OBJECTIVE To study practical guidelines and strategies in the treatment of cervical osteomyelitis. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed 14 patients who underwent surgical treatment for cervical osteomyelitis from May 2000 to July 2008. We investigated their clinical course, antibiotic regimen, surgical methods, and laboratory and radiologic findings including X-ray, CT and MRI. RESULTS 5 pat...

BACKGROUND A variety of metacarpophalangeal joint (MCPJ) arthrodesis techniques have been described for the treatment of symptomatic arthritis and instability of the thumb MCPJ including K wire fixation, tension-band arthrodesis, plate fixation, intramedullary screw, and other intramedullary devices. This study presents a retrospective review of one surgeon's initial series of patients undergoi...

Except the oral clefts and their associated dental development disturbances, no other discrete morphologies are reported in the literature as related to altered fusions of the fetal maxilla and premaxilla. We report here two cases related by the persistence in adult of an aberrant canal at the fusion site of the fetal premaxilla and maxilla. The first case presents an anastomosis of the superio...

In high-grade spondylolisthesis, the surgical treatment should be aimed at achieving good stability to allow solid fusion in the face of high biomechanical forces at the lumbosacral junction. A 360 degrees fusion seems to be able to provide this stability. This is however extensive surgery and many problems and complications have been reported. In order to overcome these difficulties, various n...

To date, 2 cases of adjacent level spondylodiscitis occurring a few months after initial spinal fusion were reported. However, the development of delayed adjacent level spondylodiscitis is very rare. The authors report 3 cases of spondylodiscitis that occurred at the proximal adjacent level of the fused spine more than 1 year after the initial surgery. Antibiotic treatment was initially chosen ...

BACKGROUND Basilar invagination is a rare clinical condition characterized by upward protrusion of the odontoid process into the intracranial space, leading to bulbomedullary compression. It is often encountered in adults with rheumatoid arthritis. Transoral microscopic or endonasal endoscopic decompression may be pursued, with or without posterior fixation. We present a case of basilar invagin...

BACKGROUND Cervical laminoplasty, utilizing different spacers to ''keep the door open,'' is the gold standard in Japan for treating ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) and cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM). Here, we utilized a novel titanium ''basket'' spacer (Laminoplasty Basket: L-Basket; Ammtec, Tokyo) to perform open door cervical laminoplasty to keep the "door op...

splenogonadal fusion is a rare entity with approximately 150 reported cases until the year 2005. the entity is a rare congenital anomaly in which there is fusion of splenic and gonadal anlagen or mesonephric derivatives. splenogonadal fusion has two continuous and discontinuous types. about ten cases have been reported to be associated with bilateral cryptorchidism in literature. very few cases...

BACKGROUND Diastematomyelia is a rare congenital malformation of the spinal cord, which belongs to the group of occult spinal dysraphisms. This disorder consists in the separation of the spinal cord into two parts in the sagittal plane (hemicords). Diastematomyelia may coexist with other spinal dysraphisms, such as myelomeningocele, meningocele, spinal lipoma, neuroenteric cysts or dermal sinus...