Cerebral Coenurosis of a Long-Tailed Goral, Naemorhedus caudatus, in Korea.

We intended to describe a case of cerebral coenurosis in a long-tailed goral, Naemorhedus caudatus, from Hwacheon-gun, Gangwon-do (Province), in the Korea. The goral, a 10-year-old male, was suffering from neurological symptoms, such as turning the circle to one side without lifting the head straight, and died at 30 days after admission to the wildlife medical rescue center in Chuncheon-si, Gangwon-do. A fluid-filled cyst was detected in the left cerebral hemisphere by computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. The cyst removed from the deceased goral was transparent, about 3×3 cm in size, contained a clear fluid and approximately 320 protoscolices invaginating from the internal germinal layer. The protoscolex had 4 suckers and a rostellum with 28 hooklets arranged in 2 rows. By the present study, a case of cerebral coenurosis was first confirmed in a long-tailed goral, N. caudatus, from Gangwon-do, in Korea. The residents frequently exposed in the sylvatic environment should be careful the accidental infections of zoonotic metacestode of Taenia multiceps, Coenurus cerebralis, in Korea.

Anterior lumbar interbody fusion with percutaneous pedicle screw fixation for multiple-level isthmic spondylolisthesis.

OBJECTIVE: Multiple-level lumbar isthmic spondylolisthesis is rarely reported. Here, we report 23 consecutive patients who underwent anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF) with percutaneous pedicle screw fixation (PPF) for multiple-level isthmic spondylolisthesis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From June 2008 through December 2014, multiple-level lumbar isthmic spondylolisthesis was diagnosed in 23 patients (6 men, 17 women) at Wooridul Spine Hospital (Busan, South Korea). Isthmic spondylolisthesis occurred at three spinal levels in 2 patients and at two levels in 21 patients. All patients underwent ALIF with PPF. We used the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and visual analog scale scores to evaluate the preoperative and postoperative functional outcome, low back pain, and radicular pain. We also evaluated segmental lordosis and the fusion status using radiographs and data from computed tomography. RESULTS: Isthmic spondylolisthesis occurred from L3 to S1 and mostly occurred at two consecutive spinal levels (i.e., L4-L5 and L5-S1). Significant improvements in the ODI and visual analog scale were observed in patients at final follow up (p<0.05). The mean segmental lordosis significantly increased after operation (from 22.7° to 32.7°). The mean lumbar lordosis significantly increased after operation (from 45.8 to 53.1). Radiographs of all of the patients showed solid fusion at the last follow-up. There was one case of screw fracture at the S1 level; however, in this case the last follow-up radiograph exhibited solid fusion. CONCLUSIONS: Anterior lumbar interbody fusion with PPF can be an effective treatment choice and yield good clinical outcomes in patients with multiple-level isthmic spondylolisthesis.

Salvage Percutaneous Vertebral Augmentation Using Polymethyl Methacrylate in Patients with Failed Interbody Fusion.

BACKGROUND: Percutaneous vertebral augmentation with cement is used as a salvage procedure for failed instrumentation. Few studies have reported the use of this procedure for failed anterior lumbar fusion in elderly patients with osteoporosis and other complicated diseases who have undergone a previous major operation. METHODS: Between January 2007 and December 2015, the clinical and radiographic results of 8 patients with osteoporosis who showed subsidence and migration of the implant after an initial operation were examined. After the development of implant failure, the patients underwent vertebral augmentation with polymethyl methacrylate. RESULTS: Mean patient age was 73.4 years (range, 67-78 years), and mean bone mineral density was -2.96 (range, -2.1 to -3.8). The mean radiologic follow-up period between augmentation and the last follow-up examination was 16 months (range, 3-38 months). Although the subjective clinical outcome was not satisfying to the patients, no loss of correction, fractures, or screw loosening occurred during the follow-up period. CONCLUSIONS: The injection of cement around the instrument might help to stabilize it by providing strength to the axis and preventing further loosening. This salvage procedure could be an alternative in the management of cases with failed interbody fusion.

Samba: a real-time motion capture system using wireless camera sensor networks.

There is a growing interest in 3D content following the recent developments in 3D movies, 3D TVs and 3D smartphones. However, 3D content creation is still dominated by professionals, due to the high cost of 3D motion capture instruments. The availability of a low-cost motion capture system will promote 3D content generation by general users and accelerate the growth of the 3D market. In this paper, we describe the design and implementation of a real-time motion capture system based on a portable low-cost wireless camera sensor network. The proposed system performs motion capture based on the data-driven 3D human pose reconstruction method to reduce the computation time and to improve the 3D reconstruction accuracy. The system can reconstruct accurate 3D full-body poses at 16 frames per second using only eight markers on the subject's body. The performance of the motion capture system is evaluated extensively in experiments.

Clinical and radiological comparison of femur and fibular allografts for the treatment of cervical degenerative disc diseases.

OBJECTIVE: This consecutive retrospective study was designed to analyze and to compare the efficacy and outcomes of anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) using a fibular and femur allograft with anterior cervical plating. METHODS: A total of 88 consecutive patients suffering from cervical degenerative disc disease (DDD) who were treated with ACDF from September 2007 to August 2010 were enrolled in this study. Thirty-seven patients (58 segments) underwent anterior interbody fusion with a femur allograft, and 51 patients (64 segments) were treated with a fibular allograft. The mean follow-up period was 16.0 (range, 12-25) months in the femur group and 19.5 (range, 14-39) months in the fibular group. Cage fracture and breakage, subsidence rate, fusion rate, segmental angle and height and disc height were assessed by using radiography. Clinical outcomes were assessed using a visual analog scale and neck disability index. RESULTS: At 12 months postoperatively, cage fracture and breakage had occurred in 3.4% (2/58) and 7.4% (4/58) of the patients in the femur group, respectively, and 21.9% (14/64) and 31.3% (20/64) of the patients in the fibular group, respectively (p<0.05). Subsidence was noted in 43.1% (25/58) of the femur group and in 50.5% (32/64) of the fibular group. No difference in improvements in the clinical outcome between the two groups was observed. CONCLUSION: The femur allograft showed good results in subsidence and radiologic parameters, and sustained the original cage shape more effectively than the fibular allograft. The present study suggests that the femur allograft may be a good choice as a fusion substitute for the treatment of cervical DDD.