• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
• /
• v.30 no.12
• /
• pp.1369-1374
• /
• 2001

Objectives : The rates of pseudarthrosis for two- and three level fusion have been reported to be 17-63 and 50% without anterior cervical plating. The purpose of this study is to assess the effects of anterior cervical plating in the treatment of multilevel degenerative cervical disease such mostly the additional risks associated with hardware implants and its benefits, fusion rate and radiographic results, and clinical outcomes. Methods : Forty-seven patients who underwent operations between 1993 and 1997 were retrospectively reviewed. The technique for operation was same for both groups(Smith Robinson with autologous iliac bone graft). Group I consisted of 35 consecutive patients treated with anterior cervical decompression and fusion with anterior cervical plate fixation. Group II consisted of 12 consecutive patients treated without plate fixation. We compared clinical outcomes by Prolo score, radiographic results in the rate of fusion, cervical lordosis by Gore angle, disc height by Farfan method, and surgical complications between two groups. Results : The favorable clinical outcomes(excellent and good) by Prolo score were observed with the use of anterior cervical plate fixation(89% vs 75%). The successful fusion rate of multilevel cervical fusion was as seen with anterior cervical plate fixation(97% vs 75%). The overall graft complication rate in multilevel fusions was decreased, with anterior cervical plate fixation, and the hardware related complications were relatively minimal without serious consequences. Conclusion : Anterior cervical plate fixation in the treatment of multilevel cervical disorders is an effective stabilizing method which provides increased bony fusion rate, decreased graft complications, maintained cervical lordosis, early mobilization of the these patients without serious hardware related complications.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
• /
• v.48 no.4
• /
• pp.335-341
• /
• 2010

Objective : Anterior cervical corpectomy with fusion (ACF) or laminoplasty may be associated with substantial number of complications for treating multilevel cervical ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) with significant cord compression. For more safe decompression and stabilization in multilevel cervical OPLL with prominent cord compression, we propose circumferential cervical surgery (selective ACF and laminoplasty) based on our favorable experience. Methods : Twelve patients with cervical myelopathy underwent circumferential cervical surgery and all patients showed multilevel OPLL with Signal change of the spinal cord on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A retrospective review of clinical, radiological. and surgical data was conducted. Results : There were 9 men and 3 women with mean age of 56.7 years and a mean follow up period of 15.6 months. The average corpectomy level was 1.16 and laminoplasty level was 4.58. The average Japanese Orthopedic Association score for recovery was 5.1 points and good clinical results were obtained in 11 patients (92%) (p < 0.05). The average space available for the cord improved from 58.2% to 87.9% and the average Cobb's angle changed from 7.63 to 12.27 at 6 months after operation without failure of fusion (p < 0.05). Average operation time was 8.36 hours, with an estimated blood loss of 760 mL and duration of bed rest of 2.0 days. There were no incidences of significant surgical complications, including wound infection. Conclusion : Although the current study examined a small sample with relatively short-term follow-up periods, our study results demonstrate that circumferential cervical surgery is considered favorable for safety and effectiveness in multilevel OPLL with prominent cord compression.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
• /
• v.52 no.5
• /
• pp.452-458
• /
• 2012

Objective : In the present study, we evaluated the effect, safety and radiological outcomes of cervical hybrid surgery (cervical disc prosthesis replacement at one level, and interbody fusion at the other level) on the multilevel cervical degenerative disc disease (DDD). Methods : Fifty-one patients (mean age 46.7 years) with symptomatic multilevel cervical spondylosis were treated using hybrid surgery (HS). Clinical [neck disability index (NDI) and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score] and radiologic outcomes [range of motion (ROM) for cervical spine, adjacent segment and arthroplasty level] were evaluated at routine postoperative intervals of 1, 6, 12, 24 months. Review of other similar studies that examined the HS in multilevel cervical DDD was performed. Results : Out of 51 patients, 41 patients received 2 level hybrid surgery and 10 patients received 3 level hybrid surgery. The NDI and VAS score were significantly decreased during the follow up periods (p<0.05). The cervical ROM was recovered at 6 and 12 month postoperatively and the mean ROM of inferior adjacent segment was significantly larger than that of superior adjacent segments after surgery. The ROM of the arthoplasty level was preserved well during the follow up periods. No surgical and device related complications were observed. Conclusion : Hybrid surgery is a safe and effective alternative to fusion for the management of multilevel cervical spondylosis.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
• /
• v.38 no.1
• /
• pp.77-79
• /
• 2005

We report a case of early stress fracture of the pelvic ring following an extension of a multilevel instrumented lumbosacral fusion in an osteopenic female. Surgeons should be aware of possibilities of pelvic complications in osteopenic patients with lumbosacral arthrodesis and should take care when harvesting iliac bone graft.

• Asian Spine Journal
• /
• v.12 no.6
• /
• pp.1010-1016
• /
• 2018

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study. Purpose: To report on spinal fusion assessment using computed tomography (CT) after adult spinal deformity (ASD) surgery using ultra-low dose recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein 2 (RhBMP-2). Overview of Literature: The reported dose of RhBMP-2 needed for successful spinal posterolateral fusion in ASD ranges from 10 to 20 mg per spinal level. This study reports the use of ultra-low dose of RhBMP-2 (0.07 mg per facet) to achieve spinal fusion in multilevel ASD surgery. Methods: Consecutive patients who underwent ASD surgery using ultra-low dose RhBMP-2 were recruited. Routine postoperative CT analysis for spinal fusion was performed by two spine surgeons. Inter-observer agreement was calculated for facet fusion (FF) and interbody fusion (IBF) at 6 and 12 months after the procedure. Results: Six consecutive ASD patients with a mean age of 62 years (28-72 years) were examined. Each patient received a total dose of 12 mg with an average dose of $0.69{\pm}0.2mg$ (0.42-1 mg) per single FF and $1.38{\pm}0.44mg$ (0.85-2 mg) for IBF. Total 131 FF and 15 IBF were examined in the study, with 88 FFs and nine IBFs being analyzed specifically at 6 months after the surgery. FF and IBF reported by surgeons A and B at 6 months were 97.7% vs. 91.9% FF, respectively (${\kappa}=0.95$) and 100% vs. 100% IBF, respectively (${\kappa}=1$). Two patients underwent longitudinal follow-up CT at 12 months, and the FF rates reported by surgeons A and B were 100% vs. 95.8%, respectively (${\kappa}=0.96$). Five out of nine facet (56%) non-unions were identified at the cross-links. The remaining four facet pseudarthrosis were noted at 1-2 spinal levels caudal to the cross-links. At the final clinical follow-up, there was no rod breakage, deformity progression, neurological deficit, or symptom recurrence. The Oswestry Disability Index improved by an average of $32.8{\pm}6.3$, while the mental component summary of the 36-item Short-Form Health Survey improved by an average of $4.7{\pm}2.1$, and physical component summary improved by an average of $10.5{\pm}2.1$. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first study to report a CT that defined 92%-98% FF and 100% IBF using the lowest reported dose of RhBMP-2 in multilevel ASD surgery. The use of ultra-low dose RhBMP-2 reduces the RhBMP-2 related complications and healthcare costs.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
• /
• v.56 no.4
• /
• pp.315-322
• /
• 2014

Objective : Posterior accessed lumbar interbody fusion (PALIF) has a clear objective to restore disc height and spinal alignment but surgeons may occasionally face the converse situation and lose lumbar lordosis. We analyzed retrospective data for factors contributing to a postoperative flat back. Methods : A total of 105 patients who underwent PALIF for spondylolisthesis and stenosis were enrolled. The patients were divided according to surgical type [posterior lumbar inter body fusion (PLIF) vs. unilateral transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF)], number of levels (single vs. multiple), and diagnosis (spondylolisthesis vs. stenosis). We measured perioperative index level lordosis, lumbar lordosis, pelvic tilt, sacral slope, pelvic incidence, and disc height in standing lateral radiographs. The change and variance in each parameter and comparative group were analyzed with the paired and Student t-test (p<0.05), correlation coefficient, and regression analysis. Results : A significant perioperative reduction was observed in index-level lordosis following TLIF at the single level and in patients with spondylolisthesis (p=0.002, p=0.005). Pelvic tilt and sacral slope were significantly restored following PLIF multilevel surgery (p=0.009, p=0.003). Sacral slope variance was highly sensitive to perioperative variance of index level lordosis in high sacral sloped pelvis. Perioperative variance of index level lordosis was positively correlated with disc height variance ($R^2=0.286$, p=0.0005). Conclusion : Unilateral TLIF has the potential to cause postoperative flat back. PLIF is more reliable than unilateral TLIF to restore spinopelvic parameters following multilevel surgery and spondylolisthesis. A high sacral sloped pelvis is more vulnerable to PALIF in terms of a postoperative flat back.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information Security & Cryptology
• /
• v.20 no.5
• /
• pp.133-138
• /
• 2010

We present a new multimodal biometric authentication method, which performs both feature-level fusion and decision-level fusion. After generating support vector machines for new features made by integrating face and voice features, the final decision for authentication is made by integrating decisions of face SVM classifier, voice SVM classifier and integrated features SVM clssifier. We justify our proposal by comparing our method with traditional one by experiments with XM2VTS multimodal database. The experiments show that our multilevel fusion algorithm gives higher recognition rate than the existing schemes.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
• /
• v.57 no.1
• /
• pp.36-41
• /
• 2015

Objective : To investigate the causes for failed anterior cervical surgery and the outcomes of secondary laminoplasty. Methods : Seventeen patients failed anterior multilevel cervical surgery and the following conservative treatments between Feb 2003 and May 2011 underwent secondary laminoplasty. Outcomes were evaluated by the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) Scale and visual analogue scale (VAS) before the secondary surgery, at 1 week, 2 months, 6 months, and the final visit. Cervical alignment, causes for revision and complications were also assessed. Results : With a mean follow-up of $29.7{\pm}12.1$ months, JOA score, recovery rate and excellent to good rate improved significantly at 2 months (p< 0.05) and maintained thereafter (p>0.05). Mean VAS score decreased postoperatively (p<0.05). Lordotic angle maintained during the entire follow up (p>0.05). The causes for secondary surgery were inappropriate approach in 3 patients, insufficient decompression in 4 patients, adjacent degeneration in 2 patients, and disease progression in 8 patients. Complications included one case of C5 palsy, axial pain and cerebrospinal fluid leakage, respectively. Conclusion : Laminoplasty has satisfactory results in failed multilevel anterior surgery, with a low incidence of complications.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.180-185
• /
• 2001

Objectives : We retrospectively studied the efficacy of anterior cervical discectomy and interbody fusion without plate fixation in degenerative cervical disease. Methods : Thirty two consecutive patients with degenerative cervical disease treated by decompression and interbody fusion(Smith-Robinson technique) without anterior cervical plating were studied for postoperative complication rate as well as the clinical and radiologic outcomes and were compared the result of ours with other reported series where the anterior cervical plating was used. Results : All cases were reviewed after average period of 13 months for the purpose of this study. There were 4 postoperative complications related to grafting. A solid fusion was obtained in all cases with single-level fusion(n=21) and 81.8 % of the cases with a two-level fusion(n=11). The overall fusion rate was 93.8 % and fusion rate per level fused was 95.3%. The clinical outcome of the patients was comparable with that in the literature, with one patient having a poor result. Comparing the result of this study with others of the anterior cervical plating, clinical outcome and fusion rate were not superior in plate fixation group in single-level fusion, but increased fusion rate and decreased graft-related complication rate were noted in multilevel fusion with plate fixation. However, the clinical outcome was not superior to noninstrumented fusion group of this study. Conclusion : These results demonstrate that anterior cervical discectomy and interbody fusion(Smith-Robinson technique) without instrumentation is safe and reliable method of single-level fusion in degenerative cervical disease. Plate fixation system doesn't seem necessary in single level fusion in degenerative cervical disease.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
• /
• v.52 no.4
• /
• pp.365-371
• /
• 2012

Objective : To document lumbar lordosis (LL) of the spine and its change during surgeries with the different height but the same angle setting of the anterior cage. Additionally, we attempted to determine if sufficient LL is achieved at different cage heights and to quantify the change in LL during multi-level anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF). Methods : The medical records and radiographs of 42 patients who underwent more than 2 level ALIFs between 2008 and 2009 were retrospectively reviewed. We evaluated 3 parameters seen on lateral whole spine radiographs : LL, pelvic incidence (PI), and sagittal vertical axis (SVA). The mean follow-up time was 28.1 months and the final follow-up radiographs of all patients were reviewed at least 2 years after surgery. Statistical analysis was performed using the paired t-tests. Results : Lumbar lordosis had changed up to 30 degrees immediately and 2 years after surgery (preoperative mean LL, SVA : 22.45 degrees, 112.31 mm; immediate postoperative mean LL, SVA : 54.45 degrees, 37.36 mm; final follow-up mean LL, SVA : 49.56 degrees, 26.95 mm). Our goal of LL is to obtain as much PI as possible, preoperative mean PI value was $55.38{\pm}3.35$. The pre-operative and two year post-surgery follow-up mean of the Japanese Orthopedic Association score were $9.2{\pm}0.6$ and $13.2{\pm}0.6$ (favorable outcome rate : 95%), respectively. In addition, we were able to obtain good clinical outcomes and sagittal balance with a subsidence rate of 22.7%. Conclusion : We were able to achieve sufficient LL, such that it was similar to the PI, utilizing multi-level ALIF with the use of a tall cage with the same angle setting of the cage. We have found out that achieving sufficient lumbar lordosis and sagittal balance require an anterior lumbar cage with high angle and height.