Reduction of the atlantoaxial dislocation associated with basilar invagination through single-stage posterior approach: using Xuanwu occipital-cervical reduction surgical suite / 中华外科杂志

Objective@#To examine the effect of posterior reduction in atlantoaxial dislocation (AAD) associated with basilar invagination(BI) using Xuanwu occipital-cervical fusion system in single stage.@*Methods@#Thirty-seven AAD accompanied with BI cases treated at Department of Neurosurgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical Universiy and the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University were retrospective analyzed. There were 15 males and 22 females with age of (42.3±12.3) years (range: 18-69 years). All the cases had congenital osseous abnormalities, such as assimilation of atlas and abnormal cervical fusion. Anterior tissue was released through posterior route followed by cage implantation into facet joint and occipital-cervical fixation with cantilever technique. The clinical results were evaluated using Japanese Orthopedic Association scale(JOA) and the main radiological measurements including anterior atlantodental interval (ADI), the distance of odontoid tip above Chamberlain line, clivus-canal angle(CCA) and the length of syrinx were collected. The preoperative and postoperative JOA score and radiological measurements were compared by paired t-test.@*Results@#The mean JOA score of the patients increased from 10.5 to 14.4 at the one-year follow-up(t=14.3, P=0.00). Complete reduction of AAD and BI was achieved in 34 patients.The mean clivus-canal angle improved from (118.0±6.5) degrees preoperative to (143.7±5.0) degrees postoperative(t=6.2, P=0.00). Shrinkage of the syrinx was observed 1 week after surgery in 24 patients, and 6 months in 31 patients.Twenty-eight patients achieved bone fusion 6 months after surgery. All the patients achieved bone fusion 12 months after surgery. One-side vertebral artery occlusion was diagnosed in 1 case postoperatively for transient dizziness, and relieved in 2 weeks.Two patients developed moderate neck pain after surgery, and relieved in 1 month. No implant failure, spacer subsidence or infection was observed.@*Conclusions@#The treatment of AAD associated with BI using Xuanwu occipital-cervical fusion system from posterior approach in single stage is effective and safe. Cage implantation intraarticularly and fixation with cantilever technique achieve complete reduction in most cases.

Advances in congenital vertebral malformation caused by genomic copy number variation / 中华外科杂志

Congenital vertebral malformation (CVM) is a congenital vertebral structural deformity caused by abnormal somitogenesis during embryonic development, of which the reason lies in gene mutation or abnormal regulation of the genes that coordinate somitogenesis during embryonic period. ICVAS had proposed a new classification algorithm for CVM, which facilitated exploration for its genetic etiology. Genomic Copy Number Variation (CNV) is a kind of DNA mutation, which is important for human evolution, phenotype polymorphism and diseases. Series of advances have been made on genetic causes of CVM, especially on CVM caused by CNV. CNVs of chromosome 16p11.2, 10q24.31, 17p11.2, 20p11, 22q11.2 and a few other regions are associated with CVM, indicating that gene dosage may play important roles in the development of the spinal cord.