Surgical treatment of sacral fractures following lumbosacral arthrodesis: Case report and literature review

Sacral fractures following posterior lumbosacral fusion are an uncommon complication. Only a few case series and case reports have been published so far. This article presents a case of totally displaced sacral fracture following posterior L4-S1 fusion in a 65-yearold patient with a 15-year history of corticosteroid use who underwent open reduction and internal fixation using iliac screws. The patient was followed for 2 years. A thorough review of the literature was conducted using the Medline database between 1994 and 2014. Immediately after the revision surgery, the patient's pain in the buttock and left leg resolved significantly. The patient was followed for 2 years. The weakness in the left lower extremity improved gradually from 3/5 to 5/5. In conclusion, the incidence of postoperative sacral fractures could have been underestimated, because most of these fractures are not visible on a plain radiograph. Computed tomography has been proved to be able to detect most such fractures and should probably be performed routinely when patients complain of renewed buttock pain within 3 mo after lumbosacral fusion. The majority of the patients responded well to conservative treatments, and extending the fusion construct to the iliac wings using iliac screws may be needed when there is concurrent fracture displacement, sagittal imbalance, neurologic symptoms, or painful nonunion.

Radiological and clinical outcomes of midline lumbar fusion on sagittal lumbar-pelvic parameters for degenerative lumbar diseases

BACKGROUND Improving the sagittal lumbar-pelvic parameters after fusion surgery is important for improving clinical outcomes.The impact of midline lumbar fusion(MIDLF)on sagittal lumbar-pelvic alignment for the management of degenerative lumbar diseases is still unknown.AIM To analyze the effects of short-segment MIDLF and minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion(MIS-TLIF)on sagittal lumbar-pelvic parameters.METHODS We retrospectively analyzed 63 patients with degenerative lumbar diseases who underwent single-segment MIDLF or MIS-TLIF.The imaging data of patients were collected before surgery and at the final follow-up.The radiological sagittal parameters included the lumbar lordosis(LL),lower LL,L4 slope(L4S),L5 slope(L5S),L5 incidence(L5I),L1 axis and S1 distance(LASD),pelvic incidence(PI),pelvic tilt(PT),sacral slope(SS),and PI-LL mismatch(PI-LL).Additionally,the clinical outcomes,including lower back and leg pain visual analog scale(VAS)and Oswestry disability index(ODI)scores,were also analyzed.RESULTS In both groups,LL and Lower LL significantly increased,while L5I and LASD significantly decreased at the final follow-up compared to that recorded prior to operation(P<0.05).In the MIDLF group,L4S significantly decreased compared to that recorded prior to operation(P<0.05),while the mean SS significantly increased and the PT significantly decreased compared to that recorded prior to operation(P<0.05).In the MIS-TLIF group,SS slightly increased and the mean PT value decreased compared to that recorded prior to operation,but without a statistically significant difference(P>0.05).However,the PI-LL in both groups was significantly reduced compared to that recorded prior to operation(P<0.05).There was no significant difference in the sagittal lumbar-pelvic parameters between the two groups prior to operation and at the final follow-up(P>0.05).In addition,the change in sagittal lumbar-pelvic parameters did not differ significantly,except forΔLASD within the two groups(P>0.05).The mean lower back and leg pain VAS and ODI scores in both groups were significantly improved three months after surgery and at the final follow-up.Though the mean ODI score in the MIDLF group three months after surgery was slightly higher than that in the MIS-TLIF group,there was no significant difference between the two groups at the final follow-up.CONCLUSION Short-segment MIDLF and MIS-TLIF can equally improve sagittal lumbar parameters such as LL,Lower LL,L5I,and LASD in the treatment of lumbar degenerative diseases.However,MIDLF had a larger impact on pelvic parameters than MIS-TLIF.

Clinical Features and Prognostic Risk Factors of Choroic Plexus Tumors in Children

Background:Decision-making concerning the treatment ofchoroid plexus tumor (CPT)in pediatric patients remains a topic of considerable debate.The aim of this work was to describe clinical features and prognostic risk factors of CPT in the pediatric population and to provide theoretical opinions regarding clinical decisions for CPT. Methods:The data of 96 patients with CPT and younger than 14 years were retrospectively analyzed.Clinical characteristics such as pathological type of CPTs,rate and severity of hydrocephalus,treatment and outcome,and recurrence were investigated.For categorical variables,the Pearson's Chi-square test was performed.The Mann-Whitney U-test was used for comparisons between nonnormally distributed parameters.Log-rank test was used for progression-free survival (PFS). Results:The study included 70 choroid plexus papilloma (CPP)cases,17 atypical choroid plexus papilioma (aCPP)cases,and 9 choroid plexus carcinoma (CPC)cases.Compared with patients with CPP or aCPP,patients with CPC had a shorter disease course (median:CPP, 4 months;aCPP,2 months;CPC,1 month;H:23.5,P <0.001),higher rate of acute hydrocephalus (CPP,27.1%;aCPP,52.9%;CPC, 77.8%;x^2 =10.9,P <0.05),and lower incidence of cure rate (CPP,85.7%;aCPP,70.5%;CPC,33.3%;x^2 =13.5,P <0.05).The severity of hydrocephalus with tumor in the lateral or third ventricle was significantly higher than that with tumors in the fourth ventricle (severe hydrocephalus:lateral ventricle,51.7%;third ventricle,47.0%;fourth ventricle,11.1%;x^2 =26.0,P <0.001).Patients with gross total surgical resection had no better PFS than those with partial resection because of the use of adjuvant therapy in the latter (x^2 =4.0,P >0.05). Patients with CPC experienced shorter time for recurrence than those with CPP or aCPP (x^2 =40.1,P <0.0001). Conclusions:Our results indicated that CPP in the fourth ventricle could trigger serious clinical symptoms at an early stage,requiring early intervention.Adjuvant treatment might be necessary for patients with partially resected CPP,aCPP,and CPC to achieve a favorable outcome.

Emergency irradiation with 3.4 Gy/2f in sellar/suprasellar germinoma patients with rapid visual acuity decline

Background: Rapid visual acuity (VA) decline was a common complaint in patients with sellar/suprasellar germinoma. In our hospital, 3.4 Gy/2f of emergency irradiation was applied to save patient VA and enable subsequent chemoradiotherapy. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of emergency irradiation with 3.4 Gy/2f in patients with sellar/suprasellar germinoma who had rapid VA decline. Methods: From January 2014 to December 2017, 33 patients with sellar/suprasellar germinoma who complained of VA decline within 3 months received 3.4 Gy/2f of emergency irradiation in Beijing Tiantan Hospital. The best-corrected VA (BCVA) and mean deviation (MD) were measured. Correlations between visual function change and clinical factors, including age at diagnosis, duration of VA decline, extent of tumor regression, serum level of tumor markers, were analyzed. Results: Among 33 patients with sellar/suprasellar germinoma, the median diameter and volume of sellar/suprasellar lesions were 32 mm (range: 5–55 mm) and 12.9 cm3 (range 0.6–58.5 cm3), respectively. Data on pre- and post-emergency-irradiation BCVA were obtained in 32 patients. For the right eyes, BCVA was improved in 23 patients (71.9%), unchanged in 7 (21.9%), and worsened in 2 (6.2%);and for the left eyes, these numbers were 27 (84.4%), 4 (12.5%), and 1 (3.1%), respectively. In terms of the logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution = Log (1/BCVA) score, the improvement was significant in both eyes (P < 0.001). In terms of MD, six patients had paired data and the improvement was marginal in the right eyes (P = 0.068) and significant in the left eyes (P = 0.043). However, no clinical factor was found to have correlation with visual function improvement. Conclusion: In sellar/suprasellar germinoma patients with VA decline, 3.4 Gy/2f of emergency irradiation was effective in improving visual function.

Epidemiological characteristics of central nervous system tumors in children: a 5-year review of 3180 cases from Beijing Tiantan Hospital

Background:To describe the epidemiological characteristics of central nervous system(CNS)tumors in children,based on the neurosurgery department of Beijing Tiantan Hospital.Methods:From January 2015 to December 2019,3180 children were histopathologically diagnosed with CNS tumors based on the 2016 World Health Organization(WHO)classification of tumors.Patients were 0 to 15 years old.We analyzed age-related gender preferences,tumor locations,and the histological grades of the tumors.In addition,the epidemiological characteristics of the five most common intracranial tumors were compared to the previous studies.Results:In this study,intracranial and spinal tumors account for 96.4%(3066)and 3.6%(114)of all tumors,with a preponderance of supratentorial tumors(57.9%).Among all pediatric patients,low-grade tumors comprise 67.1%(2135).The integral gender ratio of males to females is 1.47:1 and the average age of patients is 7.59 years old.The five most common intracranial tumors are craniopharyngioma(15.4%),medulloblastoma(14.3%),pilocytic astrocytoma(11.8%),diffuse astrocytoma(9.8%),and anaplastic ependymoma(4.8%).Conclusions:Due to the lack of national data on childhood brain tumors,we used a large nationally representative population sample based on the largest pediatric neurosurgery center in China.We analyzed the data of the past 5 years,reflecting the incidence of CNS tumors in Chinese children to a certain extent,and laying a data foundation for subsequent clinical studies.