A cross-sectional study of MIS TLIF in treatment of spondylolisthesis: initial good results from 92 Vietnamese patients.

Minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion has proven effectiveness in treating spondylolisthesis, but there were few reports applying the technique from scarce resourcing developing countries. In this study, the authors report the results and share our experience of minimally invasive spinal transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion in spondylolisthesis treatment in Vietnamese patients. Materials and methods: In this study, the authors enroled 92 patients diagnosed with single-level, grade I or grade II lumbar spondylolisthesis from January 2019 to October 2022. Results: The median age in our study was 47.79±12.61 (range 15-75), the male/female ratio was 1/2.3. The mean disease duration was 28.57 months. Conventional X-ray images showed that there were 74 patients (80.43%) with spondylolisthesis grade I, 18 patients (19.57%) with grade II. Spondylolisthesis occured mainly in L4-L5 with 53 patients (57.61%). The isthmic sign was recorded in 16 patients (31.4%). The mean blood loss was 149.46 ml. Patients walked on average of 3.22 days after surgery. VAS score reduced significantly in both back and leg. Spinal function improved significantly with a preoperative Owestry Disability Index of 48.18% decrease to 15.18% 12 months after surgery. The surgical results were good and excellent at 95.00% after 12 months of surgery according to Macnab scale. The fusion rate reached 97.50%. Conclusions: The results of this Macnab's classification study show that minimally invasive spinal transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion is an effective treatment for spondylolisthesis with less pain, less blood loss after surgery, and high fusion rate.

Multifunctional nanocarriers of Fe3O4@PLA-PEG/curcumin for MRI, magnetic hyperthermia and drug delivery.

Background: Despite medicinal advances, cancer is still a big problem requiring better diagnostic and treatment tools. Magnetic nanoparticle (MNP)-based nanosystems for multiple-purpose applications were developed for these unmet needs. Methods: This study fabricated novel trifunctional MNPs of Fe3O4@PLA-PEG for drug release, MRI and magnetic fluid hyperthermia. Result: The MNPs provided a significant loading of curcumin (∼11%) with controllable release ability, a high specific absorption rate of 82.2 W/g and significantly increased transverse relaxivity (r2 = 364.75 mM-1 s-1). The in vivo study confirmed that the MNPs enhanced MRI contrast in tumor observation and low-field magnetic fluid hyperthermia could effectively reduce the tumor size in mice bearing sarcoma 180. Conclusion: The nanocarrier has potential for drug release, cancer treatment monitoring and therapy.

In this study, the authors designed and fabricated novel magnetic trifunctional nanoparticles of Fe₃O₄@PLA-PEG. The 8.5 nm Fe₃O₄ core was covered with the polymeric matrix of PLA-PEG to encapsulate an anticancer agent of curcumin at a content of about 11%. Curcumin release from the nanoparticles (NPs) could be controlled by applying a remote alternating magnetic field. The NPs enhanced MRI contrast, which allowed the authors to better distinguish the tumor and surroundings in MR images, which would help monitor treatment. The heat that NPs generated when applied to a field at low intensity could effectively reduce the tumor size in mice bearing sarcoma 180. The nanocarrier, therefore, has potential for cancer treatment monitoring and drug release conjuvant with magnetic hyperthermia therapy.