Listhesis and Spinopelvic Inclination of Upper Instrumented Vertebra Region and the Implications on Proximal Junctional Kyphosis.

Study Design: Retrospective analysis of prospective data.

Objective: Evaluate the impact of radiographic and morphologic configuration of the uppermost instrumented vertebrae (UIV) region on proximal junctional kyphosis (PJK) rates.

Background: Literature is limited on evaluation of the preoperative landing zone (UIV-1 to UIV +2 levels) and its impact on development of PJK.

Lost in Translation: Preoperative Orthopaedic Education Materials Significantly Exceed Recommended Reading Levels.

Background: National guidelines recommend that patient education materials are written at or below a 6th-grade reading level. Poor understanding of their care plan after orthopaedic surgery has been associated with worse outcomes, including lower surgical satisfaction and higher postoperative complications. This study evaluates the language availability and readability of orthopaedic patient education materials published by Elsevier and distributed via Epic, the most widely used electronic health record system in the United States.

Development of a Spine Surgery Center of Excellence: Rationale, Design, Implementation, and Assessment of Outcomes.

➢ The growing prevalence and complexity of spinal pathologies have prompted hospital systems to establish dedicated spine centers to provide personalized, high-quality patient care.➢ The Joint Commission offers Advanced Certification in Spine Surgery to recognize programs that meet rigorous, evidence-based standards of care to their patient population.➢ Designing and implementing a spine center of excellence require the identification of key stakeholders, the development of a strategic plan, the generation of evidence-based clinical protocols, and routine evaluation of program metrics.

Generation and validation of a Hounsfield unit (HU) threshold for predicting mechanical and junctional complications following thoracolumbar or lumbar fusion: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Purpose: Computed tomography-based Hounsfield unit (HU) measurements can be used to evaluate localized bone mineral density preoperatively in spinal fusion patients. While multiple studies have reported HU cutoffs predictive of screw loosening, cage subsidence, proximal junctional kyphosis/failure (PJK/PJF), and other mechanical complications, a standardized validated HU threshold has not been established.

Methods: A comprehensive search of PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and Cochrane Library was performed for articles that reported HU measurements in thoracolumbar or lumbar fusion patients with and without postoperative complications.

Open versus Endoscopic Lumbar Discectomy: A Propensity-Matched Analysis of 2,618 Surgical Patients.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Objective: To compare intraoperative complications, 90-day medical complications, and 2-year surgical reoperation rates between endoscopic discectomy (ED) and open discectomy (OD).

Summary Of Background Data: Symptomatic lumbar disc herniation is common, with discectomy serving as a common surgical intervention.

Evaluation of retrieval-augmented generation and large language models in clinical guidelines for degenerative spine conditions.

Purpose: Degenerative spinal diseases often require complex, patient-specific treatment, presenting a compelling challenge for artificial intelligence (AI) integration into clinical practice. While existing literature has focused on ChatGPT-4o performance in individual spine conditions, this study compares ChatGPT-4o, a traditional large language model (LLM), against NotebookLM, a novel retrieval-augmented model (RAG-LLM) supplemented with North American Spine Society (NASS) guidelines, for concordance with all five published NASS guidelines for degenerative spinal diseases.

Methods: A total of 118 questions from NASS guidelines regarding five degenerative spinal conditions were presented to ChatGPT-4o and NotebookLM.

The correlation of sleep disorders with postoperative outcomes in spine surgery: A narrative review.

Background: Sleep hygiene plays a pivotal role in maintaining good health, yet nearly 30% of adults face sleep disorders such as sleep apnea, insomnia and circadian rhythm disruptions. These disturbances are associated with worse patient-reported health outcomes and higher risk of complications following surgery. In orthopedics, sleep disorders increase readmission rates and prolong hospital stays, yet their correlation with outcomes following spine surgery remains poorly understood.

Bridging Health Literacy Gaps in Spine Care: Using ChatGPT-4o to Improve Patient-Education Materials.

Background: Patient-education materials (PEMs) are essential to improve health literacy, engagement, and treatment adherence, yet many exceed the recommended readability levels. Therefore, individuals with limited health literacy are at a disadvantage. This study evaluated the readability of spine-related PEMs from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), the North American Spine Society (NASS), and the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), and examined the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in optimizing PEMs for improved patient comprehension.

Angiotensin Receptor Blockers Are Not Associated With Protective Benefits in Dupuytren's Disease.

Background: Dupuytren's disease (DD) is a progressive fibroproliferative disorder which is, in part, mediated by transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1). Angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) have been shown to lead to upstream inhibition of TGF-β1 in several disease processes and proposed as a potential pharmacologic treatment in DD. The purpose of this study was to assess the association of ARBs with DD procedures and recurrence.

Postoperative footdrop following total hip arthroplasty: Epidemiology, risk factors, and associated complications.

Background: Footdrop is a relatively uncommon complication following total hip arthroplasty (THA) caused by injury to the sciatic and peroneal nerve. Few studies have evaluated the risk factors or trends for the development of this challenging complication. As such, this study aims to describe the epidemiology, procedural risk factors, and related complications of postoperative footdrop following THA.

Racial, ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in healthcare for adult spinal deformity patients.

Background: Racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare access remain underexplored among adult spinal deformity (ASD) patients in terms of cost related and non-cost related barriers to care.

Methods: This cross-sectional study analyzed healthcare access and utilization survey data from the National Institutes of Health's All of Us Research Program (May 6th, 2018-January 30th, 2025). The participants included adults aged ≥ 40 years with spinal deformity enrolled online or through partner organizations across the US.

Hip osteoarthritis is associated with higher revision rates following transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion.

Purpose: Patients with concurrent hip osteoarthritis (OA) and lumbar spinal pathologies often present with more disability and worse baseline measures of pain and function compared to patients with only spinal disease. However, the impact of hip OA on outcomes following specific spinal fusion techniques, such as transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF), is not well established.

Methods: Patients with and without hip OA who underwent TLIF at a single academic institution were identified.

Masseter Sarcopenia and Mortality After Type II Odontoid Fractures in the Elderly: A 5-Year Follow-Up Study.

Background And Objectives: Sarcopenia, defined as low muscle mass with reduced strength or function, is associated with poor outcomes in trauma patients. Head computed tomography scans routinely performed in elderly trauma patients allows for masseter sarcopenia measurement. Its association with mortality after Type II odontoid fractures has not been previously investigated.

Postoperative Footdrop Following Posterior Lumbar Spinal Fusion: Epidemiology, Risk Factors, and Associated Complications.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Objective: To assess the epidemiology, procedural risk factors, and associated complications of postoperative footdrop following posterior lumbar fusion.

Summary Of Background Data: Footdrop is an uncommon complication following spine surgery that is associated with functional impairments.

Reliability and Diagnostic Accuracy of EOS Full-Body Upright Imaging for Sarcopenia: A Retrospective Study Comparing Thigh Muscle to CT-Derived Psoas Muscle Measurements.

Background: Sarcopenia increases postoperative complication and mortality rates in elderly patients. Although measurement of the psoas muscle area on computed tomography (CT) scans is traditionally used to diagnose sarcopenia, CT is not routine in orthopaedic practice and causes unnecessary radiation exposure. EOS, a low-dose full-body imaging modality, captures musculoskeletal structures in an upright position, offering an alternative for sarcopenia diagnosis.

Upper Instrumented Vertebra Hounsfield Unit Assessment and Association With Mechanical Complications Following Posterior Spinal Fusion.

Background: Bone mineral density is often considered in preoperative surgical planning for spinal fusions. CT imaging-based measurement of Hounsfield units (HU) has been suggested as a surrogate marker for dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry scans. However, research establishing a threshold for HU at the uppermost instrumented vertebrae (UIV) that can mitigate the risk of mechanical and junctional complications following posterior spinal fusion is limited.

Functionalization dependent biodegradability of two-dimensional antimonene by peroxidases: impact on immune modulation.

Antimonene (Sb) is an emerging two-dimensional material belonging to group VA that has shown excellent chemical and physical properties with applications in optoelectronics, energy, catalysis, and biomedical sciences. However, the biodegradability of Sb sheets in response to immune stimulation and its impact on degradation by-products have yet to be reported. Herein, we investigated the biodegradability of Sb nanosheets by treating them with human myeloperoxidase (hMPO) and plant peroxidase (horseradish peroxidase-HRP) in the presence of a low concentration of hydrogen peroxide.

Language and Readability Barriers in Discharge Instructions: A Call to Improve Patient Aftercare.

Background: Inadequate health literacy is linked to worse health outcomes, including higher readmission rates and adverse events. Despite recommendations to keep patient materials at or below a sixth-grade reading level, many discharge instructions exceed this threshold. This study examined the language availability of Epic's discharge documents and assessed their alignment with readability standards.

Postoperative Foot Drop After Spinal Surgery: Etiology, Presentation, and Management Strategies.

» The incidence of postoperative foot drop after spine surgery is estimated at 3.33%, with higher rates reported in complex procedures such as high-grade spondylolisthesis correction (up to 30%). Risk factors include disc-space distraction, deformity corrections, prolonged surgery, and advanced patient age.

Challenges Faced by Perinatally-Infected Kenyan Adolescents and Youth Living with HIV During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Wellness challenges experienced by adolescents and youth living with HIV (AYLWH) during COVID-19 are unknown and could guide HIV care in resource-limited settings. Between February/2021 and July/2022, perinatally-infected AYLWH at the Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH) in western Kenya completed surveys assessing psychological, physical, socioeconomic, and antiretroviral nonadherence challenges and underwent viral load (VL) testing evaluating for virologic (VL > 40 copies/mL) or treatment (VL > 1,000 copies/mL) failure. Patterns in challenges, nonadherence, and VL measures by enrolment were evaluated using general additive models.

Does an increased preoperative body mass index (BMI) affect adolescent idiopathic scoliosis surgery outcomes and complications? A meta-analysis.

Objective: Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is the most common form of scoliosis. With obesity reaching unprecedented levels in adolescents, we aimed to perform a meta-analysis examining the impact of increased Body Mass Index (BMI) on AIS corrective surgery.

Methods: Cochrane, PubMed, and Google Scholar (pages 1-20) were searched up to July 2024.