The 25 most cited articles on lateral lumbar interbody fusion: short review.

The lateral lumbar interbody fusion technique for lumbar arthrodesis is gaining popularity and being added as an option to traditional posterior and anterior approaches. In light of this, we analyzed the literature to identify the 25 most cited articles regarding lateral lumbar interbody fusion. The Thomson Reuters Web of Science was systematically searched to identify papers pertaining to lateral lumbar interbody fusion. The results were sorted in order to identify the top cited 25 articles. Statistical analysis was applied to determine metrics of interest, and observational studies were further classified. A search of all databases in the Thomson Reuters Web of Science identified 379 articles pertaining to lateral lumbar interbody fusion, with a total of 3800 citations. Of the 25 most cited articles, all were case series, reporting on a total of 2981 patients. These 25 articles were cited 2232 times in the literature and total citations per article ranged from 29 to 433. The oldest article was published in 2006, whereas the most recent article was published in 2015. The most cited article, by Ozgar et al., was cited 433 times, and the journal Spine published 7 of the 25 most cited articles. Herein, we report and analyze the 25 most cited articles on lateral lumbar interbody fusion, which include 25 cases series reporting a variety of data on a total of 2513 patients. Such data might assist in the design and interpretation of future studies pertaining to this topic.

Social Media in Neurosurgery: Using ResearchGate.

BACKGROUND: Neurosurgery is a unique field, which would benefit greatly from increased global collaboration, furthering research efforts. ResearchGate is a social media platform geared toward scientists and researchers. OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the use of ResearchGate for neurosurgical research collaboration and compared the ResearchGate score with more classic bibliometrics. ResearchGate is a unifying social platform that can strengthen global research collaboration (e.g., data sharing) in the neurosurgery community. METHODS: Publicly available metrics on 3718 neurosurgery clinical faculty and residents in Canada and the United States were obtained from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons Web site. The following metrics were collected: program name, clinician name, sex, attending (yes or no), resident (yes or no), postgraduate year (if resident), and ResearchGate profile (yes or no). ResearchGate score and its components and h index excluding self-citations were collected. Fellows were not included. RESULTS: Of the 3718 total individuals included, 1338 (36.0%) were present on ResearchGate, comprising 181 women (13.5%) and 1157 men (86.5%). Women and men were present in similar proportions (33.8% of women and 36.3% of men) (χ2 [1, N = 3718] = 1.26; P = 0.26). More faculty were present on ResearchGate than residents (62.4%) (χ2 [1, N = 3718] = 11.42; P = 0.001). A strong positive monotonic correlation between h index and ResearchGate score was shown (rs [1292] = 0.93; P < 0.0005). More than 400 international departments were determined. CONCLUSIONS: ResearchGate may be a useful platform to increase neurosurgical networking and research collaboration. Its novel bibliometrics are strongly correlated with more classic platforms.

Congenital Agenesis of the C6 Pedicle Leading to Misdiagnosis of a Traumatically Jumped Facet: A Case Report.

This case report discusses the rare issue of an atrophic cervical pedicle at the C6 level in a patient found unconscious with a jumped facet and an unknown mechanism of injury. A means to discern between traumatic jumped facets versus congenital anomalies is addressed, including missing pedicles, which is encountered at the C6 level in this case. A literature review revealed that the most common level where this occurs is at the C6 level. The structural anatomic pathologies and the variants relative to congenital facet atrophy are identified, including the location and the surrounding vasculature; more specifically, the vertebral arteries. This information is helpful to assist clinicians when discerning between a traumatic subluxation injury that requires instrumentation and reduction versus a congenital anomaly that can usually be managed conservatively.

Subdural Thoracolumbar Spine Hematoma after Spinal Anesthesia: A Rare Occurrence and Literature Review of Spinal Hematomas after Spinal Anesthesia.

Spinal hematomas are a rare but serious complication of spinal epidural anesthesia and are typically seen in the epidural space; however, they have been documented in the subdural space. Spinal subdural hematomas likely exist within a traumatically induced space within the dural border cell layer, rather than an anatomical subdural space. Spinal subdural hematomas present a dangerous clinical situation as they have the potential to cause significant compression of neural elements and can be easily mistaken for spinal epidural hematomas. Ultrasound can be an effective modality to diagnose subdural hematoma when no epidural blood is visualized. We have reviewed the literature and present a full literature review and a case presentation of an 82-year-old male who developed a thoracolumbar spinal subdural hematoma after spinal epidural anesthesia. Anticoagulant therapy is an important predisposing risk factor for spinal epidural hematomas and likely also predispose to spinal subdural hematomas. It is important to consider spinal subdural hematomas in addition to spinal epidural hematomas in patients who develop weakness after spinal epidural anesthesia, especially in patients who have received anticoagulation.

Delayed Presentation of Cerebral Air Embolism from a Left Atrial-Esophageal Fistula: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Air embolism developing from an atrial-esophageal fistula that was created as a complication from an atrial ablation procedure is a rare, yet usually fatal diagnosis. Neurologic manifestations such as meningitis, altered mental status, seizures, strokes, transient ischemic attacks (TIAs), psychiatric changes, and coma can ensue. Imaging of the brain might reveal infarcts, cerebral edema, as well as signs of pneumocephalus. This case describes a 42-year-old male with recent cardiac ablation procedure at an outside hospital for refractory atrial fibrillation (A-fib) who presented with altered mental status, dyspnea and diaphoresis. His initial head computed tomography (CT) scan revealed pneumocephalus. He was started on a heparin drip for a non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), but developed severe coagulopathy. The patient's mental status quickly deteriorated. Given recent cardiac ablation procedure, the cause of his air embolism was thought to be from a created left atrial-esophageal fistula. Despite medical management, he was too unstable to undergo any surgical intervention for his atrial-esophageal fistula or to transfer to a hyperbaric oxygen therapy center, and expired on the second day following his hospital admission. To our knowledge, few reports have been published in the literature describing delayed cerebral air embolism from an atrial-esophageal fistula. Prompt diagnosis, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and surgical intervention are essential to avoid mortality in these patients. This article aims to increase awareness of such a rare, but significant complication.