Correction of funding statement.

Correction of funding statement.

This erratum is being published to correct of affiliation and add an acknowledgement.

A 24-year-old man with tuberculosis meningitis developed acute paraplegia and sensory disturbances 5 weeks after receiving conventional antituberculous therapy. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed an intradural extramedullary long segmental mass mimicking en plaque meningioma at the T2-T6 vertebrae levels. Prompt surgical decompression was performed. A histology examination of the mass revealed a tuberculoma. After surgery, the patient showed improved motor power and a normal bladder function. Intradural extramedullary tuberculoma of the spinal cord is rare complication of tuberculosis meningitis, which can occur as a response to conventional antituberculous therapy.
Diagnosis, Differential ; Humans ; Male ; Meningeal Neoplasms/*diagnosis ; Meningioma/*diagnosis ; Spinal Cord Diseases/*diagnosis/surgery ; Thoracic Vertebrae ; Tuberculoma/*diagnosis/surgery ; Tuberculosis, Meningeal/*diagnosis/surgery ; Young Adult

Familial hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (FHL) is a rare disease characterized by fever, hepatosplenomegaly, cytopenia and non-malignant lymphohistiocytic infiltration with hemophagocytosis in reticulendothelial organs. We experienced three cases of FHL in identical male twins and their younger brother who presented with fever and severe hepatosplenomegaly. Cytopenia, elevated serum transaminase and low serum albumin levels, hypertriglyceridemia were common laboratory findings of them. One of them showed markedly decreased phytohemagglutinin induced lymphocyte proliferation and reversed CD4/CD8 ratio (0.52) in flowcytometric lymphocyte subset analysis. Aspirate of bone marrow revealed typical features consistent with FHL in two of them. In spite of recent therapeutic approaches, none of them survived.
Bone Marrow ; Fever ; Humans ; Hypertriglyceridemia ; Lymphocyte Subsets ; Lymphocytes ; Lymphohistiocytosis, Hemophagocytic* ; Male ; Rare Diseases ; Serum Albumin ; Siblings

PURPOSE: We reported relative risk of operation between patients who were diagnosed with lumbar far lateral disc herniation and posterolateral disc herniation after transforaminal epidural block. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was performed on 295 patients (131 male and 164 female) who underwent transforaminal epidural block for unilateral radiculopathy caused by lumbar intervertebral disc herniation. Among these 295 patients, 34 patients were diagnosed with far lateral disc herniation and 261 patients with posterolateral disc herniation. The median follow-up period was 23.9 months, with an average age of 55.7 years. RESULTS: Fifty-one patients underwent surgical treatment. Among them, 38 patients had posterolateral disc herniation and 13 patients had far lateral disc herniation. Patients with far lateral disc herniation, when compared with posterolateral disc herniation, had a relative risk of operation of 2.67 (1.59-4.48, 95% confidence interval) with statistical significance (p=0.0002). At the final follow-up, the average visual analogue scale (VAS) score for radicular pain in the surgical and non-surgical groups was 0.69 and 1.50, respectively; the average Korean-Oswestry Disability Questionnaire (K-ODI) score was 11.7 and 9.6, respectively. The difference of average VAS score showed a statistical significance (p=0.035), however, that of K-ODI showed no statistical significance (p=0.266). CONCLUSION: In the case of far lateral disc herniation, the relative risk of surgery after transforaminal epidural block was 2.67, which is higher than that of posterolateral disc herniation. Therefore, we should consider surgical treatment more aggressively.
Cohort Studies* ; Diskectomy ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Injections, Epidural ; Intervertebral Disc ; Male ; Radiculopathy ; Retrospective Studies* ; Spine

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective case-control study. OBJECTIVES: We analyzed the radiological results of the double-balloon inflation technique in terms of its ability to reduce cement leakage, to increase bone cement bonding, and to promote anterior column height recovery. SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW: Various methods, such as the egg-shell technique, have been proposed to prevent leakage of cement during kyphoplasty in cases of osteoporotic compression fracture. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study analyzed 18 patients diagnosed with osteoporotic compression fracture of the lumbar spine who underwent the double-balloon inflation technique after April 2015, and 30 consecutive patients with the same diagnosis who were treated using the conventional method prior to April 2015. We analyzed the radiological results on immediate postoperative simple X-rays in the anteroposterior and lateral views, 6-week postoperative lateral X-rays, and 6-month postoperative lateral X-rays to detect changes in anterior vertebral height and the cement leakage rate. RESULTS: The average anterior vertebral height increased by 7.58 mm in the double-balloon inflation group, and by 5.8 mm in the conventional group on the immediate postoperative radiographs (p=0.044). On average, a decrease of 3.08 mm was observed at 6 weeks postoperatively in the double-balloon inflation group, in contrast to a decrease of 4.68 mm in the conventional group (p=0.149). At the 6-month postoperative follow-up, an average decrease of 1.45 mm was found in the double-balloon inflation technique group, while a decrease of 1.40 mm was found in the conventional group (p=0.9110). The cement leakage rate was 22% in the double-balloon inflation group and 27% in the conventional group (p=0.730). CONCLUSIONS: Compared to the conventional method, the double-balloon inflation technique can be done more safely, and also promotes a greater recovery of anterior vertebral height.
Case-Control Studies ; Diagnosis ; Follow-Up Studies ; Fractures, Compression ; Humans ; Inflation, Economic ; Kyphoplasty ; Methods ; Osteoporosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Spine

OBJECTIVES: We analyzed the radiological results of the double-balloon inflation technique in terms of its ability to reduce cement leakage, to increase bone cement bonding, and to promote anterior column height recovery.SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW: Various methods, such as the egg-shell technique, have been proposed to prevent leakage of cement during kyphoplasty in cases of osteoporotic compression fracture. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study analyzed 18 patients diagnosed with osteoporotic compression fracture of the lumbar spine who underwent the double-balloon inflation technique after April 2015, and 30 consecutive patients with the same diagnosis who were treated using the conventional method prior to April 2015. We analyzed the radiological results on immediate postoperative simple X-rays in the anteroposterior and lateral views, 6-week postoperative lateral X-rays, and 6-month postoperative lateral X-rays to detect changes in anterior vertebral height and the cement leakage rate. RESULTS: The average anterior vertebral height increased by 7.58 mm in the double-balloon inflation group, and by 5.8 mm in the conventional group on the immediate postoperative radiographs (p=0.044). On average, a decrease of 3.08 mm was observed at 6 weeks postoperatively in the double-balloon inflation group, in contrast to a decrease of 4.68 mm in the conventional group (p=0.149). At the 6-month postoperative follow-up, an average decrease of 1.45 mm was found in the double-balloon inflation technique group, while a decrease of 1.40 mm was found in the conventional group (p=0.9110). The cement leakage rate was 22% in the double-balloon inflation group and 27% in the conventional group (p=0.730). CONCLUSIONS Compared to the conventional method, the double-balloon inflation technique can be done more safely, and also promotes a greater recovery of anterior vertebral height.

Background: Surgical treatment consisting of decompression and fusion is generally known to produce good clinical results for lumbar spinal stenosis with degenerative spondylolisthesis. However, the clinical outcome of decompression alone, without fusion, remains unclear, and long-term follow-up results are scarce. This study aimed to retrospectively analyze the 5-year clinical results of decompression only in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis and degenerative spondylolisthesis. Methods: Among the patients diagnosed as having lumbar spinal stenosis with degenerative spondylolisthesis, 36 patients who underwent decompression without fusion and were followed up for minimum 5 years were included in this study. The average follow-up period was 7.2 years, and the mean age of patients was 63.2 years. Visual analog scale (VAS) score and Oswestry disability index (ODI) were investigated pre- and postoperatively, and also radiologic displacement and instability were measured. In addition, patients who needed fusion or redecompression at the decompression site postoperatively were also investigated. Results: VAS score and ODI improved from an average of 7.8 points and 57 points preoperatively, respectively, to 1.4 points and 19 points at 5 years postoperatively, respectively. The degree of radiologic displacement increased from an average of 5.1 mm preoperatively to 6.4 mm at the final follow-up. Radiological instability was detected in five patients. Two patients (9.5%) required fusion. Conclusions The long-term follow-up results revealed that satisfactory clinical outcomes were obtained with decompression alone, without fusion, for patients with lumbar spinal stenosis and degenerative spondylolisthesis.

BACKGROUND: This study was designed to evaluate the antihypertensive efficacy and safety of nifedipine gastrointestinal system push-pull osmotic pump formulation in patients with mild to moderate essential hypertension. METHODS: After 2 weeks placebo run-in period, nifedipine 60 mg was administered once daily for 8 weeks in thirty-two patients with mild to moderate essential hypertension. RESULTS: At the end point of treatment, sitting blood pressure decreased as much as 33/16mmHg in average and rewarded 88% of efficacy and 69% of normalization. The ambulatoy blood pressure monitoring in 10 patients also revealed 11% decrease in 24 hr mean diastolic blood pressure and 32% decrease in % elevated blood pressure. The most frequent side reactions were constipation in 7 patients and polyuria in 6 patients which were tolerated during entire trial period. There were no significant changes in biochemical parameters and hematologic data, thus making the rate of safety 91% and overall rating of usefulness was 84%. CONCLUSION: Nifedipine GITS 60 mg once daily regimen is well tolerated and effective in the treatment of mild to moderate essential hypertension.
Blood Pressure ; Blood Pressure Monitors ; Constipation ; Humans ; Hypertension* ; Nifedipine* ; Polyuria ; Reward