Clinical Study on Treatment of Type II/III Lumbar Brucellar Spondylitis by Unilateral Biportal Endoscopy

Objective: Explore the feasibility and clinical efficacy of using unilateral biportal endoscopy for the treatment of Type II/III lumbar brucellar spondylitis. Methods: A retrospective study of the clinical data of 20 patients with Type II/III lumbar brucellar spondylitis admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Hebei North University from January 2020 to May 2022, including 15 males and 5 females, aged 41 - 60 years old, average age (48.11 ± 7.28) years old. After admission, the patient can isolate brucella through metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing (mNGS), meeting the tertiary diagnostic criteria. Preoperative conventional drug treatment, unilateral biportal endoscopic minimally invasive surgery was performed when nutrition was improved, perioperative control of various indexes was stable, and erythrocyte sedimentation was declining. It was completed under an endoscope. The lesion was cleared, spinal nerve compression was relieved, interbody fusion was performed, and the spine was fixed by a percutaneous pedicle screw. Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR), C-Reactive Protein (CRP), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) score and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) were analyzed at 1 month, 3 months, 6 months and the last follow-up. At the final follow-up of all patients, the clinical efficacy criteria and the Bridwell grading criteria were used to evaluate the recovery and intervertebral bone graft fusion, respectively. Results: All patients’ lower back and leg pain was relieved the next day after surgery. At a follow-up of one month after surgery, both systemic and local symptoms significantly improved. At the last follow-up, clinical symptoms disappeared and there was no tenderness or percussion pain in the local area. With the passage of time, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months after the operation, and the last follow-up are all evaluation indicators compared with those before the operation. No matter VAS, JOA, ODI score, or ESR, CRP is significantly improved compared with preoperative (P All 20 cases in this group reached the BS clinical cure standard, and the excellent rate of intervertebral bone graft fusion was 95%. Conclusion: On the basis of .

Differential study of DCE-MRI parameters in spinal metastatic tumors, brucellar spondylitis and spinal tuberculosis

Objective： In the present study, spinal metastatic tumors, brucellar spondylitis and spinal tuberculosis werequantitatively analyzed using dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging （DCE-MRI） to assess thevalue of DCE-MRI in the differential diagnosis of these diseases.Methods： Patients with brucellar spondylitis, spinal tuberculosis or a spinal metastatic tumor （30 cases of each）received conventional MRI and DCE-MRI examination. The volume transfer constant （Ktrans）, rate constant （Kep）,extravascular extracellular volume fraction （Ve） and plasma volume fraction （Vp） of the diseased vertebral bodieswere measured on the perfusion parameter map, and the differences in these parameters between the patients werecompared.Results： For pathological vertebrae in cases of spinal metastatic tumor, brucellar spondylitis and spinaltuberculosis, respectively, the Ktrans values （median ＋ quartile pitch） were 0.989±0.014, 0.720±0.011 and0.317±0.005 min-1; the Kep values were 2.898±0.055, 1.327±0.017 and 0.748±0.006 min-1; the Ve values were0.339±0.008, 0.542±0.013 and 0.428±0.018; the Vp values were 0.048±0.008, 0.035±0.004 and 0.028±0.009; thecorresponding H values were 50.25 （for Ktrans）, 52.47 （for Kep）, 48.33 （for Ve） and 46.56 （for Vp）, and all differenceswere statistically significant （two-sided P〈0.05）.Conclusions： The quantitative analysis of DCE-MRI has a certain value in the differential diagnosis of spinalmetastatic tumor, brucellar spondylitis and spinal tuberculosis.