conclusions the present data do not suggest that pregabalin is more efficacious than placebo in the treatment of lumbar and cervical radicular pain. however, the small sample size of this study may have affected the ability to detect such a difference. results data on 19 of the 39 patients recruited were available for analysis. no statistically significant differences in the pain, disability, a...

OBJECTIVE To analyze immunohistochemically the localization of the VEGF receptors in experimental intervertebral disc degeneration tissues in a pig model. MATERIALS AND METHODS In six domestic pigs, the cranial bony endplate of the L4 vertebra were perforated into the nucleus pulposus. Three months postoperatively, the animals were sacrificed and the experimental and control vertebrae, comple...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the anatomical safety margins in relation to thoracic epidural block by analysing magnetic resonance (MR) images. METHODS This retrospective study identified consecutive patients who underwent MR imaging of the thoracic vertebral spine. The distance from the dura mater to the spinal cord (DTC) was measured at different thoracic intervertebral levels using three different...

OBJECTIVE To analyze the clinical results of a partial vertebrectomy with titanium mesh implantation and pedicle screw fixation using a posterior approach to reconstruct the spine in the treatment of thoracolumbar burst fractures. METHOD From January 2006 to August 2008, 20 patients with severe thoracolumbar fractures were treated.For vertebral bodies associated with one injured intervertebra...

Knowing of the level of carotid artery bifurcation (CB) is important for vascular surgery in the neck, radical neck dissections, carotid sinus baroreceptor stimulation, catheterisations, and aneurysms. The aim of this study was to determine the CB level in relation with the cervical vertebral levels, compare them on the right and the left sides, and investigate the relation of CB level with the...

Background: A large proportion of patients presenting with lumbar disc disease are opium addicts in our region. It was, therefore, hypothesized that morphine might affect the intervertebral disc. We investigated the histological findings of morphine dependency on intervertebral discs in rat. Methods: Forty NMRI adult male rats (230-250 g) placed on ordinary diet and received aqueous solution of...

background: intervertebral disc herniation is a major cause of low back pain. several treatment methods are available for lumbar disc herniation including chemonucleolysis, open surgery, nucleoplasty, laser disc decompression, and intradiscal electrothermal therapy. the high prevalence of lumbar disc herniation necessitates a minimally invasive yet effective treatment method. in this study, we ...

LUMBAR SPINE DENSITOMETRY BI&TISN _ ~~~~~~~~~~~~MEDICAL JOURNAL which in due course will enable us to define the distribution in statistical-terms. In the meantime an R.V.D. ratio of less than unity indicates a vertebral density less than our standard. We are not yet prepared to define the reduction in bone density which justifies the use of the term " osteoporosis," but consider it axiomatic t...

There have been numerous researchers that have investigated the properties of human intervertebral discs. However, there has been no attempt to characterize the effects of loading rate on the stiffness of human intervertebral discs. The purpose of this study was to develop the compressive stiffness properties of individual lumber intervertebral discs when subjected to various dynamic compressiv...

Retrospective evaluation was made of four patients with tuberculous spondylitis who had been studied by MR with T1- and T2-weighted images in the sagittal plane and spin-density-weighted images in the axial plane. Evaluation was made of the distribution of abnormal signals within the body and posterior elements of the vertebrae, the intervertebral disk, and the associated paraspinal and epidura...