Twenty-five cases of hyperextensive injuries to the cervical spine seen between Aug 1975 and 1884 were analyzed with regard to the clinical patterns of neurological damage and the reentgenogra-phic features of skeletal and soft-tissue injuries. Acute central cord syndrome was presented in sixteen cases, and in four cases who had a partial cord injuries, two of them had a typical Brown-Se'quard syndrome. The patients had an anterior cord syndrome; three had serious cord injuries, one of them died of myocardial failure on the fourth day after injury. In this series, a hyperextensive mechanism of cervical spine may gave rise to different types of spinal cord injury, but central cord syndrome was most frequently encountered. Conservative treatment was generally used, and the results of treatment were satisfactory in most cases. Diagnosis of hyperextension injuries and the relationship between cervical spine and cord injury were discussed.

Ten fresh cadaver specimens of cervical spine were divided into two parts in midsagittal plane after frozen. The sagittal diameters of spinal canal in hyperextention, neutral and hyperflexion positions were measured. Among the three position, the diameter was largest in hyperflexion position and the smallest in hyperextension. The changes in sagittal diameters appeared most markedly in C5-6,C6-7 and C4-5. Clinical significance was discussed in this paper.

Cervical spinal cord injuries often result from motor vehicl e accidents, falls, athletic injuries or fired projectiles. Most such injuries o ccur to persons in adolescence or early adulthood. It is a common cause of paral ysis, respiratory failure and even death. Besides direct traumatic injuries to t he continuity of cervical spine, fractures, dislocations and followed secondary injuries are also the main causes for spinal cord dysfunction. In recent years, great achievements have been made in the management of spinal cord injury in our country, such as much improved emergency management to minimize adverse sequela e, progress in surgical intervention and improvement in internal fixation techni que to provide stabilization of the cervical spine and allow optimal rehabilitat ion, clinical application of NGF and neural protection drugs. This paper reviews such development and predicts future development in treatment of spinal cord in jury in China

Objective To study the clinical features,surgical treatments and the prognosis of the103patients with the metastatic tu mors in the spine.Methods From Jan.1996to Dec.2001,103cases were treated by operation in our department,there were62males and41females,aging from33to79years old(average,59years).The lesions were located at cervical spines in34cases,thoracic spines in39,lumbar spines in25and sacrum in5.The patients underwent anterior,posterior,combined or staged antero-posterior operations based on the location of lesions in the spine.Most of the patients were adopted vertebral recon-struction and internal fixation depending on the conditions.Preoperative clinical evaluation included of gen-eral condi tions,X-ray films,CT scan,MRI and ECT in order to decide the endurance of the patient to the sur gi cal treatment.The operation was only considered when the patient could have the ex pected survival time more than6months.Operative indications,surgical methods and prognosis were analyzed and summa -rized.Re sults The postopera tive follow-up ranged from6months to5years.No death related to the op-eration.Eighty-five of 103cases had partial or even complete relief of local pain and radiculopathy,54cases were im proved in neu rological status caused by spinal cord compression.The postoperative survival rates at6months,one year,two years,three years and four years intervals were97.1%,90.3%,44.7%,29.1%and8.7%respectively,9patients survived more than4years.Conclusion Local pain was the predomi nant symptom in metastatic tu mor of spine,and some of them suffered from spinal cord and nerve compromise.The surgical treatments for the spinal metastatic diseases were indicated depending spinal instability,progressive neurological deteriora tion,in tractable pain,or the need for histological diagnosis.The most im por tant factor being consid-ered was the patient's condition when operative treatment was decided.The anterior,posterior,combined or staged antero-poste rior operations were influenced by location of lesions in the spine,en durance of the patient,life ex pectan cy and so on.Surgical interven tion could stabilize and reconstruct the spine,relieve pain,maintain or improve the neurological status of the patients,thus improve the life qualities in limited life expectancy pa-tients.[

BMPs(bone morphogenetic proteins.)were first identified as proteins that were able to induce ectopic osteogenesis and were shown to enhance the osteogenic differentiation of both osteoblast-like and osteoprogenitor cells.Clearly the use of BMPs in orthopaedics is still in its formative stage,but the data suggest an exciting and promising future for the development of new therapeutic applications.Identification of a precise mechanism for the factors in the progression may be helpful for clinical treatments.

Cervical spondylotic amyotrophy is receiving increasing attention in recent years as a class of specificity of cervical spondylosis,this paper refers a large number of reference reported in the literature,and gives an accurate summary of the disease from the basic definition of disease,pathogenic factors,clinical manifestations,diagnostic criteria and prognostic point of view,and provides a theoretical foundation for clinical diagnosis and treatment of cervical spondylotic amyotrophy.

Objective To study the effect of fetal transplants on the fu nctional recovery after spinal cord transection in new born and adult rats. Meth ods The spinal cord tissue at E14 of a rat fetal was transferred into the hemise ction cavity at lumbar spinal cord in the newborn and adult rats. 4, 8, 12 weeks after the operation, spinal cord tissue morphology, combined behavioral score ( CBS), somatosensory evoked potentials (SEP), and motor evoked potentials (MEP) w ere examined. Results The transplanted tissue survived in the host spinal cord. There was a statistical difference in CBS between the newborn graft group and th e adult graft group. The peak latencies of early waves in SEPs and MEPs of the n ewborn graft group were superior to those of the adult graft group (P

Spinal cord injury occurs with an average annual incidence of 15 40 cases per million of population. The costs of treatment and rehabilitation in the living period of patients with spinal cord injury are very high. Prevention, therapy and rehabilitation of spinal cord injury have become a major subject in medical science. The aim of this article is to summarize the statistics of incidence, etiological factors, clinical characteristics and complications in patients with spinal cord injury.

BACKGROUND:Current studies on the pathogenesis of ossification of the ligamentum flavum are stil in a preliminary stage, and any single factor influencing incidence of ossification of ligamentum flavum cannot completely explain the pathogenesis of this disease. OBJECTIVE:To summarize the pathogenesis of ossification of ligamentum flavum. METHODS:A computer-based online search was conducted in PubMed, Wanfang, and CNKI databases from January 1990 to December 2015 to screen the relevant literatures regarding the pathogenesis of ossification of the ligamentum flavum using Chinese and English key words“ossification of ligamentum flavum, basic research, pathogenesis, gene, bone morphogenetic protein, osteopontin”. Consequently, 63 eligible literatures were included after the exclusion of the repetitive and old ones. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Current studies have shown that ossification of the ligamentum flavum is a disease that results from multiple genetic and environmental causes and is one of the main causes of spinal stenosis. Tissue degeneration, local biomechanics, genetic factors, metabolic disorders, trace elements and vascular inflammation are all shown to be involved in the pathogenesis of ossification of ligamentum flavum.

Objective To evaluate the characteristics of intervertebral fusion using autologous tricortical iliac crest graft, Harms cage and Carbon cage in the goat cervical spine models. Methods Twenty-four goats underwent C3-4 discectomy and intervertebral fusion, the later was achieved each with 8 goats by the following methods: Group 1, autologous tricortical iliac crest bone graft; Group 2, Harms cage filled with autologous iliac crest graft; Group 3, Carbon cage filled with autologous iliac bone graft. Radiography was performed pre- and post- operatively and after 1, 2, 4, 8, and 12 weeks. At the same time points, disc space height (DSH), intervertebral angle (IVA), and lordosis angle (LA) were measured. After 12 weeks, the goats were killed and fused segments were harvested. All cervical fusion specimens underwent histomorphological studies. Results One week after operation, the DSH, IVA and LA of Carbon cage fused group were statistically greater than those of autologous iliac bone graft and Harms cage fused group (P