligamentous and bone destruction with displacement of C1 forward on C2; the suggested treatment is transoral biopsy and decompression, reduction by halo traction, then fusion from the occiput to C2 or C3. One patient died before treatment started; all the others have gone on to solid union with resolution of any neurological deficit. There has been no evidence of reactivation of disease over an average follow-up of 36 months

Doubt remains as to the safest surgical approach to the prolapsed thoracic intervertebral disc. Laminectomy, lateral rhachotomy and the transthoracic approach all have their protagonists. Twenty-two patients from the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases, Queen Square, and Atkinson Morley's Hospital have been reviewed. Their clinical presentation is discussed and the ancillary aids to diagnosis assessed. The diagnostic value of disc space calcification is stressed, and the use of air myelography as an adjunct to positive contrast myelography is noted. Fifteen patients were subjected to laminectomy, and seven to lateral rhachotomy. Each group contained patients with a wide range of neurological deficit. Six of the patients who underwent laminectomy were improved, two were unchanged, six deteriorated and one died. Of the patients who had lateral rhachotomy, six were improved, one was unchanged and none deteriorated. The conclusion is drawn that lateral rhachotomy is a safer procedure

We studied MR images of the spine in a consecutive series of 100 patients with acute compression of the spinal cord due to metastases. All patients had documented neurological deficit and histologically proven carcinoma. MRI was used to localise bony metastatic involvement and soft-tissue impingement of the cord. A systematic method of documenting metastatic involvement is described. A total of 43 patients had compression at multiple levels; 160 vertebral levels were studied. In 120 vertebrae (75%), anterior, lateral and posterior bony elements were involved. Soft-tissue impingement of the spinal cord often involved more than one quadrant of its circumference. In 69 vertebrae (43%) there was concomitant anterior and posterior compression. Isolated involvement of a vertebral body was observed in only six vertebrae (3.8%). We have shown that in most cases of acute compression of the spinal cord due to metastases there is coexisting involvement of both anterior and posterior structures

From 1981 to 1986 we treated 413 patients for acute spinal-cord injuries. We reviewed 356 patients followed for a minimum of two years of whom 71 (20%) developed heterotopic ossification around one or more joints. Heterotopic ossification occurred more often in male patients (23%) than in female (10%), and was most frequent in the 20- to 30-year age group. It was also more common after injuries of the lower cervical or thoracic spine than after those of the lumbar spine. Patients with severe neurological deficits (Frankel grades A and B) showed significantly more heterotopic ossification but there was no correlation with the number or severity of associated head and limb injuries. Serum calcium levels did not change significantly in either group for 30 weeks after injury, but the erythrocyte sedimentation rate and the alkaline phosphatase level were significantly increased at six weeks in patients with heterotopic ossification

We performed posterior fixation with a Hartshill-Ransford contoured loop in 43 patients with instability at the craniocervical junction. No external bracing was used. Fifteen patients had congenital malformations, ten had tumours, seven had 'bone-softening' conditions (such as osteogenesis imperfecta), five had suffered complicated fractures, three had occipito-C1-C2 hypermobility due to lax ligaments and three had severe degenerative spondylosis with pseudotumours of the transverse ligament. Twenty-nine patients had transoral decompression of the cord before fixation. In most cases, cancellous bone grafts taken from the iliac crest were used to induce fusion; in nine very ill patients, no bone graft was used. In the whole series there was no instance of construct failure, broken wire or laminar fracture. The best results were achieved in patients with tumours or bone-softening conditions. No patient with normal neurology deteriorated after surgery but seven had worse neurological deficits after operation than before. Neck stiffness caused half the patients to change their lifestyle

Ten patients who suffered iatrogenic injury to a vertebral artery during anterior cervical decompression were reviewed to assess the mechanisms of injury, their operative management, and the subsequent outcome. All had been undergoing a partial vertebral body resection for spondylitic radiculopathy or myelopathy (4), tumour (2), ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (1), nonunion of a fracture (2), or osteomyelitis (1). The use of an air drill had been responsible for most injuries. The final control of haemorrhage had been by tamponade (3), direct exposure and electrocoagulation (1), transosseous suture (2), open suture (1), or open placement of a haemostatic clip (3). Five patients had postoperative neurological deficits, but most of them resolved. We found direct arterial exposure and control to be safe, quick and reliable. Careful use of the air drill, particularly in pathologically weakened bone, as in infection or tumour, is essential. Arterial injury is best avoided by a thorough knowledge of the anatomical relationships of the artery, the spinal canal, and the vertebral body

We compared retrospectively consecutive series of patients with cervical dislocation treated at two Australian centres. In Perth, 82 patients were treated by closed reduction and postural nursing. In Adelaide, 85 patients had closed reduction and early surgical stabilisation by interbody fusion. There were 46 bilateral dislocations, 101 unilateral dislocations, and 20 anterior subluxations. On admission 30 patients had complete tetraplegia, 17 incomplete tetraplegia, and 120 had minimal or no neurological loss. Our results indicated that closed manipulation under general anaesthesia is a safe and effective means of reduction in the acute stage. There was a high mortality rate for acute surgery in patients with complete tetraplegia. Early surgical stabilisation by dowel fusion reduced bed and hospital stay in patients with no neurological loss, but seemed to impair neurological recovery in patients with a neurological deficit on admission. Conservative management after reduction of bilateral dislocation or anterior subluxation led to a higher incidence of instability in patients with minimal or no neurological loss; in such cases surgery to stabilise the injured segment is indicated