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Background: Few studies regarding ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) outside of Asia currently exist in the literature. A set of patients with multilevel cervical OPLL causing symptomatic myelopathy or radiculopathy from a North American sample is analyzed. Objective: The objective of this study was to describe the demographics, radiographic findings, and surgical outcomes of a cohort of North American patients with degenerative spondylosis presenting for operative management of multilevel (>3 segments) cervical OPLL. Materials and Methods: Forty-three patients diagnosed with multilevel cervical OPLL and degenerative spondylosis presenting with symptomatic cervical myelopathy or radiculopathy were surgically treated over a 9-year period at a single tertiary care academic medical center. Radiographic measurements were performed on preoperative computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging images of the cervical spine. Clinical outcomes included pre- and postoperative Nurick scores, 90-day readmission, complication, and revision surgery rates. Results: The mean age was 66.1 ± 10.9 years with a mean latest follow-up time of 32.7 ± 16.4 months. Most patients had previous diagnoses of obesity (70.7%) and hypertension (55.8%). At least one-quarter of patients were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes (34.9%), hyperlipidemia (41.9%), cardiovascular disease (25.6%), or chronic kidney disease (25.3%). The most common OPLL subtype was segmental (39.5%) and spanned a mean of 3.54 ± 1.48 segments. Myelopathic symptoms were present in 88.4% of patients. All patients experienced significant neurologic improvement at 3-week and latest follow-up (P < 0.001 for both). Conclusions: Obesity, diabetes, and other metabolic derangements in patients with existing cervical spondylosis may be risk factors for a particularly aggressive form of multilevel OPLL. Various operative approaches may be employed to achieve adequate neurologic recovery. Further workup for OPLL in patients with these risk factors may prove beneficial to ensure appropriate operative management.
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STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. PURPOSE: To compare the radiographic and clinical outcomes of static versus expandable interbody cages in transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion using minimally invasive surgery (MIS-TLIF). OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE: Expandable interbody cages may potentially improve radiographic and clinical outcomes following MIS-TLIF compared to static pages, but at a potentially higher cost and increased rates of subsidence. METHODS: A retrospective chart review of 1- and 2-level MIS-TLIFs performed from 2014 to 2020 was reviewed. Radiographic measurements were obtained preoperatively, 6 weeks postoperatively, and at final follow-up. Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) including the Oswestry Disability Index, Visual Analog Scale (VAS) back, and VAS leg were evaluated. Multivariate linear regression analysis determined the effect of cage type on the change in PROMs, controlling for demographic characteristics. Alpha was set at 0.05. RESULTS: A total of 221 patients underwent MIS-TLIF including 136 static and 85 expandable cages. Expandable cages had significantly greater anterior (static: 11.41 mm vs. expandable: 13.11 mm, p <0.001) and posterior disk heights (static: 7.22 mm vs. expandable: 8.11 mm, p <0.001) at 1-year follow-up. Expandable cages offered similar improvements in segmental lordosis at 6 weeks (static: 1.69° vs. expandable: 2.81°, p =0.243), but segmental lordosis was better maintained with expandable cages leading to significant differences at 1-year follow-up (static: 0.86° vs. expandable: 2.45°, p =0.001). No significant differences were noted in total complication (static: 12.5% vs. expandable: 16.5%, p =0.191) or cage subsidence rates (static: 19.7% vs. expandable: 22.4%, p =0.502) groups at 1-year follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Expandable devices provide greater improvements in radiographic measurements including anterior disk height, posterior disk height, and segmental lordosis, but this did not lead to significant improvements in PROMs, complication rates, subsidence rates, or subsidence distance.
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BACKGROUND: The transradial approach (TRA) reduces mortality, morbidity, access site complications, hospital cost, and length of stay while maximizing patient satisfaction. We aimed to assess the technical success and safety of TRA for elderly patients (aged ≥75 years). METHODS: A retrospective chart review and comparative analysis was performed for elderly patients undergoing a diagnostic cerebral angiogram performed via TRA versus transfemoral approach (TFA). Also, a second comparative analysis was performed among the TRA cohort between elderly patients and their younger counterparts. RESULTS: Comparative analysis in the elderly (TRA vs TFA) showed no significant differences for contrast dose per vessel (43.7 vs 34.6 mL, P=0.106), fluoroscopy time per vessel (5.7 vs 5.2 min, P=0.849), procedure duration (59.8 vs 65.2 min, P=0.057), conversion rate (5.8% vs 2.9%, P=0.650), and access site complications (2.3% vs 2.9%, P=1.00). Radiation exposure per vessel (18.9 vs 51.9 Gy cm2, P=0.001) was significantly lower in the elderly TRA group.The second comparison (TRA in elderly vs TRA in the young) showed no significant differences for contrast dose per vessel (43.7 vs 37.8 mL, P=0.185), radiation exposure per vessel (18.9 vs 16.5 Gy cm2, P=0.507), procedure duration (59.8 vs 58.3 min, P=0.788), access site complication (2.3% vs 1.7%, P=0.55), and conversation rate (5.8% vs 1.8%, P=0.092). A trend for prolonged fluoroscopy time per vessel (5.7 vs 4.7 min, P=0.050) was observed in the elderly TRA group. CONCLUSIONS: TRA is a technically feasible and safe option for diagnostic neurointerventional procedures in the elderly. Our small elderly cohort was not powered enough to show a significant difference in terms of access site complications between TRA and TFA.