PET predicts outcomes for patients with cervical spinal cord compression - Metabolic activity in spine indicates optimal time for surgery
For patients with degenerative cervical myelopathy, imaging with 18F-FDG positron emission tomography (PET) could act as a marker for a potentially reversible phase of the disease in which substantial clinical improvement can be achieved...
Surgery For Compressed Nerves Improved By Nerve Mapping Technology
Nerve mapping technology allows surgeons to determine whether surgery has been effective for relieving pressure from compressed nerves, which often function poorly and cause sciatica or pain and weakness in muscles supplied by the nerve. In a small study involving 42 patients at Henry Ford Hospital, lead author and orthopaedic surgeon Stephen Bartol, M.D...
Can you predict complications with back surgery? Preoperative factors increase risk
For older adults undergoing surgery for spinal stenosis, some simple indicators of poor preoperative health predict a high risk of major medical complications, reports a study in the September 1 issue of Spine. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health...