INTRODUCTION Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody fusion (TLIF), using interbody cages is a popular surgical method of treating various spinal disorders. In the past few years, various types of interbody cages have been introduced to spine surgeons. These interbody device and footprint sizes [1]. The footprint size of the interbody device is an important factor that determines the biomechanical stab...

STUDY DESIGN Retrospective radiographic and chart review. OBJECTIVE To define the rate and associated risk factors of treatment failure of anterior cervical fusion for treatment of cervical facet dislocations. METHODS Between 2004 and 2014, a retrospective review at a single level 1 trauma center identified 38 patients with unilateral or bilateral dislocated facet(s) treated with anterior c...

We investigated the effects of mechanical strain on the progressive ankylosis (ANK) gene and extracellular nucleotide phosphatase/phosphodiesterase (ENPP)1 mRNA expression and TGF-β1 protein expression in rat endplate chondrocytes in vitro. Endplate chondrocytes were isolated and cultured in vitro. Following identification with toluidine blue and immunocytochemical staining, chondrocytes were s...

Abstract Background Restoration of cervical lordosis after anterior discectomy and fusion is a desirable goal. Proper insertion the vertebral distraction or Caspar pin can assist lordotic restoration by either putting tips divergently parallel to index endplates. With inexperienced surgeons, traditional free-hand technique for may require multiple attempts that compromise body increase radiatio...

We describe a severe congenital myasthenic syndrome (CMS) caused by two missense mutations in the gene encoding the muscle specific receptor tyrosine kinase (MUSK). The identified MUSK mutations M605I and A727V are both located in the kinase domain of MuSK. Intracellular microelectrode recordings and microscopy studies of the neuromuscular junction conducted in an anconeus muscle biopsy reveale...

BACKGROUND Because currently existing reinnervation methods result in poor functional recovery, there is a great need to develop new treatment strategies. OBJECTIVE To investigate the efficacy of our recently developed nerve-muscle-endplate band grafting (NMEG) technique for muscle reinnervation. METHODS Twenty-five adult rats were used. Sternohyoid (SH) and sternomastoid (SM) muscles serve...

We used the loose patch voltage clamp technique and rhodamine-conjugated alpha-bungarotoxin to study the regulation of Na channel (NaCh) and acetylcholine receptor (AChR) distribution on dissociated adult skeletal muscle fibers in culture. The aggregate of AChRs and NaChs normally found in the postsynaptic membrane of these cells gradually fragmented and dispersed from the synaptic region after...