Search results for "spinal column"
showing 8 items of 8 documents
On the Finite Element Modeling of the Lumbar Spine: A Schematic Review
2023
Finite element modelling of the lumbar spine is a challenging problem. Lower back pain is among the most common pathologies in the global populations, owing to which the patient may need to undergo surgery. The latter may differ in nature and complexity because of spinal disease and patient contraindications (i.e., aging). Today, the understanding of spinal column biomechanics may lead to better comprehension of the disease progression as well as to the development of innovative therapeutic strategies. Better insight into the spine’s biomechanics would certainly guarantee an evolution of current device-based treatments. In this setting, the computational approach appears to be a remarkable …
A thoracic vertebral localization of a metastasized cutaneous Merkel cell carcinoma: Case report and review of literature
2017
Background: Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare neuroendocrine skin tumor, which may be related to sun exposure. It can metastasize to lungs, liver and bone, leading to severe morbidity and mortality. Vertebral metastases from MCC are rare. The authors report the tenth case in the literature, a 59-year-old patient with MCC, which was primarily localized in the scalp, and later provoked distant metastasis to the thoracic spinal column. Case Description: A 59-year-old woman was admitted at our Unit of Neurosurgery with a 4-month history of progressive and severe dorsal back pain, without neurological signs. The patient had been surgically treated for a recidivated MCC in the occipital regio…
Central Neural Blocks
1988
The spinal column consists of vertebral bodies which together form 7 cervical, 12 thoracic, 5 lumbar, 5 sacral, and 4 coccygeal vertebrae (see Transparency 1). A typical vertebra consists of two basic parts: the ventral vertebral body and the dorsal vertebral arch. Between the vertebral bodies are the intervertebral disks, which give the spinal column its flexibility. Together, the vertebral bodies and the intervertebral disks form a strong column supporting the head and trunk, while the vertebral arch protects the spinal cord. When the spinal column is viewed from the side, four flexures are visible: the thoracic and the sacrococcygeal flexures are concave ventrally, while the cervical and…
A Population-Based 3D Atlas of the Pathological Lumbar Spine Segment
2022
The spine is the load-bearing structure of human beings and may present several disorders, with low back pain the most frequent problem during human life. Signs of a spine disorder or disease vary depending on the location and type of the spine condition. Therefore, we aim to develop a probabilistic atlas of the lumbar spine segment using statistical shape modeling (SSM) and then explore the variability of spine geometry using principal component analysis (PCA). Using computed tomography (CT), the human spine was reconstructed for 24 patients with spine disorders and then the mean shape was deformed upon specific boundaries (e.g., by ±3 or ±1.5 standard deviation). Results dem…
Fractional Calculus as a New Perspective in the Viscoelastic Behaviour of the Intervertebral Disc
2022
The spinal column is the load-bearing structure of the human being along with its components, which together build a strong, resistant, and stable structure, but there are a few different pathologies from which it can suffer, such as herniated discs. The intervertebral disc acts as a shock absorber and ensures the spine’s great capacity to support high loads and different states of stress, thanks to its viscoelastic properties. Some studies have attempted to describe the viscoelastic behaviour of the intervertebral disc using classical rheological models, such as the Kelvin-Voigt, or multi-parameter models. Even if these models partially describe the viscoelastic response of disc, all visco…
Le supra-occipital des Cétacés et des Rongeurs fouisseurs. Une convergence morphologique induite par le pôle post-céphalique ?
2000
A comparative study of the cranial morphologies of cetaceans and of rodents that use their incisors for burrowing brings out morphological convergences concerning the supra-occipital bone. These phyletically very remote groups are both subject to the same mechanical constraint, viz. the need for the spinal column to be aligned with the anteroposterior axis of the skull. This constraint, which is related to swimming in cetaceans and burrowing in rodents, entails three major points of convergence: 1) a clearly backward facing foramen magnum; 2) a shortened or even greatly shortened neck, sometimes with cervical vertebrae fused together; and 3) an uprighted or even forward tilted supra-occipit…
Percutaneous osteoplasty in treatment of bone lymphangiomatosis
2013
Primary bone lymphangiomatosis is a disease of unknown etiology that can cause lytic lesions in long bones, the pelvis, the spinal column and the cranium. We are presenting the case of a woman with localized bone lymphangiomatosis in the left knee. The authors believe this is the first case in which percutaneous osteoplasty was used in long bones for the treatment of bone lesions resulting from this disease showing good clinical results.
Chronic Effects of Whole-Body Vibration
1986
The reactions of the body to stress from mechanical vibration, presented in the section “Acute Effects of Mechanical Vibration” (see p. 12), deal with individual organs and functions. It is now time for the following question to be asked: Are these physiological or pathophysiological changes in reality the external symptoms of a vibration-induced illness of the whole organism? Above all, some Soviet scientists are of this opinion. Andreeva-Galanina (1967) has especially called this concept “vibration illness” and has used it in the sense that the totality of vibration-induced changes in the human organism can be characterized (Rublack 1978). In this systemic “vibration illness,” Andreeva-Ga…