We report here on a new technique using polymethylmethacrylate to manage vertebral osteoporotic compression fractures in three patients. These patients presented with acute back pain that manifested itself after minor trauma. Osteoporotic compression fractures were diagnosed via plain X-ray and magnetic resonance imaging studies. The patients were treated with absolute bed rest and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Despite of the conservative treatment, the patients experienced severe, recalcitrant and progressive pain. The vertebrae were collapsed over 50% or kyphotic deformity was seen on the radiologic materials. We performed a new technique called lordoplasty, which is derived from percutaneous vertebroplasty. The patients experienced a reduction in pain after the procedure. The wedge and kyphotic angles of the fractured vertebrae were significantly restored.
Aged ; Female ; Fractures, Compression/radiography/*surgery ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Orthopedic Procedures/*methods ; Osteoporotic Fractures/radiography/*surgery ; Spinal Fractures/radiography/*surgery ; Thoracic Vertebrae/*injuries/radiography/surgery

Although little attention has been paid to the less common rheumatoid involvement of the thoracic and lumbar regions, some studies have shown that rheumatoid synovitis with erosive changes can develop in these diarthrodial joints. We report a patient with seropositive rheumatoid arthritis (RA) involving the thoracic and lumbar vertebra with a collapse of the T12 vertebra, who was treated with percutaneous vertebroplasty. In this case of a painful pathological fracture due to RA, percutaneous vertebroplasty was found to be helpful in eliminating the pain. The paper presents the histological evidence, the pathogenesis and treatment of the thoracolumbar lesions affected by RA with a review of the relevant literature.
Arthritis, Rheumatoid/blood/complications/*pathology/radiography ; Female ; Fractures, Compression/etiology/radiography/surgery ; Humans ; Lumbar Vertebrae/*pathology/radiography ; Middle Aged ; Thoracic Vertebrae/*pathology/radiography ; Vertebroplasty

PURPOSE: Surgical treatment in the case of thoracolumbar burst fractures is very controversial. Posterior instrumentation is most frequently used, however, but the number of levels to be instrumented still remains a matter of debate. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 94 patients who had a single burst fracture between T11 and L2 were selected and were managed using posterior instrumentation with anterior fusion when necessary. They were divided into three groups as follows; Group I (n = 28) included patients who were operated by intermediate segment fixation, Group II (n = 32) included patients operated by long segment fixation, and Group III (n = 34) included those operated by intermediate segment fixation with a pair of additional screws in the fractured vertebra. The mean follow-up period was twenty one months. The outcomes were analyzed in terms of kyphosis angle (KA), regional kyphosis angle (RA), sagittal index (SI), anterior height compression rate, Frankel classification, and Oswestry Disability Index questionnaire. RESULTS: In Groups II and III, the correction values of KA, RA, and SI were much better than in Group I. At the final follow up, the correction values of KA (6.3 and 12.1, respectively) and SI (6.2 and 12.0, respectively) were in Groups II and III found to be better in the latter. CONCLUSION: The intermediate segment fixation with an additional pair of screws at the fracture level vertebra gives results that are comparable or even better than long segment fixation and gives an advantage of preserving an extra mobile segment.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Spinal Fractures/radiography/*surgery ; Thoracic Vertebrae/injuries/radiography/*surgery ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo develop a percutaneous and transpedical interbody bone grafting apparatus for vertebral bone defect reconstruction in thoracolumbar fracture correction via minimally invasive operation.

METHODSThe percutaneous and transpedical interbody bone grafting apparatus was designed with CAD software, and the reduction effect, range of bone grafting and surgical complications of the apparatus were investigated in adult cadaveric thoracolumbar body and with computerized surgical simulation.

RESULTSThe self-designed apparatus was convenient for percutaneous and transpedical interbody bone grafting that did not give rise to complications. CT showed large bone grafting area with increased density in the vertebral body corrected with this apparatus.

CONCLUSIONThe designed apparatus allows easy manipulation and efficient bone grafting and repositioning. Minimally invasive interbody bone grafting in thoracolumbar fracture can be easily performed with proper application of the apparatus.

Bone Transplantation ; instrumentation ; Equipment Design ; Humans ; Radiography ; Reconstructive Surgical Procedures ; instrumentation ; Thoracic Vertebrae ; diagnostic imaging ; surgery

Glucocorticosteroid-induced osteoporosis is the most frequent of all secondary types of osteoporosis, and can increase the risk of vertebral compression fractures (VCFs). There are promising additions to current medical treatment for appropriately selected osteoporotic patients. Few studies have reported on the efficiency of percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) or kyphoplasty for whole thoracic and lumbar glucocorticosteroid-induced osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures. We report a case of a 67-year-old man with intractable pain caused by successional VCFs treated by PVP.
Aged ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid/drug therapy ; Fractures, Compression/*radiography ; Glucocorticoids/*adverse effects/therapeutic use ; Humans ; Kyphoplasty ; Lumbar Vertebrae/radiography/surgery ; Male ; Osteoporosis/*chemically induced/radiography/surgery ; Pulmonary Fibrosis/drug therapy ; Thoracic Vertebrae/radiography/surgery ; Vertebroplasty

An epithelioid hemangioma involving three contiguous bones in continuity has, to the best of our knowledge, not been reported in the literature. A case of a 48-year-old man presented with radiating pain to the lower thoracic region for two years. A radiograph and CT scan revealed both permeative osteolytic and multiple trabeculated lesions involving the left posterior part of the 10th rib as well as the 9th and 10th vertebral bodies in continuity and was misled as a malignant or infectious lesion. The histopathology and immuno-histochemistry of the lesion confirmed the diagnosis of an epithelioid hemangioma. The lesion was still stable as of three years after surgery.
Bone Neoplasms/pathology/*radiography/surgery ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Hemangioendothelioma, Epithelioid/pathology/*radiography/surgery ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Ribs/pathology/*radiography/surgery ; Spinal Neoplasms/pathology/*radiography/surgery ; Thoracic Vertebrae/pathology/*radiography/surgery ; *Tomography, X-Ray Computed

OBJECTIVETo explore the operative approach and method of internal fixation for the treatment of type-C thoracolumbar fractures.

METHODST wenty-eight patients (male 20, female 8, ranging in age from 20 to 54 years, with an average of 38.5 years) with type-C thoracolumbar fractures were invovled in the study. Distributed segments involved T11 in 2 patients, T12 in 3 patients, L1 in 11 patients, L2 in 8 patient, L3 in 3 patients and L4 in 1 patient. Twenty-six patients were followed up (range from 12 to 20 months). According to the analysis of X-ray and CT image,height of vertebral body, Cobb angle on sagittal and coronal plane and the percentage of occupancy of vertebral canal were measured. The recovery of nerve, happening of back pain and the failure of internal fixation were observed.

RESULTSThe preoperative averaging height-loss decreased from 37.4% to 6.8% and the deformation of coronal plane was completely rectified. The preoperative averaging Cobb angle on sagittal plane recovered from 22.3 degrees to 5.6 degrees and the preoperative occupancy of vertebral canal averaging recovered from 33.7% to 5.9%. The difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Moreover, after 1 year follow-up, the changes of the above-mentioned index was no statistically significant (P > 0.05). Except for 8 patients with complete nerve damage losing the possibility of recovery, the others with incomplete nerve damage obtained 1 to 3 degree's improvement. The ratio of back pain occurrence was 19.2%. There was no failure of internal fixation.

CONCLUSIONThe treatment of thoracolumbar type-C fractures with simple posterior long-segment internal fixation or posterior long-segmental fixation added by anterior autograft fusion is a reliable and effective method. The short-term therapeutic effect is satisfactory and the long-term therapeutic effect is to be further observed.

Adult ; Female ; Fracture Fixation, Internal ; methods ; Humans ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; injuries ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Radiography ; Spinal Fractures ; diagnostic imaging ; surgery ; Thoracic Vertebrae ; injuries ; surgery

OBJECTIVETo explore the feasibility of percutaneous vertebroplasty for the treatment of acute burst thoracolumbar fracture.

METHODSFifty-eight patients (male 38 and female 20, ranging in age from 38 to 70 years, with an average of 56.8 years) with acute burst thoracolumbar fracture were treated by percutaneous vertebroplasty. The injuried vertebrae were T11 in 3 cases, T12 18 cases, L1 29 cases, L2 5 cases and L3 3 cases. All suited cases were classified into 3 types according to injuried vertebral shapes,type I (safe type 26 cases), type II (risk type 21 cases), and type III (marginal type 11 cases).

RESULTSAll the patients were followed up ranging from 1 to 2.5 years (mean 1.6 years). Fifty-three patients could walk in 1 to 3 days after operation. Among 55 patients who obtained complete recovery (CR), 39 patients could do daily works and 16 patients could do houseworks. The CR rate was 95%. Three patients who obtained partial recovery (PR), could live by themselves and felt slight lumbago after movements. The PR rate was 5%.

CONCLUSIONPercutaneous vertebroplasty for the treatment of acute burst thoracolumbar fracture is a feasible and effective method even for particular risks.

Acute Disease ; Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; injuries ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Radiography ; Spinal Fractures ; diagnostic imaging ; surgery ; Thoracic Vertebrae ; injuries ; surgery ; Vertebroplasty ; methods

OBJECTIVESTo explore the clinical significance of the transverse thoracic pedicle diameters measurement and thoracic pedicles classification in thoracic adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients.

METHODSThirty thoracic idiopathic scoliosis patients who were hospitalized during October 2008 and July 2009 and 20 non-scoliosis adolescents who were adopted during August 2008 and July 2009 were included in this study. Successive CT thoracic vertebrae scanning of all subjects were obtained. All participants' transverse pedicle diameters of the thoracic vertebrae were measured with the software of PACS Client. Classified the pedicle into 4 types according to the transverse pedicle diameters. In control group, the transverse pedicle diameters of bilateral thoracic vertebrae were compared using paired-t test. In AIS group, the transverse pedicle diameters of concave and convex side thoracic vertebrae were compared using paired-t test. The distribution of pedicle types were compared using Chi-Square test between the control group and AIS group.

RESULTSThe transverse pedicle diameters showed a decreasing trend from T(1) to T(4) followed by an increasing trend from T(5) to T(12) in both groups. The bilateral transverse pedicle diameters had no significant difference in the control group. The transverse pedicle diameters of the concave side at the apex of thoracic curve were found to be significantly thinner than those of convex side. The ratio of Type 4 was higher in thoracic adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients than the controls, and the ratio of Type 1 was smaller in thoracic adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients than the controls.

CONCLUSIONSThe thoracic pedicles in thoracic adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients are often rather thinner. Preoperative CT measurement of thoracic pedicle in the treatment of idiopathic scoliosis is suggested helpful in deciding the correct strategy of pedicle screw insertion and decreasing the risk of clinically relevant neurovascular complications.

Adolescent ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Radiography ; Scoliosis ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; surgery ; Thoracic Vertebrae ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; surgery ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVESTo investigate the spatial structure of pedicle rib units in normal thoracic human spines and to compare the dimensions of the pedicle rib unit with corresponding dimensions.

METHODSThoracic spine specimens in four fresh adult cadaveric were used. Computerized tomographic (CT) images (including two-dimensional, three-dimensional reconstruction) of the thoracic spines were obtained. Measurement parameters include:the width, the height, the chord length and the sagittal angles of the pedicle rib unit compared with pedicle, especially for the pedicle-rib overlapping height.

RESULTSThe pedicle rib unit was not a simple two-dimensional structure but a three-dimensional structure. The shortest height of pedicle rib unit was (12.6 ± 0.8) mm (T(1)), while the longest was (16.9 ± 1.1) mm (T(11)). The shortest height of pedicle-rib overlap was (7.2 ± 0.3) mm (T(1)), while the longest was (11.8 ± 1.0) mm (T(10)). The height of pedicle rib unit and the height of pedicle were significantly larger than that of the pedicle-rib overlap (P < 0.05), while there was no significantly difference between the height of pedicle rib unit and the height of pedicle (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe pedicle rib unit is a complicated spatial structure, and the longitudinal height of pedicle-rib overlap should be taken as the real height of the unit.

Adult ; Bone Screws ; Humans ; Male ; Radiography ; Ribs ; anatomy & histology ; diagnostic imaging ; Thoracic Vertebrae ; anatomy & histology ; diagnostic imaging ; surgery