外伤性胸椎间盘突出症的早期诊断与手术治疗

[目的]探讨外伤性胸椎间盘突出症的临床表现、早期诊断及手术治疗效果。[方法]2000年6月-2005年6月共收治外伤性胸椎间盘突出症患者11例，其中男8例，女3例，年龄15-38岁，平均23．96岁。诊断时间距外伤时间最短的为2d，最长的8个月，平均4．1个月。早期明确诊断后行经关节突入路胸椎间盘摘除术。[结果]11例患者获得1、1-3．8年术后随访，平均随访2．6年。根据Otani’s等分级方法进行疗效评价：优7例，良3例，可1例，差0例，失败0例。手术优良率为90．91％。[结论]外伤性胸椎间盘突出较少见，无典型临床表现，本症的早期诊断及早期手术治疗是远期优良疗效的保证。     

头灯辅助小切口治疗腰椎间盘突出并神经根管狭窄症

目的:评价头灯辅助下小切口手术治疗腰椎间盘突出并神经根管狭窄症的优点及临床疗效。方法:采用冷光源头灯(Heine3S LED headlight)辅助下小切口手术治疗腰椎间盘突出并神经根管狭窄症45例,男32例,女13例;年龄36～68岁,平均53.6岁;病程6～72个月,平均29.5个月。结果:28例患者术后次日原有腰腿痛症状消失,17例症状明显减轻。经6～14个月(平均8个月)的随访,依据JOA29分法进行疗效评分,由术前7～15分(平均11.6分)改善至术后26～29分(平均28.2分),平均改善率为93.1%。结论:冷光源头灯辅助下小切口手术治疗腰椎间盘突出并神经根管狭窄症具有损伤小、操作方便、直视视野清晰、不影响脊柱的稳定性、减压彻底、疗效确实等优点。     

腰椎间盘突出症并马尾神经损伤的手术疗效观察

由椎间盘退变所致的腰椎间盘突出症、腰椎管狭窄症、腰椎间盘突出伴椎管狭窄症在临床上多引起腰及下肢的疼痛麻木,感觉及运动障碍,随着病变自行发展或在外因作用下使马尾神经受到严重压迫并损伤后则会出现马尾神经综合征（cauda equine syndrome,CES）的表现,导致不同程度膀胱和肛门括约肌功能障碍,下肢感觉、运动障碍及马鞍区感觉的丧失,部分男性患者会出现性功能障碍。此类患者在临床上并非罕见,如何最大程度地帮助患者改善马尾神经功能是治疗此类疾病的关键。     

Temporo-spatial distribution of blood vessels in human lumbar intervertebral discs

While there is consensus in the literature that blood vessels are confined to the outer anulus fibrosus of normal adult intervertebral disc, debate continues whether there is a vascular in-growths into inner parts of the intervertebral disc during degeneration. We therefore tested the hypothesis that vascular in-growth is not a distinct feature of disc degeneration. The specific endothelial cell marker CD 31 (PECAM) was used to immunohistochemically investigate 42 paraffin-embedded complete mid-sagittal human intervertebral disc sections of various ages (0–86 years) and varying extent of histomorphological degeneration. Additionally, 20 surgical disc samples from individuals (26–69 years) were included in this study. In discs of fetal to infantile age, blood vessels perforated the cartilaginous end plate and extended into the inner and outer anulus fibrosus, but not into the nucleus pulposus. In adolescents and adults, no blood vessels were seen except for the outer zone of the anulus fibrosus adjacent to the insertion to ligaments. The cartilaginous end plate remained free of vessels, except for areas with circumscribed destruction of the end plate. In advanced disc degeneration, no vessels were observed except for those few cases with complete, scar-like disc destruction. However, some rim lesions and occasionally major clefts were surrounded by a small network of capillary blood vessels extending into deeper zones of the anulus fibrosus. A subsequent morphometric analysis, revealed slightly “deeper” blood vessel extension in juvenile/adolescent discs when compared to young, mature and senile adult individuals with significantly “deeper” extension in the posterior than anterior anulus. The analysis of the surgical specimens showed that only sparse capillary blood vessels which did not extend into the nucleus pulposus even in major disc disruption. Our results show that vascular invasion deeper than the periphery was not observed during disc degeneration, which supports the hypothesis that vascular in-growth is not a distinct feature of disc degeneration. This study was supported by a grant from the AO/ASIF Foundation Switzerland (00-B72) and a grant from the AO Spine (SRN 02/103).     

Biological treatment strategies for disc degeneration: potentials and shortcomings

Recent advances in molecular biology, cell biology and material sciences have opened a new emerging field of techniques for the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders. These new treatment modalities aim for biological repair of the affected tissues by introducing cell-based tissue replacements, genetic modifications of resident cells or a combination thereof. So far, these techniques have been successfully applied to various tissues such as bone and cartilage. However, application of these treatment modalities to cure intervertebral disc degeneration is in its very early stages and mostly limited to experimental studies in vitro or in animal studies. We will discuss the potential and possible shortcomings of current approaches to biologically cure disc degeneration by gene therapy or tissue engineering. Despite the increasing number of studies examining the therapeutic potential of biological treatment strategies, a practicable solution to routinely cure disc degeneration might not be available in the near future. However, knowledge gained from these attempts might be applied in a foreseeable future to cure the low back pain that often accompanies disc degeneration and therefore be beneficial for the patient. This study was supported by a grant from the AO Spine (SRN 02/103).     

Characterization of an in vitro intervertebral disc organ culture system

Intervertebral disc organ culture has the capacity to control mechanical and chemical boundary conditions while keeping the tissue largely intact, and allowing interventions that would be impossible or unethical on animal studies. Recent studies on ex vivo organ culture has mostly involved small animals, or been limited to development and validation studies. In this study, bovine caudal discs were used. The large animal model design ensures that sufficient tissue is available for measurement of multiple dependent variables on the same disc, and a similar aspect ratio, diffusion distance, composition and rate of proteoglycan synthesis to human lumbar discs. The first goal of this study was to refine a set of dependent variables capable of characterizing the response of the intervertebral disc to culturing and to develop a technique to measure cell viability in all three regions of the disc. The second goal was to use these variables to compare static and diurnal loading as a method of maintaining intervertebral disc structure, composition, and cell metabolism similar to the in vivo state. Static (0.2 MPa) and diurnal loading (0.1 and 0.3 MPa alternating at 12 h intervals) were applied and intervertebral discs were examined after 4 or 8 days with dependent variables including changes in geometry (disc height and diameter), composition (tissue water content, tissue proteoglycan content and proteoglycan content lost to the culture media), cell viability and metabolism (proteoglycan synthesis). Results indicate that there was a decrease in disc height and water content after culture regardless of culture duration or loading condition. Cell viability significantly decreased with culture duration in the inner annulus and nucleus; however, a significant reduction in cell viability for the diurnal versus static loading condition was only observed after 8 days in the nucleus region. No significant differences were seen in viability of the outer annulus region with time, or in any loading groups. We conclude that our system is capable of keeping bovine caudal discs alive for at least 8 days without significant changes in GAG content, or cell metabolism, and that static loading was slightly better able to maintain cell viability than diurnal loading. This system offers promise for the future studies on large intervertebral discs requiring measurements of multiple mechanical and biological dependent variables on the same tissue.     

椎间盘镜下 B-Twin椎间融合治疗腰椎间盘突出症伴腰椎不稳

 目的 探讨椎间盘镜下减压、B-Twin融合器植骨融合术治疗腰椎间盘突出症伴腰椎不稳的临床疗效。方法 2006年 3月至 2010年 5月, 收治腰椎间盘突出症伴腰椎不稳患者 87例, 男 49例, 女 38例;年龄 37~65岁, 平均 47援6岁。均为单节段病变, L3, 43例、L4, 543例、L5S1 41例。采用单枚 B-Twin椎间融合 51例(单枚组), 双枚融合 36例(双枚组)。采用 Oswestry功能障碍指数(Oswestry disability index, ODI)、疼痛视觉模拟评分(visual analogue scale, VAS)评估患者术后疗效, 并比较两组患者手术时间、出血量、融合时间和椎间隙高度的变化。结果均获得 12~46个月的随访, 平均 35.8个月。术后腰腿痛症状均明显缓解或消失。 ODI术前平均为 78%±3%, 末次随访平均为 18%±3%;VAS评分术前平均为(8.70±1.3)分, 末次随访平均为(0.65±0.48)分;椎间隙高度术前平均为(8.76±1.3) mm, 术后 1个月平均为(12.8±1.5)mm, 术后 12个月平均为(11.8±0.6) mm。单枚组与双枚组 ODI、VAS和椎间隙高度的差异均无统计学意义, 但在手术时间、术中出血量方面的差异均有统计学意义, 单枚组少于双枚组。均获融合或可能融合, 融合时间 3.9~8援6个月, 平均为 5援6个月。结论椎间盘镜下减压、B-Twin融合器植骨融合术治疗腰椎间盘突出症伴腰椎不稳的疗效满意, 单枚与双枚融合疗效相近, 单枚融合具有手术时间短、出血量少、医疗费用低的优点。     

手术显微镜与放大镜辅助下腰椎间盘摘除技术临床效果的比较

 目的 比较手术显微镜和手术放大镜两种方式辅助下腰椎间盘显微外科摘除技术临床疗效的差别。方法本研究为前瞻性的随机对照研究, 包括 2007年 1月至 2010年 12月间所有接受显微间盘摘除术的 93例患者。通过比较手术显微镜和手术放大镜两种方式辅助下腰椎间盘显微摘除术病例的各种参数, 包括住: 天数、住: 花费、手术时间、估计失血量、手术前后及随访时的日本骨科协会(Japanese Orthopaedic Association, JOA)评分及改善率和 Odom's标准, 评估两种手术方法的优劣。结果 49例患者接受手术显微镜下手术, 44例患者接受手术放大镜下手术。其中 80例患者获得门诊或电话随访, 随访 6.17~52.90个月, 平均(29.64±13.05)个月, 随访率 86.02%。两组患者术前临床资料均无统计学差异, 包括年龄、性别、病变节段和术前 JOA评分。术后及随访临床资料包括术后 JOA评分及改善率、住: 天数、住: 费用、随访时间和复发率等方面比较差异均无统计学意义, 在手术时间、术中出血量、随访 JOA评分及改善率方面比较差异均有统计学意义。结论手术显微镜可为手术提供更清晰的视”, 可缩短手术时间, 减少出血量, 降低潜在的神经损伤风险, 保留更多的正常组织, 获得更好的临床效果。     

颈椎终板软骨细胞凋亡的检测及相关意义

目的检测颈椎终板软骨细胞的细胞凋亡指数,探讨其在椎间盘退变中可能的作用机制。方法颈椎间盘终板及髓核取自我院行颈椎前路手术的35例颈椎椎间盘退变患者（退变组）和19例颈椎外伤患者（外伤组）。光镜观察退变组和外伤组终板和髓核的细胞密度,TUNEL法检测两组终板软骨细胞和髓核细胞的细胞凋亡指数,咔唑分光光度法比较两组髓核蛋白多糖含量。结果退变组终板细胞密度较外伤组减少（P〈0.05）,TUNEL染色显示退变组终板细胞凋亡指数为（34.6±16.1）%,外伤组为（20.1±9.3）%,两组间比较差异有统计学意义（P〈0.05）。Pearson相关分析显示,颈椎终板TUNEL染色阳性细胞率与终板细胞密度、髓核蛋白多糖含量之间呈负相关（r=—0.805,P=0.001;r=—0.677,P=0.023）,与髓核TUNEL阳性细胞率之间呈正相关（r=0.758,P=0.003）。结论颈椎退变终板软骨细胞凋亡率较高,推测在椎间盘退变过程中可能发挥重要作用;软骨细胞凋亡可能与髓核细胞凋亡增加、终板细胞密度与髓核蛋白多糖含量降低密切相关。