Browsing by Author "Miller, Emily"
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Item Open Access A New Piece of the Puzzle to Understand Cervical Sagittal Alignment: Utilizing a Novel Angle δ to Describe the Relationship among T1 Vertebral Body Slope, Cervical Lordosis, and Cervical Sagittal Alignment.(Neurosurgery, 2020-03) Goldschmidt, Ezequiel; Angriman, Federico; Agarwal, Nitin; Trevisan, Marcos; Zhou, James; Chen, Katherine; Gerszten, Peter C; Kanter, Adam S; Okonkwo, David O; Passias, Peter; Scheer, Justin; Protopsaltis, Themistocles; Lafage, Virginie; Lafage, Renaud; Schwab, Frank; Bess, Shay; Ames, Christopher; Smith, Justin S; Shaffrey, Christopher I; Miller, Emily; Jain, Amit; Neuman, Brian; Sciubba, Daniel M; Burton, Douglas; Hamilton, D Kojo; International Spine Study Group (ISSG)Cervical alignment has become increasingly important in the planning of spine surgery. A relationship between the slope of T1 (T1S), the cervical lordosis (CL), and the overall cervical sagittal vertical axis (cSVA) has previously been demonstrated, but the exact nature of this relationship is poorly understood. In this study, we derive theoretical and empirical equations to better understand how T1S and CL affect cSVA. The first equation was developed on a theoretical basis using inherent trigonometric relationships of the cervical spine. By treating the cervical spine as the arc of a circumference, and by taking into account the cervical height (CH), the geometric relationship between theT1S, CL, and cSVA was described via a trigonometric identity utilizing a novel angle δ subtended by the CH and cSVA (δ = T1S-CL/2). The second equation was developed on an empiric basis by performing a multiple linear regression on data obtained from a retrospective review of a large multicenter deformity database. The theoretical equation determined that the value of cSVA could be expressed as: $cSVA\ = \ CH*{\rm{tan}}( {\pi /180*( {T1S - CL/2} )} )$. The empirical equation determined that value of cSVA could be expressed as: $cSVA=({1.1*T1} )\ - ( {0.43*CL} ) + 6.69$. In both, the sagittal alignment of the head over the shoulders is directly proportional to the T1S and inversely proportional to CL/2. These 2 equations may allow surgeons to better understand how the CL compensates for the T1S, to accurately predict the postoperative cSVA, and to customize cervical interbody grafts by taking into consideration each individual patient's specific cervical spine parameters.Item Open Access A Novel Tool for Deformity Surgery Planning: Determining the Magnitude of Lordotic Correction Required to Achieve a Desired Sagittal Vertical Axis.(World neurosurgery, 2017-08) Goldschmidt, Ezequiel; Angriman, Federico; Agarwal, Nitin; Zhou, James; Chen, Katherine; Tempel, Zachary J; Gerszten, Peter C; Kanter, Adam S; Okonkwo, David O; Passias, Peter; Scheer, Justin; Protopsaltis, Themistocles; Lafage, Virginie; Lafage, Renaud; Schwab, Frank; Bess, Shay; Ames, Christopher; Smith, Justin S; Shaffrey, Christopher I; Miller, Emily; Jain, Amit; Neuman, Brian; Sciubba, Daniel M; Burton, Douglas; Hamilton, D Kojo; International Spine Study GroupObjective
We sought to create a model capable of predicting the magnitude of pelvic incidence-lumbar lordosis (PI-LL) correction necessary to achieve a desired change in sagittal vertical axis (SVA).Methods
A retrospective review was conducted of a prospectively maintained multicenter adult spinal deformity database collected by the International Spine Study Group between 2009 and 2014. The independent variable of interest was the degree of correction achieved in the PI-LL mismatch 6 weeks after surgery. Primary outcome was the change in global sagittal alignment 6 weeks and 1 year after surgery. We used a linear mixed-effects model to determine the extent to which corrections in the PI-LL relationship affected postoperative changes in SVA.Results
A total of 1053 adult patients were identified. Of these patients, 590 were managed surgically. Eighty-seven surgically managed patients were excluded because of incomplete or missing PI-LL measurements on follow-up; the remaining 503 patients were selected for inclusion. For each degree of improvement in the PI-LL mismatch at 6 weeks, the SVA decreased by 2.18 mm (95% confidence interval, -2.56, -1.79; P < 0.01) and 1.67 mm (95% confidence interval, -2.07, -1.27; P < 0.01) at 6 weeks and 12 months, respectively. A high SVA measurement (>50 mm) 1 year after surgery was negatively associated with health-related quality of life as measured by the Scoliosis Research Society 22 outcomes assessment.Conclusions
We describe a novel model that shows how surgical correction of the PI-LL relationship affects postoperative changes in SVA. This model may enable surgeons to determine preoperatively the amount of LL necessary to achieve a desired change in SVA.Item Open Access Frailty and Health-Related Quality of Life Improvement Following Adult Spinal Deformity Surgery.(World neurosurgery, 2018-04) Reid, Daniel BC; Daniels, Alan H; Ailon, Tamir; Miller, Emily; Sciubba, Daniel M; Smith, Justin S; Shaffrey, Christopher I; Schwab, Frank; Burton, Douglas; Hart, Robert A; Hostin, Richard; Line, Breton; Bess, Shay; Ames, Christopher P; International Spine Study GroupAlthough the Adult Spinal Deformity Frailty Index (ASD-FI) predicts major complications and prolonged hospital length of stay after adult spinal deformity surgery, the impact of frailty on postoperative changes in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is unknown.Patients who underwent instrumented fusion of ≥4 levels for adult spinal deformity with minimum 2-year follow-up were stratified by Adult Spinal Deformity Frailty Index score into 3 groups: nonfrail, frail, and severely frail. Baseline and follow-up demographics, HRQoL measures, and radiographic parameters were analyzed. Primary outcome measures included proportion of patients who achieved substantial clinical benefit (SCB) in terms of Oswestry Disability Index, 36-Item Short Form Health Survey Physical Component Summary, and numeric back and leg pain scores.Inclusion criteria were met by 332 patients (135 nonfrail, 175 frail, 22 severely frail). Frail and severely frail patients were older and had more comorbidities, worse baseline HRQoL and pain scores, and worse radiographic deformity than nonfrail patients (P < 0.05). At 2-year follow-up, all outcome scores were worse in frail and severely frail patients compared with nonfrail patients. Frail patients improved more than nonfrail patients and were more likely to reach SCB for Oswestry Disability Index (43.7% vs. 29.3%; P = 0.025), 36-Item Short Form Health Survey Physical Component Summary (56.9% vs. 51.2%; P = 0.03), and leg pain (45.8% vs. 23.0%; P = 0.03) scores, but not back pain (57.5% vs. 63.4%; P = 0.045) score.Despite higher risk stratification and worse baseline HRQoL, frail patients were more likely to reach SCB for most HRQoL measures compared with nonfrail patients. Severely frail patients were the least likely to reach SCB for most HRQoL measures.Item Open Access Predictive Modeling of Length of Hospital Stay Following Adult Spinal Deformity Correction: Analysis of 653 Patients with an Accuracy of 75% within 2 Days.(World neurosurgery, 2018-07) Safaee, Michael M; Scheer, Justin K; Ailon, Tamir; Smith, Justin S; Hart, Robert A; Burton, Douglas C; Bess, Shay; Neuman, Brian J; Passias, Peter G; Miller, Emily; Shaffrey, Christopher I; Schwab, Frank; Lafage, Virginie; Klineberg, Eric O; Ames, Christopher P; International Spine Study GroupLength of stay (LOS) after surgery for adult spinal deformity (ASD) is a critical period that allows for optimal recovery. Predictive models that estimate LOS allow for stratification of high-risk patients.A prospectively acquired multicenter database of patients with ASD was used. Patients with staged surgery or LOS >30 days were excluded. Univariable predictor importance ≥0.90, redundancy, and collinearity testing were used to identify variables for model building. A generalized linear model was constructed using a training dataset developed from a bootstrap sample; patients not randomly selected for the bootstrap sample were selected to the training dataset. LOS predictions were compared with actual LOS to calculate an accuracy percentage.Inclusion criteria were met by 653 patients. The mean LOS was 7.9 ± 4.1 days (median 7 days; range, 1-28 days). Following bootstrapping, 893 patients were modeled (653 in the training model and 240 in the testing model). Linear correlations for the training and testing datasets were 0.632 and 0.507, respectively. The prediction accuracy within 2 days of actual LOS was 75.4%.Our model successfully predicted LOS after ASD surgery with an accuracy of 75% within 2 days. Factors relating to actual LOS, such as rehabilitation bed availability and social support resources, are not captured in large prospective datasets. Predictive analytics will play an increasing role in the future of ASD surgery, and future models will seek to improve the accuracy of these tools.Item Open Access Prospective Multicenter Assessment of All-Cause Mortality Following Surgery for Adult Cervical Deformity.(Neurosurgery, 2018-12) Smith, Justin S; Shaffrey, Christopher I; Kim, Han Jo; Passias, Peter; Protopsaltis, Themistocles; Lafage, Renaud; Mundis, Gregory M; Klineberg, Eric; Lafage, Virginie; Schwab, Frank J; Scheer, Justin K; Miller, Emily; Kelly, Michael; Hamilton, D Kojo; Gupta, Munish; Deviren, Vedat; Hostin, Richard; Albert, Todd; Riew, K Daniel; Hart, Robert; Burton, Doug; Bess, Shay; Ames, Christopher P; International Spine Study GroupBACKGROUND:Surgical treatments for adult cervical spinal deformity (ACSD) are often complex and have high complication rates. OBJECTIVE:To assess all-cause mortality following ACSD surgery. METHODS:ACSD patients presenting for surgical treatment were identified from a prospectively collected multicenter database. Clinical and surgical parameters and all-cause mortality were assessed. RESULTS:Of 123 ACSD patients, 120 (98%) had complete baseline data (mean age, 60.6 yr). The mean number of comorbidities per patient was 1.80, and 80% had at least 1 comorbidity. Surgical approaches included anterior only (15.8%), posterior only (50.0%), and combined anterior/posterior (34.2%). The mean number of vertebral levels fused was 8.0 (standard deviation [SD] = 4.5), and 23.3% had a 3-column osteotomy. Death was reported for 11 (9.2%) patients at a mean of 1.1 yr (SD = 0.76 yr; range = 7 d to 2 yr). Mean follow-up for living patients was 1.2 yr (SD = 0.64 yr). Causes of death included myocardial infarction (n = 2), pneumonia/cardiopulmonary failure (n = 2), sepsis (n = 1), obstructive sleep apnea/narcotics (n = 1), subsequently diagnosed amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (n = 1), burn injury related to home supplemental oxygen (n = 1), and unknown (n = 3). Deceased patients did not significantly differ from alive patients based on demographic, clinical, or surgical parameters assessed, except for a higher major complication rate (excluding mortality; 63.6% vs 22.0%, P = .006). CONCLUSION:All-cause mortality at a mean of 1.2 yr following surgery for ACSD was 9.2% in this prospective multicenter series. Causes of death were reflective of the overall high level of comorbidities. These findings may prove useful for treatment decision making and patient counseling in the context of the substantial impact of ACSD.Item Open Access Supporting researchers through full-service hotline and consultation services: Success in simplicity, customization, and staffing.(Journal of clinical and translational science, 2020-02) Brouwer, Rebecca Namenek; Miller, Emily; Patil, Sunita; Swamy, Geeta K; Moen, Rebbecca; McMillan, Amanda; Boulware, L EbonyNavigating the research domain at an academic medical center can be challenging, even for seasoned investigators. To address this, Duke University launched two initiatives: (1) a research navigation "hotline" to provide brief assistance with a variety of research questions; and (2) researcher onboarding and consultation, a one-to-one tailored offering to ensure that researchers are equipped to navigate research resources and processes effectively. The services are provided by the myRESEARCHnavigators (MRN) team, funded by Duke's CTSA. The diverse scientific backgrounds of the six team members align well with those of the research community, allowing for a good match between the researcher and MRN team member. The MRN team answers approximately 30 questions per month, and has provided consultations to almost 400 researchers. Both services receive high satisfaction ratings (4 or 5 stars [out of 5 stars] given to 90% of hotline answers, and 99% of researcher onboarding/consultation sessions). As of July 2019, the School of Medicine has determined that the consultations are critical to their mission and have made them a requirement for new research faculty. The team will continue marketing both services to encourage adoption.