(Press-News.org) A new surgery for cervical disc disease in the neck may restore range of motion and reduce repeat surgeries in some younger patients, according to a team of neurosurgeons from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and several other medical centers that analyzed three large, randomized clinical trials comparing two different surgeries.
More than 200,000 Americans undergo surgery every year to alleviate pain and muscle weakness from the debilitating condition caused by herniated discs in the neck. For some, the team found, arthroplasty may work better.
The results do not suggest that the older surgery is ineffective or unsafe, but that arthroplasty is a viable option for some.
"For people younger than 50 who have cervical disc disease, arthroplasty is a good option," said Praveen Mummaneni, MD, of the Department of Neurosurgery at UCSF.
Mumaneni and his colleagues are presenting their analysis today at the 79th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons in Denver.
Why Fewer Is Better
Neck surgery is not cheap and requires a patient to be placed under general anesthesia and a surgical team to perform the operation in a sterile room. They are typically reserved for patients who have failed to respond to other measures such as physical therapy or drugs, such as steroids.
For decades, the standard of care in this country was a procedure called anterior cervical discectomy and fusion. In this surgery, a surgeon cuts through the front of the neck, accessing the spine and removing the herniated disc, then replacing it with a piece of bone and a plate in the neck. That creates a solid union – or fusion – between two or more vertebrae to strengthen the spine.
Arthroplasty also begins with a surgery to remove the herniated disc. But instead of fusing the spine, the surgeon replaces the missing disc with an artificial one made of steel, plastic or titanium. The idea is that the artificial disc will provide more spine mobility after surgery and less stress on adjacent discs.
While arthroplasty has become more widely used in the United States since the U.S. Food & Drug Administration approved several models of artificial discs in the last few years, it is still performed less often than in Europe, where the procedure has been available for more than a decade.
Here in the United States, the older, surgical fusion technique remains more common – in part because not all insurance companies pay for the newer procedure, as is the case in California.
Both techniques have occasional failures. In the fusion surgery, the bone may not heal, requiring further fusion surgery months or years later. In the arthroplasty surgery, the artificial disk may loosen or not fit well and may need to be replaced.
"Surprising" Results
The new analysis looked at three randomized clinical trials that enrolled 1,213 patients with cervical disc disease at medical centers across the United States – including UCSF.
In the trials, 621 patients received an artificial cervical disc and 592 patients were treated with spinal fusion. The analysis looked at outcomes two years after surgery.
The results were surprising, Mummaneni said: "While the two-year surgical results for both techniques were excellent, the rate of repeat surgery is lower for arthroplasty than for fusion at the two-year timepoint."
### END
UCSF analysis shows newer surgery for neck pain may be better
2011-04-12
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
OHSU expert co-authors study finding treatment for rare lung disease
2011-04-12
PORTLAND, Ore. — An Oregon Health & Science University researcher has co-authored an international study that revealed a drug approved to prevent rejection in organ transplant patients helped treat a rare lung disease in women.
The life-threatening disease has no cure and, until now, no known treatment.
The clinical trial of the drug -- called sirolimus -- was the first randomized, controlled study designed to develop a therapy for the lung disease, lymphangioleiomyomatosis, or LAM.
LAM is a progressive, cystic lung disease that occurs almost exclusively in women. ...
Research shows that some features of human face perception are not uniquely human
2011-04-12
When it comes to picking a face out of a police lineup, would you guess that you would use some of the same processes a pigeon might use?
If you said "yes," then you're right.
A study published by two University of Iowa researchers in the March 31 issue of the Journal of Vision found that pigeons recognize a human face's identity and emotional expression in much the same way as people do.
Pigeons were shown photographs of human faces that varied in the identity of the face, as well as in their emotional expression -- such as a frown or a smile. In one experiment, ...
New citrus variety released by UC Riverside is very sweet, juicy and low-seeded
2011-04-12
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Juicy. Extremely Sweet. Visually attractive. Easy to peel. Low seeded. These are the fine qualities that mark 'KinnowLS,' the latest citrus variety released by researchers at the University of California, Riverside.
Large-sized for a mandarin, the fruit has an orange rind color. The rind is thin and extremely smooth. The 10-11 segments in each fruit are fleshy and deep orange in color.
'KinnowLS' (the LS is short for low seeded) is a mandarin selection developed by mutation breeding of the mandarin cultivar 'Kinnow,' a mid-to-late season maturing ...
Luxury Valley Homes Creates User Friendly Chandler Real Estate Website For Chandler AZ
2011-04-12
We're proud to introduce our newest website that's all about Chandler real estate. This site was built specifically with the end user in mind so when a buyer, seller, or anyone interested in Chandler, Arizona could find the information they were researching with ease. This site offers city, community, school, maps, and current listing information. You're able to search for listings on Single Family Homes, Town Homes and Condos for sale, foreclosures, bank owned, and Luxury Home properties. It gives a brief resume of the experienced Luxury Valley Homes REALTORS that specialize ...
New target for developing effective anti-depressants
2011-04-12
For the first time in a human model, scientists have discovered how anti-depressants make new brain cells. This means that researchers can now develop better and more efficient drugs to combat depression.
Previous studies have shown that anti-depressants make new brain cells, however, until now it was not known how they did it. In a study to be published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, researchers from the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, show that anti-depressants regulate the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) - a key protein involved in the stress response. ...
Smokers believe 'silver', 'gold' and 'slim' cigarettes are less harmful
2011-04-12
Despite current prohibitions on the words 'light' and 'mild', smokers in Western countries continue falsely to believe that some cigarette brands may be less harmful than others. In fact, all conventional brands of cigarette present the same level of risk to smokers, including 'mild' and 'low-tar' brands.
A study published today in the journal Addiction polled over 8000 smokers from Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the USA. Approximately one-fifth of those smokers incorrectly believed that "some cigarette brands could be less harmful than others." False beliefs ...
Better lasers for optical communications
2011-04-12
Long-distance, high speed communications depend on lasers. But when information is transmitted down fiber optic cables, it's critical that the signal be clear enough to be decoded at the other end. Two factors are important in this respect: the color of the light, otherwise known as the wavelength, and the orientation of the light wave, known as polarization. A team from EPFL and the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA) has developed a technique that improves control over these two parameters.
"All indications are that this technology ...
Psychologists closing in on causes of claustrophobic fear
2011-04-12
We all move around in a protective bubble of "near space," more commonly known as "personal space." But not everyone's bubble is the same size. People who project their personal space too far beyond their bodies, or the norm of arm's reach, are more likely to experience claustrophobic fear, a new study finds.
The study, to be published in the journal Cognition, is one of the first to focus on the perceptual mechanisms of claustrophobic fear.
"We've found that people who are higher in claustrophobic fear have an exaggerated sense of the near space surrounding them," ...
New national study finds increase in football-related injuries among youth
2011-04-12
A new study conducted by researchers in the Center for Injury Research and Policy of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital found that an estimated 5.25 million football-related injuries among children and adolescents between 6 and 17 years of age were treated in U.S. emergency departments between 1990 and 2007. The annual number of football-related injuries increased 27 percent during the 18-year study period, jumping from 274,094 in 1990 to 346,772 in 2007.
"We found that nearly 2,000 pediatric and adolescent football-related injuries were treated ...
Michael Tabman, Author and Retired FBI Agent Releases New Novel, Midnight Sin
2011-04-12
Michael Tabman, retired FBI Agent and author of Walking the Corporate Beat: Police School for Business People, releases Midnight Sin, a gritty crime novel that follows the journey of rookie cop Gary Hollings as he steps out onto a midnight shift. Hollings soon realizes that being a cop changes everything he thought he knew about life. Every decision he makes has unforeseen consequences. Hollings works hard to build his reputation as a solid cop while he makes arrests and helps his fellow cops out of tough situations. But fighting crime is not just a matter of right and ...