OBJECTIVE To describe an additional maneuver during sonography for ovarian torsion and to assess its diagnostic value. METHODS During a period of about 2 years 6 months, 21 patients with acute or intermittent lower abdominal pain who had an ovarian mass and an extraovarian mass suggestive of a twisted vascular pedicle on sonography were studied. The gray scale features of the ovarian mass wer...

BACKGROUND Computerized navigation improves the accuracy of minimally invasive pedicle screw placement during spine surgery. Such navigation, however, exposes both the patient and the staff to radiation during surgery. To avoid intraoperative exposure to radiation, tracked ultrasound snapshots-ultrasound image frames coupled with corresponding spatial positions-could be used to map preoperative...

BACKGROUND Pedicle screw pullout due to poor bone quality, mainly caused by osteoporosis, is a common problem in spine surgery. Special implants and techniques, especially PMMA augmentation, were developed to improve the fixation of pedicle screws. PMMA injection into a pilot hole or through a screw involves the same risks as vertebroplasty or kyphoplasty, regardless of the technique used. Espe...

BACKGROUND Pedicle screw insertions are commonly used for posterior fixation to treat various spine disorders. However, the misplacement of pedicle screws can lead to disastrous complications. Inaccurate pedicle screw placement is relatively common even when placement is performed under fluoroscopic control. In order to improve the accuracy of the screw placement, we applied a technique using g...

STUDY DESIGN Case-control study. PURPOSE To evaluate clinical and radiological results of transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) performed with cortical bone trajectory (CBT) pedicle screw insertion with those of TLIF using 'conventional' or percutaneous pedicle screw insertion. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE CBT is a new trajectory for pedicle screw insertion in the lumbar spine; clinical a...

Spine stabilization after C3-C7 laminectomy can be accomplished with many instrumentation options. A hybrid construct using lateral mass screws from C3 to C5 and pedicle screws at C7 can potentially maximize strength and solve the spatial constraints introduced by the placement of C6 lateral mass screws and C7 pedicle screws. Seven cadaveric cervical spines from C2 to T2 were potted in a custom...

Large eyelid full-thickness defects are traditionally repaired using flaps with a blood-supplying pedicle, for the reconstruction of the anterior or posterior lamella or both. This is a 2-stage procedure involving occlusion of vision in the affected eye for 4-8 weeks, as the flap pedicle is not divided until vascularization is deemed adequate. However, the importance of using a flap with a pedi...

BACKGROUND Pedicle screws are biomechanically superior over other spinal fixation devices. When improperly positioned, they lose this advantage and put adjacent structures at risk. Accurate placement is therefore critical. Postoperative computed tomography (CT) scans are the imaging gold standard and have shown malposition rates ranging from 2% to 41%. The O-arm (Medtronic Navigation, Louisvill...

STUDY DESIGN We performed a prospective study to evaluate the reliability of using triggered electromyography (EMG) for predicting pedicle wall breakthrough during the placement of pedicle screw in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis surgery. PURPOSE We wanted to correlate pedicle wall breakthrough with the triggered EMG threshold of stimulation and the postoperative computed tomography (CT) find...

STUDY DESIGN Cadaveric biomechanical study. OBJECTIVE To determine fatigue behavior of cortical bone trajectory (CBT) pedicle screws. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA Cortical bone trajectory screws have been becoming popular in spine surgery; however, the long-term fatigue behavior of the new CBT screws remains understudied and limitations not well defined. METHODS Twelve vertebrae from six ca...