BACKGROUND:The endplate can be combined closely with different intervertebral fusion cages through the pedicle screw internal fixation system, to provide a more reliable spine stability for reconstruction of intervertebral height, lumbar physiological curvature and biomechanical function. OBJECTIVE:To compare the effectiveness of carbon fiber interbody fusion cage and titanium mesh cage in lumbar disc degeneration. METHODS:Sixty patients with L3-S1 RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Sixty patients completed the 3-27 months folow-up, and had good bone fusion. Lumbar activity was normal in al the patients at 3 months after treatment. The Japanese Orthopaedic Association Scores at 3 months after implantation and the intervertebral height at 1 week after implantation were significantly improved in the two groups (P < 0.05), but there was no difference between the two groups. The materials in the lumbar disc degeneration who underwent posterior lumbar interbody fusion, 33 males and 27 females, were randomized into carbon fiber interbody fusion cage group and titanium mesh cage group. Japanese Orthopaedic Association Scores were compared between the two groups before and after the implantation, as wel as the intervertebral height, intervertebral fusion and complications. two groups had good biocompatibility with no rejection and no infection. Fusion cage subsidence occurred in two cases from the titanium mesh cage group. These findings indicate that both of carbon fiber interbody fusion cage and titanium mesh cage have good biocompatibility, improve the stability of the vertebral body, and restore the intervertebral height. Moreover, the carbon fiber material performance is better than the metal titanium mesh because of lower complication rate.

BACKGROUND:Micro-fracture surgery method is simple, easy to operate, which is an effective way to treat articular cartilage defects, but there are stil some problems such as regenerated fibrocartilage and regenerated cartilage degradation. Scholars have focused on the use of various methods to improve the micro-fracture effect on repairing cartilage defects.
OBJECTIVE:To explore the effects of micro-fracture enhanced by autologous bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells extracellular matrix (aBMSC-dECM) scaffold for treating cartilage defects in minipig models.
METHODS:Bone marrow was extracted from the minipigs and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells were obtained. aBMSC-dECM membranes were col ected. Cross-linking and freeze-drying technology were used to make the three-dimensional porous aBMSC-dECM scaffold. Ful thickness cartilage defects, 2 mm in depth and 6 mm in diameter, were created on the femoral condyles and trochlea grooves of the two knees of the minipigs. The right knees were treated with micro-fracture as control and the left were treated with micro-fracture enhanced by aBMSC-dECM scaffold. Six months later, histological examination and Wakitani score were used to evaluate the cartilage regeneration, and glycosaminoglycans and DNA contents in the regenerative tissue were determined.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:After 6 months, the tissue treated by micro-fracture enhanced by aBMSC-dECM scaffold got better surface and integrated with the surrounding cartilage. Safranin O and fast green staining and Masson staining showed that the regenerated cartilage of the left knee, with abundant matrix and dense bone trabeculae, was better than that of the right. Wakitani score of the left knee was higher than that of the right. Glycosaminoglycans content of the left knee was much more than that of the right, while the DNA content was lower in the left knee than the right knee. Better results were observed in the left knee undergoing micro-fracture enhanced by aBMSC-dECM scaffold, and improvements in the femoral condyles and trochlea grooves showed no differences.