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J Vis Exp 2021 Apr 23(170). Epub 2021 Apr 23.

Department of Integrative Medicine, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University;

Intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) is a common pathological change leading to low back pain. Appropriate animal models are desired for understanding the pathological processes and evaluating new drugs. Here, we introduced a surgically induced lumbar spine instability (LSI) mouse model that develops IDD starting from 1 week post operation. Read More

Cell Cycle 2021 May 8:1-18. Epub 2021 May 8.

Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Spine Center, Changzheng Hospital, Naval Medical University, Shanghai, China.

Intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) is characterized by excessive inflammatory reaction, and neuropeptide Y (NPY) was reported to have anti-inflammatory effect. However, the effect of NPY on NP cells has not been investigated up to date. This study aimed to clarify the role of NPY on the process of IDD. Read More

Eur J Med Res 2021 May 7;26(1):43. Epub 2021 May 7.

Department of Radiology, The First Medical Center of PLA General Hospital, Beijing, 100853, China.

Background: Degeneration of the intervertebral discs are very common diseases, indicating the specific or malignant changes in intervertebral disc component, structure and function. Imaging examination is currently used to evaluate the severity of lumbar intervertebral disc degeneration. This study was designed to investigate the diagnostic value of 3D LAVA-Flex in lumbar intervertebral disc degeneration. Read More

Orthop Surg 2021 May 4. Epub 2021 May 4.

Third Hospital Orthopaedics Department, Beijing Key Laboratory of Spinal Disease Research, Peking University, Beijing, China.

Purpose: Numerous studies have applied a variety of methods to assess paraspinal muscle degeneration. However, the methodological differences in imaging evaluation may lead to imprecise or inconsistent results. This article aimed to provide a pragmatic summary review of the current imaging modalities, measurement protocols, and imaging parameters in the evaluation of paraspinal muscle fat infiltration (FI) in MRI studies. Read More

Orthop Surg 2021 May 4. Epub 2021 May 4.

Department of Spine Surgery, the 1st Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China.

Symptomatic lumbar disc herniation (LDH) is widely treated using percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD). In the present PELD surgery, performing decompression under endoscope still takes a long time to explore the rupture site of annulus fibrosus, resulting in prolonged operation time and over-invasion of the undegenerated annulus fibrosus. A wide range of intraoperative exploration also induces an iatrogenic injury of the normal annulus fibrosus, even aggravating intervertebral disc degeneration, which may lead to early postoperative recurrence in severe case. Read More

Zhongguo Zhen Jiu 2021 Apr;41(4):391-4

Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of TCM, Shanghai 201203, China.

Objective: To observe the clinical effect of single acupoint [Yaotu (extra)] electroacupuncture (EA) therapy on lumbar intervertebral disc herniation (LIDH) and its promotion and application in community medical institutions.

Methods: This research adopted a three-level promotion model, and used multi-center collaboration topics as a platform. A total of 240 patients with LIDH were divided into a group A (top three hospital, 80 cases, 3 cases dropped off), a group B (secondary hospital, 80 cases, 8 cases dropped off), and a group C (community health center, 80 cases, 7 cases dropped off). Read More

Medicine (Baltimore) 2021 Apr;100(17):e25636

Orthopaedic Trauma Service Center, The Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Major Laboratory of Orthopaedic Biomechanics in Hebei Province.

Abstract: The cartilage endplate plays an important role in the stress distribution and nutrition metabolism of the intervertebral disc. The healing morphology of the endplate after spinal fracture and its effect on the intervertebral disc degeneration are still unclear.This was a retrospective study. Read More

Global Spine J 2021 Apr 28:21925682211012323. Epub 2021 Apr 28.

Department of Orthopedic Surgery, 74678Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, People's Hospital of Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China.

Study Design: A prospective study.

Objectives: Intervertebral disc degenerative disease is a common and frequently-occurring disease in adults and is the main cause of lower back pain. However, there is a lack of universal animal models to study disc degeneration. Read More

Spine J 2021 Apr 23. Epub 2021 Apr 23.

Department of Orthopaedics, Balgrist University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland.

Background Context: The ligamentum flavum (LF), the inter- and supraspinous ligament (ISL&SSL) and the intertransverse ligament (ITL) are relevant spinal structures for segmental stability. The biomechanical effect of degeneration and aging on their biomechanical properties remains largely unknown.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the material properties of the ITL, ISL&SSL and LF and to correlate parameters of biomechanical function with LF-thickness, intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration and age. Read More

Neurochirurgie 2021 Apr 23. Epub 2021 Apr 23.

University of California, Davis, School of Medicine, Department of Neurological Surgery, Sacramento, California USA.

Introduction: Accounting for an estimated 1.10-1.76% of all lumbar herniations, lumbar intradural disc herniation (IDH) occurs primarily in males during the fourth to fifth decades of life. Read More

Folia Morphol (Warsz) 2021 Apr 26. Epub 2021 Apr 26.

Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski Krakow University, Krakow, Poland.

Background: Intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration plays a crucial role in the pathophysiology of low back pain. Several grading systems have been developed for both morphological and radiological assessment. The aim of this study was to assess the morphological and radiological characteristics of IVD degeneration and validate popular radiological Pfirrmann scale against morphological Thompson grading system. Read More

Zhongguo Gu Shang 2021 Apr;34(4):363-7

Department of Spinal Surgery, Maoming People's Hospital, Southern Medical University, Maoming 525000, Guangdong, China.

Objective: To investigate the expression and clinical significance of receptor interacting protein serine-threonine kinases 1 (RIPK1) in the nucleus pulposus of patients with lumbar disc herniation (LDH).

Methods: Nucleus pulposus tissue specimens of 40 patients with LDH patients underwent surgical treatment from January 2016 to January 2018 as the case group, and nucleus pulposus tissue specimens of 30 patients with lumbar spine fracture underwent surgical treatment at the same time as the control group. The expression of RIPK1 mRNA and protein of receptor interaction were detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Western blot, respectively. Read More

Zhongguo Gu Shang 2021 Apr;34(4):304-4

The Second Department of Orthopaedics, Hospital of Coast Guard General Corps of Armed Police Forces, Jiaxing 314000, Zhejiang, China.

Objective: To explore the clinical value and safety of unilateral pedicle screw fixation combined with contralateral translaminar facet screw fixation and interbody fusion by muscle-splitting approach treatment of recurrent lumbar disc herniation.

Methods: The clinical data of 51 patients with recurrent lumbar disc herniation treated from June 2012 to December 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 32 males and 19 females, aged 34 to 64 years with an average of (51. Read More

Zhongguo Gu Shang 2021 Apr;34(4):297-303

Hubei 672 Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine Orthopaedics Hospital, Wuhan 430000, Hubei, China.

Objective: To explore the advantages of self made minimally invasive hook assisted transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) via modified bilateral Wiltse approach in the treatment of lumbar degenerative diseases.

Methods: The clinical data of 140 patients underwent lumbar spine fusion surgery from October 2016 to October 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. Among them, 72 cases were treated by self-made minimally invasive hook-assisted TLIF via modified bilateral Wiltse approach (group A), there were 37 males and 35 females, aged (48±16) years old;68 cases were treated by TLIF via traditional posterior median approach (group B ), there were 38 males and 30 females, aged (45±15) years old. Read More

World Neurosurg 2021 Apr 22. Epub 2021 Apr 22.

Department of Orthopedics & Spine Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China. Electronic address:

Objective: The finite element method was used to investigate the biomechanical adjustments of adjacent and fixed segments after lumbar fusion and fixation with traditional trajectory (TT) and cortical bone trajectory (CBT) screws.

Methods: The model used was a validated nonlinearly L3-S1 finite element model. Interbody fusion cages and 2 types of screws were used to work on the L4-L5. Read More

Acta Radiol 2021 Apr 20:2841851211010391. Epub 2021 Apr 20.

Department for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, University Hospital Tuebingen, Tübingen, Germany.

Background: Little is known about the associations between cardiovascular risk factors (CRF) and disc degeneration (DD).

Purpose: To evaluate the potential association between CRFs and intervertebral DD in a population-based sample.

Methods: A total of 400 participants from the community-based KORA-study were assessed in terms of CRFs, specifically obesity, hypertension, diabetes, elevated LDL-c, low HDL-c, elevated triglycerides, smoking status, and alcohol consumption. Read More

Spine Deform 2021 Apr 19. Epub 2021 Apr 19.

Department of Orthopedics, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, 12631 E. 17th Ave., Mail Stop B202, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA.

Objectives: To study factors causing postoperative change of PI after surgical correction of ASD and to assess the effect of this variability on postoperative PI-LL mismatch.

Background: PI is used as an individual constant to define lumbar lordosis (LL) correction goal (PI-LL < 10). Postoperative changes of PI were shown but with opposite vectors. Read More

J Healthc Eng 2021 23;2021:5534227. Epub 2021 Mar 23.

Department of Orthopedics, Panyu Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province 511400, China.

In order to carry out the evaluation of cartilaginous endplate degeneration based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), this paper retrospectively analyzed the MRI data from 120 cases of patients who were diagnosed as lumbar intervertebral disc degeneration and underwent MRI examinations in the designated hospital of this study from June 2018 to June 2020. All cases underwent conventional sagittal and transverse T1WI and T2WI scans, and some cases were added with sagittal fat-suppression T2WI scans; then, the number of degenerative cartilaginous endplates and its ratio to degenerative lumbar intervertebral discs were counted and calculated, and the T1WI and T2WI signal characteristics of each degenerative cartilage endplate and its correlation with cartilaginous endplate degeneration were summarized, compared, and analyzed to evaluate the cartilaginous endplate degeneration by those magnetic resonance information. The study results show that there were 33 cases of cartilaginous endplate degeneration, accounting for 27. Read More

Int J Psychiatry Med 2021 Apr 11:912174211003760. Epub 2021 Apr 11.

Department of medical education, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei.

Objective: Chronic lower back pain induced by lumbar disc degeneration or herniation exerts a great impact on patients' daily lives. Depression and anxiety often exist among patients with lower back pain. Some studies mentioned about mechanisms, such as inflammatory biomarkers, which are commonly seen in herniated intervertebral disc (HIVD) and major depressive disorder (MDD). Read More

J Neurol Surg A Cent Eur Neurosurg 2021 Apr 1. Epub 2021 Apr 1.

Radiology Department, Lublin Cancer Hospital of Saint John from Dukla, Lublin, Poland.

Background:  A perineural (Tarlov) cyst is a fluid-filled lesion occurring between the perineurium and the endoneurium of spinal nerve roots. The aim of the study was to evaluate the prevalence and morphology of perineural cysts, detected incidentally in patients with symptomatic degenerative disk disease.

Materials/methods:  The study was based on the retrospective data gathered during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations. Read More

J Biomech 2021 Mar 20;121:110392. Epub 2021 Mar 20.

Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Duke University School of Medicine, United States; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, United States; Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Duke University, United States. Electronic address:

High body mass index (BMI) and obesity have been implicated as risk factors for lumbar degenerative disc disease and low back pain. Despite this, there is limited in vivo data to quantify how obesity influences the mechanical function of intervertebral discs (IVD) in response to activities of daily living. Recently, our lab has developed methodologies to non-invasively measure in vivo IVD deformation resulting from activities of daily living using magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and solid modeling techniques. Read More

Ann Saudi Med 2021 Mar-Apr;41(2):115-120. Epub 2021 Apr 1.

From the Department of Neurosurgery, Ahi Evran University, Kirsehir 40100, Turkey.

Background: Lumbar disc herniation (LDH) occurs owing to the inability of the posterior longitudinal ligament (PLL) to preserve the disc material within the intervertebral space. There is apparently no study that has investigated the histopathological changes occurring in both PLL and disc material in patients with LDH.

Objective: Investigate and compare the histopathological changes occurring in PLL and disc material of the patients who underwent a surgical operation for LDH. Read More

Int J Mol Sci 2021 Mar 31;22(7). Epub 2021 Mar 31.

Department of Surgery, Division of Neurosurgery, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan.

Transforaminal lumber interbody fusion (TLIF) is the last resort to address the lumber degenerative disorders such as spondylolisthesis, causing lower back pain. The current surgical intervention for these abnormalities includes open TLIF. However, in recent years, minimally invasive TLIF (MIS-TLIF) has gained a high momentum, as it could minimize the risk of infection, blood loss, and post-operative complications pertaining to fusion surgery. Read More

Int J Environ Res Public Health 2021 03 4;18(5). Epub 2021 Mar 4.

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Health Research Institute (NHRI), Miaoli 35053, Taiwan.

The relationship between reduced disc height and disc bulging and/or protrusion has been controversial. The purposes of this study were to examine the relationship between disc morphology and disc bulging and protrusion and to establish a model for predicting disc bulging and protrusion. This is a retrospective study. Read More

Int J Environ Res Public Health 2021 03 28;18(7). Epub 2021 Mar 28.

Faculty of Physiotherapy, University School of Physical Education in Wroclaw, 51-612 Wroclaw, Poland.

The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of stabilizing training for the deep core muscles of the lumbar spine in subjects with degenerative disc disease. This study was conducted on 38 participants. The participants were divided into two groups: the extrusion group (EXT, = 17) and the protrusion group (PRO, = 21). Read More

Bone Joint J 2021 Apr;103-B(4):725-733

Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China.

Aims: The aim of this study was to determine the differences in spinal imaging characteristics between subjects with or without lumbar developmental spinal stenosis (DSS) in a population-based cohort.

Methods: This was a radiological analysis of 2,387 participants who underwent L1-S1 MRI. Means and ranges were calculated for age, sex, BMI, and MRI measurements. Read More

Zhongguo Gu Shang 2021 Mar;34(3):249-54

Department of Orthopaedics, Beijing Longfu Hospital, Beijing 100010, China.

Objective: To observe the clinical effect of transforaminal endoscopy combined with interspinous fusion in the treatment of lumbar spinal stenosis with instability in the elderly.

Methods: From February 2018 to February 2019, 82 elderly patients with lumbar spinal stenosis and instability were divided into control group and observation group. In the control group, there were 23 males and 18 females;the age was (68. Read More

Clin Spine Surg 2021 Mar 29. Epub 2021 Mar 29.

Department of Orthopedics, Clinical Medical College of Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province Department of Orthopedics, International Zhuang Hospital, Guangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanning, Guangxi, China.

Study Design: This was a retrospective study.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the volume of hidden blood loss (HBL) and analyze its influential factors in single level oblique lateral interbody fusion (OLIF) surgery.

Summary Of Background Data: OLIF is a minimally invasive spine surgery and is increasingly used to treat lumbar degenerative disk diseases. Read More

Eur Cell Mater 2021 Mar 28;41:401-420. Epub 2021 Mar 28.

CÚRAM, SFI Research Centre for Medical Devices, National University of Ireland, Galway,

Intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration causes low-back pain through disc compression, prolapse and herniation. Inflammation of the IVD and subsequent degeneration produce altered glycosylation profiles in several animal models of IVD injury and ageing, although the function of this altered glycosylation pattern in a human is unknown. Altered N-glycome, specifically sialylated and fucosylated N-glycosylation motif expression, might play a role in inflammation and disease progression. Read More

BMC Surg 2021 Mar 23;21(1):161. Epub 2021 Mar 23.

Department of Spine Surgery, Xi'an Honghui Hospital, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.

Background: Pre-existing degeneration of adjacent segment is an important risk factor for adjacent-segment degeneration (ASD), but only limited and controversial studies have addressed its management.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed patients with symptomatic degeneration of the L5/S1 segment warranting surgical interference and severe asymptomatic degeneration of the L4/5 segment. Of these patients, those who underwent interbody fusion of the causative (L5/S1) segment and distraction of the intervertebral space and facet fusion of the adjacent L4/5 segment were included in Group A (n = 103), while those who underwent interbody fusion of both the L5/S1 and L4/5 segments were included in Group B (n = 81). Read More