Methods Consecutive case control pilot study, with radiological results in coronal and sagittal curves, and scores for overall-satisfaction with TLI after one year of wearing. 91 consecutive children with scoliotic ( one curve >25o) and kyphotic spinal deformities during growth, wearing a lordotic brace at least a full year. Measurements of Cobb angles on AP and sagittal standing X-ray’s were c...

BACKGROUND CONTEXT Acute cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) has been observed in some patients after a minor trauma to the cervical spine. The discrepancy between the severity of the trauma and the clinical symptoms has been attributed to spinal canal stenosis. However, to date, there is no universally established radiological parameter for identifying critical spinal stenosis in these patients....

The presence of the neurotransmitter or neuromodulator, substance P (SP), in the spinal cord implies that a discrete localization of SP receptors also occurs. To map the distribution of and to characterize SP binding sites in the spinal cord, light microscopic autoradiography was used. SP binding sites occurred in the dorsal horn, intermediolateral cell column (IML) and lamina X-region. In the ...

My passion for the surgical correction of spinal deformity started during my residency in Toronto at the Hospital for Sick Children. I was fortunate to rotate through the service of Dr. John Hall a master surgeon and a visionary. Previously, he had introduced spinal instrumentation to Toronto, Canada after visiting Dr. Paul Harrington in Houston to observe a scoliosis correction with the Harrin...

Twenty-eight patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis treated by anterior spinal fusion with Dwyer instrumentation were reviewed. The average length of follow-up was 6.9 years. This technique produced better correction of lateral curvature and rotation than Harrington instrumentation, particularly in the thoracolumbar and lumbar region. The length of spine requiring fusion was also shorter...

Non-invasive, weak direct current stimulation can induce changes in excitability of underlying neural tissue. Many studies have used transcranial direct current stimulation to induce changes in the brain, however more recently a number of studies have used transcutaneous spinal direct current stimulation to induce changes in the spinal cord. This study further characterises the effects followin...

MK801 (MK), an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, attenuates tolerance to spinal opioids. Whether this applies to other G-protein-coupled receptor systems is unknown. This study examines the effects of continuous spinal MK on tolerance to the antinociceptive effect of continuous spinal infusion of the alpha-2 agonist ST91 (ST). Intrathecal (i.t.) infusion pumps were implanted in r...

BACKGROUND Endomorphin-1 and endomorphin-2 are endogenous peptides that are highly selective for mu-opioid receptors. However, studies of their functional efficacy and selectivity are controversial. In this study, we systematically compared the effects of intrathecal (i.t.) administration of endomorphin-1 and -2 on nociception assays and G protein activation with those of [d-Ala(2),N-Me-Phe(4),...

BACKGROUND Noxious intestinal distention elicits a reflex depressor response in the sodium pentobarbitone anaesthetised rat, which can be used as an index of visceral nociception. 5-HT(3) receptor antagonists inhibit this reflex. Repeated colorectal distention (CRD) induces Fos like immunoreactivity (Fos-LI) in the rat spinal cord. AIMS To examine the effect of the 5-HT(3) receptor antagonist...

BACKGROUND The curveback lineage of guppy is characterized by heritable idiopathic-type spinal curvature that develops during growth. Prior work has revealed several important developmental similarities to the human idiopathic scoliosis (IS) syndrome. In this study we investigate structural and histological aspects of the vertebrae that are associated with spinal curvature in the curveback gupp...