Comparing the Montreal Cognitive Assessment and Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale in a multicultural rehabilitation setting.

In Australia it is recommended that all older people undergoing rehabilitation have a cognitive screen. We performed a longitudinal study comparing the correlation of two cognitive screening tools - the Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale (RUDAS) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) with discharge outcomes in a geriatric inpatient setting. The RUDAS cut-off (<23/30) was associated with discharge to a nursing home (sensitivity 52%, specificity 70%). This was also noted with a MoCA cut-off <18/30 (sensitivity 57%, specificity 69%). Furthermore the association between the RUDAS and discharge destination was independent of its association with the Functional Independence Measure (r = 0.116; P = 0.275) and had a shorter administration time. Both RUDAS and MoCA scores could be used as predictors of discharge destination in a multicultural population.

Management of Severe Coarctation of the Aorta and Bilateral Carotid Artery Stenosis: An Interventional Catch-22.

We present a case of an adult with concurrent severe aortic coarctation, bilateral carotid artery stenosis, and anomalous right subclavian artery, posing the interventional dilemma of accepting potential cerebral hyperperfusion syndrome vs hypoperfusion ischemic injury. Transcatheter stenting of the aortic coarctation was successfully performed without any neurological deficits. (Level of Difficulty: Beginner.).

A tale of two robots: Operating times and learning curves in robot-assisted lumbar fusion.

Robotic assistance technologies are being incorporated into minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (MIS-TLIF) to minimize radiation exposure to the patient and operating staff. However, they introduce new issues including increased operating time and difficult incorporation into surgical workflow. This study, conducted with 42 patients under the care of one neurosurgeon in Sydney, Australia, investigates the operating time increase with three different robotic modalities, and the learning curves they pose to the surgeon. Between the comparable modalities of freehand MIS-TLIF and Mazor Renaissance® CT to Fluoro, there was a significant increase in time from patient draping to insertion of the final K-wire (p = 0.0019), and a non-significant increase in time per K-wire (p = 0.55) using Mazor Renaissance®. Comparing the ROSA® and Mazor Renaissance® Scan and Plan, there were significant increases in drape to final K-wire time and time per K-wire using ROSA® assistance (p = 0.000068 and p = 0.011). ROSA® also had a steeper learning curve compared to both Mazor Renaissance® modalities, which were similar. Our study shows that Mazor Renaissance® modalities are superior to ROSA® in minimizing extra operating time, and also have easier learning curves; however, both modalities increase operating time compared with freehand MIS-TLIF. This study, to our knowledge, is the first to compare multiple robotic techniques in MIS-TLIF. Though these results highlight important differences between robotic modalities that are crucial for spinal surgeons to understand, the low sample size and variability in data reveal the need for larger, multi-centre studies in this field.