A new “de-tension”-guided surgical strategy for multilevel ossification of posterior longitudinal ligament in thoracic spine: a prospective observational study with at least 3-year follow-up

BACKGROUND CONTEXTMultilevel ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament in thoracic spine (mT-OPLL) is a rare but clinically significant spinal condition. Various surgical methods have been developed to address this disease. However, the outcomes are commonly unfavorable, and no standard surgical strategy has been established. To solve this problem, we introduced a new surgical strategy based on an innovative decompression concept, namely “de-tension.”PURPOSEThis study aimed to investigate the safety and efficacy of this new treatment, and to establish an improved surgical strategy.STUDY DESIGNA prospective observational study with at least 3 years of follow-up.PATIENT SAMPLEFifty-one patients with consecutive mT-OPLL who were treated between August-2012 and June-2018 were enrolled in this study.OUTCOME MEASURESA modified Japanese Orthopedic Association (mJOA) scale assessing thoracic spine, recovery rate (RR), and surgical complications.METHODSAll patients underwent 1-stage thoracic posterior laminectomy, selective OPLL resection, and spinal column shortening with/without reduction of kyphosis (dekyphosis). Initially, we recommended that when thoracic kyphosis of T1-T12 in sagittal reconstruction CT (TK) was less than 20°, no dekyphosis should be performed; when this angle was greater than 20°, dekyphosis could be conducted. Patients’ demographic data, radiological findings, and intra/postoperative complications were recorded and analyzed. Neurological status was evaluated with mJOA score and RR. The correlation of preoperative TK or kyphosis angle in fusion area (FSK) with postoperative dekyphosis angle and spinal column shortening distance (SD) were respectively evaluated by Pearson correlation analysis.RESULTSCerebrospinal fluid leakage (58.8%) and neurological deterioration (15.7%) were the most common complications. Average mJOA score was improved from preoperative 4.0±2.1 to 8.9±2.4 at the last follow-up, and the mean RR was 71.3±33.7%. There was no correlation between preoperative TK and SD (p=.56) or between preoperative FSK and SD (p=.21), but dekyphosis angle was significantly correlated with TK (r=0.504, p<.01) and FSK (r=0.5734, p<.01). TK of 24.6° and FSK of 23.0° were determined as the critical angles for dekyphosis, and a modified surgical strategy was formulated.CONCLUSIONSThis new strategy provided a novel solution for mT-OPLL, and was proved to be safe and effective during long-term follow-up. Further rigorously designed large-scale prospective studies are needed to validate our findings.     

褪黑素介导抗炎、抗氧化、抗骨质疏松作用在椎间盘退变修复中的研究进展

目前,椎间盘退行性疾病（disc degeneration disease,DDD）已成为临床上中老年人的常见病,且发病年龄有年轻化趋势。椎间盘退变（intervertebral disc degeneration,IDD）是指椎间盘（intervertebral disc,IVD）在内外部因素共同作用下引起的老化、退化等一系列生理、病理过程,被认为是DDD的基本病理过程,是引发患者腰痛的主要原因,因此修复IDD是治疗DDD的重点。IDD过程中伴随着炎症介质的产生、炎症相关信号通路的活化以及氧化应激的发生。褪黑素作为一种吲哚类激素,具有显著的抗炎及抗氧化作用,近年来受到研究者关注,越来越多的研究表明褪黑素对IVD具有保护作用,对治疗骨质疏松症（osteoporosis,OP）也有一定的作用,其有望成为IDD修复的治疗药物。笔者拟对褪黑素在椎间盘退变修复中的最新研究进展做一综述,以期为后续研究及IDD的早期药物干预和修复治疗策略提供思路。     

Influenza vaccine effectiveness against laboratory confirmed influenza in Greece during the 2013–2014 season: A test-negative study

BackgroundIn 2013–2014 Greece experienced a resurgence of severe influenza cases, coincidental with a shift to H1N1pdm09 predominance. We sought to estimate Vaccine Effectiveness (VE) for this season using available surveillance data from hospitals (including both inpatients and outpatients).MethodsSwab samples were sent by hospital physicians to one of three laboratories, covering the entire country, to be tested for influenza using RT-PCR. The test-negative design was employed, with patients testing positive serving as cases and those testing negative serving as controls. VE was estimated using logistic regression, adjusted for age group, sex, region and calendar time, with further adjustment for unknown vaccination status using inverse response propensity weights. Additional age group stratified estimates and subgroup estimates of VE against H1N1pdm09 and H3N2 were calculated.ResultsOut of 1310 patients with known vaccination status, 124 (9.5%) were vaccinated, and 543 patients (41.5%) tested positive for influenza. Adjusted VE was 34.5% (95% CI: 4.1–55.3%) against any influenza, and 56.7% (95% CI: 22.8–75.7%) against H1N1pdm09. VE estimates appeared to be higher for people aged 60 and older, while in those under 60 there was limited evidence of effectiveness. Isolated circulating strains were genetically close to the vaccine strain, with limited evidence of antigenic drift.ConclusionsThese results suggest a moderate protective effect of the 2013–2014 influenza vaccine, mainly against H1N1pdm09 and in people aged 60 and over. Vaccine coverage was very low in Greece, even among groups targeted for vaccination, and substantial efforts should be made to improve it. VE can and should be routinely monitored, and the results taken into account when deciding on influenza vaccine composition for next season.     

Correction to: Correlation between lordosis distribution index,lordosis tilt,and occurrence of proximal junctional kyphosis following surgery for adult degenerative scoliosis

European Spine Journal -     

胸椎管狭窄症术后脑脊液漏继发低颅压症状的临床特点及处理策略

【摘要】 目的：探讨胸椎管狭窄症术后脑脊液漏继发低颅压症状的临床特点及处理策略。方法：回顾性分析2021年8月～2022年3月于北京大学第三医院骨科行胸椎后路手术且术后并发脑脊液漏的38例胸椎管狭窄症患者的资料,其中男7例,女31例,年龄30～78岁（56.6±11.1岁）。根据术后是否出现低颅压症状分为低颅压症状组和非低颅压症状组,低颅压症状组15例,男1例,女14例,年龄43～78岁（58.9±11.0岁）,非低颅压症状组23例,男6例,女17例,年龄30～72岁（55.1±11.2岁）。采用疼痛视觉模拟评分（visual analogue scale,VAS）评估头痛,按照WHO规定标准对恶心呕吐进行分级,头晕按患者的主观感受分为：轻度、中度和重度,对比两组患者的手术时间、术中出血量、术后补液量及引流量;采用二元Logistic分析低颅压症状的危险因素;总结低颅压症状的具体表现、严重程度、出现时间、持续时间;评价补液、调整体位、改变引流方式等治疗措施对低颅压症状的疗效。结果：15例出现低颅压症状的患者中,头痛11例（73.3%）,恶心呕吐9例（60.0%）,头晕5例（33.3%）,其中7例（46.7%）为单一症状,6例（40.0%）合并2种症状,2例（13.3%）合并3种症状。头痛VAS评分为2～6分（4.0±1.0分）,恶心呕吐程度：Ⅱ级1例,Ⅲ级7例,Ⅳ级1例,头晕程度均为轻度。患者出现低颅压症状时间为术后24～96h（41.3±25.5h）。低颅压症状持续天数为1～4d（2.2±0.9d）。低颅压症状治疗方法包括补液、调整体位及改变引流方式,拔除引流管时间为3～5d,平均为3.9d。15例患者低颅压症状经保守治疗后均完全缓解,顺利出院。脑脊液漏继发并发症情况,非低颅压症状组颅内出血1例、蛛网膜下腔-胸膜腔瘘1例,低颅压症状组伤口裂开1例。患者胸椎管狭窄症术后并发脑脊液漏患者出现低颅压症状比例为39.5%（15/38）,低颅压症状组和非低颅压症状组在手术时间、术中出血量、术后补液量及引流量无统计学差异（P＞0.05）。Logistic回归分析显示年龄、性别、体重、身高、BMI、手术时间、手术节段、术中总入量、术中总出量、术中出血量、术后第1天血钠、平均每日引流量、平均每日引流量/体重、平均每日补液量、平均每日补液量/体重与低颅压症状无显著相关性（P＞0.05）。结论：胸椎管狭窄症术后并发脑脊液漏患者出现低颅压症状的比例较高;低颅压症状的常见临床表现为头痛、恶心呕吐、头晕,半数患者会合并出现两种或两种以上症状;补液、调整体位及改变引流方式等综合处理方案能够有效地缓解低颅压症状或缩短其持续时间。     

Imaging Evaluation of Fat Infiltration in Paraspinal Muscles on MRI: A Systematic Review with a Focus on Methodology

PurposeNumerous studies have applied a variety of methods to assess paraspinal muscle degeneration. However, the methodological differences in imaging evaluation may lead to imprecise or inconsistent results. This article aimed to provide a pragmatic summary review of the current imaging modalities, measurement protocols, and imaging parameters in the evaluation of paraspinal muscle fat infiltration (FI) in MRI studies.MethodsWeb of Science, EMBASE, and PubMed were searched from January 2005 to March 2020 to identify studies that examined the FI of paraspinal muscles on MRI among patients with lumbar degenerative diseases.ResultsIntramyocellular lipids measured by magnetic resonance spectroscopy and FI measured by chemical‐shift MRI were both correlated to low back pain and several degenerative lumbar diseases, whereas results on the relationship between FI and degenerative lumbar pathologies using conventional MRI were conflicting. Multi‐segment measurement of FI at the lesion segment and adjacent segments could be a prognostic indicator for lumbar surgery. Most studies adopted the center of the intervertebral disc or endplate as the level of slice to evaluate the FI. Compared with visual semiquantitative assessment, quantitative parameters appeared to be precise for eliminating individual or modality differences. It has been demonstrated that fat CSA/total CSA (based on area) and muscle–fat index (based on signal intensity) as quantitative FI parameters are associated with multiple lumbar diseases and clinical outcomes after surgery.ConclusionHaving a good command of the methodology of paraspinal muscle FI on MRI was effective for diagnosis and prognosis in clinical practice.     

Real-time landmark detection for precise endoscopic submucosal dissection via shape-aware relation network

We propose a novel shape-aware relation network for accurate and real-time landmark detection in endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) surgery. This task is of great clinical significance but extremely challenging due to bleeding, lighting reflection, and motion blur in the complicated surgical environment. Compared with existing solutions, which either neglect geometric relationships among targeting objects or capture the relationships by using complicated aggregation schemes, the proposed network is capable of achieving satisfactory accuracy while maintaining real-time performance by taking full advantage of the spatial relations among landmarks. We first devise an algorithm to automatically generate relation keypoint heatmaps, which are able to intuitively represent the prior knowledge of spatial relations among landmarks without using any extra manual annotation efforts. We then develop two complementary regularization schemes to progressively incorporate the prior knowledge into the training process. While one scheme introduces pixel-level regularization by multi-task learning, the other integrates global-level regularization by harnessing a newly designed grouped consistency evaluator, which adds relation constraints to the proposed network in an adversarial manner. Both schemes are beneficial to the model in training, and can be readily unloaded in inference to achieve real-time detection. We establish a large in-house dataset of ESD surgery for esophageal cancer to validate the effectiveness of our proposed method. Extensive experimental results demonstrate that our approach outperforms state-of-the-art methods in terms of accuracy and efficiency, achieving better detection results faster. Promising results on two downstream applications further corroborate the great potential of our method in ESD clinical practice.     

多发颈椎不连综合征的影像学特点与外科诊疗策略

【摘要】 目的：分析多发颈椎不连综合征（multilevel cervical disconnection syndrome,MCDS）的影像学特点及外科诊疗策略。方法：2004年3月~2021年6月,我院收治MCDS患者共7例,男性3例,女性4例;年龄5~46岁（中位年龄12岁）。7例MCDS患者中,平均椎体发育不良节段数3.6±1.3个节段,平均椎弓不连节段数5.7±1.5个节段,局部后凸角平均-92.2°±20.2°,C2-7 Cobb角平均-68.6°±31.0°,T1倾斜角（T1 slope,T1S）平均-12.5°±12.5°,后凸顶点位于C4节段1例,C5节段5例,T1节段1例;术前改良日本骨科学会评分（mJOA评分）8.5~14分（平均12.6±2.1分）,其中1例患者伴有吞咽困难。记录患者预矫形方式及手术方式,入院时、预矫形后、术后及末次随访影像学参数,神经功能及并发症。结果：1例术前接受颅骨牵引,3例接受平衡悬吊牵引,3例接受联合牵引,经术前牵引预矫形后,局部后凸角矫正率为60.8%。1例接受手术松解、Halo-vest外固定治疗,1例接受前路矫形内固定手术,1例接受后路矫形固定融合术,4例接受前-后联合手术治疗,手术固定6.0±2.1个节段,2例患者出现术后神经系统并发症,接受翻修手术。术后随访时间6~84个月（41.2±32.0个月）,末次随访局部后凸角平均-27.9°±11.6°,矫正率69.7%,C2-7 Cobb角平均-13.3°±28.4°,T1S平均4.9°±17.9°;术后mJOA评分10.5~17分（15.7±2.3分）,改善率78.3%。对比手术前后临床及影像学指标,mJOA评分、C2-7后凸角、局部后凸角及T1S有统计学差异。结论：MCDS影像学上主要表现为前方椎体发育不良伴多节段椎弓不连,继发严重后凸畸形。治疗策略可采取术前牵引预矫形并前路多节段椎体切除重建、后路长节段固定融合。     

肾透明细胞癌脊柱转移的手术效果及生存期相关因素研究

【摘要】 目的：探索肾透明细胞癌脊柱转移的手术治疗效果以及生存期相关因素。方法：回顾2008年1月～2019年12月于我科行手术治疗的肾透明细胞癌脊柱转移患者45例,其中男性34例,女性11例,平均年龄60.1±7.6岁,平均病程为4.3±4.4个月（1~24个月）。术前Frankel分级E级25例,D级17例,C级1例,B级2例。术前伴有内脏转移10例,伴有其他骨转移16例。按手术方式分为肿瘤切除组和姑息减压组,肿瘤切除组包括肿瘤减灭术和全脊椎切除术。统计手术出血量及手术相关并发症,对所有患者进行随访,根据患者的生存状态分为终点组（已去世）和随访组（仍存活）,记录随访组患者的疼痛缓解情况、生活自理能力、神经功能评估及随访前半年内的影像学复查结果。通过Kaplan-Meier法估算中位生存期并获得生存曲线。将可能影响患者生存期的因素进行单因素分析,将单因素分析中有统计学差异的因素纳入多因素COX回归分析。结果：随访时间均为12个月以上,末次随访时仍有30例患者存活（随访组）,平均随访时间为36.7±31.6个月,手术后的中位生存期为81.0个月,术后1年生存率为84.4%,术后2年生存率为78.6%,术后3年生存率为70.2%。随访组患者术前和随访时的NRS评分平均值分别为6.0±2.4分（1~10分）和2.9±2.7分（0~8分）,19例患者与术前相比疼痛明显缓解（NRS评分降低3分以上）。术前和随访时的KPS评分平均值分别为71.3±14.3分（30~90分）和70.0±12.2分（40~90分）。29例患者随访时的Frankel分级为D级以上,其中6例获得改善,14例保持不变。单因素分析中颈椎转移（P=0.040）、内脏转移（P=0.018）、术后放疗（P=0.027）和术后靶向治疗（P=0.018）对术后生存期的影响有统计学意义,肿瘤切除组的患者预后优于姑息减压组,多因素分析的结果无统计学意义。结论：手术后局部放疗和全身靶向治疗的多学科综合治疗可以提高肾透明细胞癌脊柱转移患者的生存期,手术治疗可以缓解疼痛,保护神经功能,从而提高生活质量。