OBJECTIVE: Spinal fusion operation is an effective treatment in the spinal pathology, but it could change the physiological distribution of load at the instrumented and adjacent segments. This retrospective study compared the radiological and clinical outcomes of patients undergoing lumbar fusion with semirigid rods versus rigid rods system. METHODS: Using transpedicular fixation and posterior lumbar interbody fusion at the level of L4/L5, 20 patients were treated with semirigid rods (WavefleX, SR group), and 20 patients with rigid rods (titanium, RR group). Clinical and radiological outcomes were evaluated, including visual analog score for lower back pain and leg pain, Prolo functional and economic scores, statues of implanted instruments, fusion rate, and complications during 24-month follow-up. RESULTS: Clinical scores were significantly improved until postoperative 24-month follow-up as compared with preoperative scores in both groups (p<0.05), with similar levels of improvement observed at the same time points postoperatively between the 2 groups. Prolo economic scores were significantly improved in SR group compared to RR until 12 months, but this improvement became similar after 18 months. The overall fusion rate was 94.1% until the 24-month follow-up for both groups. No significant complication was observed in both groups. CONCLUSION: The results of the present study indicate that semirigid rods system with posterior lumbar interbody fusion showed similar clinical and radiological result with rigid rods system until 2 years after instrumentation. The WavefleX rods system, as a semirigid rods with unique characteristics, may be an effective alternative treatment for patients in lumbar fusion.
Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Leg ; Low Back Pain ; Pathology ; Retrospective Studies ; Spinal Fusion ; Spine*

Ultrasound-guided peripheral nerve block has several advantages over traditional techniques for nerve localization. One is a reduction of local anesthetic dose required for successful nerve block, which might allow bilateral brachial plexus block to be performed without risk of local anesthetic toxicity. Another advantage is the ability to detect anatomical variations in nerve and vascular anatomy. We report the case of a patient with unilateral anatomical variations of the musculocutaneous nerve found in ultrasound-guided bilateral axillary brachial plexus block.
Anatomic Variation ; Brachial Plexus* ; Humans ; Musculocutaneous Nerve* ; Nerve Block ; Peripheral Nerves

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is believed to be the most prevalent liver disease worldwide and a major cause of chronic liver injury. It is characterized by lipid accumulation in the absence of significant alcohol consumption and frequently progresses to steatohepatitis, liver fibrosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Although many studies have been conducted to better understand NAFLD since it was first recognized, there are still many gaps in knowledge of etiology, prognosis, prevention and treatment. Methionine-choline deficient (MCD) diet, a well-established experimental model of NAFLD in rodents, rapidly and efficiently produces the clinical pathologies including macrovesicular steatosis and leads to disease progression. In this study, we measured the response to MCD diet in C57BL/6N mice obtained from three different sources; Korea NIFDS, USA, and Japan. We evaluated changes in body weight, food consumption, and relative weights of tissues such as liver, kidney, gonadal white adipose tissue, inguinal white adipose tissue, and brown adipose tissue. These basic parameters of mice with an MCD diet were not significantly different among the sources of mice tested. After 3 weeks on an MCD diet, histopathological analyses showed that the MCD diet induced clear fat vacuoles involving most area of the acinus in the liver of all mice. It was accompanied by increased serum activities of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase, and decreased levels of serum triglyceride and cholesterol. In conclusion, the response of C57BL6N mice originating from different sources to the MCD diet showed no significant differences as measured by physiological, biochemical, and histopathological parameters.
Adipose Tissue, Brown ; Adipose Tissue, White ; Alanine Transaminase ; Alcohol Drinking ; Animals ; Aspartate Aminotransferases ; Body Weight ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; Cholesterol ; Diet ; Disease Progression ; Fatty Liver* ; Gonads ; Japan ; Kidney ; Korea ; Liver ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Liver Diseases ; Methionine* ; Mice* ; Models, Theoretical ; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease ; Pathology ; Prognosis ; Rodentia ; Triglycerides ; Vacuoles ; Weights and Measures

One of the authors' names was misprinted.