Spina bifida occulta at the lumbar spine level manifested as chronic low back pain and unpredictable neurologic deficit: A case report.

INTRODUCTION: Spina bifida occulta has a variety of symptoms that may hinder the diagnosis and subsequently delay appropriate treatment, causing a decrease in the patient's quality of life. This study aims to shed light on spina bifida occulta, with chronic low back pain as the predominant symptom, and the treatment applied in this case. PRESENTATION OF CASE: A 46-year-old male was diagnosed with spina bifida occulta at the 5th lumbar spine after 2 years of having chronic low back pain that radiated to the left leg. He was initially diagnosed with chronic low back pain and was treated with epidural steroid injections which yielded a suboptimal outcome. Through an MRI examination, a spina bifida occulta at the 5th lumbar spine was identified and the patient was then referred to a tertiary hospital for further spinal decompressive treatments. The decompression level was obtained intraoperatively with the aid of intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring. Following the procedure, pain had almost completely subsided, and the patient regained full function for his daily activities without any pain or restrictions. DISCUSSION: Non-specific clinical symptoms hindered the prompt diagnose of occult spinal dysraphism. MRI examinations of the spine is required and recommended for the characterization of intraspinal and perispinal abnormalities. Using intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring, we observed an improvement of nerve function at the L3-L5 level following decompression at the L3 level. CONCLUSION: The diagnosis of spina bifida can be challenging when patients are presented with non-specific clinical symptoms, in this case as pain. We recommend spinal MRI examinations in cases of chronic lower back pain that fail to improve following expected pain management and therapy. Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring can be used to assist in the identification of the level for decompression, as well as the resolution of pain.

Pedicle morphometry analysis of main thoracic apex adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

INTRODUCTION: Screw insertion during scoliosis surgery uses free-hand pedicle screw insertion methods. However, there is a wide variation in pedicle shapes, sizes, and morphometry, especially in scoliosis patients. CT scan pedicle measurements in main thoracic Lenke type 1 adolescent idiopathic scoliosis can help visualize this diversity. This study aimed to highlight the features of pedicle morphometry on the concave and convex sides, including pedicle diameter (width in axial and height in the sagittal plane), the depth to the anterior cortex, and Watanabe Pedicle classification in patients with main thoracic apex adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was a cross-sectional observational study of Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS) patients whose apex in the main thoracic patient underwent deformity correction procedures. We used a three-dimensional CT scan to evaluate pedicle morphometry on the apex vertebrae, three consecutive vertebrae above and below the apex. RESULTS: A total of 6 patients with apex main thoracic AIS with 84 pedicles consisting of 42 pedicles from each concave and convex curve were analyzed. All of the samples were female, with the mean age at the procedure being 21.2 ± 5.56. The mean cobb angle was 62° ± 23°, with the main apex between VT8-VT10. The size of the pedicle was bigger from upper to lower vertebrae. The mean pedicle depth, pedicle width, and pedicle height for the concave side were 36.06 ± 4.31 mm, 3.91 ± 0.66 mm, and 9.16 ± 1.52 mm, respectively. Meanwhile, the convex side is 37.52 ± 1.84 mm, 5.20 ± 0.55 mm, and 11.05 ± 0.70 mm, respectively. We found a significant difference between the concave and convex sides for the pedicle width and height. The concave and convex sides were mainly classified as type C (38%) and type A (50%) Watanabe pedicle. CONCLUSION: Pedicle width and pedicle height are significantly different between the concave and the convex side with convex side has better Watanabe pedicle classification. Pre-operative CT evaluation is essential for planning proper pedicle screw placement in AIS patients.

Neglected cervical spondyloptosis of the 5TH - 6TH cervical spine following cervical manipulation: A case report.

A 16-year-old boy was diagnosed with spondyloptosis of the cervical spine at the C5-6 level with a neurologic deficit following cervical manipulation. He could not move his upper and lower extremities, but the sensory and autonomic function was spared. The pre-operative American Spinal Cord Injury Association (ASIA) Score was B with SF-36 being 25%, and Karnofsky's score was 40%. The patient was disabled and required special care and assistance. We performed anterior decompression, cervical corpectomy at the level of C6 and lower part of C5, deformity correction, cage insertion, bone grafting, and stabilization with an anterior cervical plate. The patient's objective functional score had increased after six months follow up and assessed objectively with the ASIA Impairment Scale (AIS) E or Excellent, SF-36 score 94%, and Karnofsky score was 90%. The patient could carry on regular activity with minor signs or symptoms of the disease. This case report highlights severe complications following cervical manipulation, a summary of the clinical presentation, surgical treatment choices, and a review of the relevant literature. In addition, the sequential improvement of the patient's functional outcome after surgical correction will be discussed.

Comparison of insertion time, pull-out strength, and screw-media interface area of customized pedicle screw with different core and thread design against commercial pedicle screw: a pilot study on Indonesian Population.

OBJECTIVE: This research aimed to developing customized pedicle screw based on Indonesian vertebral anatomy and compare the insertion time, pull-out strength, and screw-media interface area of different screw design. We have developed 3 different types of pedicle screws (v-thread cylinder-core, square-thread cylinder-core and square-thread conical-core). The thread diameter was calculated from pedicle width of Indonesian population (6 mm). We used commercially available pedicle screw as control group (6.2 mm). RESULT: The insertion time were significantly difference between v-thread cylinder-core pedicle screw (22.94 s) with commercially available pedicle screw (15.86 s) (p < 0.05). The pull-out strength was significantly difference between commercially available pedicle screw (408.60 N) with square-thread conical pedicle screw (836.60 N) (p < 0.05). The square-thread conical-core group have the highest interface area (1486.21 mm2). The data comparison showed that the square-thread conical-core customized pedicle screw group has comparable insertion time and has better pull-out strength than commercially available pedicle screw.

Occipitocervical fixation: A case report of our techniques and results.

INTRODUCTION: Occipitocervical fixation (OCF) can provide good fusion rate to treat various craniovertebral junction (CVJ) pathologies. Biomechanically it gives rigid fixation, good fusion rate, and allows for effective decompression. However, rigid fixation on the mobile occipitocervical junction has shortcomings that affect the post-operative clinical functional outcomes and range of motion. This study aimed to evaluate and elaborate the functional outcomes, range of motions, and radiographic findings in our patients underwent OCF. CASE REPORT: We presented a report of 3 patients underwent posterior decompression procedure followed by occipitocervical fixation. All three patients' clinical outcome was assessed clinically by, Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score and grading, Karnofsky, range of motion and radiographic cervical alignment evaluation parameters. RESULT: All patients have seen improvement (minimal 1 grade in JOA and >30 points of Karnofsky score) in 3 months after the procedure, had a tolerable range of motion limitation, normal range of cervical lordotic and cervical brow vertebral angle (CBVA). Unfortunately, one patient with loss of cranial fixation may be related to history of infection and lack of post-operative wound care. CONCLUSSION: Our cases conclude that Occipitocervical fixation is a safe technique that provides excellent fusion rate with good functional outcome and tolerable range of motion limitation. Due to its unique anatomy and technically demanding, serial post-operative monitoring evaluation of this procedure is paramount.

The impact of spinal fusion of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis in Salah (Islamic Prayer) movement: a retrospective case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Corrective spine surgery is widely accepted for treating severe adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). Postoperative spinal range of motion (ROM) could be affected after such surgery. In certain populations, such as Muslims, this ROM change can impact daily life, as it may affect the five-times-a-day prayer (Salah). This study aims to assess the influence of spinal fusion (SF) in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS) during the daily Islamic prayer (Salah). METHODS: SF-AIS patients were videoed while performing Salah prayer. The kinematic documentation was assessed and compared to Salah movements of a control group of age-matched Muslim AIS patients, who had not had surgery. The prayer quality changes were subjectively classified into improved, no change/remained, and worsened, according to the Global Perceived Effect (GPE). Functional outcome and pain were assessed by the Scoliosis Research Society Questionnaire Version 30 (SRS-30). RESULTS: Thirty-nine women and five men (mean age±SD: 14.8±2.3 years) met the inclusion criteria, and unoperated AIS patients were used as control (twenty-two women, mean age±SD: 15.32±1.43 years). The prostrations ROM of the SF-AIS group differed significantly from the control group (p<0.05). The GPE of the prayer movement showed improvement in 36.4%, no change in 59.1%, and worsening in 4.5% of the SF-AIS patients. The worsened group had a significantly lower bowing ROM and higher prostrations ROM compared to all groups of prayer quality changes (p<0.05). SRS-30 scores showed good outcomes (function 4.0±0.2, pain 4.2±0.5), along with the overall bowing ROM and prostrations ROM (84.2±12.0° and 53.4±9.6°, respectively). Moreover, a significant moderate positive correlation between the bowing ROM and pain (r=0.417, p=0.007) was also found. CONCLUSION: Spinal fusion positively affects AIS Islamic patients in maintaining their daily Salah movement, ROM and prayer quality. Prayer quality assessment should be given extra attention as an adjuvant of the SRS-30 questionnaire to evaluate Muslim patients.

Functional outcomes following surgical treatment in patient with primary degenerative adult scoliosis.

INTRODUCTION: Primary adult degenerative scoliosis is one of the adult scoliosis group that presents in adult patient without history of scoliosis during childhood or adolescence. This condition may be asymptomatic, mild low back pain, radiculopathy symptoms, or may be causing severe low back pain and major neurological symptoms including weakness and numbness of the lower extremities which can affect the patient quality of life. CASE PRESENTATION: In this study, we presented seven cases of primary degenerative adult scoliosis that was treated either with decompression alone, decompression with short segment fusion and deformity correction, and decompression with long segment fusion and deformity correction. The parameters measured in this study were lumbar regional angle, Cobb angle, and pelvic parameters. The functional status of the patient was measured using Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). DISCUSSION: The main purpose for surgical treatment in primary degenerative adult scoliosis depends on the clinical presentation and also the patient's expectations .From the study, we found that all patient underwent surgery had improvement of functional status that measured with ODI score. The mean of pre operative ODI score was 49.70 (± 13.61 SD) (severe disability) and for post operative was 21.8 (± 13.40 SD) (moderate disability). Surgery decompressed the neural element and stabilize the spine. CONCLUSION: Surgery treatment in patients with degenerative adult scoliosis was shown to have better functional outcomes regardless of the technique used. Further study with bigger sample with corresponding statistical analytic is mandatory.

Emergent spine surgery during COVID-19 pandemic: 10 Months experience in Dr. Sardjito general hospital, Indonesia a case series.

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the spine surgeon had to deal with some new challenges in treating emergency spine cases. This paper aimed to report our experience with spine emergency surgery during the pandemic, with already limited resources for surgery. METHODS: This was a retrospective, single-center study, involving all patients admitted to our hospital during a period of 1st March - 31st December 2020 and underwent emergent spinal surgery. The data were collected from the patients' medical records. RESULTS: We found 15 patients who met the inclusion criteria. Four patients were suspected to be infected by COVID-19, but none of them was confirmed to be infected by COVID-19 based on the PCR test. All patients had a history of injury: fell from height (53.3%), traffic accident (40%), and direct trauma (6.7%). The average time interval from injury to hospital admission was 38.6 h, from admission to surgery was 6.3 days, and from injury to surgery was 8.1 days. The patient who was suspected to be infected with COVID-19 has a significantly greater time interval from admission to surgery (p = 0.012). The surgery lasted for 3-6 h, with an average of 4.6 h. The average hospital stay duration was 13.3 days and it has a significant positive correlation with the time interval from admission to surgery (p = 0.001). Three months post-operatively, seven patients experienced an improvement in the Frankel grade, 4 patients had no changes in Frankel grade, and 2 patients died. CONCLUSION: To our experience, the lack of human and material resources during the pandemic caused some delay in surgery. However, surgery performed later than 24 h during the pandemic might still bring benefit to the patient.

Management of distal adjacent segment disease due to central subsidence of PLIF using local anesthetic transforaminal foraminotomy and lumbar discectomy.

INTRODUCTION: Spinal fusion is one of the most common procedure as the treatment of lumbar pathology, this procedure not only stops the progression of spinal pathology, but also immobilizes the painful motion segment. Furthermore, it also stabilizes the spine after neural decompression. However, the increase of mechanical stress and segmental motion at adjacent segments after spinal fusion has been reported regarding to this biomechanical alteration, various pathologies might occur at the adjacent segments, including acceleration of degenerative changes (Chul et al., 2015). PRESENTATION OF CASE: Some patients are afraid to undergo second or next open surgery and prefer to choose other options such us minimally invasive surgery. Here we present management of distal adjacent segment disease using local anesthetic transforaminal foraminotomy and lumbar discectomy. We performed minimally invasive percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy and foraminotomy in an awake and aware 55 years old man under local anesthesia. CONCLUSION: The procedure was successful with no complications. There was improvement in VAS and ODI score as quantitative measurement for pain relieve and functional outcome respectively, and the radiologic follow up evaluation shows a stable segment.

Primary rhabdoid epithelioid sarcoma of the left thigh mimicking epithelioid rhabdomyosarcoma: A diagnostic pitfall.

INTRODUCTION: Epithelioid sarcoma (ES) is a rare mesenchymal tumor, accounting for less than 1% of all adult soft-tissue sarcomas. The diagnosis of such malignancy is challenging. We reported a 31-year-old male diagnosed with rhabdoid ES that histologically mimicked epithelioid rhabdomyosarcoma in a 31-year-old male. CASE PRESENTATION: A 39-year-old male presented with pain in the left thigh. He had planned for open reduction internal fixation due to left femur fracture. During the surgery, the surgeon found abnormal appearance of the bone and the surrounding tissue. The histopathology examination showed spindle-to-polygonal epithelioid cells arranged in nodular pattern with necrotic areas. Immunohistochemistry examination revealed vimentin and CK positive expression, while myogenin was negative. Further immunostaining using CD34 and HMB45 were also negative. DISCUSSION: The diagnosis of ES based on only the clinical manifestation has proven to be difficult. Thus, the histopathology examination followed by immunohistochemistry is considered as the main modality for the diagnosis. Better understanding of clinical properties of ES will aid in deciding the best treatment for the patient.

Management of complex pelvic fracture and sacral fracture Denis type 2 using spanning unilateral fixation of L5 to S2AI screw.

INTRODUCTION: Posterior sacropelvic ring injury due to vertical shear type sacral fracture is the result of high-energy trauma. This fracture may be accompanied by neurological injury in 50% of cases. An understanding of sacral anatomy, its mechanisms of injury and types of sacral fracture, as well as treatment options may change the rational of the approach. The unique anatomic shape in the sacropelvic junction and the complex biomechanical forces can present challenges when attempting anterior and posterior pelvic reconstruction and instrumentation. PRESENTATION OF CASE: In this case, we present a complex pelvic fracture and sacral fracture Denis type 2 managed with staged operations consisting of anterior reconstruction followed by posterior reconstruction using spanning unilateral fixation of 5th lumbar to 2th Sacral-Alar-Iliac with different incision technique from the normal conventional approach. DISCUSSION: The use of 2th sacral Alar iliac screws (S2AI screw) offered immediate stability and helped in fracture reduction while creating good biomechanical strength, there was no need for cross-connectors which minimized the prominence of the implant, and also decreased the risk of post-operative wound infection. CONCLUSION: The new technique of spinopelvic fixation provides increased immediate postoperative stability. Success of this procedure can be achieved by performing the procedures systematically on appropriately selected patients.