Adult spinal deformity.

Adult spinal deformity affects the thoracic or thoracolumbar spine throughout the ageing process. Although adolescent spinal deformities taken into adulthood are not uncommon, the most usual causes of spinal deformity in adults are iatrogenic flatback and degenerative scoliosis. Given its prevalence in the expanding portion of the global population aged older than 65 years, the disorder is of growing interest in health care. Physical examination, with a focus on gait and posture, along with radiographical assessment are primarily used and integrated with risk stratification indices to establish optimal treatment planning. Although non-operative treatment is regarded as the first-line response, surgical outcomes are considerably favourable. Global disparities exist in both the assessment and treatment of adults with spinal deformity across countries of varying incomes, which represents an area requiring further investigation. This Seminar presents evidence and knowledge that represent the evolution of data related to spinal deformity in adults over the past several decades.

Prevalence of thoracic spine lesions masquerading as cauda equina syndrome: yield of a novel magnetic resonance imaging protocol.

Our objective was to describe the yield of actionable thoracic spine lesions for a novel magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) protocol including evaluation of the thoracic spine among patients presenting to the Emergency Department (ED) with symptoms consistent with epidural compression syndrome. Our ED and Department of Radiology together designed a novel rapid MRI protocol entailing 3D volumetric T2 weighted sequences through both the thoracic and lumbar spine obtained in the sagittal plane to assess for both lumbar and thoracic spine lesions. We recorded study outcomes for all patients undergoing this protocol or conventional lumbar MRI during May 2014-May 2015 to determine the prevalence of actionable thoracic spine lesions. We defined an actionable thoracic lesion as any pathology requiring treatment (e.g., medication, admission, surgery) not otherwise indicated on the basis of lumbar spine findings. During the study period, 112 of 124 (90.3%) of ED patients undergoing MRI evaluation for epidural compression syndrome underwent the novel protocol. The remaining patients underwent evaluation of the lumbar spine using only a conventional MRI protocol. Of the 112 patients undergoing the novel protocol, 6 (5.4%) patients had thoracic spine lesions indicating therapy not otherwise indicated by lumbar spine findings. The etiologies of these six lesions were: neoplasms (2), de-myelination (2), compression fracture (1), and degeneration due to pernicious anemia (1). Emergency providers should strongly consider the routine use of MRI protocols including thoracic spine evaluation in patients presenting to the ED with symptoms consistent with epidural compression syndrome.

Distinctive spine abnormalities in patients with Goldenhar syndrome: tomographic assessment.

PURPOSE: Goldenhar syndrome consists of a combination of unilateral auricular appendages, auricular fistulas, and ocular epibulbar dermoids combined with a unilateral underdevelopment of the craniofacial structures and vertebral abnormalities. We aimed to elicit the underlying spine pathology in a group of patients via tomographic assessment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Hemifacial microsomia, cranial asymmetry, multiple ear tags, skin tags around the mouth and microtia were the most prominent facial features encountered in six patients with Goldenhar syndrome. Torticollis and cervico-thoracic scoliosis were the major deformities encountered in all patients. Thoraco-lumbar scoliosis and kyphoscoliosis were of lesser occurrence. Tomographic studies have been applied to all patients to delineate the underlying pathology. RESULTS: Diverse spectrum of distinctive spine anomalies has been identified. Malsegmentation of the skull base associated with diffuse fusion with the upper cervical vertebrae was the most common spine pathology. Bilateral failure of segmentation, unilateral unsegmented bar and failure of vertebral formation were of lesser occurrence. Strikingly, we observed that the side of the hemifacial microsomia is strongly correlated with that of the craniocervical and the cervical vertebral abnormalities. CONCLUSION: The importance of this paper is threefold; first, little information is available in the literature regarding the magnitude and the diversity of spine pathology in patients with Goldenhar syndrome. Second, is to alert spine specialists that conventional radiographic assessment of the craniocervical area is an insufficient modality to assess children with syndromic associations. Third, a rotation and flexion deformity of the neck associated with facial asymmetry and/or plagiocephaly should be considered as a syndromic entity rather than a simple physiological deformation.

Three-dimensional computed tomography in the assessment of congenital scoliosis.

OBJECTIVE: Patients with congenital vertebral anomalies frequently are afflicted with kyphoscoliosis, with the curvatures often being severe and progressive. Spinal fusion almost always is the treatment of choice in such patients. This report examines the use of three-dimensional computed tomography (3D CT) in the preoperative investigation of patients with congenital scoliosis. DESIGN AND PATIENTS: Twelve spinal CT examinations on 11 pediatric patients with congenital scoliosis underwent image processing to produce 3D images. The 3D images were compared with both the axial sections from the CT examinations and multiplanar reformations with regard to the detection of malformations liable to cause progression of scoliosis (i. e., hemivertebrae and unsegmented bars). RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: In six of the 12 cases, the 3D images provided improved depiction of the congenital anomalies and their interrelationships compared with planar CT images. This work suggests that 3D CT can be a useful tool in the assessment of patients with congenital scoliosis.

Teratological assessment of diiodomethyl p-tolyl sulfone in rats.

Pregnant rats were given diiodomethyl p-tolyl sulfone (DIMPTS) at a dose of 0, 0.125, 0.25, 0.5 or 1.0% in the diet on days 6-15 of pregnancy. Maternal body weight gain and food consumption during the administration period were significantly lowered in the 0.25, 0.5 and 1.0% groups. No significant changes induced by DIMPTS were detected in the number of resorptions and dead fetuses, and body weight of live fetuses. Morphological examinations of fetuses revealed no evidence of teratogenesis. It could be concluded that DIMPTS has no teratogenic effects on rat offspring, even at doses which induced maternal toxicity.