1,720,969 research outputs found
Hydatid cyst of the spine
No full textWe describe a case of 62-year-old woman whose major complaints were back pain radiating to the legs and progressive weakness
in the lower limbs. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging showed spinal and paraspinal hydatid cysts causing
neural foraminal widening, dumbbell appearance and spinal cord compression. The cysts were removed surgically
Association between IL-6 and MMP-3 gene Polymorphisms and adolescent idiopathic scoliosis - A case-control study
No full textSTUDY DESIGN: Case-control study.
OBJECTIVE: As inflammation plays a key role in the etiology of intervertebral disc degeneration, we suggest a possible contribution of pro-inflammatory gene polymorphisms in the pathogenesis of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS).
SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: The nucleus pulposus of scoliotic discs responds to exogenous stimuli by secreting interleukin-6 (IL-6) and other inflammatory cytokines. The association between matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and disc degeneration has been reported by several investigators. A human MMP-3 promoter 5A/6A gene polymorphism regulates MMP-3 genes expression, while the G/C polymorphism of the promoter region of IL-6 gene influences levels and functional activity of the IL-6 protein.
METHODS: We conducted a case-control study to investigate whether the 5A/6A polymorphism of the MMP-3 gene and the G/C polymorphism of the promoter region of IL-6 gene were associated with susceptibility to AIS.
RESULTS: The frequency of the 5A/5A genotype of MMP-3 gene polymorphism in patients with scoliosis was almost 3 times higher than in controls (30.2% vs. 11.2%, p 0.001), and the frequency of the G/G genotype of IL-6 gene polymorphism in patients with scoliosis was almost 2 times higher than in controls (52.8% vs. 26.2%, P < 0.001). 5A/5A genotype of MMP-3 gene polymorphism and G/G genotype of IL-6 gene polymorphism are independently associated with a higher risk of scoliosis (odds ratio, respectively, 3.34 and 10.54).
CONCLUSION: This is the first study that has evaluated the possibility that gene variants of IL-6 and MMPs might be associated with scoliosis and suggests that MMP-3 and IL-6 promoter polymorphisms constitute important factors for the genetic predisposition to scoliosis
Kyphoplasty vs conservative treatment: a case-control study in 110 post-menopausal women population. Is kyphoplasty better than conservative treatment?
Full text linkAbstract. – OBJECTIVE: Osteoporosis is a
highly prevalent disease worldwide. Consequences
of vertebral osteoporotic fractures include
pain and progressive vertebral collapse
resulting in spinal kyphosis, decreased quality
of life, disability and mortality. Minimally invasive
procedures represent an advance to the treatment
of osteoporotic VCFs. Despite encouraging
results reported by many authors, surgical intervention
in an osteoporotic spine is fraught with
difficulties. Advanced patients age and comorbidities
are of great concern.
PATIENTS AND METHODS: We designed a
retrospective case-control study on 110 postmenopausal
women consecutively visited at our
institution. Study population was split in a surgical
and a conservative cohort, according to the
provided treatment.
RESULTS: Kyphoplasty treated patients had
lower back pain VAS scores at 1 month as compared
with conservatively treated patients (p <
0.05). EQ5D validated questionnaire also showed
a better quality of life at 1 month for surgically
treated patients (p < 0.05). SF-12 scores showed
greater improvements at 1 month and 3 months
with statistically significant difference between
the two groups just at 3 months (p < 0.05). At 12
months, scores from all scales were not statistically
different between the two cohorts, although
surgically treated patients showed better trends
than conservatively treated patients in pain and
quality of life. Kyphoplasty was able to restore
more than 54.55% of the original segmental
kyphosis, whereas patients in conservative cohort
lost 6.67% of the original segmental kyphosis
on average.
CONCLUSIONS: Kyphoplasty is a modern
minimal invasive surgery, allowing faster recovery
than bracing treatment. It can avoid the deformity
in kyphosis due to VCF. In fact, the risk
to develop a new vertebral fracture after the first
one is very high
Kyphoplasty vs conservative treatment: a case-control study in 110 post-menopausal women population. Is kyphoplasty better than conservative treatment?
No full textOsteoporosis is a highly prevalent disease worldwide. Consequences of vertebral osteoporotic fractures include pain and progressive vertebral collapse resulting in spinal kyphosis, decreased quality of life, disability and mortality. Minimally invasive procedures represent an advance to the treatment of osteoporotic VCFs. Despite encouraging results reported by many authors, surgical intervention in an osteoporotic spine is fraught with difficulties. Advanced patients age and comorbidities are of great concern.
PATIENTS AND METHODS:
We designed a retrospective case-control study on 110 post-menopausal women consecutively visited at our institution. Study population was split in a surgical and a conservative cohort, according to the provided treatment.
RESULTS:
Kyphoplasty treated patients had lower back pain VAS scores at 1 month as compared with conservatively treated patients (p < 0.05). EQ5D validated questionnaire also showed a better quality of life at 1 month for surgically treated patients (p < 0.05). SF-12 scores showed greater improvements at 1 month and 3 months with statistically significant difference between the two groups just at 3 months (p < 0.05). At 12 months, scores from all scales were not statistically different between the two cohorts, although surgically treated patients showed better trends than conservatively treated patients in pain and quality of life. Kyphoplasty was able to restore more than 54.55% of the original segmental kyphosis, whereas patients in conservative cohort lost 6.67% of the original segmental kyphosis on average.
CONCLUSIONS:
Kyphoplasty is a modern minimal invasive surgery, allowing faster recovery than bracing treatment. It can avoid the deformity in kyphosis due to VCF. In fact, the risk to develop a new vertebral fracture after the first one is very high
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Intraspinal extradural benign fibrous histiocytoma of the lumbar spine in a pediatric patient. Case report and literature review
No full textBenign fibrous histiocytoma (BFH) is a rare skeletal tumor. Spinal localizations have been previously described in 17 cases, and this is the first report of BFH occurring at the lumbar spine in a pediatric patient.A 13-year-old male complained lower limb motor and sensory impairment with severe claudication and urination disorders. A huge intraspinal, extradural mass at L4-L5 level, clearly evident on a preoperative MRI, caused dislocation and severe compression of the cauda equina nerve roots. After a biopsy, confirming BFH, a tumor resection and L4-S1 vertebral arthrodesis was carried out. At 1 year follow-up, no recurrence was detached on postoperative MRI, with complete neurological recovery.Review of the literature is discussed. Histological examination is mandatory for a correct diagnosis and plan of treatment. None of the pediatric patients treated for BFH have ever shown local relapse
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
- …
