Degenerative Disk Disease

STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional database study. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to develop a successful, reproducible, and reliable convolutional neural network (CNN) model capable of segmentation and classification for grading intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD), as well as quantify the network's impact on doctors' clinical decision-making. METHODS: 5685 discs from 1137 patients were graded separately by four experienced doctors according to the Pfirrmann classification...

STUDY DESIGN: Systemic review. OBJECTIVE: To understand the role of cervical disk arthroplasty in the treatment of cervical myelopathy. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: The surgical management of degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) most frequently involves decompression and fusion, but stiffness introduced by the fusion and adjacent segment degeneration remain problems that can result in significant morbidity. Cervical disk arthroplasty (CDA) is a newer procedure that has been demonstrated to be safe and effective for the management of cervical spine degenerative disk disease, but it has not been traditionally considered as a treatment option for DCM and the use for this indication has not been extensively studied...

Cervical disk arthroplasty (CDA) is well-studied for 1-level and 2-level cervical pathology. There is an increasing trend towards its utilization for greater than 2-level disease as an alternative to the gold standard, anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF). The number of high-level, prospective studies or randomized trials regarding multilevel CDA is limited but continues to grow as the procedure gains popularity. In appropriately indicated patients with multilevel disease caused by disk herniations or spondylosis without extensive facet arthropathy, CDA shows promising results...

BACKGROUND: Degenerative spine conditions are common and frequent clinical diseases, and adjacent segment disease (ASD) after spinal fusion (SF) is a common complication after spinal fusion (SF). In this study, we established an animal model of ASD after interbody fusion to observe the morphologic changes of adjacent segment (AS) disks and to determine the expression and significance of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-1beta (IL-1β) in ASD tissues to provide a good experimental basis and reference for clinical prevention and treatment of ASD after interbody fusion...

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to comprehensively evaluate the short-term clinical efficacy and safety of unilateral biportal endoscopic transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (UBE-TLIF) versus minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (MIS-TLIF) for the treatment of lumbar degenerative diseases by meta-analysis. METHODS: A computer-based search of PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Database, and Chinese Science and Technology Journal Database (VIP) was conducted from the inception of the each database to April 2023...

INTRODUCTION: A crowdsourcing resource used by patients with spinal disease has yet to be thoroughly investigated: the Internet. One such platform is Reddit, a virtual, anonymous meeting place. Analyzing how patients utilize spinal condition "subreddits" may enable a greater understanding of the questions patients do not ask their doctors. METHODS: Up to 50 posts in each subreddit's "hot" tab were retroactively screened from June 1, 2022. Posts are written by those who had the condition or those interested in knowing more were included...

BACKGROUND: Oblique lumbar interbody fusion (OLIF) has been proven to be an effective method of indirect decompression for the treatment of Degenerative Lumbar Spondylolisthesis (DLS). However, its superiority over Unilateral biportal endoscopic Lumbar Interbody Fusion (ULIF) has not been reported yet. The current study aimed to compare the clinical and radiological outcomes of OLIF and ULIF in patients with DLS. METHODS: A total of 107 patients were included in this study, divided into two groups according to the surgical methods with 45 patients treated by OLIF combined with anterolateral single screwrod fixation, and 62 patients treated by ULIF...

Mutations in the Prominin-1 (Prom1) gene disrupt photoreceptor disk morphogenesis, leading to macular dystrophies. We have shown that human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) homeostasis is under the control of Prom1-dependent autophagy, demonstrating that Prom1 plays different roles in the photoreceptors and RPE. It is unclear if retinal and macular degeneration caused by the loss of Prom1 function is a cell-autonomous feature of the RPE or a generalized disease of photoreceptor degeneration. In this study, we investigated whether Prom1 is required for mouse RPE (mRPE) autophagy and phagocytosis, which are cellular processes essential for photoreceptor survival...

OBJECTIVE: Back pain is a very widespread disease pattern and is one of the most frequent causes for consultation of a physician in general. In most cases, discogenic changes are the pathomorphological correlate of back pain. Numerous risk factors have been identified for these degenerative changes, but the influence and significance of the risk factors remain unclear, which was the aim of this systematic review. METHODS: A systematic literature search of the commonly used Pubmed database was performed using specific MESH terms...

STUDY DESIGN: Experimental analysis of circular RNA in intervertebral disk degeneration (IDD). OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the roles of hsa_circ_0001946 (circ-CDR1as) in mechanical stress-induced nucleus pulposus cell injury in IDD. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Mechanical stress is an important pathogenic factor for IDD. Excessive compression stress leads to nucleus pulposus (NP) cell apoptosis and extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation and accelerated IDD...

Background and Objectives : Degenerative disk disease is a widespread chronic condition that causes diskogenic pain. Diskogenic pain can be treated with various therapy methods. Disc-FX is a revolutionary, minimally invasive, percutaneous nucleo-annuloplasty method that combines manual diskectomy with nuclear and annular remodeling using radiofrequency ablation to relieve diskogenic pain. In this study, the technical features, clinical outcomes, and complications of Disc-FX are summarized. Materials and Methods : A comprehensive literature review was performed...

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to compare the postoperative alignment of static and expandable cages in lateral single-position (LSP) for indirect decompression in lateral lumbar interbody fusion (LLIF). METHODS: We included sixty-seven patients who underwent LSP-LLIF for lumbar degenerative disease. We performed radiological assessments preoperatively and two weeks postoperatively using computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We divided the patients into the expandable cage group (23 patients) and the static cage group (44 patients)...

BACKGROUND: Cervical annular fissures (AFs) have not been studied specifically as to their prevalence, imaging features, and persistence over time. We sought to determine the prevalence and natural history of cervical AFs. We hypothesized that these are static lesions that are not prevalent in the population. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional retrospective study of cervical MRI examinations performed between 2011-2021. We retrospectively reviewed the studies of 115 consecutive patients (63 female, 52 male) who had 2 or more MRI studies of the cervical spine to identify (1) imaging features of cervical AFs on various pulse sequences, (2) the concurrence of disc bulges/herniations, (3) changes in those imaging findings over time (mean follow-up 39...

Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) is a safe and effective surgical treatment for cervical degenerative disk diseases. Almost every neurosurgeon is familiar with this approach. Anterior multilevel epidural hematoma (EDH) after a single ACDF is a very rare complication documented in the literature. There is no common consensus on the choice of optimal surgical treatment. Here, we report the case of a patient who showed multilevel EDH after ACDF at the C5-6 level to highlight that this complication should be kept in mind even after an uneventful surgery...

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy of oblique lateral interbody fusion (OLIF), OLIF combined with anterolateral screw fixation (OLIF-AF), and OLIF combined with percutaneous pedicle screw fixation (OLIF-PF) in the treatment of single-level or 2-level degenerative lumbar disease. METHODS: Between January 2017 and 2021, 71 patients were treated with OLIF and combined OLIF. The demographic data, clinical outcomes, radiographic outcomes, and complications were compared among the 3 groups...

As life expectancy rises, more elderly people undergo spinal fusion surgery to treat lumbar degenerative diseases. The MIS-TLIF technique, which minimizes soft tissue manipulation, is a promising fusion technique for frailer patients. The aim of this study was to investigate if older age is a significant factor in the clinical outcome of single- or double-level MIS-TLIF. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 103 consecutive patients. Data were compared between younger (<65 y.o.) and older (≥65 y...

Degenerative disk disease (DDD) that aggravates structural deterioration of intervertebral disks (IVDs) can be accompanied by painful inflammation and immunopathological progressions. Current surgical or pharmacological therapies cannot repair the structure and function of IVDs. Nucleus pulposus (NP) cells are crucial for the preservation or restoration of IVDs by balancing the anabolic and catabolic factors affecting the extracellular matrix. Imbalanced anabolic and catabolic factors cause increased degradation of aggrecan...

STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective chart review. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the screw accuracy of thoracic pedicle screws placed with a robot-guided navigation system. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Thoracic pedicles are smaller in diameter than lumbar pedicles, making pedicle screw placement difficult. Misplaced pedicle screws may present complications including decreased construct stability, and increased risks of neurological deficits and blood vessel perforation...

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective matched cohort study. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: With a growing interest in minimally invasive spine surgery (MIS), the question of which technique is the most advantageous for patients with low-grade degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis (DLS) still remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: To compare patient-reported outcomes, perioperative morbidity, and rates of reoperation between MIS decompression with either unilateral noninstrumented facet fusion (MIS-F) or with transforaminal interbody fusion (MIS-T) for grade 1 DLS...

BACKGROUND: Intervertebral disk degeneration (IVDD) is a major cause of low back pain and one of the most common health problems all over the world. However, the early diagnosis of IVDD is still restricted. The purpose of this study is to identify and validate the key characteristic gene of IVDD and analyze its correlation with immune cell infiltration. METHODS: 3 IVDD-related gene expression profiles were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database to screen for differentially expressed genes (DEGs)...