Browsing by Subject "surgery"
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Item Open Access A Smartphone App With a Digital Care Pathway for Patients Undergoing Spine Surgery: Development and Feasibility Study.(JMIR perioperative medicine, 2020-10-16) Ponder, Madison; Ansah-Yeboah, Abena A; Charalambous, Lefko T; Adil, Syed M; Venkatraman, Vishal; Abd-El-Barr, Muhammad; Haglund, Michael; Grossi, Peter; Yarbrough, Chester; Dharmapurikar, Rajeev; Gellad, Ziad; Lad, Shivanand PBackground
There is a great unmet clinical need to provide patients undergoing spinal surgery and their caregivers with ongoing, high-quality care before and after surgery in an efficiency-focused health care environment.Objective
The objective of this study is to design, develop, and evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of a novel planning-, outcomes-, and analytics-based smartphone app called ManageMySurgery (MMS) in patients undergoing elective spine surgery (MMS-Spine).Methods
The development process of the MMS app was conducted over 2 sequential stages: (1) an evidence-based intervention design with refinement from surgeon and patient feedback and (2) feasibility testing in a clinical pilot study. We developed a novel, mobile-based, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant platform for interventional and surgical procedures. It is a patient-centric mobile health app that streamlines patients' interactions with their care team. MMS divides the patient journey into phases, making it feasible to provide customized care pathways that meet patients' unique needs. Patient-reported outcomes are easily collected and conform to the National Institutes of Health Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) standard.Results
We tested the feasibility of the MMS-Spine app with patients undergoing elective spine surgery at a large academic health system. A total of 47 patients undergoing elective spine surgery (26 cervical spine and 21 lumbar spine surgeries) downloaded and used MMS-Spine to navigate their surgical journey, quantify their baseline characteristics and postoperative outcomes, and provide feedback on the utility of the app in preparing for and recovering from their spinal surgery. The median age was 59.0 (range 33-77) years, 22 of the 47 patients (47%) were women, and 26 patients (55%) had commercial insurance. Of the 47 patients, a total of 33 (70%) logged in on an iOS device, 11 (23%) on an Android device, and 3 (6%) on a computer or tablet. A total of 17 of the 47 patients (36%) added a caregiver, of which 7 (41%) logged in. The median number of sign-ins was 2. A total of 38 of 47 patients (81%) completed their baseline preoperative PROMIS-29 outcomes, and 14 patients (30%) completed at least one PROMIS-29 survey during the postoperative period. Of the 24 patients who completed the MMS survey, 21 (88%) said it was helpful during preparation for their procedure, 16 (67%) said it was helpful during the postoperative period, and 23 (96%) said that they would recommend MMS to a friend or family member.Conclusions
We used a patient-centered approach based on proven behavior change techniques to develop a comprehensive smartphone app for patients undergoing elective spine surgery. The optimized version of the app is ready for formal testing in a larger randomized clinical study to establish its cost-effectiveness and effect on patients' self-management skills and long-term outcomes.Item Open Access Analysis of the Impact of Early Surgery on In-Hospital Mortality of Native Valve Endocarditis(2010-03) Lalani, Tahaniyat; Cabell, Christopher H; Benjamin, Daniel K; Lasca, Ovidiu; Naber, Christoph; Fowler, Vance G; Corey, G Ralph; Chu, Vivian H; Fenely, Michael; Pachirat, Orathai; Tan, Ru-San; Watkin, Richard; Ionac, Adina; Moreno, Asuncion; Mestres, Carlos A; Casabé, José; Chipigina, Natalia; Eisen, Damon P; Spelman, Denis; Delahaye, Francois; Peterson, Gail; Olaison, Lars; Wang, Andrew; International Collaboration on Endocarditis-Prospective Cohort Study (ICE-PCS) InvestigatorsBackground— The impact of early surgery on mortality in patients with native valve endocarditis (NVE) is unresolved. This study sought to evaluate valve surgery compared with medical therapy for NVE and to identify characteristics of patients who are most likely to benefit from early surgery. Methods and Results— Using a prospective, multinational cohort of patients with definite NVE, the effect of early surgery on in-hospital mortality was assessed by propensity-based matching adjustment for survivor bias and by instrumental variable analysis. Patients were stratified by propensity quintile, paravalvular complications, valve perforation, systemic embolization, stroke, Staphylococcus aureus infection, and congestive heart failure. Of the 1552 patients with NVE, 720 (46%) underwent early surgery and 832 (54%) were treated with medical therapy. Compared with medical therapy, early surgery was associated with a significant reduction in mortality in the overall cohort (12.1% [87/720] versus 20.7% [172/832]) and after propensity-based matching and adjustment for survivor bias (absolute risk reduction [ARR] −5.9%, P<0.001). With a combined instrument, the instrumental-variable–adjusted ARR in mortality associated with early surgery was −11.2% (P<0.001). In subgroup analysis, surgery was found to confer a survival benefit compared with medical therapy among patients with a higher propensity for surgery (ARR −10.9% for quintiles 4 and 5, P=0.002) and those with paravalvular complications (ARR −17.3%, P<0.001), systemic embolization (ARR −12.9%, P=0.002), S aureus NVE (ARR −20.1%, P<0.001), and stroke (ARR −13%, P=0.02) but not those with valve perforation or congestive heart failure. Conclusions— Early surgery for NVE is associated with an in-hospital mortality benefit compared with medical therapy alone.Item Open Access Demonstration and Performance Evaluation of Two Novel Algorithms for Removing Artifacts From Automated Intraoperative Temperature Data Sets: Multicenter, Observational, Retrospective Study.(JMIR perioperative medicine, 2022-10) Bardia, Amit; Deshpande, Ranjit; Michel, George; Yanez, David; Dai, Feng; Pace, Nathan L; Schuster, Kevin; Mathis, Michael R; Kheterpal, Sachin; Schonberger, Robert BBackground
The automated acquisition of intraoperative patient temperature data via temperature probes leads to the possibility of producing a number of artifacts related to probe positioning that may impact these probes' utility for observational research.Objective
We sought to compare the performance of two de novo algorithms for filtering such artifacts.Methods
In this observational retrospective study, the intraoperative temperature data of adults who received general anesthesia for noncardiac surgery were extracted from the Multicenter Perioperative Outcomes Group registry. Two algorithms were developed and then compared to the reference standard-anesthesiologists' manual artifact detection process. Algorithm 1 (a slope-based algorithm) was based on the linear curve fit of 3 adjacent temperature data points. Algorithm 2 (an interval-based algorithm) assessed for time gaps between contiguous temperature recordings. Sensitivity and specificity values for artifact detection were calculated for each algorithm, as were mean temperatures and areas under the curve for hypothermia (temperatures below 36 C) for each patient, after artifact removal via each methodology.Results
A total of 27,683 temperature readings from 200 anesthetic records were analyzed. The overall agreement among the anesthesiologists was 92.1%. Both algorithms had high specificity but moderate sensitivity (specificity: 99.02% for algorithm 1 vs 99.54% for algorithm 2; sensitivity: 49.13% for algorithm 1 vs 37.72% for algorithm 2; F-score: 0.65 for algorithm 1 vs 0.55 for algorithm 2). The areas under the curve for time × hypothermic temperature and the mean temperatures recorded for each case after artifact removal were similar between the algorithms and the anesthesiologists.Conclusions
The tested algorithms provide an automated way to filter intraoperative temperature artifacts that closely approximates manual sorting by anesthesiologists. Our study provides evidence demonstrating the efficacy of highly generalizable artifact reduction algorithms that can be readily used by observational studies that rely on automated intraoperative data acquisition.Item Open Access Esophageal Perforation Following Anterior Cervical Spine Surgery: Case Report and Review of the Literature.(Global spine journal, 2017-04) Hershman, Stuart H; Kunkle, William A; Kelly, Michael P; Buchowski, Jacob M; Ray, Wilson Z; Bumpass, David B; Gum, Jeffrey L; Peters, Colleen M; Singhatanadgige, Weerasak; Kim, Jin Young; Smith, Zachary A; Hsu, Wellington K; Nassr, Ahmad; Currier, Bradford L; Rahman, Ra'Kerry K; Isaacs, Robert E; Smith, Justin S; Shaffrey, Christopher; Thompson, Sara E; Wang, Jeffrey C; Lord, Elizabeth L; Buser, Zorica; Arnold, Paul M; Fehlings, Michael G; Mroz, Thomas E; Riew, K DanielMulticenter retrospective case series and review of the literature.To determine the rate of esophageal perforations following anterior cervical spine surgery.As part of an AOSpine series on rare complications, a retrospective cohort study was conducted among 21 high-volume surgical centers to identify esophageal perforations following anterior cervical spine surgery. Staff at each center abstracted data from patients' charts and created case report forms for each event identified. Case report forms were then sent to the AOSpine North America Clinical Research Network Methodological Core for data processing and analysis.The records of 9591 patients who underwent anterior cervical spine surgery were reviewed. Two (0.02%) were found to have esophageal perforations following anterior cervical spine surgery. Both cases were detected and treated in the acute postoperative period. One patient was successfully treated with primary repair and debridement. One patient underwent multiple debridement attempts and expired.Esophageal perforation following anterior cervical spine surgery is a relatively rare occurrence. Prompt recognition and treatment of these injuries is critical to minimizing morbidity and mortality.Item Open Access High-impact chronic pain transition in surgical recipients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy.(Journal of neurosurgery. Spine, 2022-01) Cook, Chad E; George, Steven Z; Asher, Anthony L; Bisson, Erica F; Buchholz, Avery L; Bydon, Mohamad; Chan, Andrew K; Haid, Regis W; Mummaneni, Praveen V; Park, Paul; Shaffrey, Christopher I; Than, Khoi D; Tumialan, Luis M; Wang, Michael Y; Gottfried, Oren NObjective
High-impact chronic pain (HICP) is a recently proposed metric that indicates the presence of a severe and troubling pain-related condition. Surgery for cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) is designed to halt disease transition independent of chronic pain status. To date, the prevalence of HICP in individuals with CSM and their HICP transition from presurgery is unexplored. The authors sought to define HICP prevalence, transition, and outcomes in patients with CSM who underwent surgery and identify predictors of these HICP transition groups.Methods
CSM surgical recipients were categorized as HICP at presurgery and 3 months if they exhibited pain that lasted 6-12 months or longer with at least one major activity restriction. HICP transition groups were categorized and evaluated for outcomes. Multivariate multinomial modeling was used to predict HICP transition categorization.Results
A majority (56.1%) of individuals exhibited HICP preoperatively; this value declined to 15.9% at 3 months (71.6% reduction). The presence of HICP was also reflective of other self-reported outcomes at 3 and 12 months, as most demonstrated notable improvement. Higher severity in all categories of self-reported outcomes was related to a continued HICP condition at 3 months. Both social and biological factors predicted HICP translation, with social factors being predominant in transitioning to HICP (from none preoperatively).Conclusions
Many individuals who received CSM surgery changed HICP status at 3 months. In a surgical population where decisions are based on disease progression, most of the changed status went from HICP preoperatively to none at 3 months. Both social and biological risk factors predicted HICP transition assignment.Item Open Access Management of Acute Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury: A Review of the Literature.(Frontiers in surgery, 2021-01) Wang, Timothy Y; Park, Christine; Zhang, Hanci; Rahimpour, Shervin; Murphy, Kelly R; Goodwin, C Rory; Karikari, Isaac O; Than, Khoi D; Shaffrey, Christopher I; Foster, Norah; Abd-El-Barr, Muhammad MTraumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) is a debilitating disease that poses significant functional and economic burden on both the individual and societal levels. Prognosis is dependent on the extent of the spinal injury and the severity of neurological dysfunction. If not treated rapidly, patients with TSCI can suffer further secondary damage and experience escalating disability and complications. It is important to quickly assess the patient to identify the location and severity of injury to make a decision to pursue a surgical and/or conservative management. However, there are many conditions that factor into the management of TSCI patients, ranging from the initial presentation of the patient to long-term care for optimal recovery. Here, we provide a comprehensive review of the etiologies of spinal cord injury and the complications that may arise, and present an algorithm to aid in the management of TSCI.Item Open Access Operative versus nonoperative treatment for adult symptomatic lumbar scoliosis at 5-year follow-up: durability of outcomes and impact of treatment-related serious adverse events.(Journal of neurosurgery. Spine, 2021-04) Smith, Justin S; Kelly, Michael P; Yanik, Elizabeth L; Baldus, Christine R; Buell, Thomas J; Lurie, Jon D; Edwards, Charles; Glassman, Steven D; Lenke, Lawrence G; Boachie-Adjei, Oheneba; Buchowski, Jacob M; Carreon, Leah Y; Crawford, Charles H; Errico, Thomas J; Lewis, Stephen J; Koski, Tyler; Parent, Stefan; Lafage, Virginie; Kim, Han Jo; Ames, Christopher P; Bess, Shay; Schwab, Frank J; Shaffrey, Christopher I; Bridwell, Keith HObjective
Although short-term adult symptomatic lumbar scoliosis (ASLS) studies favor operative over nonoperative treatment, longer outcomes are critical for assessment of treatment durability, especially for operative treatment, because the majority of implant failures and nonunions present between 2 and 5 years after surgery. The objectives of this study were to assess the durability of treatment outcomes for operative versus nonoperative treatment of ASLS, to report the rates and types of associated serious adverse events (SAEs), and to determine the potential impact of treatment-related SAEs on outcomes.Methods
The ASLS-1 (Adult Symptomatic Lumbar Scoliosis-1) trial is an NIH-sponsored multicenter prospective study to assess operative versus nonoperative ASLS treatment. Patients were 40-80 years of age and had ASLS (Cobb angle ≥ 30° and Oswestry Disability Index [ODI] ≥ 20 or Scoliosis Research Society [SRS]-22 subscore ≤ 4.0 in the Pain, Function, and/or Self-Image domains). Patients receiving operative and nonoperative treatment were compared using as-treated analysis, and the impact of related SAEs was assessed. Primary outcome measures were ODI and SRS-22.Results
The 286 patients with ASLS (107 with nonoperative treatment, 179 with operative treatment) had 2-year and 5-year follow-up rates of 90% (n = 256) and 74% (n = 211), respectively. At 5 years, compared with patients treated nonoperatively, those who underwent surgery had greater improvement in ODI (mean difference -15.2 [95% CI -18.7 to -11.7]) and SRS-22 subscore (mean difference 0.63 [95% CI 0.48-0.78]) (p < 0.001), with treatment effects (TEs) exceeding the minimum detectable measurement difference (MDMD) for ODI (7) and SRS-22 subscore (0.4). TEs at 5 years remained as favorable as 2-year TEs (ODI -13.9, SRS-22 0.52). For patients in the operative group, the incidence rates of treatment-related SAEs during the first 2 years and 2-5 years after surgery were 22.38 and 8.17 per 100 person-years, respectively. At 5 years, patients in the operative group who had 1 treatment-related SAE still had significantly greater improvement, with TEs (ODI -12.2, SRS-22 0.53; p < 0.001) exceeding the MDMD. Twelve patients who received surgery and who had 2 or more treatment-related SAEs had greater improvement than nonsurgically treated patients based on ODI (TE -8.34, p = 0.017) and SRS-22 (TE 0.32, p = 0.029), but the SRS-22 TE did not exceed the MDMD.Conclusions
The significantly greater improvement of operative versus nonoperative treatment for ASLS at 2 years was durably maintained at the 5-year follow-up. Patients in the operative cohort with a treatment-related SAE still had greater improvement than patients in the nonoperative cohort. These findings have important implications for patient counseling and future cost-effectiveness assessments.Item Open Access Patient Safety Incidents Caused by Poor Quality Surgical Instruments.(Cureus, 2019-06) Dominguez, Elizabeth D; Rocos, BrettObjectives
Surgeons require high-quality surgical instruments to carry out successful procedures. Poor quality instruments may break intraoperatively leading to a failed procedure or causing harm to the patient. By examining the National Reporting and Learning Service (NRLS) database, the study aims to define the scale of the problem and provide evidence for the formation of surgical instrument quality control.Methods
The NRLS was searched from August 2004 - December 2010. The search revealed 2036 incidents, 250 of which were randomly selected and analyzed by a clinical reviewer.Results
One hundred and sixty-one incidents were identified causing five reoperations, one incident of severe harm, six incidents of moderate harm, 35 of low harm, and 119 no harm incidents. No patient deaths were discovered. Drillbits were the most commonly broken instrument.Conclusions
This report is likely to only be the tip of the iceberg. Poor reporting of patient safety incidents means that there may be as many as 1500 incidents a year of poor quality surgical instruments causing harm. We suggest that forming a Surgical Instrument Quality Service at Trusts within the National Health Service (NHS) could prevent harm coming to patients, reduce cost, and improve the outcomes of surgical procedures.Item Open Access Patient-reported outcome measure clustering after surgery for adult symptomatic lumbar scoliosis.(Journal of neurosurgery. Spine, 2022-01) Wondra, James P; Kelly, Michael P; Yanik, Elizabeth L; Greenberg, Jacob K; Smith, Justin S; Bess, Shay; Shaffrey, Christopher I; Lenke, Lawrence G; Bridwell, KeithObjective
Adult symptomatic lumbar scoliosis (ASLS) is a widespread and debilitating subset of adult spinal deformity. Although many patients benefit from operative treatment, surgery entails substantial cost and risk for adverse events. Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are patient-centered tools used to evaluate the appropriateness of surgery and to assist in the shared decision-making process. Framing realistic patient expectations should include the possible functional limitation to improvement inherent in surgical intervention, such as multilevel fusion to the sacrum. The authors' objective was to predict postoperative ASLS PROMs by using clustering analysis, generalized longitudinal regression models, percentile analysis, and clinical improvement analysis of preoperative health-related quality-of-life scores for use in surgical counseling.Methods
Operative results from the combined ASLS cohorts were examined. PROM score clustering after surgery investigated limits of surgical improvement. Patients were categorized by baseline disability (mild, moderate, moderate to severe, or severe) according to preoperative Scoliosis Research Society (SRS)-22 and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) scores. Responder analysis for patients achieving improvement meeting the minimum clinically important difference (MCID) and substantial clinical benefit (SCB) standards was performed using both fixed-threshold and patient-specific values (MCID = 30% of remaining scale, SCB = 50%). Best (top 5%), worst (bottom 5%), and median scores were calculated across disability categories.Results
A total of 171/187 (91%) of patients with ASLS achieved 2-year follow-up. Patients rarely achieved a PROM ceiling for any measure, with 33%-43% of individuals clustering near 4.0 for SRS domains. Patients with severe baseline disability (< 2.0) SRS-pain and SRS-function scores were often left with moderate to severe disability (2.0-2.9), unlike patients with higher (≥ 3.0) initial PROM values. Patients with mild disability according to baseline SRS-function score were unlikely to improve. Crippling baseline ODI disability (> 60) commonly left patients with moderate disability (median ODI = 32). As baseline ODI disability increased, patients were more likely to achieve MCID and SCB (p < 0.001). Compared to fixed threshold values for MCID and SCB, patient-specific values were more sensitive to change for patients with minimal ODI baseline disability (p = 0.008) and less sensitive to change for patients with moderate to severe SRS subscore disability (p = 0.01).Conclusions
These findings suggest that ASLS surgeries have a limit to possible improvement, probably due to both baseline disability and the effects of surgery. The most disabled patients often had moderate to severe disability (SRS < 3, ODI > 30) at 2 years, emphasizing the importance of patient counseling and expectation management.Item Open Access Prospective multicenter assessment of complication rates associated with adult cervical deformity surgery in 133 patients with minimum 1-year follow-up.(Journal of neurosurgery. Spine, 2020-06) Smith, Justin S; Buell, Thomas J; Shaffrey, Christopher I; Kim, Han Jo; Klineberg, Eric; Protopsaltis, Themistocles; Passias, Peter; Mundis, Gregory M; Eastlack, Robert; Deviren, Vedat; Kelly, Michael P; Daniels, Alan H; Gum, Jeffrey L; Soroceanu, Alex; Gupta, Munish; Burton, Doug; Hostin, Richard; Hart, Robert; Lafage, Virginie; Lafage, Renaud; Schwab, Frank J; Bess, Shay; Ames, Christopher PObjective
Although surgical treatment can provide significant improvement of symptomatic adult cervical spine deformity (ACSD), few reports have focused on the associated complications. The objective of this study was to assess complication rates at a minimum 1-year follow-up based on a prospective multicenter series of ACSD patients treated surgically.Methods
A prospective multicenter database of consecutive operative ACSD patients was reviewed for perioperative (< 30 days), early (30-90 days), and delayed (> 90 days) complications with a minimum 1-year follow-up. Enrollment required at least 1 of the following: cervical kyphosis > 10°, cervical scoliosis > 10°, C2-7 sagittal vertical axis > 4 cm, or chin-brow vertical angle > 25°.Results
Of 167 patients, 133 (80%, mean age 62 years, 62% women) had a minimum 1-year follow-up (mean 1.8 years). The most common diagnoses were degenerative (45%) and iatrogenic (17%) kyphosis. Almost 40% of patients were active or past smokers, 17% had osteoporosis, and 84% had at least 1 comorbidity. The mean baseline Neck Disability Index and modified Japanese Orthopaedic Association scores were 47 and 13.6, respectively. Surgical approaches were anterior-only (18%), posterior-only (47%), and combined (35%). A total of 132 complications were reported (54 minor and 78 major), and 74 (56%) patients had at least 1 complication. The most common complications included dysphagia (11%), distal junctional kyphosis (9%), respiratory failure (6%), deep wound infection (6%), new nerve root motor deficit (5%), and new sensory deficit (5%). A total of 4 deaths occurred that were potentially related to surgery, 2 prior to 1-year follow-up (1 cardiopulmonary and 1 due to obstructive sleep apnea and narcotic use) and 2 beyond 1-year follow-up (both cardiopulmonary and associated with revision procedures). Twenty-six reoperations were performed in 23 (17%) patients, with the most common indications of deep wound infection (n = 8), DJK (n = 7), and neurological deficit (n = 6). Although anterior-only procedures had a trend toward lower overall (42%) and major (21%) complications, rates were not significantly different from posterior-only (57% and 33%, respectively) or combined (61% and 37%, respectively) approaches (p = 0.29 and p = 0.38, respectively).Conclusions
This report provides benchmark rates for ACSD surgery complications at a minimum 1-year (mean 1.8 years) follow-up. The marked health and functional impact of ACSD, the frail population it affects, and the high rates of surgical complications necessitate a careful risk-benefit assessment when contemplating surgery. Collectively, these findings provide benchmarks for complication rates and may prove useful for patient counseling and efforts to improve the safety of care.Item Open Access Surgical outcomes in rigid versus flexible cervical deformities.(Journal of neurosurgery. Spine, 2021-02) Protopsaltis, Themistocles S; Stekas, Nicholas; Smith, Justin S; Soroceanu, Alexandra; Lafage, Renaud; Daniels, Alan H; Kim, Han Jo; Passias, Peter G; Mundis, Gregory M; Klineberg, Eric O; Hamilton, D Kojo; Gupta, Munish; Lafage, Virginie; Hart, Robert A; Schwab, Frank; Burton, Douglas C; Bess, Shay; Shaffrey, Christopher I; Ames, Christopher PObjective
Cervical deformity (CD) patients have severe disability and poor health status. However, little is known about how patients with rigid CD compare with those with flexible CD. The main objectives of this study were to 1) assess whether patients with rigid CD have worse baseline alignment and therefore require more aggressive surgical corrections and 2) determine whether patients with rigid CD have similar postoperative outcomes as those with flexible CD.Methods
This is a retrospective review of a prospective, multicenter CD database. Rigid CD was defined as cervical lordosis (CL) change < 10° between flexion and extension radiographs, and flexible CD was defined as a CL change ≥ 10°. Patients with rigid CD were compared with those with flexible CD in terms of cervical alignment and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) at baseline and at multiple postoperative time points. The patients were also compared in terms of surgical and intraoperative factors such as operative time, blood loss, and number of levels fused.Results
A total of 127 patients met inclusion criteria (32 with rigid and 95 with flexible CD, 63.4% of whom were females; mean age 60.8 years; mean BMI 27.4); 47.2% of cases were revisions. Rigid CD was associated with worse preoperative alignment in terms of T1 slope minus CL, T1 slope, C2-7 sagittal vertical axis (cSVA), and C2 slope (C2S; all p < 0.05). Postoperatively, patients with rigid CD had an increased mean C2S (29.1° vs 22.2°) at 3 months and increased cSVA (47.1 mm vs 37.5 mm) at 1 year (p < 0.05) compared with those with flexible CD. Patients with rigid CD had more posterior levels fused (9.5 vs 6.3), fewer anterior levels fused (1 vs 2.0), greater blood loss (1036.7 mL vs 698.5 mL), more 3-column osteotomies (40.6% vs 12.6%), greater total osteotomy grade (6.5 vs 4.5), and mean osteotomy grade per level (3.3 vs 2.1) (p < 0.05 for all). There were no significant differences in baseline HRQOL scores, the rate of distal junctional kyphosis, or major/minor complications between patients with rigid and flexible CD. Both rigid and flexible CD patients reported significant improvements from baseline to 1 year according to the numeric rating scale for the neck (-2.4 and -2.7, respectively), Neck Disability Index (-8.4 and -13.3, respectively), modified Japanese Orthopaedic Association score (0.1 and 0.6), and EQ-5D (0.01 and 0.05) (p < 0.05). However, HRQOL changes from baseline to 1 year did not differ between rigid and flexible CD patients.Conclusions
Patients with rigid CD have worse baseline cervical malalignment compared with those with flexible CD but do not significantly differ in terms of baseline disability. Rigid CD was associated with more invasive surgery and more aggressive corrections, resulting in increased operative time and blood loss. Despite more extensive surgeries, rigid CD patients had equivalent improvements in HRQOL compared with flexible CD patients. This study quantifies the importance of analyzing flexion-extension images, creating a prognostic tool for surgeons planning CD correction, and counseling patients who are considering CD surgery.Item Open Access The Effect of Propofol Versus Isoflurane Anesthesia on Human Cerebrospinal Fluid Markers of Alzheimer's Disease: Results of a Randomized Trial.(J Alzheimers Dis, 2016-04-15) Berger, Miles; Nadler, Jacob W; Friedman, Allan; McDonagh, David L; Bennett, Ellen R; Cooter, Mary; Qi, Wenjing; Laskowitz, Daniel T; Ponnusamy, Vikram; Newman, Mark F; Shaw, Leslie M; Warner, David S; Mathew, Joseph P; James, Michael L; MAD-PIA trial teamBACKGROUND: Preclinical studies have found differential effects of isoflurane and propofol on the Alzheimer's disease (AD)-associated markers tau, phosphorylated tau (p-tau) and amyloid-β (Aβ). OBJECTIVE: We asked whether isoflurane and propofol have differential effects on the tau/Aβ ratio (the primary outcome), and individual AD biomarkers. We also examined whether genetic/intraoperative factors influenced perioperative changes in AD biomarkers. METHODS: Patients undergoing neurosurgical/otolaryngology procedures requiring lumbar cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) drain placement were prospectively randomized to receive isoflurane (n = 21) or propofol (n = 18) for anesthetic maintenance. We measured perioperative CSF sample AD markers, performed genotyping assays, and examined intraoperative data from the electronic anesthesia record. A repeated measures ANOVA was used to examine changes in AD markers by anesthetic type over time. RESULTS: The CSF tau/Aβ ratio did not differ between isoflurane- versus propofol-treated patients (p = 1.000). CSF tau/Aβ ratio and tau levels increased 10 and 24 h after drain placement (p = 2.002×10-6 and p = 1.985×10-6, respectively), mean CSF p-tau levels decreased (p = 0.005), and Aβ levels did not change (p = 0.152). There was no interaction between anesthetic treatment and time for any of these biomarkers. None of the examined genetic polymorphisms, including ApoE4, were associated with tau increase (n = 9 polymorphisms, p > 0.05 for all associations). CONCLUSION: Neurosurgery/otolaryngology procedures are associated with an increase in the CSF tau/Aβ ratio, and this increase was not influenced by anesthetic type. The increased CSF tau/Aβ ratio was largely driven by increases in tau levels. Future work should determine the functional/prognostic significance of these perioperative CSF tau elevations.Item Open Access Treatment of adult thoracolumbar spinal deformity: past, present, and future.(Journal of neurosurgery. Spine, 2019-05) Smith, Justin S; Shaffrey, Christopher I; Ames, Christopher P; Lenke, Lawrence GCare of the patient with adult spinal deformity (ASD) has evolved from being primarily supportive to now having the ability to directly treat and correct the spinal pathology. The focus of this narrative literature review is to briefly summarize the history of ASD treatment, discuss the current state of the art of ASD care with focus on surgical treatment and current challenges, and conclude with a discussion of potential developments related to ASD surgery.In the past, care for ASD was primarily based on supportive measures, including braces and assistive devices, with few options for surgical treatments that were often deemed high risk and reserved for rare situations. Advances in anesthetic and critical care, surgical techniques, and instrumentation now enable almost routine surgery for many patients with ASD. Despite the advances, there are many remaining challenges currently impacting the care of ASD patients, including increasing numbers of elderly patients with greater comorbidities, high complication and reoperation rates, and high procedure cost without clearly demonstrated cost-effectiveness based on standard criteria. In addition, there remains considerable variability across multiple aspects of ASD surgery. For example, there is currently very limited ability to provide preoperative individualized counseling regarding optimal treatment approaches (e.g., operative vs nonoperative), complication risks with surgery, durability of surgery, and likelihood of achieving individualized patient goals and satisfaction. Despite the challenges associated with the current state-of-the-art ASD treatment, surgery continues to be a primary option, as multiple reports have demonstrated the potential for surgery to significantly improve pain and disability. The future of ASD care will likely include techniques and technologies to markedly reduce complication rates, including greater use of navigation and robotics, and a shift toward individualized medicine that enables improved counseling, preoperative planning, procedure safety, and patient satisfaction.Advances in the care of ASD patients have been remarkable over the past few decades. The current state of the art enables almost routine surgical treatment for many types of ASD that have the potential to significantly improve pain and disability. However, significant challenges remain, including high complication rates, lack of demonstrated cost-effectiveness, and limited ability to meaningfully counsel patients preoperatively on an individual basis. The future of ASD surgery will require continued improvement of predictability, safety, and sustainability.