Methods: From March 2020 to March 2023, 100 inpatients with DS were classified into groups A, B, C, and D based on the CARDS classification system. Preoperative radiological data were analyzed to measure the severity of central canal stenosis, facet joint arthropathy, intervertebral disc herniation, and spinal epidural lipomatosis, osteophyte formation, range of motion (ROM), and computed tomography value of the vertebral bodies. The radiological characteristics and clinical contraindications for OLIF were compared among the groups. Results: Of the 100 patients, 51% had clinical contraindications for OLIF, which included 85%, 25%, 62.5%, and 20% of patients in groups A, B, C, and D, respectively. Compared with group B, group A demonstrated greater severity of central canal stenosis, whereas group C showed a higher degree of facet joint arthropathy. More patients in groups A and C had severe central canal stenosis. Regarding the ROM results, group A had segmental stiffness, whereas group D presented relatively unstable slip segments. Conclusions Patients with different DS subtypes have varied radiological characteristics. Groups B and D are suitable candidates for OLIF. Most patients in group A are unsuitable for OLIF because of bony hyperplasia, severe spinal stenosis, and segmental stiffness.

Methods: From March 2020 to March 2023, 100 inpatients with DS were classified into groups A, B, C, and D based on the CARDS classification system. Preoperative radiological data were analyzed to measure the severity of central canal stenosis, facet joint arthropathy, intervertebral disc herniation, and spinal epidural lipomatosis, osteophyte formation, range of motion (ROM), and computed tomography value of the vertebral bodies. The radiological characteristics and clinical contraindications for OLIF were compared among the groups. Results: Of the 100 patients, 51% had clinical contraindications for OLIF, which included 85%, 25%, 62.5%, and 20% of patients in groups A, B, C, and D, respectively. Compared with group B, group A demonstrated greater severity of central canal stenosis, whereas group C showed a higher degree of facet joint arthropathy. More patients in groups A and C had severe central canal stenosis. Regarding the ROM results, group A had segmental stiffness, whereas group D presented relatively unstable slip segments. Conclusions Patients with different DS subtypes have varied radiological characteristics. Groups B and D are suitable candidates for OLIF. Most patients in group A are unsuitable for OLIF because of bony hyperplasia, severe spinal stenosis, and segmental stiffness.

Methods: From March 2020 to March 2023, 100 inpatients with DS were classified into groups A, B, C, and D based on the CARDS classification system. Preoperative radiological data were analyzed to measure the severity of central canal stenosis, facet joint arthropathy, intervertebral disc herniation, and spinal epidural lipomatosis, osteophyte formation, range of motion (ROM), and computed tomography value of the vertebral bodies. The radiological characteristics and clinical contraindications for OLIF were compared among the groups. Results: Of the 100 patients, 51% had clinical contraindications for OLIF, which included 85%, 25%, 62.5%, and 20% of patients in groups A, B, C, and D, respectively. Compared with group B, group A demonstrated greater severity of central canal stenosis, whereas group C showed a higher degree of facet joint arthropathy. More patients in groups A and C had severe central canal stenosis. Regarding the ROM results, group A had segmental stiffness, whereas group D presented relatively unstable slip segments. Conclusions Patients with different DS subtypes have varied radiological characteristics. Groups B and D are suitable candidates for OLIF. Most patients in group A are unsuitable for OLIF because of bony hyperplasia, severe spinal stenosis, and segmental stiffness.

Objectives:To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of osteoporosis and osteopenia in patients with lumbar degenerative diseases,and to evaluate the predictive values of Osteoporosis Self-Assess-ment Screening Tool for Asians(OSTA)score and body mass index(BMI)for osteoporosis in this population.Methods:The clinical data of 432 patients with lumbar degenerative diseases admitted to the Department of Orthopedics of Huashan Hospital from January 2020 to December 2022 were analyzed retrospectively,including 120 males with an average age of 72.0±5.4 years and 312 females with an average age of 67.2±31.1 years old.All the patients underwent dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry(DXA)examination and lumbar CT scan in our hospital within 3 months before admission or after admission.OSTA score and BMI were calculated based on patient's age,height,and weight.Chi-square test was used to compare the incidence rates of osteoporosis and osteopenia in patients of different ages and genders.Receiver operating characteristics(ROC)curve was constructed and the area under the curve(AUC)was calculated.After determining the optimal cutoff value,the sensitivity,specificity,positive predictive value,and negative predictive value were calculated at this cutoff value.Results:According to the DXA examination results,the prevalence rates of osteoporosis in male patients over 65 years old and female patients over 50 years old were 14.17％and 37.50％respectively,and the prevalence rates of osteopenia were 52.50％and 48.08％respectively.The diagnostic compliance rate of lumbar and total hip DXA was 60.2％.In female patients of different age groups,the prevalence of osteoporosis or osteopenia increased in older age group,but the difference was not statistically significant.The prevalence of osteoporosis in women over 65 years old was greater than in men over 65 years old(P=0.000).Among the 297 patients diagnosed with osteopenia or normal bone mass by DXA,11.78％of them met the diagnostic criteria for osteoporosis in CT examination.The sensitivity of the OSTA score in predicting osteoporosis in male and female patients with lumbar degenerative disease was both 55.56％,and the negative predictive values were 89.04％and 79.19％,respectively,indicating limited predictive value for osteoporosis.The AUC of BMI in male and female patients with lumbar degenerative disease were 0.672 and 0.668 respectively,with sensitivities of 77.78％and 73.50％,and the negative predictive values of 93.10％and 76.69％respectively.The BMI had certain predictive value for osteoporosis.After correcting the diagnosis of osteoporosis with lumbar CT examination,the screening efficacy of OSTA score and BMI improved in both male and female patient populations.Conclusions:The epidemiological characteristics of osteoporosis in patients with lumbar degenerative diseases are high prevalence and low treatment rate.The prevalence of osteoporosis in women is significantly higher than that in men.The OSTA score has limited value in predicting osteoporosis,while BMI can be used as one of the initial screening tools for osteoporosis in this population.

Methods: The median sagittal diameter and transverse diameter of the spinal canal from C2 to C7 were measured on CT images. The ratio of the median sagittal diameter to the transverse diameter was calculated. Accordingly, the spinal canal shape of each segment was classified into four, and the specific criteria of lunar phase classification were determined through linear discriminant analysis based on the ratio of the median sagittal diameter to the transverse diameter. The inter-rater reliability of the classification was explored using Kappa coefficients. Finally, the morphology of the different segments of the cervical spinal canal in healthy volunteers was revised and compared. Results: According to the ratio of the median sagittal diameter and the transverse diameter of the cervical spinal canal, the lunar phase classification of the cervical bony spinal canal was determined as follows: full-moon >0.65, 0.55< convex-moon ≤0.65, 0.46≤ quarter-moon ≤0.55, and residual-moon <0.46. The Kappa values of C2–C7 were 0.851, 0.958, 0.823, 0.927, 0.793, and 0.946, and the Kappa value of all C2–C7 segments was 0.854 that mainly presented two forms of full-moon (76.5%) and convex-moon (23.0%). A quarter-moon spinal canal was mainly distributed in C3, C4, C5, and C6; a residual-moon spinal canal was mainly distributed in C4 and C5; and the morphological distribution of C4 and C5 were similar (p>0.05). The frequency of the spinal canal of the residual-moon type was the highest, and the full-moon (6.5%) and residual-moon (7.5%) types of C7 were rare. Conclusions The morphological classification of the cervical spinal canal was established to present anatomical variations. The classification showed good inter-rater reliability.

Objective:To investigate the diagnostic efficacy of MRI-based or CT-based measurements and the combined evaluation methods for preoperative bone quality assessment in patients with cervical degenerative diseases.Methods:Patients who underwent spine surgery for cervical degenerative diseases at the Department of Orthopedics, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University from September 2020 to March 2022 with available preoperative X-ray, CT, MRI and dule energy X-Ray absorptiometry (DEXA) data were included in this study. Vertebral bone quality score (VBQ) based on MRI T1-weightedimages and CT Hounsfiled unit (HU) values of the cervical spine were measured, and a combined diagnostic formula based on the binary logistic regression was constructed. The patients were divided into normal bone mass (T≥-1.0) and osteopenia/osteoporosis groups (T<-1.0). The student's t-test and Chi-square test were performed for comparisons between groups. The Pearson correlation coefficient was also used to investigate the correlation between DEXA-T scores, cervical VBQ and CT HU values. In addition, receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) were plotted to explore the diagnostic efficacy of VBQ, CT HU and their combined diagnosis. Meanwhile, the corresponding sensitivity and specificity were obtained. Results:A total of 71 patients were included in this study (17 in the normal group and 54 in the osteopenia/osteoporosis group). The student's t-test showed that VBQ (2.90±0.70 vs. 3.83±0.83, t=4.23, P<0.001) and CT HU values (370.26±85.38 vs. 295.20±67.96, t=3.73, P=0.002) were significantly different between the two groups. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) for VBQ and CT values of the cervical spine were 0.81 and 0.75, respectively, and the AUC for the combined diagnostic value constructed on the basis of both was 0.85. Applying VBQ scores alone had a diagnostic sensitivity of 80% and a specificity of 70%, and the combined diagnosis with VBQ and CT HU had a sensitivity of 90% and a specificity of 75%. Person correlation analysis showed a significant correlation between DEXA T value, cervical VBQ value and CT HU value. The detailed formula was: DEXA T score=-0.63×cervical VBQ+0.64 ( r=-0.55, P<0.001), CT HU value=-40.20×cervical VBQ+458.40 ( r=-0.45, P<0.001), DEXA T score=0.006×CT HU-3.47 ( r=0.45, P<0.001). Conclusion:This study confirmed the feasibility of using cervical VBQ values, CT HU values and combined diagnostics for preoperative bone density screening in patients with degenerative cervical spine diseases. This method allows surgeons to perform an initial preoperative bone density screening based on the patient's existing imaging data, and thus could aid in confirming the indication and scheme of surgery. The method could be a powerful tool for preoperative bone density assessment screening in patients with cervical degenerative diseases.

Objective:To investigate the correlation between paraspinal muscle atrophy, morphological changes of facet joints and adjacent segment disease (ASDis) after lumbar fusion operation.Methods:A retrospective study was conducted among 195 patients who underwent posterior lumbar fusion again for ASDis at this institution from January 2014 to December 2020, including 29 patients with ASDis whose initial surgical fusion segment was L 4,5. According to Roussouly's staging, there were 5 cases of type I, 9 cases of type II, 10 cases of type III, and 5 cases of type IV. Another 29 cases were selected from patients without ASDis after lumbar fusion as a control group. The control group was paired 1∶1 with the ASDis group according to gender, fusion segment, and Roussouly typing of the lumbar spine. The cross-sectional area (CSA) and fat infiltration (FI) of paravertebral muscle, facet joint angle (F-J) and pedicle facet (P-F) angle before the first (second) operation were measured and compared between the two groups. Then logistic regression analysis was used to determine the predictors of ASDis after posterior lumbar fusion. Finally, the receiver operation characteristic (ROC) curve was described, and the area under the curve (AUC) and cut-off point were calculated. At the same time, the paraspinal muscle atrophy before the second operation in ASDis group was measured. Results:The average follow-up time of 98 patients was 59.25±6.38 months (range, 49-73 months). The average body mass index (BMI) of ASDis group was 24.76±3.64 kg/m 2, which was higher than that in control group (22.24±2.92 kg/m 2) ( t=2.481, P=0.041). The average CSA and relative cross-sectional area (rCSA) of paraspinal muscle in ASDis group were 3 214.32± 421.15 mm 2 and 1.69±0.36 respectively, which were less than 3 978.91±459.87 mm 2 and 2.26±0.29 in control group ( t=10.22, P=0.012; t=9.47, P=0.038). The FI degree of paraspinal muscle in ASDis group (21.95%±5.89%) was significantly higher than that in control group (14.64%±7.11%) ( t=7.32, P=0.002). The F-J angle in ASDis group was 35.06°±3.45°, which was less than 38.39°±4.67° in control group ( t=4.76, P=0.027). The P-F angle in ASDis group was 117.39°±8.13°, which was greater than 111.32°±4.78° in control group ( t=5.25, P=0.031). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that higher BMI ( OR=1.34, P=0.038), smaller rCSA of paraspinal muscle ( OR=0.02, P=0.017) and higher FI of paraspinal muscle ( OR=1.58, P=0.032) were the risk factors of postoperative ASDis. The ROC curve showed that the AUC of BMI was 0.680 and the cut-off point was 22.58 kg/m 2; The AUC of the FI of paraspinal muscle was 0.716 and the cut-off point was 15.69%; The AUC of rCSA of paraspinal muscle was 0.227 and the cut-off point was 1.92. For ASDis patients, the paraspinal muscle before the second operation had a higher degree of FI (25.47%±6.59% vs. 21.95%±5.89%, t=3.99, P=0.042) and a smaller rCSA (1.52±0.28 vs. 1.69±0.36, t=3.85, P=0.038) than that before the first operation. The difference between the FI degree of paraspinal muscle before the second operation and the first operation was negatively correlated with the occurrence time of ASDis ( r=-0.53, P=0.039) , and the difference of rCSA was positively correlated with the occurrence time of ASDis ( r=0.64, P=0.043) . Conclusion:When BMI >22.58 kg/m 2, FI of paraspinal muscle >15.69%, and rCSA of paraspinal muscle <1.92, it suggests that ASDis is more likely to occur after operation. And the more obvious paraspinal muscle atrophy after the first operation, the earlier ASDis may occur. Morphological changes of facet joints cannot be used as an index to predict the occurrence of ASDis.

Objective:To investigate the influence of interbody cage height during oblique lumbar interbody fusion (OLIF) on lumbar biomechanics with different degrees of degeneration and to provide a reference for cage choice.Methods:The finite element model of normal lower lumbar spine (L 3-S 1) was built and validated, then constructed three different degenerative segments in L 3, 4, and the cages with different height (8, 10,12, 14 mm) were implanted into L 4, 5 disc. All the twelve models were loaded with pure moment of 7.5 N·m to produce flexion, extension, lateral bending and axial rotation motions on lumbar spine, and the effects of cage height on range of motion (ROM), intervertebral pressure in adjacent segments and stress in facet joints were investigated. Results:The ROM of adjacent segments and the maximum stress of intervertebral discs increased with the increase of cage height, but this trend was not obvious in moderate and severe degeneration groups. After implantation of 4 different height cages (8, 10, 12, 14 mm), the ROM of L 3, 4 segment reached the maximum during extension. The ROM of mild degeneration group was 2.68 °, 2.71 °, 2.94 °, 2.98 °, moderate degeneration group was 2.33°, 2.37°, 2.41°, 2.49°, and severe degeneration group was 1.94 °, 1.99 °, 2.14 °, 2.21 °. The stress of L 3, 4 intervertebral disc reached the maximum during right bending. The maximum stress of L 3, 4 intervertebral disc was 23.95 MPa, 24.60 MPa, 24.90 MPa and 25.34 MPa in mild group, 25.57 MPa, 25.60 MPa, 25.82 MPa and 25.89 MPa in moderate group, and 25.95 MPa, 25.99 MPa, 26.48 MPa and 27.13 MPa in severe group. The maximum stress of L 3, 4 facet joint was 15.87 MPa, 15.78 MPa, 16.29 MPa and 16.43 MPa in mild group, 15.97 MPa, 16.31 MPa, 16.53 MPa and 16.79 MPa in moderate group, and 16.17 MPa, 16.49 MPa, 16.95 MPa and 17.35 MPa in severe group. Conclusion:For patients with mild lumbar degeneration requiring OLIF surgery, the intervertebral height of the surgical segment should not be overstretched. But for patients with moderate to severe lumbar degenerative disease who need to undergo OLIF surgery, it is recommended that the cage height be 0-2 mm higher than the original intervertebral space height.

Fusion surgery has been an effective modality for the treatment of spinal disorders for more than 100 years. With the increasing understanding of the disease and the increasing maturity of surgical techniques, lumbar fusion has become more widely performed and its efficacy has been conclusively proven. However, fusion surgery inevitably disrupts the original physiologic motion of the spine and limits segmental motion, resulting in a significant increase in disc and joint protrusion stress in adjacent segments. When a newly identified degenerative change on imaging is present in an adjacent segment or an existing degeneration is more aggravated, this is known as adjacent segment degeneration. When clinical symptoms such as pain and numbness in the lower extremities are present that are consistent with degeneration, this is known as adjacent segment disease. Real world studies (RWS) have become a major focus in medical research in recent years. Since it is closer to clinical practice and more practical for decision-making compared with randomized controlled trail (RCT), it is gaining importance in clinical practice. By searching major national and international databases, this article provides a review of risk factors as well as advances in the treatment of lumbar adjacent segment disease in RWS. According to the retrieved literature, there are many factors that contribute to the development and progression of adjacent segment degeneration and disease, which are mainly divided into patient-related factors and surgery-related factors. In general, patient age, weight, spinal-pelvic sagittal parameters, and internal diseases influence the progression of adjacent segment degeneration. Surgery-related risk factors include the number of segments operated on, the surgical approach, interference with adjacent segments, and whether the spinal-pelvicsagittal imbalance is corrected. To prevent the development of adjacent segment disease, patients can slow the progression of adjacent segment degeneration by reducing their own weight and controlling their internal diseases. The physician can also avoid the influence of surgery-related factors through adequate surgical planning and careful intraoperative management. At the same time, surgeries may be performed in patients who have developed adjacent segmental disease and for whom conservative treatment has failed. The current revision surgical approaches include endoscopic simple decompression and posterior decompression with extended internal fixation.Short-term RWS revealed that the efficacy of endoscopic treatment of adjacent spondylosis might be equivalent to re-fusion internal fixation surgery. Studies with large samples and long-term follow-up are still needed to guide the treatment of adjacent segment disease in the future, in order to improve clinical decision-making.

Objective:To explore the effect of intravascular sodium nitroprusside (SNP) combined with hyaluronidase (HAase) plus urokinase (UK) in treating rat abdominal wall skin flap ischemia caused by HA induced artery embolism, and to compare the difference between thrombolysis with and without addition of sodium nitroprusside.Methods:Forty male Sprague-Dawley rats were injected with 10 μl of hyaluronic acid (HA) into the left inferior epigastric arteries, constructing the superficial epigastricl artery skin flap ischemic model in rats. The rats were randomly divided into four groups: a control group, and experimental groups A, B and C. Control and experimental groups A, B and C were treated with the following solutions 45 minutes after hyaluronic acid injection: physiological saline plus glucose was injected into the rats (control group); hyaluronidase (HAase) plus glucose injection was injected into the rats (experimental group A), hyaluronidase (HAase) plus urokinase (UK) was injected into the rats (experimental group B), hyaluronidase (HAase), urokinase (UK) plus sodium nitroprusside were injected into the rats (experimental group C). The changes of flaps were observed at 0 min, 3 days, 5 days and 7 days after operation. The difference of the area percentage of unperfused flap in the four groups was compared 7 days after operation. This study was carried out from July 2020 to March 2021 in the Medical Laboratory Animal Center of Weifang Medical University.Results:The unperfused area of flaps for the control group, experimental groups A, B and C were (100.00±0.00) %, (44.68±7.90)%, (34.01±8.77)% and (24.12±4.58)%, respectively. In the experimental group C, the scabby necrosis area was smaller than that of the experimental group A ( P<0.05); in the experimental group C, the scabby necrosis area was smaller than that of the experimental group B ( P<0.05); in the experimental group B, the scabby necrosis area was smaller than that of the experimental group A ( P<0.05). HE staining revealed that size and density of the embolus was significantly decreased after the addition of sodium nitroprusside. Conclusions:Sodium nitroprusside combined with hyaluronidase and urokinase can effectively improve the ischemia of the flap caused by HA induced artery embolism, increase the tissue perfusion, and reduce the necrotic area of the flap.