Posterior stabilization with polyetheretherketone (PEEK) rods and transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) with titanium rods for single-level lumbar spine degenerative disease in patients above 70 years of age.

BACKGROUND: Given the lack of guidelines regarding the operative management of elderly patients needing lumbar spine fusion for degenerative disease, it is often difficult to balance between invasiveness respecting the fragile spine and geriatric comorbidities. AIM: To compare reoperation rates and clinical outcome in patients above 70 years of age undergoing Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion (TLIF) with titanium rods or posterior stabilization with Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) rods for the treatment of one-level lumbar spine degenerative disease. METHODS: Retrospective review of baseline characteristics, reoperation rates as well as the clinical and radiological outcomes of patients, older than 70 years, undergoing posterolateral fusion with PEEK rods (n = 76, PEEK group) or TLIF with titanium rods (n = 67, TLIF group) for a single-level lumbar degenerative disease from 2014 to 2020. Additional subanalysis on the patients above 80 years of age was performed. RESULTS: Our results showed similar reoperation rates and outcomes in the TLIF and PEEK groups. However, intraoperative blood loss, administration of tranexamic acid, and operation time were significantly higher in the TLIF group. In patients older than 80 years, reoperation rates at first follow-up were significantly higher in the TLIF group, too. CONCLUSION: According to our results, posterior stabilization with PEEK rods is less invasive and was associated with significantly lower blood loss, administration of blood products and shorter operation time. Moreover, in patients above 80 years of age reoperations rates were lower with PEEK rods, as well. Nevertheless, the benefits of PEEK rods for foraminal stenosis still have to be investigated.

Nose to back: compatibility of nasal chondrocytes with environmental conditions mimicking a degenerated intervertebral disc.

Nasal chondrocytes (NCs) have gained increased recognition for cartilage tissue regeneration. To assess NCs as a source for cell therapy treatment of intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration, tissue-forming properties of NCs under physiological conditions mimicking the degenerated IVD were compared to those of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) and articular chondrocytes (ACs), two cell sources presently used in clinical trials. Cells were cultured in a combination of low glucose, hypoxia, acidity and inflammation for 28 d. Depending on the conditions, cells were either cultured in the absence of instructive growth factors or underwent chondrogenic instructional priming by addition of transforming growth factor ß1 (TGFß1) for the first 7 d. Histology, immunohistochemistry, biochemistry, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analyses demonstrated limited cell maintenance and accumulation of cartilaginous extracellular matrix for MSCs in IVD conditions. ACs maintained a steady accumulation of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) throughout all non-acidic conditions, with and without priming, but could not synthesise type II collagen (Col2). NCs accumulated both GAGs and Col2 in all non-acidic conditions, independent of priming, whereas MSCs strongly diminished their GAG and Col2 accumulation in an inflamed environment. Supplementation with inflammatory cytokines or an acidic environment affected NCs to a lower extent than ACs or MSCs. The data, overall indicating that in an inflamed IVD environment NCs were superior to ACs and MSCs, encourage further assessment of NCs for treatment of degenerative disc disease.

Tissue engineering approaches to degenerative disc disease--a meta-analysis of controlled animal trials.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this systematic review was to assess cell/biomaterial treatments of degenerative disc disease in controlled animal trails. The primary endpoints were restoration of disc height and T2 signal intensity. METHOD: PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR) were searched for studies reporting on the use of tissue engineering treatments (cells/biomaterials/cells and biomaterials) for degenerative disc disease treatments in a controlled trial. Publication bias was assessed graphically using funnel plots and Egger's regression. Data were grouped by follow-up duration - early (<4 weeks), intermediate (4-12 weeks) and late (>12 weeks), and weighted mean differences (WMD) were calculated using DerSimonian-Laird Random Effect models. RESULTS: Thirteen papers, published between 2004 and 2011, were included in this study. In comparison with the injured disc, all three treatments showed a positive effect in disc height, but none of the treatments restored disc height compared to the healthy disc. Overall, there seemed to be a better effect on disc height restoration for the treatment with cells and biomaterials. None of the treatments could achieve the same T2 signal intensity as the healthy disc, and compared to the injured disc, only the treatment with cells and biomaterials showed consistently better results. CONCLUSION: Treatment of an injured/degenerating disc with cells, cells plus biomaterial or biomaterial alone has a potential for at least a partial regeneration of the disc. However, so far, none of the treatments is able to effectively restore the properties of a healthy disc.

Towards an intraoperative engineering of osteogenic and vasculogenic grafts from the stromal vascular fraction of human adipose tissue.

Grafts generated by cultivation of progenitor cells from the stromal vascular fraction of human adipose tissue have been proven to have osteogenic and vasculogenic properties in vivo. However, in vitro manufacture of such implants is challenged by complex, impractical and expensive processes, and requires implantation in a separate surgery. This study investigates the feasibility of an intraoperative approach to engineer cell-based bone grafts with tissue harvest, cell isolation, cell seeding onto a scaffold and subsequent implantation within a few hours. Freshly isolated adipose tissue cells from a total of 11 donors, containing variable fractions of mesenchymal and endothelial progenitors, were embedded at different densities in a fibrin hydrogel, which was wrapped around bone substitute materials based on beta-tricalcium phosphate (ChronOS), hydroxyapatite (Engipore), or acellular xenograft (Bio-Oss). The resulting constructs, generated within 3 hours from biopsy harvest, were immediately implanted ectopically in nude mice and analysed after eight weeks. All explants contained blood vessels formed by human endothelial cells, functionally connected to the recipient's vasculature. Human origin cells were also found within osteoid structures, positively immunostained for bone sialoprotein and osteocalcin. However, even with the highest loaded cell densities, no frank bone tissue was detected, independently of the material used. These results provide a proof-of-principle that an intraoperative engineering of autologous cell-based vasculogenic bone substitutes is feasible, but highlight that - in the absence of in vitro commitment--additional cues (e.g., low dose of osteogenic factors or orthotopic environmental conditions) are likely needed to support complete osteoblastic cell differentiation and bone tissue generation.

Surgical treatment of oligosymptomatic mitral valve incompetence?.

OBJECTIVE: Despite improvements of the surgical technique in NYHA (III)-(IV) mitral valve incompetence (MVI) postoperative long-term results remain poor. As long-term results reflect primarily the ventricular function rather than the quality of the surgical technique the contractile performance of isolated papillary muscles obtained from patients undergoing mitral valve replacement for MVI (n = 25) was analysed in detail. METHODS: Muscle preparations (0.4 x 5.0 mm) obtained from left ventricular papillary muscles (NYHA (I), n = 4; NYHA (II), n = 7; NYHA (III), n = 8; NYHA (IV), n = 6) were loaded for intracellular calcium measurements with FURA-2, stretched to optimal length (Lmax) and electrically stimulated with frequencies ranging from 30 to 180 beats/min (b.p.m.) (10% above threshold, 37 degrees C, Krebs-Henseleit solution). Isometric force development and diastolic intracellular calcium (measured by the 'ratio method'; excitation light: wavelengths alternating 340 and 380 nm, frequency: 250 Hz) were simultaneously recorded as a function of the stimulation frequency. RESULTS: At 60 b.p.m. force development was significantly higher in NYHA (I) myocardium (21.3 +/- 2.8 mN/mm2) than in NYHA (III) myocardium (12.8 +/- 2.2 mN/mm2), (P < 0.0001). In NYHA (I) myocardium force rose with increasing stimulation frequency ('positive staircase'). In contrast the stimulation frequency associated with maximum force was shifted towards lower frequencies in NYHA (II)-(IV) myocardium ('negative staircase'). As compared with NYHA (I) myocardium diastolic intracellular calcium was significantly elevated at 150 b.p.m. in NYHA (II)-(IV) myocardium (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The data show, that severe impairment of contractile function ('negative staircase phenomenon', reduced force, elevated diastolic calcium) is present in MVI classified as NYHA (III)-(IV) that may explain the poor long-term results. Most interestingly the data argue for a significant impairment of myocardial function even in NYHA (II) MVI. The results suggest an early surgical treatment of mitral valve incompetence as long as the myocardial function is normal (NYHA (I)) as (1) a reduced perioperative risk, (2) improved long-term results, and (3) a higher probability for mitral valve repair (instead of replacement) may be expected in these early stages of mitral valve disease.