Spontaneous vertebral aspergillosis, the state of art: a systematic literature review

Objective: Vertebral aspergillosis are quite rare conditions, often misdiagnosed, that requires long-term antibiotic therapy and, sometimes, surgical treatments. The present investigations was aimed to investigate epidemiology, clinical-radiological aspects, treatment protocols, and outcomes of Aspergillus-mediated vertebral osteomyelitis. Methods: A systematic review of the pertinent English Literature according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines was performed. The research was conducted on Cochrane library, MEDLINE, PubMed and Scopus using as search-terms “Aspergillus”, “vertebral osteomyelitis”, “spondylodiscitis”, “spine infection”. A case of vertebral apsergillosis conservatively managed was also reported. Results: Eighty-nine articles were included in our systematic review. Including the reported case, our analysis covered 112 cases of vertebral aspergillosis. Aspergillus fumigatus was isolated in 68 cases (61.2%), Aspergillus flavus in 14 (12.6%), Aspergillus terreus in 4 (3.6%), Aspergillus nidulans in 2 (1.8%). Seventy-three patients (65.7%) completely recovered at last follow-up evaluation; in 7 (6.3%) patients radiological signs of chronic infection were reported, whereas 32 (28.8%) patients died during the follow-up. Conclusion: This systematic review summarized the state of the art on vertebral aspergillosis, retrieving data on clinical features, diagnostic criteria and current limitations, treatment alternatives and their outcomes

SPINE20 recommendations 2021: spine care for people's health and prosperity

PURPOSE: The focus of SPINE20 is to develop evidence-based policy recommendations for the G20 countries to work with governments to reduce the burden of spine disease, and disability. METHODS: On September 17-18, 2021, SPINE20 held its annual meeting in Rome, Italy. Prior to the meeting, the SPINE20 created six proposed recommendations. These recommendations were uploaded to the SPINE20 website 10 days before the meeting and opened to the public for comments. The recommendations were discussed at the meeting allowing the participants to object and provide comments. RESULTS: In total, 27 societies endorsed the following recommendations. SPINE20 calls upon the G20 countries: (1) to expand telehealth for the access to spine care, especially in light of the current situation with COVID-19. (2) To adopt value-based interprofessional spine care as an approach to improve patient outcomes and reduce disability. (3) To facilitate access and invest in the development of a competent rehabilitation workforce to reduce the burden of disability related to spine disorders. (4) To adopt a strategy to promote daily physical activity and exercises among the elderly population to maintain an active and independent life with a healthy spine, particularly after COVID-19 pandemic. (5) To engage in capacity building with emerging countries and underserved communities for the benefit of spine patients. (6) To promote strategies to transfer evidence-based advances into patient benefit through effective implementation processes. CONCLUSIONS: SPINE20's initiatives will make governments and decision makers aware of efforts to reduce needless suffering from disabling spine pain through education that can be instituted across the globe

Increased Frequency of Hand Hygiene and Other Infection Prevention Practices Correlates with Reduced Surgical Wound Infection Rates in Spinal Surgery during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, many changes were done in the hospital practice, and new guidelines were issued in order to contain the infection spread. One of the most common measures is represented by a correct and frequent hand washing. Recently, an association between increased adherence to hand hygiene (HH) protocols and reduction in hospital infections was documented however no studies about the surgical wound infection rate were reported in the Literature. Methods: The present study represents a multicentric retrospective epidemiological study. The HH compliance rate was recorded through direct observations by trained nurses, 24 h a day. The primary outcome was HH compliance rate. The association of HH with spinal surgical wound infections was the secondary outcome. Results: We reported a compliance to HH practices during the pandemic period of 85.2% compared with 57% observed during 2019. Our analysis showed an overall surgical wound infection reduction of 66.6% during the hospital stay in the pandemic period. Conclusion: Hand hygiene has always been considered one of the most effective, reproducible and low-cost weapons to deal with hospital infections. The good health habits acquired during the COVID-19 pandemic should be maintained even after the virus is eradicated

A rare cause of Lumbar Radiculopathy: Spinal gas collection

The presence of gas in the intervertebral disk space, known as the vacuum phenomenon, is a relatively common radiologic finding, especially on computed tomographic investigation. In a few cases, the gas can be collected into the lumbar spinal canal and can also compress the nerve root. To date only seven cases of symptomatic lumbar radiculopathy caused by a bubble of gas are reported in the literature. The presence of gas inside a narrowed disk and the collection of gas in the spinal canal suggest a communication between the two structures. A case of lumbar radiculopathy caused by a collection of gas in the spinal canal provided the authors the opportunity to study this rare condition by magnetic resonance imaging. Magnetic resonance imaging had not been used before in the referred cases and proved conclusively the discal origin of the gas

Single-Level Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Interbody Fusion: A Comparison between Porous Tantalum and Polyetheretherketone Cages

Background: Anterior cervical discectomy and interbody fusion (ACDF) may be performed with different kinds of stand-alone cages. Tantalum and polyetheretherketone (PEEK) are two of the most commonly used materials in this procedure. Few comparisons between different stand-alone implants for ACDF have been reported in the literature. Methods: We performed a comparison between patients who underwent ACDF with either a porous tantalum or a PEEK stand-alone cage, in two spine surgery units for single-level disc herniation. Clinical outcome [Neck Disability Index (NDI), Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for pain, Short Form-36 (SF-36)] and radiological outcome (lordosis, fusion and subsidence) were measured before surgery and at least one year after surgery in both groups. Results: Thirty-eight patients underwent ACDF with a porous tantalum cage, and thirty-one with a PEEK cage. The improvement of NDI and SF-36 was significantly superior in the PEEK group (p = 0.002 and p = 0.049 respectively). Moreover, the variation of the Cobb angle for the cervical spine was significantly higher in the PEEK group (p < 0.001). Conclusions: In a retrospective analysis of two groups of patients with at least one year of follow-up, a stand-alone PEEK cage showed superior clinical results, with improved cervical lordosis, compared to a stand-alone porous tantalum cage. Further studies are needed to confirm these data

Critical analysis of lumbar interspinous devices failures: a retrospective study

Interspinous devices (IDs) were introduced in the 90s. Since then, they have rapidly become very popular for the minimally invasive treatment of lumbar pain disorders. They feature different shapes and biomechanical characteristics, and are used in the spine degenerative pathologies or as motion segment stabilizers (dynamic stabilization) or to obtain the decompression of neurological structures. The indications seem to be rather narrow and still to be verified in terms of their clinical efficacy. However, IDs are being extensively utilized beyond their classical indications with the inevitable risk of a clinical failure. The aim of the present work was to carry out a critical analysis of the causes of failure in a series of 19 patients. From January 2007 to March 2009, 19 patients with residual painful syndrome after the implantation of IDs were observed. The series includes 11 males and 8 females with a mean age of 53.6 years (range 38–84 years) who were operated on elsewhere and who underwent revision surgery at our hospital. The inclusion criteria were low back pain and/or radiculopathy after the device implantation without improvement of the painful symptomatology, radiculopathy with signs of sensory and motor deficit, intermittent neurogenic claudication, and infection. All patients were thoroughly re-assessed with new standard imaging examinations such as MRI and CT scans, considering the following image features: the position of the device with respect to the spinous processes (X-ray), the intervertebral disc disease of the level operated upon or of the adjacent levels (MRI), the segmental instability (dynamic X-rays), the severity of the canal stenosis (CT). The accurate evaluation of the clinical and imaging parameters revealed three main causes of failure: errors of indication, technical errors and the structural failure of the ID. The most frequent cause of failure was a wrong indication. The results of the study are presented and the causes of failure are discussed in detail

Bisphosphonate therapy in multiple myeloma in preventing vertebral collapses: preliminary report

Abstract PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to report and discuss the preliminary data obtained in a homogeneous series of 50 patients affected by multiple myeloma treated with bisphosphonates. METHODS: Patients were followed for a minimum of 1 year. Main orthopaedic data were recorded. Visual Analogue Score and QLQ-C30 and MY 20 were used to assess the quality of life. RESULTS: Statistical analysis showed less lytic lesions in the group with zoledronate therapy and stable primary disease compared with a greater number of lesions in the non-treated group. Results regarding VAS score and QLQ-C30 and MY were statistically better in the first group than in the second. CONCLUSIONS: Our results confirm the efficacy of zoledronate in ensuring an acceptable quality of life restraining the aggressiveness of the myeloma on bone tissue, especially in spine although further prospective studies have to be conducted to determine its correct use in myeloma patient

Periprosthetic mineralization changes around femoral stems: a prospective 12-month study with DEXA

OBJECTIVE: The objective was to evaluate bone mineral density (BMD) changes around the proximal femur after implantation of two different anatomical stems. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-six patients (19 women and 17 men) who underwent total hip replacement were recruited. A Bihapro stem was implanted in 23 patients (with a mean age of 60.9 years) and a Citation stem in 13 patients (with a mean age of 59.7 years). All patients underwent serial radiography of the affected hip (follow-up time: 12 months). Baseline periprosthetic and overall BMD were measured with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) 1 week and 12 months after hip replacement. Regions of interest (ROIs) were defined according to Gruen's system (ROIs 1-7). RESULTS: All stems were classified as radiographically stable. Bone ongrowth (spot welds) was present in zones 1 and 2 in all patients with the Bihapro stem. The distribution of baseline densities was very similar in the two groups of patients. In Bihapro implants a significant increment of mineralisation was present in ROI 1 after 1 year; ROIs 2 to 7 showed no density variation. The following observations were made regarding the Citation implants: no increment in density was shown in ROI 1; the differences in densities among the ROIs were significant after 1 year in the global evaluation (p = 0.004); the comparison between the single ROIs showed decalcification in ROIs 2 and 7 and a density increment in ROI 5. CONCLUSIONS: Bihapro stems appear to achieve adequate proximal fixation, avoiding the "stress shielding" phenomenon