Neurosurgery Clinics of North America

The purpose of this article is to review the outcomes concerning lumbar lordosis restoration after the MIS-TLIF and to present strategies to create lumbar lordosis by using this MIS posterior approach. MIS-TLIF is an effective MIS lumbar interbody fusion that can achieve lumbar lordosis restoration. Several crucial steps aid in this sagittal profile correction during the MIS-TLIF, including the appropraite prone positioning, optimizing disc space preparation, maximizing disc space height, anterior interbody cage placement, and reducing the spondylolisthesis...

This article focuses on the treatment of sagittal spinal deformity using a minimally invasive technique, anterior column realignment. Traditional methods to address sagittal spine deformity have been associated with high morbidity, long operative times, and excessive blood loss. This technique uses a minimally invasive lateral retroperitoneal approach to release the anterior longitudinal ligament and apply a hyperlordotic implant for interbody fusion to restore lumbar lordosis and sagittal alignment.

Lumbar interbody fusion (LIF) is a well-established approach in treating spinal deformity and degenerative conditions of the spine. Since its inception in the 20th century, LIF has continued to evolve, allowing for minimally invasive approaches, high fusion rates, and improving disability scores with favorable complication rates. The anterior to the psoas (ATP) approach utilizes a retroperitoneal pathway medial to the psoas muscle to access the L1-S1intervertebral disc spaces. In contrast to the transpsoas arppoach, its primary advantage is avoiding transgressing the psoas muscle and the contained lumbar plexus, which potentially decreases the risk of injury to the lumbar plexus...

The lateral transpsoas approach has become fundamental to minimally invasive spine surgery. The large interbody grafts that can be placed through this approach allow for robust arthrodesis of the anterior column, indirect decompression, and restoration of lordosis without disrupting the posterior musculature or ligamentous structures. The lateral decubitus position has traditionally been used for this approach but the prone position has gained popularity because it can reduce operating times for patients who also require posterior pedicle screw fixation...

Evidenced-based data-driven decision-making algorithms guide patient and approach selection for adult spinal deformity surgery. Algorithms are continually refined as surgical goals and intraoperative technology evolve.

Distal junctional pathology remains an unsolved issue in spine surgery. Distal junctional pathology can occur on a spectrum from asymptomatic radiographic finding to catastrophic distal construct failure. It is significant to address as postoperative sagittal balance has been shown to be correlated with patient-reported outcomes. Current literature and clinical experience suggest there are techniques that can be implemented regardless of setting to avoid distal junctional pathology. Much of the avoidant strategy relies on understanding the deformity pathology, selection of the lowest instrumented vertebra (LIV), health of the segments caudal to the LIV, and methods of fixation...

Proximal junctional kyphosis (PJK) and proximal junctional failure/fractures (PJF) are common complications following long-segment posterior instrumented fusions for adult spinal deformity. As progression to PJF involves clinical consequences for patients and requires costly revisions that may undermine the utility of surgery and are ultimately unsustainable for health care systems, preventative strategies to minimize the occurrence of PJF are of tremendous importance. In this article, the authors present a detailed outline of PJK and PJF with a focus on surgical strategies aimed at preventing their occurrence...

The Meyerding classification grades the degree of slippage in the sagittal plane on lateral standing neutral imaging: 0% to 25% Grade I, 25% to 50% Grade II, 50% to 75% Grade III, 75% to 100% Grade IV, and greater than 100% Grade V (Spondyloptosis). Grades I and II are considered low-grade and Grades III-V are considered high-grade. There are several etiologies of spondylolisthesis. A classification system of the most common causes: Type I - Dysplastic, Type II - Isthmic (including subtypes: A - Lytic, B - Elongation, and C - Acute fracture), Type III - Degenerative, Type IV - Traumatic, Type V - Pathologic, and Type VI - Iatrogenic...

Posterior-based osteotomies are crucial to the restoration of lordosis in adult spinal deformity. Posterior-column osteotomies are suited for patients with an unfused anterior column and non-focal sagittal deformity requiring modest correction in lordosis. When performed on multiple levels, posterior-column osteotomy may provide significant harmonious correction in patients who require more extensive correction. Pedicle subtraction osteotomy and vertebral column resection are appropriate for patients with a fused anterior column and more severe deformity, particularly focal and/or multiplanar deformity...

There are a range of anterior-based approaches to address flexible adult spinal deformity from the thoracic spine to the sacrum, with each approach offering access to a range of vertebral levels. It includes the transperitoneal (L5-S1), paramedian anterior retroperitoneal (L3-S1), oblique retroperitoneal (L1-2 to L5-S1), the thoracolumbar transdiaphragmatic approach (T9-10 to L4-5), and thoracotomy approach (T4-T12). The lumbar and lumbosacral spine is especially favorable for anterior-based approaches given the relative mobility of the peritoneal organs and position of the vasculature...

Spine surgeons are often faced with a profoundly difficult challenge in surgically treating adult degenerative scoliosis. Deformity correction surgery is complicated by the difficulty in offering extensive surgical corrections to the elderly, complication-prone population it commonly affects. As spine surgeons attempt to offer minimally invasive solutions to this disease process, the need for fusion of the fractional curve at L4, L5, and S1 may be discounted. A treatment strategy to identify, address, and treat the fractional curve with either open or minimally invasive techniques can lead to improved patient outcomes and decrease revision rates in this complicated pathologic process...

Adult Spinal Deformity (ASD) is a complex pathologic condition with significant impact on quality of life, including pain, loss of function, and fatigue. Achieving realignment goals is crucial for long-term results. Reliable preoperative planning strategies, including nomograms, measurement tools, and level selection, are key to maximizing the likelihood of achieving a good outcome following ASD corrective surgery. This review covers recent literature on such strategies, including review of the different targets for realignment and their association with outcomes (both patients-reported outcomes and complications), selection of upper and lower instrumented vertebrae, and the latest innovation in preoperative planning for deformity surgery...

Sagittal spinal malalignment can lead to pain, decreased function, dynamic imbalance, and compromise of patient-reported health status. The goal of reconstructive spine surgery is to restore spinal alignment parameters, and an understanding of appropriate patient-specific alignment is important for surgical planning and approaches. Radiographic spinopelvic parameters are strongly correlated with pain and function. The relationship between spinopelvic parameters and disability in adult spinal deformity patients is well-established, and optimal correction of sagittal alignment results in improved outcomes regarding patient health status and mechanical complications of surgery...

Adult spinal deformity (ASD) is common and the complication rate in ASD surgery is high due to its invasiveness. There are several factors that increase the risk of complications with ASD surgery. These include age, past medical history, frailty, osteoporosis, or operative invasiveness. Risk factors for perioperative complications can be categorized as modifiable and non-modifiable. The purpose of this article is to present the current available evidence on risk factors for perioperative complications, with a focus on frailty, osteoporosis, surgical site infection prevention, and hip-spine syndrome...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

High-value health care has become a widely researched topic within neurosurgery. The concept of "high-value" care involves optimizing resource expenditures relative to patient outcomes, and therefore, high-value care research within neurosurgery has involved identifying prognostic factors for outcomes such as hospital length of stay, discharge disposition, monetary charges/costs incurred during hospitalization, and hospital readmission. The following article will discuss the motivation of high-value health-care research for optimizing the surgical treatment of intracranial meningiomas, highlight recent research investigating high-value care outcomes in patients with intracranial meningioma, and explore future avenues for high-value care research in this patient population...

Preclinical meningioma models offer a setting to test molecular mechanisms of tumor development and targeted treatment options but historically have been challenging to generate. Few spontaneous tumor models in rodents have been established, but cell culture and in vivo rodent models have emerged along with artificial intelligence, radiomics, and neural networks to differentiate the clinical heterogeneity of meningiomas. We reviewed 127 studies using PRISMA guideline methodology, including laboratory and animal studies, that addressed preclinical modeling...

High-grade meningiomas (atypical and anaplastic/malignant) are at increased risk of recurrence following primary treatment with maximum safe surgical resection. Evidence based on several retrospective and prospective observational studies suggests an important role of radiation therapy (RT) in both adjuvant and salvage settings. At present, adjuvant RT is recommended for incompletely resected atypical meningiomas and anaplastic meningiomas irrespective of resection extent with disease control benefit. In completely resected atypical meningiomas, the role of adjuvant RT remains debatable but should be considered given the aggressive and resistant nature of recurrent disease...

Meningiomas are thought to originate from the meningothelial cells of the arachnoid mater and are the most common primary brain tumor in adults. Histologically confirmed meningiomas occur with an incidence of 9.12/100,000 population and account for 39% of all primary brain tumors and 54.5% of all non-malignant brain tumors. Risk factors for meningioma include age 65 years and older, female gender, African-American race, history of exposure to head and neck ionizing radiation, and certain genetic disorders such as neurofibromatosis II...

Meningiomas, the most prevalent primary intracranial tumor, arise from the arachnoid cap cells in the meninges, the membranes that surround the brain and the spinal cord. The field has long sought effective predictors of meningioma recurrence and malignant transformation, as well as therapeutic targets to guide intensified treatment such as early radiation or systemic therapy. Novel and more targeted approaches are currently being tested in numerous clinical trials for patients who have progressed after surgery and/or radiation...